I long to be in the company of angels.
I long to be touched by the Holy.
I long to shine with the heavenly.
I long to be transformed by grace,
To be washed anew in Baptismal Waters,
And be lifted to kiss the Face of God.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
I long to be in the company of angels.
I long to be touched by the Holy.
I long to shine with the heavenly.
I long to be transformed by grace,
To be washed anew in Baptismal Waters,
And be lifted to kiss the Face of God.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
Advent is upon my soul.
Divine gift of season,
I listen for the cry of a First Born Son,
Begotten before Time begun,
And fleshed in the Virgin’s womb.I come to her,
Who is the Ark,
Your Mercy Seat.
Kneeling beside her
In these pregnant moments,
I lay my head upon her lap.Her wonderment and awe
In steadfast contemplation,
Inspire angels’ songs.I hear their reverent voices
In my night.
Their chorus bids me come.
Come to the stable of simplicity.Leave the noisy city for a deserted place,
The Wilderness whose hidden way
Leads to the waiting manger,
Now, in expectant readiness,
For the Food that will feed
The hungry world.My Advent prayer:
Come, O Holy Infant!
Come to my straw!By Joann Nelander
Shepherd of my Soul
You are looking for me.
What else would a Shepherd do?
Here I am waiting for You to find me.
All the world can not satisfy a heart made for heaven.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
Advent Contemplation – The First Heartbeat
In praise and thanksgiving for the first beat
Of the Sacred Heart of Him
Who was born,
Savior and King.
As today, new life is conceived,
And secreted away in a woman’s womb,
Known only to God in darkness,
As its rhythms begin a song of praise
Ever so silent.
Then, the moment of joyous awakening,
A singular throb sends a resounding shiver
Through amniotic waters,
Alerting angels of one more heart
Ready to join their chorus of hosannas.
Sounds full of thankfulness,
A eucharist of being and becoming,
Ever so sacred,
To the glory of God.
copyright 2014 Joann Nelander
Joann Nelander
lionessblog.com
On an ordinary day in Paradise,
Into a world created to glorify God and Man,
Adam introduced just a smidgen of sin.
Merely, a peddle, Adam thought,
Hardly enough to weigh on a cosmic scale.
In the grand scheme of Time, and Space,
The cosmic sea quaked.
In ever increasing concentric circles,
Shock waves carried an echo,
Reverberating, through all that is matter,
Shouting, “Me”.
On an ordinary day, dreaming of Paradise,
In a world created to glorify God and Man,
Man hides in the evening stillness.
Mercy walks about offering forgiveness.
I smile in my “niceness”.
Still in denial,
I make a show of all the good things I have done,
While all Creation simply waits on tiptoe
Praying for the revelation of the sons of God.
Loving You
I am with you,
As One Who has always loved you,
Loving you as you began your life’s journey
To the kingdom of Heaven,
Your true home,
Loving you all the days I have appointed you.
Loving you unto dying and your death,
Loving you as the breath of life.
I have played upon the strings of your heart,
So that you would hear My music,
Even midst dissimilitude and dissonance.
Let not the unbelieving of the world,
Let not discordance and strife of flesh,
Let not the deceiver of Men,
Draw a curtain before your eyes.
Fix the gaze of your soul upon Me,
Here in your heart,
I reign, holy and at rest,
Upon the throne
At the center of your being.
Do Me homage
As you arise at the break of day.
Bow before Me
With the rising of each sun.
Dance with Me,
Following My lead.
Cry with Me in the sorrowing.
Plead for sinners in their fall.
Lend the hand of prayer
To uphold the weak and weary.
You journey as one
In the One Who is All Love.
Peace, My child.
Peace and refreshment,
Here at my altar.
I polish and perfect you,
That you may be
A monstrance of humility,
Fading from prominence,
As I send out my splendor
As grace and blessing.
All is gift to the one
Who receives with the seasons,
Yielding to the winds that blow upon the soul,
Welcoming the water of spring rains,
And the summer torrents,
Allowing blankets of snow
To still you in repose,
Awaiting new life, My Life.
© 2015 Joann Nelander