Grace is given but not always felt.

I feel this separation today,

keeping me apart from you,

knowing You are close but unable to sense You?

 

If You can but touch my heart once, I Am fulfilled.

 

 

Gospel of Luke

“ ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded
if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”

We can look to a father, who will care for us always;

keeping a fire burning in our souls, ignited by baptism,

glowing, however dimly on a dark day.

 

Ready to catch fire the moment a wind blows on it as we pass by,

unknown but eternally present.

 

 

 

 

Romans

“He is our father in the sight of God,
in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead
and calls into being what does not exist.”

Toiling without resentment,

They celebrate each day as a day of privilege,

one where health and grace is granted to serve others,

bringing interior happiness by the plateful.

 

And closeness to God.

 

 

 

Gospel of Matthew

“The greatest among you must be your servant.”

I am a watcher by the stream,

longing for the cool, clear water to refresh me,

yet I cannot enter, for fear of where it will take me

dissolving my will

losing my status

giving in

to a journey and a path I cannot control.

 

So many others line the stream,

friends, others I don’t yet know, watch it, mesmerized it seems

by the sound of water and the eternal nature of its path.

Still I stand, now noticing all around me,

all transfixed on its path.

 

After some time, years or maybe seconds,

I suddenly jump in and find myself taken,

first scared as I am carried without a guide through white waters

in a seemingly uncontrolled ride.

 

Then suddenly, I am protected,

and the coolness turns to warmth as I enter the river.

And a sense of oneness overcomes me.

I feel the divine as God enters my soul

as a light ravishing me,

I continue to dissolve in His presence,

illuminating cold and empty places I dwelt moments before.

 

For all is now forgotten as I drift along an ever-slowing river.

Noticing others around me,

a communion of like souls drawn together,

as a salty taste fills the air,

we near the ocean of love.

 

The ocean where each drop makes it mark,

fills it role,

makes the taste that is God Himself,

as this ocean is His, as we are His.

 

At last together.

 

 

 

Drifting alongside the souls in the ocean,

Some see each other clearly,

others with a dim light,

some not at all.

Not obscured by murky light,

rather unclear vision

wearing self-made spectacles.

 

Only God can wash us of our impurities,

filtering us in waves on the seashore,

glistening in a summer sun for a moment

only to return to His ocean of love,

drawn back uncontrollably with beauty.  

Here is our resurrection.

Dying you destroyed our death,

rising you restored our life.

We have died (to self) and are restored,

Now, only the soul remains. Peace reigns.

 

We are complete in Him.

 

 

Gospel of Matthew

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

 

Everyone seeks truth, perhaps to their own means,
not always for the good of others,
Perhaps to do myself better, and no direct harm to others.

This road is paved with problems,
many unseen, some avoided with care.
Sooner or later, perhaps never, thoughts turn to discover the truth.
The truth which is God.

This is not a door to be opened with the keys of beliefs,
that man can accomplish all by mere thought of God,
or even rote prayers separated from the heart.

Love alone can open this door.

Gospel of Luke
“The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed;
nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’
For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.”

I pray to listen not with ears, or eyes,
or a distracted mind, but only my heart.
I long to bypass thoughts of selfishness,
or judgment, and leave them on the doormat,
and open the doorway to the soul with clean feet.

Then I practice a “Continuous Amen”
striving for a true and just response to God’s dealings with my soul.

Amen.

Gospel of Matthew
“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.”

Ocean of Love – Parts I and II

I am a watcher by the stream,

longing for the cool, clear water to refresh me,

yet I cannot enter, for fear of where it will take me

dissolving my will

losing my status

giving in

to a journey and a path I cannot control.

So many others line the stream,

friends, others I don’t yet know, watch it, mesmerized it seems

by the sound of water and the eternal nature of its path.

Still I stand, now noticing all around me,

all transfixed on its path.

After some time, years or maybe seconds,

I suddenly jump in and find myself taken,

first scared as I am carried without a guide through white waters

in a seemingly uncontrolled ride.

Then suddenly, I am protected,

and the coolness turns to warmth as I enter the river.

And a sense of oneness overcomes me.

I feel the divine as God enters my soul

as a light ravishing me,

I continue to dissolve in His presence,

illuminating cold and empty places I dwelt moments before.

 

For all is now forgotten as I drift along an ever-slowing river.

Noticing others around me,

a communion of like souls drawn together,

as a salty taste fills the air,

we near the ocean of love.

 

The ocean where each drop makes it mark,

fills it role,

makes the taste that is God Himself,

as this ocean is His, as we are His.

 

At last together.

 

 

 

 

Gospel of Matthew

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

I am a watcher by the stream,
longing for the cool, clear water to refresh me,
yet I cannot enter, for fear of where it will take me
dissolving my will
losing my status
giving in
to a journey and a path I cannot control.

So many others line the stream,
friends, others I don’t yet know, watch it, mesmerized it seems
by the sound of water and the eternal nature of its path.
Still I stand, now noticing all around me,
all transfixed on its path.

After some time, years or maybe seconds,
I suddenly jump in and find myself taken,
first scared as I am carried without a guide through white waters
in a seemingly uncontrolled ride.
Then suddenly, I am protected,
and the coolness turns to warmth as I enter the river.

And a sense of oneness overcomes me.

Gospel of Matthew
“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Walking up the steps an attentiveness comes over me,

the words into them, the stone crucifix on the wall at the stairway’s summit,

and carved doors, replete with symbols and the craftsmanship of a carpenter.

Now aware and present, I draw breadth for a moment.

And a heavy door calls to be opened, to enter His sanctuary.

Walking up the steps an awareness comes over me,
the words written into them, the stone crucifix on the wall at the top,
and carved doors, replete with symbols and the craftsmanship of a carpenter.

A heavy door calls to be opened, to enter the sanctuary.