Hide me, Lord
On the mountain
Of Your Love.
Place me in the cleft
Of the Rock.
Play for me
The music of silence.
Shelter me
From the storm and noise
Of the world.
©2013 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved
Tag Archives: poem
Come, O Creator
Depravity now has its day,
The festering city
Erupts to spew abuse,
First on its children,
And then on those
Who come to its aid.
Perversity mocks virtue,
Opening it’s robes,
To welcome strangers for a night,
No home, no family, no love.
Let Sin not reign,
Call out again.
Seek liberty of spirit,
Spurn license,
And licentiousness.
Love the enemy
Within and without.
All men have sinned,
All suffer,
Abused and abuser.
Come, O Creator of Man.
Come holy plan.
Fight the battle
With heavenly hosts.
Build on these ruins,
A nation that is pure and just.
Copyright 2014 Joann Nelander
Folly’s Zeal
Immodest child,
Immoderate man,
So, you think to slay dragons,
By wit and prowess,
Armed with nature’s sword.
You think it cruel
And mean-spirited,
That a “good” God
Choose to temper you,
By merciful humiliation.
He thwarts your inventions,
And plans of glory.
“All for God,” your dream,
Yet you are at the center,
With your well-chosen cross.
“Indiscreet zeal”
Immature man,
Undone by impatience,
Intemperance,
And swollen pride.
Each day God waits
Supplies the Way,
Plans a day
Filled to the brim
With humility’s simplicity.
Abandonment,
Acceptance,
Both arrow and bow,
To hit the mark
Marked out by Love.
copyright 2014 Joann Nelander
Acknowledgement:
In a chapter called, “Immature Zeal” Ralph Martin points out the effectiveness overtime of “ordinary grace” and “common life,” in his book, The Fulfillment of All Desires, a Guidebook to God Based on the Wisdom of the Saints.
Ralph quotes Sts. Teresa of Avila and Bernard to point out our folly in relying inordinately on ourselves to become holy and to do great things for God, both early in the spiritual life, and later on, when temptations are subtler.
Kindling and Sacrifice
Light a fire in my lowly heart
That I may love Thee
More and more.
Accept my straw as kindling.
Ignite me as a sacrifice.
To be consumed.
Breathe on me in the furnace
Of your desires
For this child of Your creation.
Blaze to transform
By grace and Thy Holy Spirit,
My base metal into the finest gold.
Enflame my yearning heart
That love may burst forth,
Forevermore.
copyright 2014 Joann Nelander
Vessel of Redemption
O crystalline waters of grace,
Pure outpouring of the Trinity,
Vessel of redemption,
Into which has been entrusted
The manifestation of the Son of man,
And Son of God,
Pour into me your holy contemplations
That my soul may behold the Light
That transformed humanity with your “Fiat.”
Restoring paradise to the fallen.
Ground of His Coming in the Flesh,
Visit me
Who am pregnant with Promise,
As I await the flowering
Of the seed of your faith,
Jesus, taking root in me.
O Women, my Mother,
Nurture the Word spoken to my heart,
That Love may again fulfill
The Will that caused Hope
To spring up in the soil
Into which His Cross
Has been planted.
Water me,
Who drinks
From the streams
Of your remembrances,
As I behold in my soul
The Water and the Blood.
Copyright 2014 Joann Nelander
Riding the Wind
He rides the Wind in power and right,
Born of Eternal Light.
All goodness follow in His train,
Like comet tails, falling stars,
That fire my night.
Here light upon my soul and nest,
As spirit bird, find place of rest,
Spreading feathered wing
As shelter, and friend,
To Godly bless.
Stirring, fan the embers of my love,
To blaze anew in fire from above
Transforming dust and dross,
To forge one who walks
Amongst the flame, O Holy Dove.
©2013 Joann Nelander
Be Holy! 