I’ve been an orphan now for one year and a day.
It’s not such an uncommon thing, they say.
Though all of us must have a father and mother,
We all say goodbye to them, sometime or other.
My childhood now is mine alone, and fading memories.
Can that child still be me? What is it that he sees?
Who now will keep that child from harm?
Will I ever get to go back to the farm?
Dreaming while waking
Giving while taking
Thirsting while slaking
Truthful while faking
Peaceful while shaking
Losing while making
Fixing while breaking
Painlessly aching
Never forsaking
My love for You.
The cosmic Word in glorious light appears
To speak to Dust, awakened from its fears,
Innocence, Wholeness, Peace, Relief from Pain
Are offered all who lose all, all to gain.
He speaks to Nothing, Something to bring forth
Creating Value where there was No Worth.
No refuge can there be from such a Voice;
No silence, where the song cries out: Rejoice!
How deep descending, Spirit into Form,
Angelic Presence, glorified in Worm!
How close He nestles to our very Breath.
This Life-Eternal victor over Death!
The world, and all the worlds, he loved, I see:
Sustaining all, for love of even me.
Collecting friends; that’s what I do.
Not long ago, I added you.
I’m always watching out to find
A kindred soul or sharpened mind.
At one time I was all alone,
A fortress I had made of stone,
That is, I sought my heart to guard
For friends were rare, and love was hard.
If God is real, then I must tell:
He came into my private hell;
He broke the gates, and crushed the stone,
And left me not to wait alone.
But God, more vast than sky and sea
Bestowed more kindness upon me:
He let me glimpse his boundless grace
With, now and then, a human face.
Collecting friends: That’s what I do.
Not long ago, I added you.
I photographed some flowers on my way.
I found them growing on a sunny day.
One moment of such beauty could I capture in a frame.
A dewdrop, maybe, caught the sun. I came
and knew this beauty, brief and only mine
Unknown to others under this sunshine
And so, I paused, as beauty caught my eye
Neglected beauty, as the world rushed by.
How many glorious sights along our way
Lie waiting, unseen, unnoticed, every day?
I was worrying about some things today, until these thoughts came my way:
Why should I worry the livelong day, when instead I can simply pray?
Of all the things I worry about, only two things could be true;
It’s either worth the worry, or not. In each case, what should I do?
If it’s worth the worry, then God above
will take it in with his great love,
But if the worry is not worth my time,
I can throw it away; just like this rhyme.
Thank you, Lord, for giving us
The friends we have today.
We know no greater blessing
As we journey on this way.
For life, for health, for food and wealth,
Our thanks do surely rise;
But for these lives that touch our own —
We praise you to the skies!
Slow and dark, across the sky
The cloud rolls in, its shadow spread
The damp chill in the bones, the sigh,
Unnoticed, heaves upon the sluggard’s bed.
The season winds its way to winter’s sleep.
Life drops its leaves; no need to keep
The once-beloved luxuriant dress
That welcomed summer sun’s caress.
The geese streak south to their retreat
Escaping the impending frost.
The ripened fruit, still firm and sweet
Falls to the earth, to feed its host.
Thus twilight deepens in the fading year
To rule the waiting until Spring draws near.
Lord, we thank you for this food
(We say this with no sorrow) —
May it bring strength for this day’s good,
Not storage for tomorrow.
Amen.
What time I wait
Between the push and wail
Of this quotidian race,
While someone else,
Determined not to fail,
Hurries to show his face:
This waiting time, I say,
Affords me space
To simply sit,
Appreciate the grace
That lets me be
One person, me —
At this one time,
In this one place.
In the grand scheme of things, the simple ways are best.
There is no magic word, no litmus test.
Did you believe, as best you could, that love will find a way?
Did you keep hope alive just for a day?
Did you see light in someone’s eyes?
Did you run as for a prize?
Did you keep going, just to keep your word?
Did you keep faith with friends, if not the Lord?
If you can love, then you know how to pray.
And this is life eternal, now, today.
This brief journey
the flickering, sputtering, guttering light that is our life
(our awakening, our delight, our terror, our pain,
our hope, our loss, our gain,
in which we glimpse, besmudged, through squinted eyes,
yet solid, real, bright, hard and clear,
A world whose beauty takes us by surprise
sometimes in wonder, or in fear) —
This journey,
told in days and years,
is just the merest hint
the barest glint
of a reflection
of the vast unfolding
which will lead us
to the beginning
of our eternal day.
Wanting to pay attention, falling asleep at the wheel
Is the wheel really turning, or just what is this deal?
I opened my eyes, I swear I did, just a moment ago
But visions of sugarplums dance just where there only was cold and snow.
The cold light of day, the bright morning star — what is it that blinds my sight?
How can I know how near or far I am from the end of night?
Is that hope up ahead, the light of day, a break in the clouds and rain?
Or is it instead the menacing rush of a deadly approaching train?
“Open my eyes, that I may see” — how earnestly, often we pray;
But what is the truth that my eyes show to me? Am I right to feel dismay?
I want to pay attention to the world and what is real
But how can I shake the slumber? What now do I feel?
I saw a soul pass by, and paused. Was that a cry?
Beneath the noise of argument, was that a sigh?
Stop, be still, I heard my spirit say; who know when I
Will see again this soul pass by this way?
The sighing soul, so quiet, fearful,
heard my silence, spoke
and paused,
fearing my voice would mock her pain;
I held quite still, as if to say
my presence was no joke
and watched the stillness, till she spoke again.
So gently, trembling, from the secret depths she rose;
The tender soul revealed the wounds she bore,
And let me reach, and touch, within the silence,
The beauty of her being,
Nothing more.
Living a dream, living a lie—
What shall I choose as a story?
To reach a goal before I die
Or go down in flames of glory?
The Christ who gave abundant life,
and called us all to follow
Invites to joy, invites to strife —
Which of these two is hollow?
Today, I’ll live within the scope
Of privileges royal
But may I not forget the hope
To which I have been loyal.
I carry still within my breast
The poor, the foe, the friendless;
For their sake, too, today I rest
In pleasures full and endless.
To be beloved, with childlike glee
And loving now the days
May help me still more clearly see
the great Creator’s ways.
 | Cindy Hanson on Snapshot |
 | Ezoteraa on In the rain |
 | Cheap Airline Ticket… on Why worry? |
 | A Gambler on Why worry? |
 | jiali on The fragile earth |
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