Thank you, dear Lord, for my life long,

For beloved family and friends,

And all dear hearts touching mine.

My treasure trove of souls

Spills far beyond my time

To number as my own

Those who have gone before,

Your saints of ages past,

The cloud of witnesses on high

And pure angelic beings

In realms veiled from the eye.

There never was a day

In which I was alone,

Nor forgotten

Before Your throne.

There, at Your feet,

All heaven sweet anthems raise

To set celestial hearts ablaze

My heart with choruses

Swell my love,

Grown great in gratitude.

I make a small return of love

You are All Love.

You count my debt as paid,

And bid me enter courts of praise.

My Cry, the cry of one forgiven, claiming my Savior!

How can I thank You

For Your forgiveness.

For in 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.

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 all-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 rose 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 washes and claims me,

Raises and names me.

With it, You announce

To all Creation

Who I Am in You.

My “Yes” reverberates

Through out the Universe.

I am new,

Like a star at its birth,

Bursting forth

Graced with Your Holiness,

Gifted and baptized in Your Redemption.

How can I thank You

For laying claim to me,

For Your forgiveness,

O You, Who take my part?

Your Will is now the cry of my heart,

May I enjoin Your agony,

As I beg forgiveness for my sins.

I did not know the error stamped upon my form.

Nay, deeper still,

My very being.

You reveal my need , my eternal dependence,

And I pray with You,

My cross united to Yours,

“Father forgive them.

They know not what they do.”

The sin of all assails You,

As You cry out from the pit of abandonment,

Living my sin.

Dying in place of me,

You, Who are the Father’s Mercy.

It is Your Sweat and Blood

I offer to the Father.

Hide those who have become sons and daughters of God

From His just wrath.

May those who claim You

And preach Your Word

To a world of sinful souls

Remain in You,

As You resolve the storms of life.

We cling to You to our end.

Grace us in Your Omnipotent Mercy.

We place our trust in You.

Joann Nelander

Jesus, I trust in You