My Lord Jesus,
As my eyes open
On a new day,
And sleep gives way,
I find You beside me.As a lover,
You, have watched me sleep.
My stirrings,
During the long night,
Were covered
As with a blanket.Chasing dreams,
I did not notice You,
Lying there upon Your Cross,
Waiting to be lifted into place.Your forbearance frightens me.
What will it demand,
When dreams abandon me,
And leave me to Your Love.Will my “yes”
Cause You to be raised
And die for me
On yet another day?What You have done,
You are doing,
And still will do.
Such is the fearful Love
You waste on me.To Love, I am a flower
Like no other.
Like one orchid,
Blooming among millions of orchids
In dense worldly jungles,
Never to be beheld,
Yet ravishing in perfection.You cherish me,
As Your image,
Which the Beauty,
Growing in me,
Though unseen,
Will one day reveal.Yes; A thousand times, yes!
I will be your Orchid this day.
All days!
You, upon Your Cross,
Me, in the world,
But not of it,
Mysteriously bound together.Pick me!
Make of me a corsage,
One solitary bloom,
Graced beyond imaging.Press me, then,
Onto Your Father’s Breast
To wear in proclamation
Of Your Life,
Spent upon a Cross,
Bringing me to Life.As this day unfurls,
As a wave offering,
Remind me of the throne
I rest upon,
Worn as a treasure
Over our Father’s Heart.By Joann Nelander
Tag Archives: God
MOMENTS BEFORE DAWN
In these precious moments before dawn
Prepare my waking body and soul
to serve You,
As You served our heavenly Father,
In Your Incarnation.
Dawning in the Virgin’s
Womb,
Hidden Divinity,
Secret, sacred, Savior,
Announced and served by Angels,
Alive in hallowed Love,
Glorifying Man in Your Mortal Garb,
You are hidden now in me.
Manifest Your glory,
In all humility,
As, yet again,
You dawn anew,
In this heart that longs for You.
copyright 2015 Joann Nelander
FATHER FOREVER
"Father forgive them they know not what they do."
Cords of sorrow draw me.
I am witness to the plight,
Man become beast,
Without wisdom or wit,
Licking his own blood,
Hungry, harrowed,
Stunned in horror.
The knots of revenge entangle,
Cry for evermore blood,
Ever more abasement,
Ever more widows,
Ever more orphans,
Ever more refuse and waste.
A crying child becomes hundreds,
Then thousands,
Then millions,
Left to wander,
Left to dissipate and hate.
Vengeance is sweeter than food,
To one who chooses to live
Without Love,
Without Light,
Without the Holy and the True,
For such is the abode of Sin,
And many the roads
Leading to its gate.
Bestial brutality,
Raging insanity,
Now reigns the malignant.
The disconsolate refuse all solace,
Wounds of the heart,
Wounds of the mind,
Wounds of the body of Man.
Look to the high mountain,
Eyes to the heavens,
Wake the long dead,
Who await the promised Banquet,
Those, who now know,
They are one Family of Man,
Divested of tribal allegiance,
Awaiting the One,
And coming, King.
Offer a sacrifice of prayer.
Pour forth the balm of Gilead.
Speak, in the tongue of angels,
The comfort of peoples,
Hope in the Darkness.
Humanity’s ties are stronger than its sins,
More numerous than the cords
That draw it down in the Dark Night.
For its One God
Is Father Forever.
Here Comes Today
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
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 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
Be Holy! 