the seed
dead and buried
slowly
throws off the decay
sprouts new life
to thrust through the soil
for air
for light
for life
becoming what it is
destined to be
flowering in beauty
bearing fruit
to nourish
all living creatures
© 2016 Julie Clark
Poetry
Limitations
I am but a part of the whole
I don’t need to
do everything
know everything
be everything
I just need to
do my part
know who I am
be who I am
As I take my place it is as if I’ve
caught a wave
found the current
flown onto the jet stream
This is a process
Not perfection
Pointed this way
Growing each day
Working and resting
Exerting effort
To become effortless
Watching
The master plan
Of my life
Intersect with the whole
Acceleration and
Exhilaration
Are the results
© 2016 Julie Clark
Good Friday
I Thirst
I gave it all
My everything
Not one more drop left
Of me to give
Empty
And now
I thirst
© 2011 Julie Clark
For the sake of the One who thirsted, let us not neglect these who are suffering today.
Categories: Faith, God, Good Friday, Lent, Life, Love, Peace and Reconciliation, Poetry, Prayer
Tags: empty, everything, gave, thirst
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Welcome Spring
Welcome Spring
Once again renew our hearts
With hope we cannot otherwise find
Unless you bloom with blossoms pink
And bulbs push up the soggy earth
Unless you conquer winter’s frost
With wind’s strong blasts
And skies that rend the heavy clouds
Welcome Spring
Renew our hearts with joy
To sing the ancient songs that well within
When sights of life and beauty overcome
Calling forth our voices
Our steps will lighten into the dance
Joining all creation as life renews itself again
This time each year
© 2016 Julie Clark
Undone
Undone
I fall into your arms
No life in me to give to you
But like the babe in mother’s arms
I take from you all that I crave
Only to find that what I’ve craved
Is what you all along have saved
To give to me
Love so deep it has no end
In your eyes I see
The hope and strength of eons gone
And paths laid straight for weary souls
Whose company
I am one
I can walk this path with you
I can stand among the stars named and numbered
I can rest upon the waters
Thrown and tossed and calmed by you
I will trust and I will see
The living lights of eternity
© 2000 Julie Clark
At Deer Harbor
Harbor grey
as the sky
Fog wisping off
the far islands
Evergreens
holding their color
Apple trees
across the road
ahead of the rest
with their joie de vivre
In full bloom
reminding us
this is the way to live
giving it all, everyday
not worrying about
tomorrow
provision of fruit
on it’s way
On the ferry
a bald eagle
showed us how to fish
from the shore
Made it look easy
with those wings
those eyes
Grateful to live near enough
to these island jewels
Summer time
they are full of
roaming tourists
from afar and
Orcas cruise the channels
Off season
has it own secrets
Quiet strength
building up
preparing for the
Glorious spring show.
© 2016 Julie Clark
Categories: beauty, Birds, Faith, Hope, Photography, Poetry, Seasons, Trees
Tags: eagle, eyes, harbor, island jewels, orcas, San Juan Islands, secrets, trees, wings
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How Good To Center Down! by Howard Thurman
Passing on a beautiful poem/meditation I read this morning from Howard Thurman’s Meditations of the Heart. In our over full, over stimulated stressed lives, this is a good reminder. Perhaps a good way to start the Lenten season.
How Good To Center Down!
How good it is to center down!
To sit quietly and see one’s self pass by!
The streets of our minds seethe with endless traffic;
Our spirits resound with clashings, with noisy silences,
While something deep within hungers and thirsts for the still moment
and the resting lull.
With full intensity we seek, ere the quiet passes, a fresh sense
of order in our living;
A direction, a strong sure purpose that will structure our confusion
and bring meaning in our chaos.
We look at ourselves in this waiting moment –
the kinds of people we are.
The questions persist: what are we doing with our lives? –
what are the motives that order our days?
What is the end of our doings?
Where are we trying to go?
Where do we put the emphasis and where are our values focused?
For what end do we make sacrifices?
Where is my treasure and what do I love most in life?
What do I hate most in life and to what am I true?
Over and over the questions beat in upon the waiting moment.
As we listen, floating up through all the jangling echoes of our turbulence,
there is a sound of another kind –
A deeper note which only the stillness of the heart makes clear.
It moves directly to the core of our being.
Our questions are answered,
Our spirits refreshed, and we move back into the traffic of our daily round
With the peace of the Eternal in our step.
How good it is to center down!
Howard Thurman
Learning to Listening
How well am I listening to the voice of my Shepherd?
Have I been searching his Word for his words to me?
Have I been watching his every move to move with him when he moves?
Am I slowing down when he does,
to stop and play with a child or
listen to another who needs my ears and comfort?
Have I stretched out my hand in healing as he does?
Am I studying his ways to match my ways with his?
Forgiving as he forgave me?
Forsaking condemnation and judgement,
while learning the art of love and compassion?
How well do I know his voice?
Enough that I do not follow the thousand voices
leading me down other paths far away from his?
How well am I listening to the voice of my Beloved?
Last Night in Boston
Fresh snow fell through the night
Washing the world again
covering all the barren trees
with a fresh cold compress
Given as a gift
to slow
to heal
to strengthen what remains
until spring thaw
when sap begins
to flow
and new life appears
in bud and blossom
Hope arises in our hearts
as it always does each spring
reminding us not all is lost
life will be renewed
again
© 2016 Julie Clark
A Little Child Will Lead You
This poem is dedicated to a little girl, (8 years old) my friends’ daughter, who befriended another little girl, a Muslim child in her class and invited her over to play and have dinner. Another morning her parents found her boiling an egg to take to school. Her friend was embarrassed about her lunch being so different from everyone else’s lunch. My friends’ little girl noticed she had a boiled egg in her lunch. She decided to boil herself an egg, so her friend would not be embarrassed. She brings me great encouragement. Peacemakers are being raised up quietly right in our midst. She gets my first chocolate bar.
When darkness gathers as winter settles in
with black clouds surrounding
what little light we have left
Hold tight to the hope in your heart
It is buried deep within
Faith, Hope and Love
will not be extinguished
…and the greatest of these is love
It is love which is the greatest
and most powerful of all
not fear, nor revenge, anger or hate
Let love ruminate and perfect
through the night, through adverse circumstances
because joy will come in the morning
and when it seems utterly impossible
…let a little child lead you.
