There are just times
When beauty is not in full display
But only to be seen when hunted for
Showing through the cracks
Faith
Through the Cracks
Conflict
Time to grow again
Head for the woods for a walk
Look for the log
That fills my eye
Coming from my heart
It distorts my vision
Of the other
Puts them in the worst light
And me in the best
Help me, Father
Take this log
So that I may turn and love my brother
© 2012 Julie Clark
Grateful Reflections
In the wee hours tomorrow morning we will begin our journey home. I am tired but happy. Two months away, from where I now call home, is good for this 54 year old, mom and new grandmother. I’ve been stretched a bit, which is always a good cure for fossilization.
My overwhelming feeling is gratefulness. I am grateful to have been near when my grandson was born and help his parents in the first three weeks of his sweet life. I am grateful that there is still work for me to do here in these Asian lands where I have spent two thirds of my adulthood. To see life and growth in those I have invested has brought much joy to my heart. I am grateful to continue to work with and walk along side my partner and husband of 33 years.
The dramatic Central Asian spring bursting in color and freshness contributes to my feelings of hope. Truly life is at work in our world. Seeds push through the ground after awhile and life is renewed. The natural world mirrors the spiritual world. The Kingdom of God intersects with our lives on planet earth and life continues to burst forth. It takes some perspective combined with time to see it happen. For time and perspective I am also grateful.
Good Friday
Bread of heaven
Coming down from the Father
Giving life to the world
I take this bread
I believe in the One sent
To feed the world
The life it so desperately needs
Being gluten intolerant
It’s wise to switch from this earthly bread
Which makes me sick
I can’t digest it
No life in it for me
Maybe we are all gluten intolerant
When it comes to
Substituting
Bread of Life
For whatever we fill our hunger with
It will kill us in the end
Instead of nourishing us
And bringing
Life forevermore
© 2012 Julie Clark
Nervous in Pune
Only three things have been making me nervous here in Pune: the traffic, the dogs, and my son’s pressure cooker. My son has told me that the dogs, all though mangy, are fine.
“It’s live and let live here mom, don’t bother them and they won’t bother you.”
“Ok son, but what about this one that keeps jumping on me that is supposed to be guarding your apartment?”
“Oh, he’s just friendly, give him a knee and he will stop.”
I guess he got the message with my knee once so he has stopped jumping on me. So the dog nerves are subsiding. The traffic? I find it best on my nerves to close my eyes from the back seat and think of flowing rivers. Of course praying mostly under my breath helps too: “mumble, mumble, mumble, GOD HAVE MERCY! Mumble, mumble, mumble, LORD HELP US ALL! Mumble, mumble, mumble.” I think those nerves are subsiding as well, except I had a relapse last night when he was trying to use his CELL PHONE while zigging and zagging. Admittedly, I haven’t seen any accidents just a lot of weaving, stopping and starting. Also a whole lot of horn honking. Perhaps what looks like near misses to me are just the normal ebbs and flows of traffic around here?
There are reasons I have never owned a pressure cooker. I think my mom had a run in with one and never would have one in the house. I know it is great for getting tough meat nice and tender, and cooking rice or beans really quick. It’s just that little bit of letting off steam that really gets me unexpectedly. My son calls those whistles. It would be nice if it would actually whistle a gentle tune, not that sudden high-pitched, nerve wrecking screech. My usual response after the initial jolt is to head for the kitchen door and wait for the “whistle” to subside. I am getting more used to it now since I made a nice dhal all on my own the other day.
My darling grandson is gaining weight and getting settled into his baby routines. His Mama is healing well. We just heard our visas for Kazakhstan are on their way. We may even make our original flight on Sunday.
Categories: borderlands, Faith, Life, Travel
Tags: dogs, prayer, pressure cooker, traffic, whistles
1 Comment
Looking for the Light
It is dark and gloomy outside,
And inside for some of us.
This is my third Christmas back,
And I think I am finally getting it, about all the Christmas lights.
We need light!
We crave light!
It reminds us that there is hope,
That we will not be consumed.
It is our stand against this encroaching darkness.
Yet, somehow this darkness is our teacher.
Slow down, relax, build a fire, eat some soup, sleep,
Give way to this season of life.
Waiting is not giving up, it is an inside growing and maturing.
It is where hope gives birth to faith.
I am reminded of another search for light.
It’s about a people walking in darkness who saw a great light.
It’s about a star pointing the way on a very dark night in a very dark time.
This light is still shining and making a home in us,
Until, we are a City on a Hill,
Shining brightly and giving light for all to see.
I am also reminded to look for the light in others.
It is there!
We are all image bearers of God.
We all have light sides and dark sides.
Can we search, as in a treasure hunt, for the diamonds in others?
When all around is so dark,
It is time to shine for others who are struggling in their battles with the darkness.
It is time to lend a little more light to them.
Use our good deeds: our hands, our feet, our ears,
Our words of encouragement, and even our money.
Whichever way we shine the best.
© 2011 Julie Clark
Leaves aflame
Leaves aflame
With sun light fire
Seen through
The stained glass
Reminds me of
The night sky
Falling
With shooting stars
Falling, falling
All is falling
It is time for the earth
To renew itself again
Aided by time and gravity
Keeping it all here
The death and the dying
The brokenness and the shame
They aren’t going with us
When we fly
© 2011 Julie Clark
Gratitude
Receiving not grasping
Thanking not demanding
When I do this
It changes my heart
From self-centered, woe is me, how hard is my life stone
To warm
Glad to be alive
Gratefulness
For all I have
The beauty that surrounds me
(When I open my eyes fully to see it)
For those I love and who love me
Making room for more love and more gratitude
When I cannot be grateful for something directly
Because it is too painful and I can’t see its purpose
I can move around it being thankful for what I can see
And in the meantime my heart will expand to include more
And perhaps gratefulness for the good will dislodge the bitter weight of the evil.
It is more than looking at the world through a glass half full
What about thankfulness that the glass is half empty
There is room for more to come into that half empty glass
More opportunity to grow and to receive
Unfinished and limited am I
Yet still alive, ever-changing and growing
Ingratitude limits and restricts
Making the world smaller and harder
Pulling down into a spiraling vortex
Seeing without hope is a kind of not seeing
I will take rather the wings offered
To soar above
With the eagles
© 2011 Julie Clark
Three Poems of God as I see Him
God is
God loves
God is working through the chaos
Look back
Look beyond
Hasn’t he always been?
His reign continues
His door is open
His invitation remains
The fire has been burning
Since our first parents
Grasped what was not theirs
It burned then
It continues to burn now
Until the day
All that can be burned will be gone
And what will be
Will be glorious and pure
© 2011 Julie Clark
Call me Treasure
Call me Pearl
Sought and found
You the merchant
You the farmer
All sold
All given
Until I was yours forever.
Only now
Can I love
Because I am loved
By the first lover
Can I give
Can I live
Breathed on
With fresh life
Responding daily
To my name
Treasure and Pearl
© 2009 Julie Clark
Heartbeat of God
Ever reaching for His children
Justice and Peace
He longs to bring with
Connection to His streams of Life
His life breathes life into what is dead or dying
Reviving, weaving, creating purpose
For each new day.
© 2010 Julie Clark
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