Loving You

I am with you,

As One Who has always loved you,

Loving you as you began your life’s journey

To the kingdom of Heaven,

Your true home,

Loving you all the days I have appointed you.

Loving you unto dying and your death,

Loving you as the breath of life.

I have played upon the strings of your heart,

So that you would hear My music,

Even midst dissimilitude and dissonance.

Let not the unbelieving of the world,

Let not discordance and strife of flesh,

Let not the deceiver of Men,

Draw a curtain before your eyes.

Fix the gaze of your soul upon Me,

Here in your heart,

I reign, holy and at rest,

Upon the throne

At the center of your being.

Do Me homage

As you arise at the break of day.

Bow before Me

With the rising of each sun.

Dance with Me,

Following My lead.

Cry with Me in the sorrowing.

Plead for sinners in their fall.

Lend the hand of prayer

To uphold the weak and weary.

You journey as one

In the One Who is All Love.

Peace, My child.

Peace and refreshment,

Here at my altar.

I polish and perfect you,

That you may be

A monstrance of humility,

Fading from prominence,

As I send out my splendor

As grace and blessing.

All is gift to the one

Who receives with the seasons,

Yielding to the winds that blow upon the soul,

Welcoming the water of spring rains,

And the summer torrents,

Allowing blankets of snow

To still you in repose,

Awaiting new life, My Life.

© 2015 Joann Nelander

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

TAKE CARE

Pray,
Take care
Who you turn away.

Give thought,
And ‘haps a listening ear.

In truth,
The heart of God
Beats in the beggars breast.

copyright 2015 Joann Nelander

The Robe

Lord of the centuries,
Knit, of our pain, the knots,
That mysteriously arrange themselves
Across our days.

Guide, by unseen fingers,
Each little pearl,
To form a cloth
Alive with Your Golden threads,
Infinitely more than happenstance or tragedy.

Each strand of Time a mystery,
Bathed in trial and tears,
Yet rich in Awe,
Resplendent in Beauty,
And the gracious beneficence
Of sacrificial love.

Whole cloth,
Woven into a seamless robe,
You don in majesty,
Humble and meek in triumph o’er our graves,
As Life welcomes to the Banquet,
Our souls, now clad in bodies,
One with Your Own.

© 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

Just One Glance

Although, I have been resting
In Your Most Sacred Heart,
Safe in Your holy embrace
Throughout this night,
You has been waiting for this moment,
When my eyes open,
Hoping I would look at You,
And return Your loving glance.

© 2014 Joann Nelander