Some are about loosing
(weight or bad habits)
Some are about gaining
(wealth or a spouse)
All about changes to make in the year
Yet how much do I control
What happens to me?
Surely my choices are factors
In the matter
But I truly believe
All things considered
That the most important change I can make
In a year
Is what comes from my heart
And works itself out
in the way
I treat others
(And that is including
myself)
© 2016 Julie Clark
Happy Thanksgiving to all! May our hearts expand as we give thanks today!
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…
View original post 66 more words
Reblogging this for Thanksgiving!
There are times
When what is required
Is a love so strong
So stout and unshakable
That it is beyond what my heart is able
This is where my heart
First needs to be the sponge
To soak up from the Source
All the love directed to me
And this is a great and eternal love
Unlimited
Then and only then
Am I able
With my expanded heart
To reach across
The glass shard broken relationship
In desperate need of this healing force
© 2011 Julie Clark
I did not know
How broken I was
Pride and fear
Were walls to my wounds
It took fire
From living in China
To burn down the walls
The fire of suffering
Being a foreigner
Learning two languages
Not knowing the basics
Of life and culture
Feeling like a failure
Everyday
Miscarriages
Heckled and harassed
At times
Then I saw the great
Pools of pain
Waiting to be drained
With my tears
And healed
By the ever
Persistent fire
Of God’s love
We wrestle with God
And He with us
Long enough
To get our arms
Around him
And his around us
Long enough
Not to destroy us
Or burn us
But to bless us
To heal us
We learn his name
And our new name
Telling us truly
Who we are
© 2016 Julie Clark
Wrote this last June. Feels very appropriate for now.
Lifting our eyes, just in time to see the eagle soaring towards us and then turning away.
Silently above us, searching for fish.
It caught one down the beach and began to break it’s fast.
How many times have I only caught a glimpse?
How many times have I missed it all, head down, worrying some problem in my mind, not present to the moment?
Yet, the eagle is there, as are all the other messengers, whether I see them or not.
But, what joy, when I am expectantly scanning and searching for those messages sent my way.
Today it was an eagle and a seal and an extremely low tide.
It was meeting Michael from DC with his two young boys who reminded me of my grandsons.
It was Debra with her hairless dog making us laugh.
It was Munira, fighting cancer, out for some fresh sea air. We…
View original post 34 more words
We like sheep? This phrase kept running through my mind this morning after only a few hours of sleep. Not the smartest of animals. Following each other into dangerous places. Over cliffs, etc. The question now is how far is the fall? Time will tell. Will electing someone who is proud of assaulting women, makes fun of the disabled, clearly ethnocentric and narcissistic, racist, a war monger, fear monger, a liar and a cheat (have I forgotten anything?) have any consequences? Of course it will, but what they will be we have yet to see. “When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding.” Anyone remember this verse from Proverbs before you voted?
My world seems less safe today than yesterday. Yet I cannot give into fear. I have to practice what I preached on Sunday: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled, don’t be afraid…” I remind myself today of the Way of Jesus. It is a long pilgrimage of following him and practicing his ways. Which are so very different from the ways of this world. It is a way of doing good, not being overcome by evil, but overcoming evil with good. It is a path of peace, where peacemakers, the humble, the poor, the pure in heart, those hungry and thirsty for justice, the meek, the merciful, those in mourning, and yes the persecuted are all blessed. It is a way of forgiving and being forgiven. It is the way of loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves.
Thank goodness and thank God advent is just around the corner. Maybe some will search their souls during this season and align themselves with the Good Shepherd and his ways. It will help as we encounter the consequences of our choices. Maybe listening to Handel’s Messiah will help us get through some of this darkness. I’m starting early – today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmeyG5LlFWU
Here’s some sheep verses in case you are interested.
Isaiah 53:6
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Matthew 9:36
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Mark 6:34
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
1 Peter 2:25
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Start small
With steps towards
Good and beauty
Towards life and healing
Otherwise
You may find
Discouragement and
Disillusionment
Tagging, unwanted
Along
You may find
You don’t have
All you need
Lose hope
And not finish
Start small
You will add
Piece by piece
To what you have
Wondering where did
It all come from
Whether it be word
Or color or brick or paint
It won’t matter because
It will be there
To fit into the place it goes
And you will see
Unfolding before your eyes
(Maybe not exactly as you thought!)
The dream, the plan,
The drawing, the house
The life
finishing in all it’s glory
© 2016 Julie Clark
This world is breaking
My heart
I can hardly breathe
Let alone write a poem
Something with a message
Pointing toward hope
This world is breaking
My heart
Not the first time,
Not the last
I am not the only one
Most are in anguish
This world is breaking
My heart
Who can we turn to
Who has words of life
Who has love
Stronger than death
© 2016 Julie Clark
Lifting our eyes, just in time to see the eagle soaring towards us and then turning away.
Silently above us, searching for fish.
It caught one down the beach and began to break it’s fast.
How many times have I only caught a glimpse?
How many times have I missed it all, head down, worrying some problem in my mind, not present to the moment?
Yet, the eagle is there, as are all the other messengers, whether I see them or not.
But, what joy, when I am expectantly scanning and searching for those messages sent my way.
Today it was an eagle and a seal and an extremely low tide.
It was meeting Michael from DC with his two young boys who reminded me of my grandsons.
It was Debra with her hairless dog making us laugh.
It was Munira, fighting cancer, out for some fresh sea air. We blessed her and prayed for her healing. She said God sent you to me today – the first day of Ramadan.
It was connecting with strangers who become friends, building community in our neighborhood.
A fresh new day arrives
To discover
To explore
To be awake
To be alert
For signs and wonders
Will the breeze carry the whisper
Or an eagle soaring above
Will a salmon leap for joy
Or a child laugh with glee
Who will bring a message today
I never know
Until I open my eyes and ears
All senses tuned
Waiting
Will it be the notes of a song
The wagging tail of a dog
Will it be in a dance with my sweetheart
A kind word from a stranger
Will it be a longing in my heart
Pulling me
reminding me
as I examine sacred texts
That I am loved in this world and
my name is known
In another world
Another dimension of pure
Love and light
Piercing through
Here and now
© 2016 Julie Clark
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