Darkly Here

Though I perceive myself without You,
I could not reach for You, as I do,
But for You.
Therefore You are with me,
In my waiting,
In my hoping,
In my believing.

Never alone in my great wanting,
Satisfied in my enduring,
Tomorrow felt in my longing,
Smiling with every tear.
I am of high and holy cheer,
Believing You are near,
Certain You are darkly here.

©2016 Joann Nelander.

 


			

Love Sweeter Than

Your love is sweeter than the honey dripping upon the lover’s tongue,
Sweeter than wine that wakens the palate to new delight.
Your love is aroma and taste penetrating the heart.
It is the roof growing higher,
And foundation of my world,
Glimpsing heaven and begging it near.

Your love is sweeter than my life.
It is invitation and enticement,
Known and unknowing,
Higher than happiness,
Straining to the Holy.

Your Love is the beginning and end of Life.
Falling on the world,
Drop by drop,
Yet, like a river in flood,
Endless and eternal,
The crossing of Now and Forever
Meeting in my bossom,
Drawing me free from myself,
Into You.

In Your thirst
You are all poverty,
Hungry,
And yet all supplying,
Giving and spent,
Still full in Your Emptiness.

Your Love is sweeter than this life,
Holy with promise,
You ring my heart with longing
And satisfy my depths and queries.
With Truth, You show me the heaven of Your Heart,
And bid me “Come.”

© 2016 Joann Nelander

Awakening

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

Awakening

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

Love Sweeter Than

Your love is sweeter than the honey dripping upon the lover’s tongue,
Sweeter than wine that wakens the palate to new delight.
Your love is aroma and taste penetrating the heart.
It is the roof growing higher,
And foundation of my world,
Glimpsing heaven and begging it near.

Your love is sweeter than my life.
It is invitation and enticement,
Known and unknowing,
Higher than happiness,
Straining to the Holy.

Your Love is the beginning and end of Life.
Falling on the world,
Drop by drop,
Yet, like a river in flood,
Endless and eternal,
The crossing of Now and Forever
Meeting in my bossom,
Drawing me free from myself,
Into You.

In Your thirst
You are all poverty,
Hungry,
And yet all supplying,
Giving and spent,
Still full in Your Emptiness.

Your Love is sweeter than this life,
Holy with promise,
You ring my heart with longing
And satisfy my depths and queries.
With Truth, You show me the heaven of Your Heart,
And bid me “Come.”

© 2016 Joann Nelander

The Cross and the Furnace,

I want to spend my day loving You
And embracing life as You send It to me.
Nothing comes but by Your Will,.

Not that I haven’t thwarted Your Will.
I have!
I know I have,
But even as this moment
Bears the imprint of the hammer,
That struck the nails impaling You on Your Cross,
The Cross remained Yours,
And Your All Holy, All Chosen Will,
All of Your choosing
From the beginning of Time.

You are above Sin,
Above my sin and error,
The New Adam,
Obedient to the Father,
A Trinity of Union,
In Love.

By the Will of God ,
And the hand of man,
All infraction of the Divine Will
Was nailed to Your Holy Cross.
In You, I die to Sin,
And rise to live Your Dying
In my day.

In You,
Given for Men
Given for me,
I live God’s permissive Will,
Fashioned for me,
In the purifying furnace
Of His Perfect Will.

In this new day,
I choose the Cross and the Furnace,
I choose You,
Who are forging a union of hearts,
Perfect Love loving Man,
Desiring the perfection of every man,
Loving and perfecting me.

(C) 2016 Joann Nelander