Unity

A piece of cloth

Is many threads

'Til brought together

By the hand of the weaver

So also many lives

Are intertwined

Into a tapestry

To grace the walls

Of the palace of the King

And none loses 

Its color or texture

But each being different

Enhances the beauty of the whole

Morning Glory

The morning glory twines its way
Untamed around every plant in the bed
Offending the sense of order in the garden
But do we not long for
A wild and untamed grace to 
Wind around our hearts and reach into
The very essence of existence?
Then the glory of God
Will twine around the destructive 
Order of our lives
And cover it with the beauty
Of abandonment.

A Good Life

There are good and bad days
Today was one of the good
Days before and days to come
Will once again be bad
But a good life is not measured
By weighing the good against bad
Rather by enjoying the good
And discovering purpose in the bad.

Uncertainty

Uncertainty,
The very word brings disquiet
And I can feel the lead weight of fear
Then I remember 
The promise of God
And I move on
Lightly burdened, unforsaken
and still uncertain
But free

A Drink

Brilliant drops of crystal

Slide slowly down the sides

the summer sun refracts

And bursts into a chorus of rainbows

On the wall

After passing through. 

The icy curve almost

Numbs the fingertips

As you raise it to you lips

And your thirst is quenched 

With a glass of ice water.

Resistance is Futile

In the middle
Of what I hate
Feeling bound to do
What I don't want
I can feel the
Cold burn of iron
As chains bind my heart
The light fades as I
Cease to resist

Then I remember
The chains were taken
Cast off long ago
They only bind when
I take them willingly
So I lay them aside with
The keeper of the light
That I will never
Need to resist

Fire and Water

Fire and water are
Opposites, they tell me
Yet I see a paradox for
Every time I drink 
From the river
Of life
A fire ignites within
My soul.

Weekend

It's time to empty my head
Open up the stress compartment
Shake until empty
Fill it up with Music
Sit back and
Let the weekend begin

Thanks

Just a kind word
A "thanks for being you" word
Not for when you're down
But when I want you to know
The place you have
In my heart

Dreams

They all drift away
One thought at a time
Like restless leaves
Carried on a current
Of forgetfulness
Then sleep overtakes
and they re-assemble
In random patterns
Called dreams

Able

Able
Able to do more
Able to do immeasurably more
Able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine
According to His power in us
So that we can do more
Immeasurably more
Than we are
Able

(from Ephesians 3:20)

Rest

It's the end of a long day
To sit and rest is all you want
A chance to ease your weary feet
But how do you rest a weary soul?
What chair can soothe a tired mind?
"Come to me and rest" the Savior gently says
Rest in my love and all is well.

Tell What You Have Seen

You don't have to be a preacher
To tell about God's love
You don't have to be a teacher 
To share what he has done
You can always tell a story
Of a place where you have been
You can give God the glory
For the miracles you've seen
'Cause the most effective sermon
Isn't on a TV screen
The best thing in the long run
Is, just tell what you have seen.

The Bookstore

The bell clanks against the door
Head ducking under the lintel
I enter the world of possibility
Eyes travel across cracked and aged spines
Opening the cover I can smell, feel and almost taste
The buried treasure of knowledge
Waiting to unfold inside my head
In an old book.

Music

Is it just....
A collection of tones
Assembled in groups
Black dots gathered up
And marching across a page
Vibrations of strings along with
Air blown through metal tubes
More than the sum of its parts
Music reaches inside
To color the fabric
Of our very souls

Camping

Ticks and mosquitoes
Sleeping on hard ground with
Roots in your back
Biscuits are burnt
Smoke is in your eyes and
Sunburned necks and noses 
Exhaustion setting in
Finally back home and then
Barely recovered and 
Plan the next one.

Transformation

Into the cocoon a caterpillar
Out a butterfly
Into the ground a seed
Out a sunflower
Into death a beaten man
Out a victorious servant of God
Transformed.

Back in town after camping this weekend, I will resume the poems today.

Sabotage

It starts so small
Just a little digging
Undermining the foundation
Then comes the stress
The timbers move
They creak and groan
Joints are weakened
The bridge collapses
Under it's own weight
All because of sabotage.
Just a lie believed.

I Remember

Help me remember, beauty forgotten
Music once heard clearly, now so faint
Help me remember, joys of childhood
The simple pleasure of carefree abandon
Help me remember, the cool mountain stream
That cooled tired feet and washed ears with soothing sound
Help me remember, sunset colors washed across the sky
Reflected glow rising like the scent of evening
Help me remember, love coming down like gentle rain
Washing away fears with sweet peace
...I remember