How sad is Man?
He values the rare,
Exults the extraordinary,
Crowns the celebrity.God, on the Other hand, proliferates.
He calls good all He creates,
Dignifies life by His Love,
And Humankind by His Incarnation.For want of goodness,
Man may usurp the place of God,
Seat himself
Upon that lofty throne.For the want of love
Man may throw life away,
Too small, too young, too needy
Too dependent to matter.How sad is Man upon his throne?
He beats his chest,
And declares his liberty;
Forgets his neighbor, chooses self.How sad is Man,
Unencumbered of diety,
His own god,
And lord of all he has stolen.Yet, God dignifies his defiant creature.
God respects the time of Man,
And give His Goodness
Sway over Holy Wrath.Out-side of Time.
There is only the Eternal.
In Time, mind and Man are matter-dependent,
Sustained in rhythms tuned by the Creator.When Time is rolled up
With the stars, like a scroll,
And fire devours all matter,
Where will the spark of Man exist?While living, Man chooses,
Until Death declares
All he has chosen final,
The Star of Hope extinguished.O Man, gladden the lot of Men.
Your eternity begins in the Heart of God.
You are rare.
You are extraordinary.Celebrate the Lord, Your God!
Copyright Joann Nelander ©2011 All rights reserved.
Archive for prose & poetry
Throw Away Life?
Posted in My Journal with tags christianity, Creator deity, God, Incarnation, Jesus, Prayer, prose & poetry, Religion & Spirituality on April 3, 2011 by JoannLenten Whispers
Posted in Catholic with tags Christian, God, Lent, Prayer, prose & poetry on March 31, 2011 by JoannYou who eat to gladden your gut,
You who indulge to comfort the flesh,
Come to a true banquet!Rejoice your spirit,
Give joy to your soul.
Fatten your prayer on faith.Let words ravish the Heart of God.
Even words unspoken, but burning in your heart,
Call angels to your side.Quiet the world, by stepping apart,
Still your flesh in earnest fast,
Widen the breath of your praise.The majesty of God inclines to your lips.
For it is He, Who has promised.
Whisper and He smiles.Copyright Joann Nelander © 2011 All rights reserved.
Cry of One Forgiven
Posted in My Journal with tags forgiveness, Jesus, Prayer, prose & poetry, Redemption, Relationships on February 19, 2011 by JoannHow can I thank You
For Your forgiveness,
For that moment,
In which You scattered
My accusers,
And took my part?As I looked up
From the mud of my despair,
Your majestic countenance
Was all.
You loomed before me,
Brighter than the Sun.Who could have imagined
Such grandeur?
You wore holiness like a crown
That more than circled Your brow.
Rather, it emanated,
As light from Your Being,
Announcing Who You are?Only humility can receive You,
And dare Your gaze.
For Your Eyes
Pierce the soul,
Revealing all.Only those crying for a Savior
Dare look up,
To confess with that glance
Their fault and nakedness,
Helpless and all pleading.Only the thirsty
Can drink in the majesty
Of Your knowing.
For pride is the travesty,
That hides,
For fear of revelation.That moment shattered my fear
And rent the clouds of all my life.
Taking proffered Hand,
I rise to my feet
Then, as now, again,Light embraces me
As my rags fall to my feet.
In their place
Love has woven a mantle,
A robe of Being,
That more than clothes me.It is a signal grace,
That names me,
With it, You announce
To all Creation
Who I am in You.My “Yes” reverberates
Throughout the Universe.
I am new,
Like a star at its birth,
Bursting forth
With Your Holiness;
Baptized in Your Redemption.How can I thank You
For Your forgiveness,
O, You, Who took my part?
Go now,
In search of my accusers.Copyright 2011 Joann Nelander
The Fall
Posted in Catholic, Christian, My Journal, Poetry, Prose & Prayer with tags Adam, christianity, darkening of the intellect, prose & poetry, Religion and Spirituality, sin, The Fall on February 11, 2011 by JoannChains ethereal bind my soul
Confusion clouds the pathways of my reason
Who could have guessed the menace
It was over in a moment with hasty but firm decision.
Subtle flirtation turned a dance of dalliance.
Trojan welcomed without caution.
Grace dismissed with contemporary flair.Reality now comes in many colors
Shades of gray,
A balancing act to fit the season.
Nothing’s black or white,
Anymore.Who could have known the cost?
Who would have called it betrayal?
Yet, I had chosen.
I ignored the Voice,
All appetite,
And caressing desire.Somehow I knew
There would be a price to pay
But how it would feel,
And what it would be,
Floated in some mist,
Too easily brushed aside
With the feeling of shackles,
Weary old taboos;
So, Adam devoured the apple.Handle it, I could and would,
Just later…
Now, was for me.
Later, for regret.
A logical scheme.
It worked for me!The deed
And the darkness descended,
One following the other.
Night fell like a mantle on my shoulders.
Where the joy?
Where promised pleasure?
Where my once bright countenance.I lifted myself to myself,
Sad at the pillage
Visited upon my soul,
I am alone,
Alone, but for my thoughts,
Thoughts, that, too, accuse you.The world feels different today,
A bit more cloaked,
As with a secret,
But, I assure myself,
All’s well, the same.Waking in another Kingdom
I draw back the curtain:
Without, a sky stripped of it’s stars,
Within, only black,
No sun of clarity,
No heart of love.I can no longer trust
That dawn and morning light
Will follow in sure order.
Yet, somehow, I fear they might.
It must be me who changed?I lingered in this abyss,
Fearing the permanence of my loss.
No stigmatizing letter branded,
For the absence of shame,
But my wax had melted,
and molecules rearranged,
Hardening, misshapen.Drinking in the Truth,
I could not swallow
The gall of repentance.
Pride, like a master craftsmen,
Fashioned my demise
Tightening his chain about my heart.My life, my life,
It’s my life!
I raged at unseen angels.
‘Til falling back upon myself,
I licked my wounds.
I donned a mask of merriment.Then, one foot after the other,
I dressed for the world.
No one, I assured,
No one would notice
My fall from grace.Copyright Joann Nelander
Love’s Return
Posted in Religion, Spiritual with tags love, Prayer, Prayer and Spirituality, prose & poetry, triolet on January 28, 2011 by JoannMoved by Love, my Love,
How do I make return?
Struggles press, take hold of.
Moved by Love, my Love,
Power proffered from above
Too requisite to spurn.
Moved by Love, my Love,
How do I make return?Copyright Joann Nelander
(experimental triolet)
Let Me
Posted in My Journal with tags christianity, Jesus, Lost, Prayer, prose & poetry, Religion & Spirituality on January 6, 2011 by JoannLet me be the Star that guides.
Let me be the Voice crying in the wilderness.
Let me be the Brother that leads a brother.
Let me be the Mother bidding
“Do whatever He tells you.”Let me be tears upon Your feet,
Let me be anointing oil.
Let me be a cloak that hides your nakedness.
Let me be the prayer of the Blind Bartimaeus:
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”Let me pray with You in the garden
Let me draw a spiritual sword by Your Side.
Let me help you carry Your Cross.
Let me weep with You for the Fallen and the Lost,
Lamenting, “.. you would not be gathered.”Let me feel with Mother Mary
Let me cry out like the Magdalen.
Let me, like the Centurion, recognize You in Your Dying.
Let me sit beside the Angel at Your Tomb.
“He has risen, He is not here”
By Joann Nelander
From A Saintly Friend
Posted in Prayer & Prose with tags christianity, Jesus Christ, Prayer, prose & poetry, Religion and Spirituality on January 6, 2011 by JoannMy Child,
Praise be to Jesus Christ.
He is our Anchor.
He is the High Tower
He is the Lamp that shines in the dark.
He is the Light that dispels all darkness.
He it is that brings us to the safe harbor.Rough seas, storms,
Thunder in the night,
And the tumult of the deep,
All serve, our Great King.
Fear nothing that comes to you.
You have a champion in high heaven
And ministering angels about you.See with the eyes of your soul.
Remember: “Greater is He
That is in you,
Than he who is in the world.”Rejoice that you are His,
And that you are weak and small.
The great can not see
Their need for a savior.
You know your need,
And you know your Savior.By Joann Nelander
Charles de Foucauld
Posted in Catholic, Christian with tags Charles de Foucauld, christianity, Desert priest, Gospel, Prayer, prose & poetry, Religion and Spirituality on January 5, 2011 by Joann“My God, if you exist, make your existence known to me,”
Never having seen the stars of glory,
‘Til encountering them in You.
A mansion of grace without walls
Sheltered him in desert wastes.
The good in his heart was God.He was a monstrance
His life was Gospel
Preached by a beating heart,
On fire to win man for God.He lived preparing to die.
He expected martyrdom,
And lived in happy anticipation.
Desert priest and brother of all,
Pray for us,
Who still don’t see the stars.By Joann Nelander
The Call
Posted in Catholic, Christ, Christian with tags Christ, christianity, Christianity for Seekers, God, prose & poetry, Religion and Spirituality on January 5, 2011 by JoannThere is a Call on your life.
Have you heard it?
A harmony of happiness and joy.
Yet, pain in good measure.Joy for the worldly,
The giddiness
Of pleasure,
Like a purse with holes,
Emptiness,without treasure.Deep and abiding joy,
Mark the Call of God.
Like a song played
In the Darkness
To herald the Light.The fearful man,
Unwilling to love,
Afraid of loss,
Gobbles life.
Heedless, peace-less,
Fearing to miss out,
His way becomes a ploy,
Losing the Eternal in the bout.A call embraced,
Won’t shield you from mistakes.
Rather impels us onward,
Love covering a multitude of aches.Perfection left to our Lord,
Prudent, not perfect,
Polished only in your dyings.
Dying and rising, the rhythm of a Call.Rising to the challenge of Christ,
“Be perfect as I am perfect,”
His Call, pruning and repenting,
Perfected only in your Christ.By Joann Nelander
