Before I knew You loved me
Life was a desperate chore
A crashing bore
A quest for more
Before I knew You cared
Life was painful torture
A dissonant overture
A misplaced embouchure
Before I knew Your plan for me
(Or at least that there was one)
Life was confusion
A strong delusion
An ugly contusion
And then I knew —
And all was bright
And all was light
If only for a while
Now I go about in the dark
Working out Your plan
As best I can
Every burden
Borne with grace
Advances all
The human race
Every cheek,
To other turned
Absorbs their violence —
Hate is spurned
Every insult
Not rebuked,
Will throw your enemies
For a loop
To not strike back,
Withhold revenge,
Shows strength and power
In the end
Your broken body,
Your fractured faith,
Your shattered dreams —
To the cross now take.
Your failed friendships,
Your social gaffes,
The misunderstandings —
Under the cross, now past.
The things you wanted,
The things you lost,
All worldly dealings —
Now bring them to the cross.
Let them go and
Let them be.
Just put them down
Under the tree.
Release the burden,
Let go the weight;
Then God, His love
Will demonstrate.
[Written in response to /protest against the Charlottesville, Virginia, madness.]
The wildflowers still bloom
No matter what your religion is,
What color your skin is,
How much money you have,
Or what neighborhood you live in.
The trees don’t ask,
“Shall I give my shade
Only to certain people —
Those of a certain color,
Those who are rich?”
The mountains still stand
When the poor walk on them,
When the oppressed tread their paths.
The ocean waves
Go in and out
Whether the children splashing in them
Are educated or not.
The birds don’t sing
Only for the perfect —
Perfectly healthy,
Perfectly formed
In mind and body.
The sun shines
And the rain falls
On the just and the unjust.
Shall I withhold my love
From another
For any reason?
God does not.
He sends the rain and the sun
On all peoples.
He gives the beauty of His creation
To each person, each day.
Let me learn from Him.
Weighed down
By our sin and suffering,
You sweated blood.
How did you persevere?
Knowing the evil within us,
You still loved us.
Having mercy,
You forgave.
You healed.
Confronting evil,
You were crucified.
Freely laying down your life,
You took it up again.
Savior of the world,
Save us!
Days in the doldrums —
No breath of air —
Heat hanging like limp hair.
Is this our fate?
To sit paralyzed by hate,
Unable to move?
Or will we let the Spirit’s breath,
Like freshening breeze,
Cool hearts oppressed by dread dis-ease,
And so bring deepening love?
How can we move
Without His power?
The darkest hour
Is brightened by
The Spirit’s power.
You lifted me up, for a while.
I flew like a butterfly on weightless wings,
But I had to come down to earth.
I am a worm now, crawling in the mud.
But worms make way for growing things,
For trees, and flowers, and birds that sing.
It’s all the same,
In dust and rain,
In joy or pain.
Love has to hurt —
So life gives birth,
And pain gives way to joy.
An allegory of God’s Love
You planted the seed of Love in my heart
You watered it
You waited patiently
One day I broke through the ground
You sent the sun and rain
You watched over me
I continued to grow
Flowers appeared
You sent the bees and bugs to pollinate
Sometimes I fell ill
You tended me until I mended
You fertilized the barren soil of my heart
Fruit began to show
You fertilized my heart again
When the fruit was ripe
Others picked it
It was sweet and refreshing
Sometimes you would prune me
At first I was angry —
How could you hurt me that way?
But then I noticed:
After the pruning, I would bear more fruit
I grew older
There was less fruit now
But still good
Sometimes there was bad fruit
You returned it to the earth
To be transformed and to nourish other plants
Sometimes fruit fell to the ground
To begin new plants
I am old now
Dry and shriveled
Soon I will return to the earth
But the seeds that fell
Will continue to grow
Watered by Your Love
Do you ever feel like the Drummer Boy?
Nothing to bring to the quiet King.
Nothing to give, except your sin.
Do you ever look inside yourself,
But empty finding, look above.
It’s only there, that there is Love.
And then open your heart to let Him in.
