Jesus, enter the waters of our lives.
As at the Jordan,
You made holy
The water of Baptism,
Renew, in all men of good will,
Life, that flows from the God of Heaven,
Your Father, our Father, my Father.
May Your Holiness
Infuse the elements,
That compose all created things.
By the Water,
Cascading from the Temple,
Your pierced, open, and hallowed Side,
Prepare here a place for all men to abide.
Amen
Copyright 2014 Joann Nelander
Here I am hoping,
And willing,
Thy kingdom come.
Come now in me
With Thy loving,
Perfecting and forgiving.
Look on me,
Who am imperfection,
Straining my poor hand
In hoping supplication.
Turn your glance
Upon my soul.
Made in Your image.
Settle in my heart
As though it were
Your own mother’s womb.
Flowers of joy,
Peace and love,
Grow in humble ground.
copyright 2014 Joann Nelander
Jesus, I place myself
In the holy confines
Of Your Sacred Heart.
Heart of my heart,
Draw heaven to me.
Surround me with friends
Of Your choosing,
That my mind might be full
Of the conversation of saints.
The world is so much with me.
It is temptress and shallow.
I long for the deep
Of Your thoughts,
To speak peace and refuge
In my wilderness.
You are the haven of my soul,
The Paradise once lost,
But now given
With my Daily Bread
Exile holds no fear
For You surround me.
You are my consolation
And marrow of my bones,
Strength of my strength.
Your Holy Spirit comes to me
And turns my tears to laughter.
In a valley of vanity and pride,
Your Humanity and Humility
Take me by the hand and heart
To lead me home.
©2012 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved
In Time,
Yet above it,
Beholding Past, Present and Future,
Christ, look upon my fore-bearers,
Still alive by virtue of an immortal soul.
Look upon my world, spinning in Space,
Held in its journey through Time,
By Your Father’s Almighty Word,
Destined for Judgement,
Bequeathed Mercy.
Look upon me,
In my time,
In my place,
On my journey.
My Jesus, Mercy.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
I am daughter.
I am heir.
Through the First Born Son,
I inherit a Kingdom,
For I am in Him and of Him.
My Baptism, a gift of Grace,
God is alive in my soul,
Me, dead to Sin,
Die in Him,
To live in Him.
I rise to Life,
New Life.
©2016 Joann Nelander
Alfred Lord Tennyson/Wikipedia
This poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson seems very appropriate for the New Year -the Advent New Year beginning today.
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.Ring out the want, the care the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
Be Holy! 