Lent Poems, Page II

2/19/05
It is in times like these that I do not know what I should pray for. Spirit, intercede for me with groans that words cannot 
express. And I shall kneel as I did when a child and pray. Dear God, please make it so that everything is alright. 
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

[Romans 8:26]


Someday this body will be but a pile of bones. But I—I will be unchanged, except for the better.


I surrender, Lord God. Make me a vessel and channel of your righteousness.


Here is my prophecy, and it is easy to understand.
In the end, everything will turn out better than anyone ever dared to hope. By the grace of God.


2/20/05
Oh my people, delight yourself in the Lord!
Rejoice in the beauty you see around you,
The fellowship you enjoy with friends,
The breeze in the tree branches,
The food that fills your stomach,
The music that thrills your heart,
The colors that dazzle your eyes,
The knowledge you acquire and the skills you learn,
The happy feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day,
The sweet expanse of sleep.
If you delight yourself in the Lord
And recognize his works,
Living in the ways He meant for us to live,
Not only will He give you desires of your heart,
But the more you will find
That you have these desires already fulfilled.

[Psalms 37:4]


2/21/05
I do not like to be weak.
	Who does?
I am ashamed to cry before others
I am ashamed to fail in their sight
I am ashamed to be insulted in their presence
I am ashamed to be weak.

But if God’s power is made perfect in weakness,
If when my own false lights dim, His may be more plainly seen,
Then to be ashamed of my weakness
	Is to be ashamed of Christ!

It is no shame to concede to the victor,
To give honor to one who defeats you,
To surrender to your rightful monarch.

Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven:
I surrender my soul to you,
So, I surrender each hour of my life, as well.

[2 Corinthians 12:9, Matthew 6:10]


2/22/05
We do not fight Galadriel’s long defeat.
We know not how each battle will go,
But we are certain of how the war will end—
Our God will stand victorious over evil,
And the prince of darkness will lose his power forever!
And there will be one instant—
One beautiful, unlooked-for instant—
When we will hear, far off,
The sweet, golden tone of the Last Trumpet,
High and lovely as the sunrise,
And we will be changed.
What kind of body we will inhabit then, I cannot tell,
But it will be more glorious than that of any elf!
And each one of God’s precious children
Will stand in victory,
Garlanded in light.

[Refers to the feeling of epic poetry in Tolkein's Lord of the Rings, where Galadriel refers to the battle with evil as "fighting 
the long defeat". Galadriel's name means "maiden crowned with a radiant garland"]


2/23/05—Prov 16:32—Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.

Oh, your deeds may be mighty, strong warrior,
But they were contemplated in anger and executed in fury.
You may have accomplished much,
But you embarked on the quest with an improper heart,
And so your deeds of such renown will come to nothing.
Those who praise you now will scorn and mock you.
They will say, It would have been better if he had never done those deeds—
Better for him to have been killed in the onslaught
Than to have captured the city and brought doom upon his compatriots!
Our passions are not wicked,
But they can lead us into wickedness.
It is better to take cold counsel and inquire of the Lord
Before any great undertaking.
It is better not to capture the city at all
If the Lord wills it not.
To temper one’s passions, to rein in the snorting horse of one’s rage,
To be patient before the Lord and to think before you act—
This is what will gain you your true and lasting renown,
Oh thou soldier of God!
Then, not only will you conquer others,
	But you will have conquered yourself.


2/24/05
It is not so hard to understand that there are things in this world we cannot see.
Whenever I glance in the mirror,
I am constantly surprised by what I see.
I never recognize myself!
There is always an instant when my mind says,
Who is that?
And then I recognize the image, and I think,
Why, that’s not what I see behind my eyelids at night!
That can’t be me—the inside does not match the outside!
And an even worse shock,
When I hear a recording of my voice!
That is simply not what I sound like.
So if a girl can look in the mirror
And not recognize her reflection,
And hear her echo
And not recognize her own voice,
How hard is it to believe that there is a spiritual world, as well as a physical one?
And when I see my reflection, or hear my echo,
My constant reaction is that of surprise.
Why should this be,
Except that I once was or will be again,
In a physical body that I recognized?
I have lived in the physical world for as long as I can consciously remember—
I should know by now that my reflection wouldn’t match my thoughts!
But my constant surprise declares otherwise.

We are terribly surprised at the passing of time, as well.
What can be concluded but that we were once accustomed to have it just be?

A sharp person once said,
“Whenever people say, ‘Life isn’t fair,’ I’m always tempted to ask,
‘Compared to what?’”

Ah, my friend,

	I know the answer to that one.


2/25/05
Your word contains the ineffable—
	and the familiar as well.
Thank you for your heavenly love—
	What a friend we have in you!
But thank you also for friends on earth,
For those we can touch with these earthly senses you have given us.
Thank you for lifting up our hearts in your arms
And for giving us friends to pull us to our feet when we fall.
Thank you for warming our hearts—
	And for giving us friends to hold us in their arms.
Thank you for defending us,
	And for giving us friends to watch our backs.
Thank you for the ineffable—
	And thank you for the familiar.


2/26/05—Is 43:8
Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,
who have ears but are deaf.

You called me by name. I am yours!
I won’t fear—you have paid my bail.
When I travel through oceans of emotion,
You’ll go with me.
They will not go over my head.
When I travel through dangerous situations,
I’ll be perfectly safe.
You would trade whole countries of evildoers for me—
With all their riches and glory!
I am priceless and honored in your sight,
Like a young bride in white—
And you love me so!
You would trade the lives of many for mine—
A greater love than the epic romances of old!
I don’t have to fear, because you’re always right beside me.
Whether I’m coming from Juno or from Quito,
From Japan or from L.A.,
You gather all the diverse parts of me,
You gather together all my friends and loved ones.
You tell the frozen north to let us come,
And command the south not to detain us.
All your daughters and all your sons—
	All of us!
Every one of us you called by name,
Every one of us you create din the beginning for your glory,
You are our father; you are our bridegroom.
We bring along those who have seen, but did not realize,
Who have heard, but did not understand.
And me—
	You called me!
	Even though I was so blind,
You said I was honored in your sight!
Even now I am blind and deaf, but you still call me forward,
	I will have a secure place in your mercy.
When you have acted, no one can reverse is.
Oh Lord, I am blessed forever!
	For you are without time.
				Amen!

[A rewriting of Isaiah 43:1-13]


2/27/05
The more I live, the more I realize I don’t have all the answers.
Thank you that I don’t have to have all the answers!


2/28/05
People of New York—Praise the Lord.
People of Los Angeles—Praise his holy name.
Praise him, Canada, Sing to him, Puerto Rico.
Hawaii and Alaska both call on his name,
Greenland and Tierra del Fuego are brothers in his service.

He can catch a bullet in mid-flight
Or still a virus forever.
He can hold an airplane in the sky
And raise a submarine from the depths.

He knows the passage of every jolt of electricity,
And the ways of electrons are familiar to him.
For he created them; he set their laws in motion.
Praise him, scientists,
	For without him, you would have nothing to study!

His wisdom developed the trunk of the elephant
And his hand shaped the teeth of the shark.
Kilimanjaro is his footstool and Everest his throne.

He dips his fingers in the Pacific
And pulls the tides of the Atlantic.

Saturn’s rings are his work,
His work also the moons of Jupiter.
The milky way is his belt
And the horse head nebula his ornament.
The secrets of the black hole are well known to him,
He speeds light on its way and tosses time after it.

This is why we fear the Lord,
This is why we shun evil,
This is why we love him so,
This is why we rejoice in goodness.