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
The path of love
Gets tangled at times
With weeds of
Irritations and frustrations.
Addressing the under brush
Clears the way
For the real
Choices to grow
In love again
This garden does not grow
Without my attention.
Planting new seeds
Watering, weeding
And plenty of sunshine
Of course.
What does love need
To grow again
Today?
I must ask myself.
I love how
Love grows love
When I love
My beloved.
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
Let me go here once in a while
Not often or too long
Only we mothers know
What we could have been
Had we been whole
What we missed
When we weren’t there
Spoke too soon
Or not enough
Over protected
Or neglected
Too harsh
Too lax
Too busy
Too tired
We know
So let us alone
To grieve for a while
I promise
I won’t stay too long
Or I might drown
I won’t medicate it
Numb it or
Meditate it away
Instead it’s good
To face it
Then super grace it
With God’s love
Move on
There are more
Children, teens or
Young adults
To love and care for
If not my own
Then another mother’s
We need each other
We mothers
We don’t have enough
Of all we need
For this job
© 2013 Julie Clark
I am in the middle
Of a long walk
With God
A journey
A pilgrimage
From those ahead
I receive these assurances
“Yes, it gets
Sweeter and sweeter
His face
Becomes clearer
His love
Thickens the air”
I have already
Tasted
That thickened air
And I give those same
Assurances
Back down the path
Behind me
A few warnings as well
Watch that curve
Slow down and rest
I have crashed right there
And stay clear of that
Mud hole
I was stuck there for a while
Don’t give up
It’s worth the climb
Green pastures
And still waters up here
The view is spectacular
The air is sweet
© 2013 Julie Clark
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.
When the church became a building
She forgot her founder’s call
She chose instead brick and mortar
to build herself a wall
The doors she built
Locked some out, others in
Proclaimed who was holy
And who was still in sin
She lit the candles
Said it was time to pray
Blew out the lights
Now time to go away
She is made of salt and light
Her stones, they are alive
You cannot keep her in a box
If she is to going to thrive
Her glory is far greater
Than four walls can hold
She is to be a city
Shining bright as gold
She is to be a healer
For weary, lost, and sore
A comfort to the broken
And oh so much more
When the church became a building
She made a room for strife
When outsiders didn’t fit her mold
She crushed their heart and life
Church you are not a building
You’re Christ’s body and His bride
You’re His hands, feet, and heartbeat
The love He cannot hide
© 2013 Julie Clark
Abraham
Pleaded for mercy
For a city full of brokenness
I hear voices today
Calling for judgment
Jesus said:
Don’t pull up the weeds
Wait
Wait for the end
When everything is ready
Otherwise
You will pull up the wheat
With the weeds
Who is wheat?
Who is weed?
We don’t know
Time will tell
Things change
People change
There is always hope
Lets stop judging
Or we will be judged
Maybe
When we judge
We are pulling up wheat
After his resurrection
Jesus said:
You follow me
Don’t worry about anyone else
Perhaps
If we concerned ourselves
With ourselves
In this way
There would be
Less strife and judgment
More love
And peace on earth
© 2013 Julie Clark
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