In the space between
My need –
My prayer
And His provision
There is an opportunity
For communion
With the Man of Sorrows
The Son of Man
Who had nowhere to call home
On this earth
I can enter the Sacred Garden
And stay awake for a while
With Him
While He bears my pain
And works unseen
His answer to my need
I will be changed
Deeply marked
With the fellowship of
His suffering
© 2013 Julie Clark
I must always
Find myself
Lost
In order
For you
To find me
And bring me
Home
On your shoulders
Rejoicing
In other words
It’s when I think
I’m found
Have all the answers
To everyone’s problems
My trouble begins
I lose my way
I still need you
Every day
To find me
And turn my heart
Towards home
© 2013 Julie Clark
Choices lie before me
Which path will I choose?
Will I choose a path of faith, hope and love?
Will I take the time to listen?
Will I discern the gravity pulling me?
Will I feel the ancient forces of good and evil?
Will I choose the good?
Will I ask for wisdom in the choosing?
That is my hope
That is my prayer
I’m still learning
I’m still growing
© 2013 Julie Clark
Living in
Breathing in
Two worlds
Visible and the invisible
Intersecting
Reflecting
Sometimes rejecting
The other
Light and darkness
Competing for
Our allegiance
Our loyalty
And our attention
Choose a path
To love another
Speak a kind word
Comfort a broken heart
Share meal
Pray a prayer
Forgive
The two worlds
Become one
Your kingdom comes
Your will is done
© 2013 Julie Clark
Arise O God
Come into your resting place –
Me
Holy Spirit come fill –
Me
Some mornings –this morning
Flat
A bicycle tire leaking through the night
Flat
Blank
A sheet of paper
With a few undecipherable pencil scribbles fading away
Blank
Life of God
Love of God
Fill my spaces
Contemplation, meditation
Remembering
You don’t sleep
You never leave
Your presence not dependent
On my feelings
But on your faithfulness
I’m waiting
Your waiting
Heaven touch earth again
As I pray
“Your kingdom come
Your will be done
One earth as it is in heaven”
© 2013 Julie Clark
God is present
So I come to His presence
In this present
And pray
Which is my response
To His presence
In this present
Yesterday, in-between watching CNN, I sat down and wrote a blog on building Parent/Child Connections: http://faithfullparenting.wordpress.com/ This was one of my responses to the unfolding drama in Boston. I know it is just one piece, the parenting piece, in the complex array of broken pieces in this tragic story.
Why did this happen? There is the emigrant story, the broken piece where the emigrant does not assimilate to the American culture and life. To understand this more Mary Pipher does an excellent job in her book: The Middle of Everywhere: Helping Refugees Enter the American Community
Then there is the broken piece of radical religion. How does loving God mean doing something like this? It does not. God is love and this is not love.
Perhaps another cultural broken piece is family loyalty trumping everything. An older brother influences a younger brother to join him in an atrocious act. We could find and name so many broken pieces.
It is important to work through these questions on the road to recovery. Along with this, in order to heal we need to choose our response. There is a lot of hard work ahead to do in order to heal. Will we become haters? If we choose that route we align ourselves with the same spirit that motivated the terrorists and they win. We become like them. Anger is a normal response to grief, but we can’t stay angry and let it poison our souls. We must move beyond it to the hard work of grieving, sadness, and the seemingly impossible process of forgiving. Hate, revenge, and bitterness are not the answers we need for healing. They never are. They will only destroy us and turn our hearts to stone.
Dear Boston choose the harder path of healing and recovery and you will find yourself surrounded by heaven ready to help. Our prayers are with you.
There are some days when love is challenged. Today is one of those days for many after the Boston Marathon Bombing. For some, every day love is challenged. It depends on where you live or where you happen to be when a bomb goes off or a shooter shoots. A personal tragedy or trauma can challenge love.
“In this world you will have trouble.” It’s a guarantee. There is no “bed of roses” promised. What is promised is His presence. Emanuel: God is with us.
Anyone who has seen love chosen, love in action, knows it changes things. The ripple effects of love grow wider and wider. The “pay it forward” factor comes into play and not only one person is loved but many as the ripples continue on. Love is powerful that way. But, there are days and times for us all when love is challenged. It is much easier to give in to fear, hate, revenge or hopelessness. We wonder if our world is a lost cause, or if our acts of kindness will make any difference? This is when we need to take some deep breaths and pray. Then get out there and do something good. It might be to give blood, to pray for those hurting, to release anger and fear, to forgive someone, or to just step out your front door and see what good you can do today.
They’ve been waiting
Anticipating
This moment
Ready to move
High alert
Waiting
Anticipating
The feeble prayer
Forms in the heart
Barely makes it
To the lips
If at all
A mere
Seed of faith
Commotion
In the cosmos
“She asked!
We are moving in!”
The cogs begin to turn
Heaven moves earth
Surely help is on the way
© 2013 Julie Clark
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