Tag Archives: Prayer

Portal to Eternity

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If the past has a portal,
I take up the blood of the Lamb,
And apply it to its door-posts,
And lintels,
That it cry out for this sinner,
That the Angel of Death
May pass me by.

Cry for me, My Beloved,
In my night,
That the past,
Now cleansed,
Open in Your Heart
The door to heavenly Eternity.

Cry, my Beloved,
To plead mercy on my history,
Bring newness of Life,
In this cleansed space of being,
New Creation,
A heart and soul after Your Own,
Henceforth and forever one.

© 2014 Joann Nelander

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My Will and Testament – a Prayer

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O my Lord, God Almighty,
Rule on the throne of my life.

Set right,
Set straight,
Set at peace,
Subjugate all within my sphere.

All that I have,
All that I desire,
All that I am,
I will to You.

© 2014 Joann Nelander

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Listening and Silent

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It seems…
I am always talking to You,
That I am always with You,
And have no doubt
You are with me,
Listening and silent.

I am an endless monologue.
You, hovering Spirit,
Wordlessly eloquent
Abide.
You are Presence and Truth,
Listening and silent,
Thunderously silent,
Save for the stirring of my heart,
And the sometime rush of thought,
Coming, as it were,
From the bowels of my being
With frightening conviction,
And challenging my reticence
To speak aloud
The thoughts of solitude.

Reluctant always
To go about,
And leave the cloister of my heart,
Where in Your chambers I find,
And hold dear,
Private audience with the King,

The world without is a noisy charade,
And woos the pride of me take center stage.
Where suddenly I realize
I have been talking much, too much,
To my regret.

I, naggingly, suspect
I have diminished
What was my treasure
And ceased to learn.
Cacophany of me,
I cease to learn,
And simply rearrange,
That with which I am familiar.

Where do prophet, poet and a would be recluse
Find voice if not in You,
Rejecting even audience
To find You in my silence,
Your silence?

©2012 Joann Nelander
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The Art of Growing Up – My Lent

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Matt27_29_JesusFallBeneathTheCross

“If you spot it, you got it!”

It’s common for folks to notice the faults of others, perhaps missing these very attributes in themselves.  Psychology calls it “projection” .

It may be the person I can’t abide simply reminds me of me.  Perhaps in praying for him, a passing angel will polish away my flaws, a two for one in the realm of  abundant grace.

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Angel Story

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Fr. Wolfgang Seitz printed one of my personal angel stories in the Opus Sanctorum Angelorum Lenten circular.  We can all benefit by being more aware of the love and care God has for us, especially when we pray and honor our guardian angel, so I thought I should share it with you, as well:

 Years ago my husband and I were in a movie theater engrossed in the movie, when suddenly I was inspired to pray, so I did. The feeling was so unexpected and strong, I stopped watching the screen, closed my eyes and turned my attention to prayer as I felt directed to do. Then I had peace and wondered what that was all about.  

 When we returned home, my, then teenaged, daughter couldn’t wait to tell us what had happened. She said she was comfortably seated in an easy chair in the family room, reading a book. Then phone rang, so she reluctantly got out of the chair to answer it. As soon as she was out of the chair, a large and heavy sound unit that had been on the highest shelf in a built in bookcase, fell onto the every spot she had occupied just seconds before. 

 The light came on for me and I immediately understood why I was prodded to pray. My daughter and I remember this incident with thanksgiving to the angels to this day!

©2013 Joann Nelander

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Cry of One Forgiven

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How can I thank You
For Your forgiveness,
For that moment,
In which You scattered
My accusers,
And took my part?

As I looked up
From the mud of my despair,
Your majestic countenance
Was all.
You loomed before me,
Brighter than the Sun.

Who could have imagined
Such grandeur?
You wore holiness like a crown
That more than circled Your brow.
Rather, it emanated,
As light from Your Being,
Announcing Who You are?

Only humility can receive You,
And dare Your gaze.
For Your Eyes
Pierce the soul,
Revealing all.

Only those crying for a Savior
Dare look up,
To confess with that glance
Their fault and nakedness,
Helpless and all pleading.

Only the thirsty
Can drink in the majesty
Of Your knowing.
For pride is the travesty,
That hides,
For fear of revelation.

That moment shattered my fear
And rent the clouds of all my life.
Taking proffered Hand,
I rise to my feet
Then, as now, again,

Light embraces me
As my rags fall to my feet.
In their place
Love has woven a mantle,
A robe of Being,
That more than clothes me.

It is a signal grace,
That names me,
With it, You announce
To all Creation
Who I am in You.

My “Yes” reverberates
Throughout the Universe.
I am new,
Like a star at its birth,
Bursting forth
With Your Holiness;
Baptized in Your Redemption.

How can I thank You
For Your forgiveness,
O, You, Who took my part?
Go now,
In search of my accusers.

Copyright 2011 Joann Nelander

 

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