Category Archives: Art

Contemplation

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I held the ocean to my ear.
I heard it speak with peaceful roar,
And, hearing, I went off,
Leaving on the shore,
The secret of His presence,
But not forgetting,
What He had said,
In that moment of Eternity,
Which is forever
Yet, not of Time.

© 2012 Joann Nelander

Gathering Flowers

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As a child,
Gathering flowers in a meadow,
I spend these hours
By your side, dear Mother.

Happily, you kiss each bloom,
I offer, playfully, to your lips.
Bunching them as a bouquet,
I press them into your hands,
And you, as mother’s do,
Press them to your heart.

Copyright 2014 Joann Nelander

Be Ready for the Infant King

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The Holy Night by Carlo Maratta

Who will come to the stable
On Christmas Day?
And what will they take away?

Wise men, steadfast and earnest, came,
Instead of palace music,
They heard the donkey brae.
A lowly sound and sight,
Yet their wonder unallayed.

Many come rejoicing,
To behold the Newborn King,
Bowing low,
While angels sing.

Christ comes for all
But not all come.
Some come, behold, then fall away,
Being rootless, they merrily go their way.

Father God prepared a voice
To announce His Only Word,
A messenger, born before, to go before.
Another child, spared Ramah’s plight
To live and pierce Sin’s long night
John, O, John, still cries, “Repent!”

Prepare if you would follow.
At Jerusalem’s Gate,
Many cried, “Messiah,”
Who would soon cry, “Crucify.”

Whose will will you do,
When the music fades in life?
Pride prides itself on ‘my way,’
Confounds with will and strife.

Without a ready, willing heart,
Nothing changes Christmas Day.
Corrupt hearts go on corrupting,
All the while the kingly Infant cries,
As throughout His life,
“I am the Way.”

Whose heart will live in yours
As angelic songs fade away.
Will you simply leave the stable
To follow your own way?

Come, O come, rejoicing!
Praying for a change.
Receive the Babe within your Heart.
Beg Him forever stay.

©2010 Joann Nelander

The #Saints Crowned in Glory

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The Saints are longing for us,
Longing that we share their glory.
No harm in such ambition,
Says Bernard.

This glory is to be spread abroad
By God’s sovereignty
And generosity.
This glory is  none other
Than the glory in which the Father
Robed His dying Son.

It is  now reflected in His Saints,
Who in life picked up their cross,
And followed  Him upon their knees.

The battle they fought on Earth now is ours.
They continue with us,
The Church Triumphant,
Pleading for the Church Militant.

Blessed are those who were poor in spirit,
Who were merciful, loving their enemies,
Who mourned and who were persecuted,
Who were pure of  heart,
And sought peace
Through the wood of the Cross.

Blessed are all those gathered
To the Father’s  bosom.
Blessed are they and generous,
Interceding for the saints,
As they look for us to follow in their steps.

Brothers and Sisters,
Radiant in glory,
Beam forth Christ.

All happiness to His Saints
Rewarded now and forever.
All glory to the Father,
The Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen!

By Joann Nelander