Putting on love today
Wear it like a coat
Thick and fuzzy
Keeping out the cold
Heartedness
That I don’t want anyways.
Love changes the world
Love changes lives
Mine, and the one I love.
Love sees things differently
Not black and white
But, multicolored and faceted
Rich, precious jewels in each person
That only through
Loves eyes can I begin to see.
© 2012 Julie Clark
Make him known to me
This one I cannot see
It is only in reflections
Of his heart and face
That I can catch the beauty
Of his truth and grace
Make him known to me
Show me the father’s house
I hear the orphan is welcomed there
I have lost my way
All I see are bars and gates
Which keep away the stray
Make him known to me
You, given charge of
Salt and light
People of the book
Show me how he loves
Show me how he looks.
© 2012 Julie Clark
Here is what we do with shame
We wrap ourselves up in it
Like a blanket
Hiding our brokenness
Because
Somehow, somewhere, sometime
We believed we were meant
To be perfect
Yes, we were
But, we are not
Not a single one of us
We are all in this together
Yet
If we walk towards
The light
And little by little
Throw off the dark blanket
Bringing each broken place
Into the light
Then something new and beautiful
Begins to happen
We are changed –transformed
A becoming perfect begins
Not all at once
But one step at a time
Because
That light is love
And that love burns like fire
We will not die but live
And be made whole
And we will see God
© 2011 Julie Clark
You needed me
I signed up
When I said: I am yours
You took me at my word
You asked me
Will you do this for me?
Will you go?
Far away from your home?
Take this with you: my love
I said yes
Off I went
Back and forth for 30 years.
Gave it my all
Sometimes it didn’t seem like much
Or not enough
I forgot about seeds
They surprised me
Then I remembered
Where that seed came from
You
That is why the fruit is so sweet.
You spent me
Now restore me
Am I being too demanding?
Maybe
You were the one who said
Ask, seek, and knock
And keep at it
Until something happens
And what about that woman
Who badgered the shady judge
Until he gave her what she wanted
Justice
Or the neighbor
Relentlessly knocking in the night
Finally the door is open
And the other neighbor
Hands over his bread
There is something about you
Always trying to get my attention
Trying to get me to talk to you
Like a middle school boy
Playing tricks on me
Until I notice you
Or you just show up
When I am not expecting you
Saying
Here I am
I love you
Ok
Please restore me
© 2011 Julie Clark
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
Redemption
Taking broken pieces of pottery
Once beautiful in their wholeness
Now scattered in the ground
Found and gathered
Painstakingly pieced together
Into a magnificent mosaic
The Connection
Love is the strong bond that grows and tightens
Our connections with one another
It is tested frequently
And when the result is acceptance
And the choice is to continue to love
The bond becomes ever stronger
Love gives us the desire to know the beloved
To see the one loved in a true and forgiving light
This knowledge means I know to some degree
The unhealed pain in the heart
That drives the madness
We all have at times
Yet, choose again to love
© 2011 Julie Clark
Let my measure be large
Not of cake or pie
Or gold or silver
Or stocks or bonds
Or oil futures
But of
That which I give away
Of love and mercy
Kindness and peace
Forgiveness and acceptance
Then I will be like
My Father in heaven
And what could be better
Than that
© 2011 Julie Clark
“Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Jesus
Snow Day
I listen to the soft crush of snow under my boots.
The snow muffled quiet brings a much-needed peace to the frantic city pace.
Enforced rest by steep, frozen roads is a hidden reprieve to many.
Why does it take an act of nature to teach us to be still?
Why do we shun silence and rest?
Are we afraid if we stop, our world will fall apart?
Are we afraid if we stop, our long ignored feelings and thoughts will rise in rebellion once we have slackened control of them?
It is like long ago we stepped onto a merry-go-round in the park.
At first it slowly turned, but with each revolution it gained speed until now it is moving so fast we can’t get off.
What is this hidden hand, pushing us at this frantic, out of control, speed?
The snow day reminds us:
We can get off the merry-go-round,
And our world won’t fall apart.
Rest will help our minds and bodies work better.
Letting go of control is good for us. We really can’t control everything anyways.
Maybe our suppressed emotions have something to say to us, need our attention.
Maybe we won’t die if we listen to them and deal with them.
There is a good chance we will find healing.
© 2010 Julie Clark
The Great Exchange
You want this?
In your light I see
what I thought was good
To be full of holes
Like a worn out cloth
Hanging from the line.
You want this?
And what is this you offer in exchange?
A radiant purity that I cannot achieve.
A gift you say?
But I cannot release my filthy rags
Unless I move from my smug self-centeredness
To the center of that red-hot core
Called love.
How is this possible?
I will die at that core.
Yes, and live again,
Twice born.
Clothed in that radiant purity
You attained for me.
© 2007 Julie Clark
Fear
Fear has stocked me from childhood.
Like a restless tiger, it waits to pounce on its tired prey.
I’m done with it.
Realizing any fear leads back to the fear of death.
What’s so bad about dying?
It’s the only way out of here at present.
Out of here and into there.
Not that I want to rush things.
But in my time I to will follow my ancestors and every other man, woman and child before me.
I am facing that tiger and saying, my life is in stronger hands than yours.
I believe
I am beloved
And that Love that loves me is stronger than death.
© 2010 Julie Clark
Love has time
For summer music
Playing magically
Like moonlight
Bouncing upon the night
Love has time
To wait
For blossoms in their buds
To spread forth into the light
And say “I am here in all my glory”.
© 2009 Julie Clark
Like a mustard seed
Planted in a garden
Grows to be a haven tree
For birds to perch and sing
For weary souls to rest
I want to be.
Once I was a hungry bird
A love-sick bird
A weary traveler
On my way.
Many gave shelter
And set the table for me.
Now I can spread my branches
And take some of the heat
So the broke down can rest
A spell in my shade.
© 2010 Julie Clark
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