Lifted Up, I Am Drawn

Lifted up,
You hang above the world.
Your outstretched arms
Measure the breath of Your Love.

How great the distance between us,
Yet, greater still,
Your unquenchable thirst for me.

I am a child, a lowly one,
Troubling you, yet, and always.
I tug at the hem of Your garment,
While You tug at my heart.

Lord of my hopes,
Lord of my longing,
Lord of my sorrows,
Lord of my weeping,
Ruler of all Time and Space,
You draw me to an Eternity in Your Embrace.

At Your Table

Here I am at Your Table.
I am all need.
I am all pleading.
I am all receptivity.

Here I Am before Hope.
I am sorrow.
I am grief.
I am empty.

Here I am before Your Throne.
You are Love.
You are Joy.
You are mine.

Thanks Be to God

For what am I thankful?

How about, that I am.

Yes, I am here,

A creature, one among others,

Willed into existence by the God of All,

Who constantly calls me to know Him.

I am free, in other words.

 

Yes, I am free,

Free to be free of God,

If I so choose.

There it is again, scary freedom,

Free to be ignorant of the One Who calls,

The One Who loves.

He calls through His creation,

Look at Me!

I Am Truth.

I Am Beauty.

I Am Love.

 

His call proclaims me not one among others,

But His “one and only”,

To be not only being,

But, exceedingly, blessed.

He says, be, by faith, and “Amen”, My Son.

Reign, as priest, and prophet, and King.

 

For what am I thankful?

I am thankful that I am grateful.

With my eyes, I have seen,

And with my heart, I have said, “Amen”.

I answer “Amen”

With my every heartbeat,

With my every breath.

With all the moments of my life,

I call to my God, my “Amen”.

 

I am son, caught up in Triune Being.

He wears my “Yes”, as eternal glory.

He is,

And I am all thanksgiving.

 

copyright 2014 Joann Nelander

OCEAN OF GRACE

By the gracious gift of God.
You, the Invited,
Receive His Peace.
Heartbeat by heartbeat,
Breath by breath,
In each instant,
His Will comes to you,
The Chosen,
To freely choose.

Remain His by faith.
Living in His favor,
A rain of blessing falls,
To water your being,
And penetrate the ground
On which, and in which,
You stand.

You give consent,
And desire in Love,
And as a plentiful valley,
Moment by moment.
Rooted in the holy,
Sanctified by the Sanctifier,
Life and abundance of fruit,
Are multiplied in you,
And grown up around you,

Grace upon grace,
Help, healing and holiness,
Flow in abundance.
From the springing up,
To the watering flow,
Then to rush,
As to the waiting arms a beloved,
Presuming bath and baptism,
To the ingathering of rivers,
In consecration and convergence,
Love returns to the Ocean
Of its Source.

As a homecoming,
Meandering streams
Cut courses through Time.
The many become seas
To, at long last, mingle
In the Mighty Mind,
And Minder of our souls.

copyright 2014 Joann Nelander

lionessblog.com

Let Me

Let me be the Star that guides.
Let me be the Voice crying in the wilderness.
Let me be the Brother that leads a brother.
Let me be the Mother bidding
“Do whatever He tells you.”

Let me be tears upon Your feet,
Let me be anointing oil
Let me be a cloak that hides your nakedness.
Let me be the prayer of the Blind Bartimaeus:
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”

Let me pray with You in the garden
Let me draw a spiritual sword by Your Side.
Let me help you carry Your Cross.
Let me weep with You for the Fallen and the Lost,
Lamenting, ".. you would not be gathered."

Let me feel with Mother Mary
Let me cry out like the Magdalen.
Let me, like the Centurion, recognize You in Your Dying.
Let me sit beside the Angel at Your Tomb.
“He has risen, He is not here”

By Joann Nelander

Memories Eternal – a Prayer

May I live with Mary in my heart this day.
May her thoughts,
And precious memories of You, dear Jesus,
Resound in my mind and fill my soul,
That even Angels in flight,
And the Triumphant in Heaven,
Stop to listen and love with me.
Amen