WINTER SAYS

The winter says
You can not stay here,
Time has come to remind you
There is more outside
Than inside man
And cold is the night
But frigid the day
When you can't see
Yet think to control
This illusion, this dream
That life belongs to you.

The winter says
Death can come slowly,
The warmth of breath stolen
When bitter the wind
Carries the sunlight away
Though you fight it,
Clouds thin and gray
Bring the dawn of confession
That here is eternal
Collapsed into vision -
All is God's refrain.

CLOUDS

The colors, once bright,

Fade like dreams,
Clouds move in
Like anxious thoughts
Threatening rain.
They clutter the sky,
Dispersing gray
Into that once clear
And creating omens
Dark and stormy,
Hanging overhead.

The day, once new,

Passes with time,
Others move in
Like marching soldiers,
Demanding more
To fight obscurity,
Exhausting options
Once considered good
And turning the light
Into darkness again,
And again it returns.

All These Truths

All these truths forevermore
Linger in the mind renewed,
Awakened to eternal sense
Of all that limits timelessness
And begs to narrowly define
The life that beyond limits dwells,
Existing of its own accord,
No explanation nor defense
To smallness that would come against
The sweet perfection uncontained
And rampant in the other realm
Where few have ventured in this way,
Though time surreal is often gain
As new perspectives grow
And the light, eternal, stays.

The Gift

This gift came wrapped in friendship bright

And unexpected it was,
Both surprising and inviting,
Deeply heavy in empty arms.

Ne’er did I think He loved me so

To offer such extravagance,
Both to complement and challenge,
Invaluable in idle hands.

Opening took care and time

Avoiding damage old and new,
Both awareness and wonder dawning
Before unfocused, tearful eyes.

This honor came without condition

Although its purpose was clear,
Both to prove as well as answer
The call of an undeserving heart.

Teach Me

Teach me how to make your Spirit

Strong in me like wind,
Pushing over waves against the shore,
And make it shine as bright as day
Reflecting on the sea
That I might show your glory ever more.

Teach me where your words are hidden

Deep within my heart,
Rising to the surface in my need,
And let them fill my mind and mouth
‘Til nothing else remains,
That I might ever help to feed your sheep.

Lord, teach me how to rise above

The curse of what I feel,
Swelling to an upsurge in my tears,
And in that weakness you be strong
Inside me that I know
The touch of Love engulfing every fear.
 

Please teach me how to live this life

Gliding as on wings,
Searching out with confidence your face,
And soaring high above the world
To overcome with you,
I pray that I might dwell within your grace.

The Guard

I will let the guard stand down

If you will come near slowly,

Showing what you hold within your hand -

But I can’t take a shot

From the one I see as holy

Or I’d have to face the castles built of sand.

 

I would love to listen

If you dare to share your feelings,

Showing how the fragile play the game –

But I can not repay

The cost of your involvement

With this one who’s destined to be blamed.

 

I might extend an offer

In the giving of my trust,

Showing who will honor it the most –

But when the deal is broken

I’ll refuse to own the sadness,

Preferring not to ever come that close.

Messiah

You know that I love you, Lord.

You are all things to me.

When all else is gone, you remain.

Who knows how long I have loved you?

You are the answer to every question,

Source and fulfillment the same,

Universal and microscopic,

Truth incarnate,

Perfection embodied,

My beautiful, personal Messiah.

Faces

All the many faces
That you wear to share yourself -
The force that drives the wind,
The formation high in flight,
The glare upon the water
From the peeking rays of light
Behind clouds as soft as cotton
Floating peaceful 'cross the sky
As the piercing call of hawks
Ask to bid the day goodbye,
And the green of landscape fades
Into sunset bringing night -
The mask of nature showing
Us your heart, revealed as LIFE.

Punctuated

Today your name is punctuated
With a question mark,
The inflection in my voice
Indicative of my upturned need
As I witness every motion
Born of desire's endeavor
Slight or significant, they all matter
And I become less as you become greater ~
Your gentle breath rippling the water still,
Easily disturbing the image of reflection
Quietly whispering assurance
That you remain,
Forever a point of exclamation.

The Great Romance

If I were scared to watch a sunrise,

Angered by a songbird’s call,

Put out by a flower’s blooming,

At the stars that shine appalled,

Disgusted with a healthy garden,

Bearing fruit I would not eat,

Or maddened by a smiling baby,

Soured at some dessert sweet,

I’d scowl at children laughing near me,

Frown at snowfall calm and white,

Spit at pups that beg attention,

Curse the moon that welcomes night.

Were I to disdain the beauty

Of a simple butterfly,

Or to mock the quiet humming

Of a mother’s lullaby,

Then would I not deny the wonder

Of a firefly midst the trees?

And fail to notice in the tropics

When relief comes on the breeze?

I’d turn my head from all that proves

Existence of a God who loves,

And thus deny myself the chance

To live within the Great Romance.

Spirit Song

“My Spirit has something to say.”

“I didn’t know that spirits could talk.”

“They sing, actually.”

 “Oh - what is your spirit singing about?”

 “The fact that nothing is as it seems. All is illusion.”

 “If that were true, what would be the purpose of the illusion?”

“To care for people – because they can not handle the full truth.”

“Which is…?”

“Limitless possibility.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Each moment in time at each point in space exists pure creative energy – literally anything can happen at any time in any place, and it is God that determines all outcomes.”

“You believe this? You believe that God orchestrates everything all the time?”

“No, I believe that God IS everything all the time.”

“And do our choices mean nothing, then?”

“Our choices mean everything – they are the conduit through which God’s creative energy flows or is blocked – our very will.”

 

“You mean that intention, or ‘will’ as you call it, creates?”

“Absolutely. Our will either facilitates or hinders God’s will from becoming the creative force of our existence.”

“That sounds like quite a song.”

“Lifelong.”

 

 

FOR THAT ONE

For that one moment when your eyes
Are opened to His message wide,
I would feel the worst of my
Emotion broken into lies;

For that one word that speaks of hope

Placed in a God that now you know,
I would give up all I own
Or ever sought to carry home;

For that one revelation real

In which your Spirit is revealed,
I would wait a thousand years
Without a soul to find me here;

For that one understanding phrase

Uttered in these latter days,
I would pay most any cost
Or suffer even greater loss.
 

For such a smile from one who’s found

And stands today on solid ground,
I’d lay my very own life down
And gladly go where I am bound.

The TIDE

Were there never anyone

To make it real as life
I’d go on with you anyway
Alone, yet not inside,
For deep within the letting go
You reach to come abide,
Drawing out the weaker one
To follow you as guide
In the realm of purest Spirit
Where I walk beside you, right,
And anointing becomes natural
As the words you speak to write,
Taking over is allowed
And seizing me, the tide
Of waves that cover everything
You teach us by your light.

ETCHED

The sand on my feet

Reminds me I was with you

Just a short time ago,

So close that you touched me

And still my heart recalls

The way you felt,

The tears I cried at the knowledge of you

And how little I grasp.

 

The nature before me

Displayed your patient love,

Slow and careful the sun

Rose over glistening sea,

Awakening life’s dance

And me in its current

Unable to move,

Held fast by revelation.

The memory will fade

Though I etch it upon

The mind at that moment clear,

Exposed by the light

And found wanting,

Yet wholly free of fear,

The chains of the day broken

And I, your willing captive.

Connection

Between us such a tender thread

Spun of Holy Spirit pure

Connecting that which is unseen
Inside our mortal souls
With that which has the power to call
What now is not as though it were
To bring about a greater good
In lives laid down as sacrifice,
For the sake of full surrender
To profound truth absolute -
One love growing, ever new.

THE OTHER SIDE

The life that lives outside the mind
Is ever smarter, unconfined
By what the mind's eye thinks to see
Within its daft perception proud,
Amidst imagination's cloud
Of grey and lonely truths,
Feeble hopes, and shallow proofs.

The realm of Spirit waits across
The bridge built solid from belief,
And as we choose to walk in faith,
To seek the beauty of that place,
Our reason's fare grows small and dim
Compared with glory found therein
Beyond all logic to explain away.

 So now that we are of the heart,

Surrounded by all wonders known,
The gulf between who we once were
And where we came from to get home
Grows wider every God-filled day
That we remain not of the world
We lost behind with no intent to find.

THE ART OF BEING

The art of being
Is drawn outside

The lines of contour and form
And into the moment
Captured in time,
Rendered the instant it's born.

The ever-engaging
Portrait of life
Beckons us - come, feel and see,
The manifest energy
You are a part of
Joins you in yearning to BE.

The air is a canvas
Painted by sun
Sustaining existence as breath
Beginning with One
True infinite presence
Whose creative hands never rest.

IMAGERY

It’s like a thousand rainbows
Swirling ‘round in vapor form
‘Til the sharp array of colors
Melts together to become
A central shape of mixed emotion -
Stormy, coffee-colored clouds
Within an aching wall of sound
That screams apart its dissolution,
Scatters shards of broken past
Upon the softened, molten ground
Afire with hunger, hot and proud,
Transforming them to crystal mass
Reflecting forth an imaged sky -
Sifted memories flying by
Their fullness looming large as life
That, heavy with the passing night,
Now gives way to endless day…
Upon the still, blue sea of freedom’s light.

Uncondemned

The woman you accuse
Has not lived here for some time,
She died upon a cross
Against her will and yet for mine -
Now what remains here in her place
Is nothing less than my son's face
And I do not recall her past mistakes.


This woman's not condemned
To pay the price for Eve again,
The birthing pains alone
As consequence have been enough -
For now the life that breathes in her
Is so much more than she deserved
According to my gift of grace and love.

Tares

In setting up arguments
I am convincing,
Adept at replacing
Your truth with my own
Exalting my version
Of rational knowledge
From tares among seeds
That were long ago sown.

Serenade

 The clouds continue their march to the sun
Along the horizon line blue,
The mockingbird tries to serenade them,
But I know he's speaking for You.

The wind both obscures and reveals as it moves
The rushes in back and forth sways,
The sun sheds it light and its warmth from above,
Preparing to yield up the day.

The Doctrine of No Want

Within the doctrine of no want

There is a deep desire

To know the One we know to be

The soul's consuming fire,

That like the sun doth set us free

From cold and blackness both,

Illustrating as we see

And moving when we won't.



In contrast to what we expect

This weightless One can fill

The empty vastness of mankind

So lost in wanting still

And in the fullness of His love

There's nothing left to gain

As every moment He invades

The space we once called pain.



No longer will we pray in vain

For things we think to satisfy

But rather praise the holy name

Of He who lives with us, inside,

And as we walk along His way

The journey will become today,

And in the place of making due

A grand adventure, always new.

WITHIN ALL

The unbearable joy
Of seeing you here
Seizes my heart,
And once still, it hears
The sound of your calling
In all that surrounds,
Inviting the seeker
To know you are found
In the beckoning wind
And the glorious light
That penetrates
Worlds within worlds full of life.

The tangible soul
Of the world within grasp,
I dare not lose vision
While clarity lasts,
So with eyes fully open
I look to your face
And the truth of my need for you
Wholly embrace
While acute revelation
Stirs wonder and awe
In a Spirit that testifies
Love is the truth within all.

"I have both good and bad news."
"OK, what is the good news?"
"I have heard my heart speak to me - it is finally stronger than my mind."
"That is good. What's the bad news then?"
"It isn't happy."
"Your heart told you that?"
"Yes, it did."
"It actually said to you, 'I am not happy'?"

"No, it said, 'I am tired of going without nourishment and I am lonely.
I was made for so much more than this'. That is what it said."

"Oh, I suppose this is probably my fault, too."
"Yes, but I am not mad at you. I am just being honest."
"I think I stopped listening to my heart."
"I think you did, too."
"So where do we go from here?"
"Somewhere we can both hear our hearts."
"And each other's?"
"Yes."

Believer

Like the sunrise Wakes the day

Your spirit blooms inside -

Brilliant, it becomes the way

As well as it’s your guide

Into the endless realm of God

Where backwards is the rule

And giving up means winning

As you sacrifice yourself

On the cross that is your purpose

In the life that you have found,

Never more to count the cost

Nor control the solid ground.

As He sees you so do I,

A vessel nearly broken…

But the cracks let through His light

Now your heart is breaking open

And the power of His hand

Gently taking yours in grip

Will create a work of art

Far beyond your wildest dreams

Until one day you realize

Your life is on display –

A gorgeous testimony to

The one whose Spirit now is you.

New Day

I'll face the day
With head upturned
Unto the lonely sun
And wait until I've heard you speak
In terms forever known:
The tickling wind,
The bird in song,
The light that brings the day,
And with them comes your timeless peace,
The life, in truth, the Way.

The Seeds of Doubt

The seeds of doubt grow a vigorous vine
Climbing its way to the top of the mind
Where spreading confusion takes root as the norm,
Replacing the truth as it mimics its form.

This kind is fed from the mind's rationale
Disproving beliefs which the heart doth avow
And sinking its thorns into flesh crying out
For desires unspoken it can't live without.

The fruit of this vine is unmasked unbelief
Choking the heart into which it has creeped
And blocking the hope and the love, even peace,
From the light of a life where they once found release.

Awake

My heart awakened
To the dream
Before I could recall it
And within began to seem
As though a lad befallen
With the new sun of a day
In which he's free
And come what may,
Forever true to himself he remains.

Thus now awakened
Ne'er to sleep,
I can not still its pounding beat
Upon the walls I've placed it in,
Demanding that it be allowed
To walk again
Amongst the proud,
Unshackled and unhindered by
The fears of she it lives inside.

The Universal Language

There is a language spoken

‘Round the Earth

For those who stop to hear;

The signs exist for all the senses,

Though too seldom we draw near

Enough to slow the pace of life

To what was once intended here

When this great language of creation

Was the music to all ears.



Communicated without words,

It resonates within

The hearts and souls

Of those who seek

The source of all that is…

‘Til in that moment we perceive

And we are one with Him,

A part of legend, every one,

Spoken to exist.