Tag Archives: Faith

Arm in Arm

by

Consider the multitudes,
Throng upon throng,
Gathered across a nation,
Arm in arm.

Regard the throng,
Witness of flesh,
Standing tall,
Staring down terror and the terrible,
Arm in Arm.

A proclamation for peace,
For life, for freedom,
In the aftermath of death,
To face the future,
Arm in arm.

A call to arms:
Arms to embrace,
Arms to hold dear,
Arms to forge, in heart-felt resolve,
In the furnace of trial, tears and tragedy,
An alliance of hope,
Arm in arm.

Copyright 2015 Joann Nelander

Here Comes Today

by

Here comes today.
Come with me, all holy Angels,
As I set foot on a new day.
I take to the pilgrim’s road,

Looking to heaven,
I find God with me,
And I adore.
With kisses of thanksgiving,
With the beating of my heart,
With every breath I draw,
I am all prayer.

Life proclaims the Living God.
My life, a humble echo,
Of the Voice of God,
Resounding in thanksgiving
Sings praise to the Holy I Am,

A kiss for the Holy Trinity,
Who fashioned my humanity
In flesh and blood and bone.
A kiss, too, for my human soul,
That enlivens this lowly form.

A kiss, O Holy Spirit,
For the Indwelling,
That gifted my soul with Your Life,
That I way walk with You
All the Way to Heaven.
My footprints testify to my presence
With steps planted on earth
While my being witnesses the praise I sing
As I stand on heavenly turf.

Here is today,
Another day to bear fruit
Fit for a holy Eternity,
In the Name of the Father,
With the Breathe of the Spirit
In the Heart of the Son.

Copyright 2015 Joann Nelander

LONGINUS, SOLDIER SAINT

by

Longinus,
You, who beheld Life,
As your Savior
Hung between Heaven and Earth,
Dying on His Cross,
Your heart came alive
At the sight of the Mother’s agony.

The thrust of your spear
Lanced the heart of the Christ
And pierced your own
To let Him enter,
He, who would henceforth,
Possess you in contemplation.

His blood, falling upon weak and worldly eyes,,
Touched in you, the pagan,
Opening eyes blind to the things of God,
With the sight of the Holy.

Your life became a contemplation
Of the Dying and the Rising,
Did you fall into a sleep,
As the angels descended to roll away the stone?
Did premonitions of sacred mystery stir you,
Wakening the soldier witness soul,
To serve not merely an emperor,
But True God?

The Cassius of the Crucifixion
Died, only to open his eyes in faith,
And live, henceforth a new man,
With a story of Blood and Water,
And New Life,

copyright 2014 Joann Nelander

OCEAN OF GRACE

by

By the gracious gift of God.
You, the Invited,
Receive His Peace.
Heartbeat by heartbeat,
Breath by breath,
In each instant,
His Will comes to you,
The Chosen,
To freely choose.

Remain His by faith.
Living in His favor,
A rain of blessing falls,
To water your being,
And penetrate the ground
On which, and in which,
You stand.

You give consent,
And desire in Love,
And as a plentiful valley,
Moment by moment.
Rooted in the holy,
Sanctified by the Sanctifier,
Life and abundance of fruit,
Are multiplied in you,
And grown up around you,

Grace upon grace,
Help, healing and holiness,
Flow in abundance.
From the springing up,
To the watering flow,
Then to rush,
As to the waiting arms a beloved,
Presuming bath and baptism,
To the ingathering of rivers,
In consecration and convergence,
Love returns to the Ocean
Of its Source.

As a homecoming,
Meandering streams
Cut courses through Time.
The many become seas
To, at long last, mingle
In the Mighty Mind,
And Minder of our souls.

copyright 2014 Joann Nelander

lionessblog.com

Food For the Poor

by

Lord, make my ears
Hungry for Your Word.
Give me a living relationship
With Your Father,
Who Fed You
In solitude.

May every Word He Speaks
Resound in my spirit.
May it nourish me,
Sustaining me,
As all, worshiping the world,
Suffer famine,
For want of Faith.

With Bread comes
Health and vigor,
Power to feed others
With the Food You give me
Daily at Your Table.

I listen for Your call
I listen for Your footsteps.
I hear You,
In the breaking
Of Your Word.
Bread for the hungry world.

Garden of The Lord

by

11x14A-250 Rainbow FallsSweet Mother, come to me.
Visit my ground.
See my wild, unruly state.
Take pity,
Take time,
Take me.

In your holy vision,
Contemplate the Face of your Son,
Recreate His countenance in Me.
Clear me.
Clean me.
Cultivate me.

Come again and again and again,
Work the miracle of grace upon grace.
With hand,
With hoe ,
Sun and rain.

Make me a garden.
Prepare it by your prayer and presence.
For His good pleasure.
Plant seeds.
Envision beauty.
Raise roses.

Then on this plain of your true humility,
Raise me for His pure delight,
Here to welcome heaven,
To sing,
To play,
To dance.

Copyright 2014 Joann Nelander
lionessblog.com