Tag Archives: Christian

The Lord’s Joy

by

The Lord’s joy
Is my strength.
He persuades my heart
By gentleness.
His mercy is a fountain
Of inner mirth,
Springing up in all seasons,
To temper my sorrow,
To pour oil into my wounds,
To salt my friendships
And to delight the Father,
Who sees me
Running after His Son,
And dancing with David’s abandonment.

May I be the dimple
In Your smile,
Appealing as the uplifted arms
Of a child,
And the innocent sleep
Of a baby.

Gladness be my swaddling,
That You may
Impart to me
The power the weak
Have to touch
The Heart of God,
Accepting always
His Loving will.

Copyright Joann Nelander 2012

Purity of Heart

by

There is only one heart so pure,
As to remain demure,
One life lived in blessed union
With Your Own.
One so holy
As to share Your throne.

Solomon, in His wisdom
A type of Christ,
Rose from his kingly chair
To seat his mother
By his side,
Thereby made clear
Her stature in his sight,
Made queenly and motherly ruling
Her right.

Queen Mother, most pure and holy,
By the Father ‘s will made New Eve
To the New Adam, His Son,
You, Spouse of God,
Of flesh and blood,
Share in the rule
Of David’s Promised House.

When courted by the Holy Spirit,
Your “Fiat”,
Made you One,
To bring forth
Holy Son.

 

Copyright 2012 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved

 

Sounds of Yesterday

by

Sounds of yesterday play hard against my soul.
Voices shouting through the years,
Silenced as rain upon the shoal.
Sounds of yesterday play hard against my soul
As pillowed sobs still take their toll.
Nothing so hard to bear as tears.
Sounds of yesterday play hard against my soul
Voices shouting through the years.

©2012 Joann Nelander

Sorrow In the Midst of Joy

by

In the midst of joy,
I bear many sorrows.

For the perfection
Of the Trinity’s All Holy
Work of Love,
I place my longing,
My yearning,
Next to your perfect sorrow.

May my cries
Pierce your Immaculate Heart,
O Holy Mother,
As you behold your Son,
In His Dying.

What good can come of sorrow?
You, Queen Mother,
Who sit enthroned
Beside His throne,
Sharing the sweetness
Of Love’s fulfillment,
Know,
And count it all joy.

The One Son,
The One Christ,
Bears Mankind,
As He bore the Cross.
Savor the shed tears
And offer them,
As you did your own.

I await the morning,
The bright dawning
Of Love’s true laughter.

©2013 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved

Awakening

by

You stretch before me
In wondrous expanses.
Where are your limits, O Lord?
Where the measure
That contains Your domain?

The ethereal sky,
Hugging the mountains,
Kissing earth,
And spilling love across its plains,
Proclaims a God of beauty.

Hidden,yet revealed,
In the minuscule and mighty,
You peer from clouds
That radiate streams of Your glory.

You walk the waters,
Stride across mountains,
Blow like desert sands,
Seamlessly knitting terrain,
Texture, color, and contour
In organic harmony,
To announce Your Presence.

A world of darkness
Awakens each morning,
From its chrysalis,
As hope and promise courts
The sons and daughters of Man.

Quarried, cut and polished,
A darkened crystal,
Receives Your Light.
The soul of Man,
Focuses Your splendor,
And by grace,
You shine out in creations’ purpose.

Your Just Sun, O Father,
Crosses the great divide,
To shine on a “no one”,
And “no people”
To stretch before the angels
The measure of Your Mercy.

Copyright 2014 Joann Nelander

Joann Nelander
lionessblog.com

You, Before the Altar

by

Opening my eyes
And lifting my head
From my prayer,
My eyes fell upon you,
My friend.

Your steady gaze
Fixed on the naked Savior,
Your arms crossed
Over your breast
And you,
Lost to this world,
Spoke my prayer.
You, in iconic stature,
Embodied my heart’s cry.

Bowing my soul,
I turned within
To pray with clarity
In humble poverty of spirit,
With Faith’s certainty,
The Lord had heard,
And smiled on my desire.

Rising with my closing “Amen”,
I looked
Only to find your place
Before the altar,
Now abandoned,
Yet the holy sight is seared
On my impressionable spirit.
It lingers still.

Your gifted presence
Shall long capture,
And hold fast
The essence of being
At which I hope to arrive,
In the tabernacle of my heart,
As in pleading it resounds.
Anchored to an image
Of prayerful adoration
Living in my mind’s eye.

My God be adored,
And Your children
Forever graced.