Mine

Be anxious not, nor worry so,
For I dwell in your heart,
And I will calm its beating fast
With words of love and truth,
Reminding you to seek me out
As you give thanks in prayer,
That I would give you everything
Required for life and peace.
 
I am an ever-present help
In time of need for you,
Always giving all I have
To be received as free,
And even in your toughest times
If you will just be still,
I will reveal myself to you,
'Til all else becomes small.
                                       
When you perceive the love I have
For you, my child and bride,
Nothing then can trouble you           
As we walk side by side
Throughout this world I’ve overcome
No matter what it brings,
For we’re together for all time
And every burden I’ll make mine.

Disregard

When the world was younger
And the days were long to fade,
Time was in our favor
Like the promises we made
In the haste of lofty visions
Born of dreams too young to wait
While the sun that set before us
Painted colors far away
From long-expected yellows,
Replacing them with grays,
And the moon at closer distance
Offered no means of escape.

Now that life is older
And the knowing weighs us down,
Time is growing shorter
As we fumble secrets found
In the loss of hopeful reaches
Where the resignation sounds
Like the tolling of a broken bell
In which the spider's webs abound,
For we have chosen thus to hear
The tune that ever comes around,
Repeating over moments lost
The disregard that we've allowed.
 

Gone Before

Like the clouds before the storm

Prepare the sky to fall,
And like the waves upon the shore
That smooth the sand on which we walk,
As the cold of winter tells
The trees to drop their leaves,
And like the plow that tills the soil
To ready for the seed,
You go before me, making way
That I might follow where you lead.

Like the shepherd goes ahead,

Securing pastures green,
And leads the flock beside still waters,
Safe from dangers they don’t see,
Guiding like a light in darkness,
Pointing to the promised land,
He goes in front of those who follow,
Reaching back His steady hand
When all is safe to walk beside Him,
Trusting in the path He’s planned.

 

Morning Song

The mockingbird sings

Like he just saw the sun

For the very first time today,

His song carries with it

A message of joy

To the mind that was drifting away

On the seas of regret

And the winds of discord

While the heart slowly whispered dismay...

But for me he exists

That I know to rejoice

In each moment of life, come what may.

The Lone One

In the desert stands a tree,

All around it grains of sand
Shift with the wind
And come to rest
In teeming waves
‘Til its roots are buried,
Unable to breathe for the weight
Of the gusting, gathering crowd.

The tree stands tall,
Looks to the heavens
And sees above the host,
Clear is the sky it longs for
As it reaches, desperate
For the raining water of life
To calm the massive tide
Of accumulating disappointment.
 
Incapable of movement,
It lowers twisted branches
And waits for relief,
Gives up the struggle
For growth while it yields
To the need for the horde
To be masked in its shadow,
Looking toward its roots in despair.

Out of Reach

The stars are just beyond the trees,
Drawing my awareness outward,
Holding it fast with their vast promise,
And yet they are out of reach
Just like my dreams;
Ever envisioned, never touched,
For this earth on which my feet are planted
Forces me to spin within its time,
Confines the imagination to smaller things,
Demands focus on what can be seen…
Like the cat brushing its soft, black fur
Lightly against my ankles bare,
Weaving rhythmically,
Begging attention without a sound…
So the finite world distracts me
From the contemplative awe
Of reaching possibilities infinite.

Alter Ego

The alter ego takes its throne

Prepared to govern me
And soon thereafter I’m alone
In present company,
For it has deemed too great a risk
The heart that’s finally free,
Instead commanding my retreat
To safer boundaries within reach.

Deep inside a tiny protest

Tries to warn the growing heart -
The King of Silence only thinks of
Winning in a fool’s regard,
Where spoils are measured only
By the lack of casualty
And one who lives to fight again
Has postponed agony.

There is no truth within the fort

But what the King decrees,
Until one comes from outer courts
To knock deliberately,
Breaking through the Silence,
Asking that the heart be seen,
And waiting, patient, at the door
For she who has been freed once more.

 

The Real Thing

While still, I think of something real,
Something beautiful that I feel,
Begins at heart and grows from there,
Becoming something that is shared,
And in my mind I hold it fast,
Knowing that this dream will last
As long as I will walk this earth
In search of more of what comes first
Before the deeds, before the fruit,
Before the words that speak the truth,
Before the peace, before the hope,
Before the wonders I am shown,
Before the rising up above
Into a realm where all is love,
Your Spirit comes in to abide
Makes me new from deep inside,
Reveals the thing on which I dwell,
The Lord of mind and soul as well,
Existing at the source of light,
Author of the Spiritual life.

The Parable of the Walk

The Believer is likened unto a man who went for a walk.

He chose to pursue a worthy destination and carefully selected his path and pace. However, after setting out he forgot where he was headed, which path to take, and how rapidly to place his steps. He became distracted and enticed by wants and temptations that were not part of his walk. He allowed his mind to rest on the futile things of darkness. Soon he found himself tired and lost, walking alongside other wanderers on rough, steep, and dangerous ways.

Yet in his time of need a light in his heart awakened his spirit and he recalled the wise words often uttered to him by those who cared. These truths mercifully reminded him of his prior pursuit and he became grieved that he had abandoned his walk. All around him were unfamiliar faces and places and he wondered at how he had arrived here.

 
The man searched everywhere, asking, seeking and knocking on doors until he found the Teacher who called Himself the Way. The smile of His Lord and King beckoned him to follow. Secure on his chosen path again, he kept his eyes fixed on Jesus and his feet on the narrow way. Evermore he would strain towards his goal - not looking behind nor fretting - but actively learning by imitation, as a child does, how to walk uprightly.

Lost in Haze

If I could stand and watch the sky

So splendid in its motion smooth,

And soft within its billows high

To see the wonder of your love,

Then would I gaze for hours on end

To view the grand procession slow,

Observing that the birds pretend

A higher path they do not know

Though far beyond as you pass by

They linger long on sunny days,

Wishing for the wings to fly

To reach the summit lost in haze

And soar up there without a care,

The earth below a tiny field

Of flowers fading, once so fair,

For those who to the ground would yield

Forget there’s more than life down there.