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.
Good Friday
Categories: Faith, God, Good Friday, Lent, Life, Love, Peace and Reconciliation, Poetry, Prayer
Tags: empty, everything, gave, thirst
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Maundy Thursday: Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You trust in God. Trust also in me. (Jesus) John 14:1
What about when violence seems to be in the water we drink, in the air we breathe, the rule of the day? What about when lives of children are taken without a second thought, gunned down on beaches, in airports and by drones taking out whole families? When a president of a private christian university encourages students to arm themselves and take out people of a different religion?
How do we live in these days when politicians skew all decency and accusations fly through the air waves thick with fear and racism?
Do we pull back and hide, stockpile goods and arms? Protecting ourselves and a few others perhaps? I seem to recall One saying “if you choose to save your life you will lose it”.
This terror, this fear is like a vortex, spinning out of control, if you get too close to it will suck you in and down.
There is another way. It is a way that refuses to lump people into categories of other, evil, enemies, or sub- human. It chooses instead to pray for, to bless, yes even love our enemies. It chooses to reach out across barriers to the other, the one who is different, has a different hue to their skin, or language on their tongue or culture I do not understand. It chooses to seek understanding and to bridge the gap rather than build another wall.
This is the path of peace, the way of love, the road to life.
Here we are today Maundy Thursday, approaching Good Friday, before we can get to Easter. What lessons are still here for us to learn as we see Jesus throw off his robe, tie a towel around his waist, pick up a basin of water, and wash his fearful, doubting, even betraying disciples’ feet? This, a precursor to what was to come the next day. He laid down his life for all. He calls us to follow Him.
“Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called children of God.”
There is a way through these times. One deep breath, one step, one prayer, one cry, one embrace at a time. It is a humble path and no one is saying it is easy. Is it possible? Well, what is impossible with man, is possible with God. Let’s choose this path of peace instead of participating in the destruction of our planet.
Categories: Faith, God, Good Friday, Hope, Lent, Life, Love, Peace and Reconciliation, Prayer, Uncategorized
Tags: children, fear, life, love, Maundy Thursday, path, peace, planet, politicians, pray, president, racism, religion, trust, violence
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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
Lenten Post #4
Remain in Me
Keep in step
Keep in touch
Take my hand
Don’t lag behind or rush ahead
No lolly-gagging or reckless driving
Stick with Me
Close to Me
Stay connected
Abide in me
Walk with me
Every day
Every hour
Every minute
Breathe me in
Like your breath
Breathe me out
To another
Don’t slough me off
Disregard me
Close your ears
When you get tempted
Or enticed
Don’t veer off to the left
Or the right
Take a detour
Or a short cut
Don’t get caught in an eddy
Don’t get stuck or left behind
Double your efforts
To rest in me
Fill your thoughts
With thoughts of me
Love me
I love you
Let my love flow in you
And out of you
Come back for more
There’s always more
You in me and I in you
And this is what it means
To live a life
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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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Something New
(This poem is dedicated to the Arts Team at the Seattle Vineyard)
Learning
something new today
Thank you
for inviting
prodding
just a little
to get me started
to whet my appetite
that perhaps
I could
create something
beautiful
with my hands
with the help of
paint and canvas
paper and scissors
You could have
kept your talents hidden
or only allowed
the professionals
to join the fun
instead you threw the doors
open and
invited us all in
to join
the joy
of creating something
beautiful
I think
there are many
budding artists, singers
musicians, writers
etc.
out there that only
need the nudge of
encouragement
and invitation
to get started
on opening up
new streams
of joy in
their lives.
© 2016 Julie Clark
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
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