In my beginning,
You were there,
Constant in the throbs
That matched my own.
When I came forth
Into the light
Into the cold,
You were my warmth,
Enfolding.
Now, you carry me,
At your bosom,
I sway gently
With your every move.
Even in sleep,
As in our earlier days,
With you surrounding me,
Your rhythm is comfort,
And your heartbeat, a lullaby.
Embraced, at your breast,
I learn the dance,
Loving,
I follow your lead.
©2016 Joann Nelander
How often I beseech
“All the angels and saints”,
Yet, fail to realize
The multitude of the holy,
I call to my side.
They do come.
They come ready to aid,
To do battle,
To protect,
And do bless.
God give me eyes,
That I may see,
For, indeed,
I am, too often,
Blind.
There are wise infrared eyes,
Spying the sky.
We see our universe at its birth.
For eons,
We knew of no such birth.
Blindness of a kind
Can kill.
A child in the womb,
Heart beating for the cameras,
Still fails
To make a Presence known.
How blind the eyes
That refuse to see.
Father of all that is,
Give me eyes of the heart,
That I may
Make a start.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Give to me of Yourself
That which pleases You.
Unite my emptiness
With Your fullness,
To satisfy and delight
Our Father in heaven.
Here You are,
In me, my Eucharist,
Given for me,
Exulted, above the world,
And yet, Emmanuel,
“God with Us”.
Give grace to all
Children of the Light.
Bestow to Your own,
The Life that is Yours.
In the Light of Your Presence,
Reveal the wonder of our Communion.
Shining forth from all Your little ones,
Light a world in darkness.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
No Empty Dream
Lamenting, I quit my case.
Sorrowing, my complaints lie with me
In dust and ashes.
The plaintiff has become defendant.
I rest the case I brought against You.
What have I proven?
That I never knew You?
That I never sought You?
Counterfeits sufficed to fill my belly.
There was always another dream on the horizon.
Tomorrows pretended to satisfy my emptiness.
The chase was the gambit that became the game.
Before You showed me mercy,
You showed me Me
Not the Me of mirrors, but the Me of my heart,
That shrunken pigmy of diminishing proportion.
Among Men, there is no forgiveness like Yours.
If judged by Men, I would be meted punishment
By the self-righteously righteous,
While the unrighteous, would applaud my vice and welcome me at the hearth,
No forgiveness necessary, where sin is no sin.
As gift, the clarity of Day, dawned suddenly,
You appeared with Light as Your garment,
In Your Light I was all Darkness,
Pretense dissipated as Your Sun rose.
The world appeared not as a prize but as a wonder.
Nature didn’t dictate; it served.
The heart of mothers where turned back to their children.
And You reigned as King.
I would have fainted away,
Had not the Good Thief stood by Your side.
He smiled my way,
Eyes twinkling at the memory of his meeting You upon Your Cross.
Assurances asked, assurances given.
Simple eternal words.
Coming full circle, I rest upon Your arm,
You lift up my head and incline to comfort me.
Mercy smiles on my repentant heart,
And plans for me a future full of hope.
You Who laid the foundation of the Earth,
Plot a course for me through the Wilderness of the world.
My pilgrimage from sin to saint
Leads through Two Hearts bound by a Mystery uniting Heaven and Earth.
Birthed anew in Baptism,
Restored again in Reconciliation,
Your grace acts on me, Your grace acts in me.
All grace that waited upon my willing.
My will is now that of a child.
I follow at Your side, learning Your ways.
Your Words are my food and my fullness.
Heaven is no longer an empty dream, but a Promise.
From Your lips on the Cross, piercing my heart.
“Father forgive them.
They know not what they do.”
By ©2011 Joann Nelander
May I, the least and the last,
Who labor in Your vineyard,
None the less, bear fruit,
One hundred fold.
I dare such dreams,
And bear such hope,
For though, the meanest,
And the smallest,
Saints and angels attend me,
Together, we labor for Your glory.
Some know You explicitly,
While others simply wonder at Your Creation,
Not realizing that Creation waits on tiptoe,
Willing Your Will.
May all who implicitly perceive You darkly,
Know You in the Light of Jesus, Your Son,
The First Born of Your Love,
That even the least and the last,
May rejoice at Your Coming to claim Your own.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
All Creation waits on tiptoe for the revelation of the sons of God. (Rom. 8:19)
I AM WHO AM,
God beyond my grasp,
Outside of Time and Space,
How am I to know You?
Calling with the cry of a Babe,
You reveal Yourself,
To a people in darkness
That we may behold You.
You bring Light to my blindness.
I see in this Holy Infant,
“The Father and I are One.”,
“Whatever you do for one of the least,
You do for me.”
The heavy weight of Adam’s Sin
Is lifted as the Babe become Man,
Dies for the sons of Man.
You bring Salvation,
Good out of Evil.
I know You in believing.
I know You in repentance.
I know you in my deliverance,
And freedom to cry, “Abba”.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
Be Holy! 