Tag: Love

By Your Hand of Love

And can I possibly know which way to go along this path of life?
Ah, my Beloved, it is only by your guiding hand and band of love
That I find my way from day to day without going astray,
And so I say, ‘Speak to me so I can see and be so content,’
For I am not bent on doing what I want to do, going on my own,
And drowning in my desires; no! I want the higher path in you,
For you are ever so true and your compassion is new every day,
And you stay with me and keep me from moment to moment . . .
So, can I possibly know which way to go along this path of life?
Ah, my Beloved, it is only by your guiding hand and band of love!

Hope Revived

Out from the doldrums of ordinary life joy springs
And brings hope to reign in the heart, not in vain,
Quieting the pain of melancholy with the promise
Of gain of love come from above into my own soul
Where there’s been an open hole to be filled now
By union in communion with another sweet soul,
And this man is happy that God has filled his bowl

Would I Dare Question?

Would I dare to question you when you have been so true?
When my heart was askew you blew through with passion
And genuine compassion in lieu of fathomable frustration;
And you broke the incrustation of my soul with formation
Of love and creation of peace that welled up into an elation
Hitherto unknown to me so I could see just how you cared
For me and how urgently you wanted me as your very own
With seeds of communion sown deeply
In each and every part of my own heart,
So that now how can I doubt you and you intentions for me?
Let it, then, be that I forever see your infinite love for me . . .
Would I dare to question you when you have been so true?

Walking in an Icon of Eden

The birds happily sing their morning song as glistening dew gilds the fresh green of spring. There is an early hush in the fresh air that fills my lungs as I quietly meander down the trail of nature with my own song in my heart. This is part of simply being — that is, simply to be without thinking of becoming — and this inspires a lilt in my steps.

I am part of something much larger, much grander than I could ever be in and of myself. And my soul is filled with the sensation of my Creator, in whom I live and move and have my being. We are brought close as heaven descends to touch the earth once again, and the two worlds are for a brief moment merged into one.

My thoughts flow as freely as the mountain brook, and they are good, lovely and noble. There is no room here for despondency as numinous joy fills the very atmosphere. And I would like to stay here forever, enjoying this divinely human experience, but there is the ordinary world to which I must return, yet I will return again with this memory sealed upon my heart.

These snapshot moments in life are freely given as gifts simply to be enjoyed and appreciated, and so I smile . . . I smile, for surely there will be another such morning adorning my life, and I am grateful. And it is this gratitude that will carry me along the way throughout the day. For now, I allow myself to simply be . . . to be with my Beloved in this one icon of Eden. And this is more than enough to satiate the hunger of my soul.

Prayer to the Living God

You’re untamed and wild and I but your child,
So I don’t say what I may want you to be to me,
For I’m not free to shake you and remake you;
I take you for who you are, my Morning Star,
Gratefully, not hatefully, ravished by your love,
Mindful you are far above me in your holiness,
And are blameless and shameless in all you do;
So, too, I worship you and praise you for being
Not only true but also Truth,
As well as Love and Beauty,
And it’s my duty and privilege to belong to you,
Eternal One, whom I’ve only just begun to love

Sunday Musings: An Answer to Religious Critics

You are for me all that I need for you to be,
And you are my bright and morning star,
But some cry ‘heresy!’ without any mercy
And without truly knowing you, O my God,
And they walk the sod of earth in judgment
Of what they do not understand
In demands of ‘correct’ theology,
Soteriology, hamartiology and Christology
And all of their ‘ologies’ without an apology
Like the Pharisees of ancient days and ways,
And judge books like The Shack and back
This condemnation by hand-picked citations
From sacred writ while misapprehending
Cross and tomb and bloom of resurrection
And what you mean by that sacred scene,
But you’re still to me all that I need you to be,
And you are my brightest and morning star,
Who casts off all mourning for me to dance
And prance like newborn fawn in your fields,
Which all yield an hundredfold of treasures
For my pleasure without limited measures,
And I thank you that you come to me
Just as I need to see you day by days
Without changing the nature of your ways
Precisely because you are who you are,
And no one can really mar your true image
In seeing you in and through purity of heart
In every part of their being ringing so truly
So . . . thank you, my fair Beloved! Thank you!

Salvation: Come One and All

The intrinsic nature of God is light, life and love
So that God chose to send His Son from above
To become one with humanity in His identity
So that we might be united to Him in infinity,
And the desire of God is that all be redeemed
And no one be condemned for all of eternity;
Ah! This is an expression of His constitution
So that, though some might not be redeemed,
It is not His conviction to will condemnation;
Salvation is a door thrown wide open
On the floor of this darkened world
Into which we have all been hurled;
It is left to people to choose any given day whom
They shall believe and serve and receive ransom
From darkness, sin, death if they come to Christ;
God does not shut the door to any who comes,
Though some may not but He fought for salvation
For this world He so loves from heaven above!
And this is the Good News for everyone,
Not just some select few who do come!
God is love in His nature and exceedingly merciful,
Who invites everyone to drink from the river of life,
Ending their strife in uniting themselves to Him
By the power of His Spirit, through Jesus the Christ!
Amen and Amen.

Holding On in Faith

Trying to hold on in faith to your love
Above me, in me and all around me;
Yes, you surround me with kindness
And mercy in no blindness to my soul
And the hole that only you can fill in
As I begin to live in your bright light,
Safe from all fright and blight of night,
But sometimes, my Lord, it is grueling
In this schooling of life so rife with pain;
Ah! But there is gain . . . there is gain
Even when I feel like I’m going insane!
So, I’m trying . . .
Trying to hold on in faith to your love
Above me, in me and all around me