Prayer

Composed 8/27/17
Description: n/a

Oh Lord
Please save me from a narrow mind and a limited perspective
As You are the only one who can truly know another
I am unable to appreciate the intricacies of any other’s situation
I am only permitted to live inside this one skin
To view the world through this set of eyes and process stimuli
Though this one, routine tilled mind
I cannot feel the sensations of another’s heart
Feel the burn of pain or passion in their veins
So save me from saying
I understand flippantly in conversation
For I know I never could
Compel me to remember…
To always listen before I speak
To earnestly seek to understand
And to use my own voice only in support of others
To give credit where credit is due
And to respect the boundaries that have been placed
In response to oppression and stripped identity
And I pray not only for me
But for all like me
As we are all tempted and blinded by demons and
Seductive voices that whisper of the convenience of superiority, ignorance, and hate
I pray
That we will all remember Your teachings
And be open to receiving Your perspective so
Your love and acceptance may permeate all of our interactions
And most importantly I pray that all who find these words
Will see them as a plea made in sincerity
That they
Will confront themselves as they ponder this request
As these words are not just pretty things
But a reminder that Your word challenges them and challenges me.

Advertisement

In Memoriam

Composed 6/13/16
Descriptions: For the Victims of Orlando.

How can there be a sunset
When there is such a pit in my heart?
You nailed it into me
And it festers and grows
Fifty ghost bullets
Fifty real holes in me
They leak endless tears
And I have a brackish taste
Of how God feels when we hurt one another
So the sun goes away
And God sends us fifty thousand stars
And aurora to mourn

Battleground

Composed 5/5/15
Description: This is what you get when you read Frank Peretti I guess.

Is it angels or demons probing my mind tonight? I feel as if there are words that need to be spoken, rhythms and rhymes that must flow from my mind. It craves release.

But do I long for pride? Or does the Spirit nudge my pen to action?

My mind jumps from topic to topic. Why can’t I nail down the urge? Do demons cling to weigh down my wrestling? Do I listen to the calming voice of distraction? Does the Divine suggest mistake?

The Presence is so inside me. It is not here in this room, beside. No, the struggle is so clearly in mind – the battleground most oft trodden for me.

Is my conviction ill-fated? A nasty snip rather than a constructive flow? Perhaps I’ll never know.

But there is a fight, somewhere. Perhaps I’m only scratching the outside layer of the fight. I am not educated, confronted. Not yet. This is only the preparation, the training. Only moving in unconscious.

Who is my Teacher? I hope to be wary of demons, deceivers. Be with me, Lord, if not already. Help me see.

For Love

Composed 4/30/15
Description: A prayer.

I know what you hope for me
To respect your life, relinquish
I’ll try to stand in quiet reserve
With this, my final wish

Yes, they’re my beliefs
But it’s your soul
And you’re a true friend
So it’s hard to let go

That choice will never be mine
I just pray that you’ll try to seek the divine

Forgive me if I pester
Forgive me if I fret
I long for your eternity
I pray for peace at death

My love for you burns like a scorching summer sun
But one day I hope you’ll see
My love is not the brightest one

Confidence

Composed 4/28/15
Description: Fallen off the NaPoWriMo bandwagon a little bit. (Late nights with friends get in the way of writing sometimes.) However, I intend to make it up!

With some things I write, I feel there is something distinctly musical about it… This is one of those pieces.

I could drag you home in irons, babe
I could sell myself a god
I could work and flirt and twist you up
With a silver coated tongue
You’d forget your name and play my game
Days and weeks of fun
But you’d be used in the end abused
Myself a hollow, bitter love

Got to keep my eyes onto the skies
Not rolling down your spine
Keep my lips a drip with love
Not lies that falsely fill me up

Doing all the wrong things could get me far
But it wouldn’t get me anywhere
I won’t lose my pride
I won’t lose my soul
I don’t need sweet words to make me whole
The only way to happiness
Is a soft and sure quick confidence
The comes from heart and sky

The Point

Composed 4/11/15
Description: For Day 11 of NaPoWriMo. This one was inspired by a Bible study I am currently working on. Really helped me understand this so much better.

If there’s a plan
If it’s all just carved in stone
Then why bother?
If all my movements are predicted
Every choice known and mapped
What difference will it make?
We can press our heads to the floor
Let blood pound in our ears and hands
Can it
Will it
Change His mind
If the book’s already written?

Probably not.
That’s not the point.

The point is the process
An option of opportunity
To participate
To become one
We contribute
We are a part of the miracle

We rest our feet
On Daddy’s shoes
He leads
He steps
We are a part of the dance
And like a dancer
We feel joy

The Center

Composed 4/8/15
Description: For Day 8 of NaPoWriMo. Interestingly, this is also my 200th poem! Wow! I never thought when I started this blog that it would inspire SO MUCH writing, but it really has! Hope you enjoy this special milestone poem, which, unsurprisingly, prominently features rain. (You know what I’m talking about, Midwest!) Seriously, though, I love the rain, especially because… well, you’ll see.

You may deny it with your dying breath
But you have heard God’s voice
He commands with every thunderclap
An authority that silences, humbles, and awes
He is the pitter-patter of rain on the windowsill
That comforts and lulls
The wind that howls and whispers
To refresh or to chill

How can you not believe?
When faced with nature’s power
For life
For death
How can you not feel small?
In someplace you know
He’s the center
The voice of it all

Forgotten

Composed 2/15/15,
Description: Wow, is it the first day of Blogging U’s “Writing 201: Poetry” already? Well, I suppose it seems a bit earlier for me; you see, since I am located in the mid-west, I get these assignment a few hours before the “official” day-of. But I am definitely excited to get started!

Today’s assignment combo is water/haiku/simile, which made me happy enough! I am, of course, no stranger to haikus (e.g. a, b, c, d), and, in fact, my most popular poem ever is a haiku!

I was struck with an idea rather quickly. Likely, this was heavily inspired by the Bible study I was working on when I received the assignment email… And, for me anyway, it is still Sunday, so I guess it’s appropriate that my water-themed haiku with a simile is spiritual in nature…

The puddles ripple
In my wake but like God they
Soon forget my steps

Magic

Composed 1/20/15
Description: This came from a discussion I had with a friend.

He was talking about how some people believe Dungeons & Dragons (which I’ve recently started playing) is anti-religious/Christian. It made me think of several years ago when people were saying the same thing about Harry Potter. In both cases, these thoughts are not only untrue but completely backwards. You can create very holy/religious characters in D&D (which could symbolically represent Christians), and Harry Potter has wonderful moral and spiritual themes.

People just need to stop treating “magic” like a bad word. Isn’t the Narnia series, the most beloved Christian-allegorical series, chock full of magic? Isn’t the whole idea of God alone… well, magical?

You say I’m playing Satan’s games
But I see golden stags through the trees
Distant realms between their borders
I see magic in the stars
And that seems like heaven to me

The Candle

Composed 11/2/14
Description: The story about how I had no job one Sunday but I did the next.

I lit a candle
and
unknowingly
provided the light for the end of my tunnel

I lit it with hope
but no expectations
and it floated past seven suns to the heavens
where He dropped sunbeams
for me to follow