Tag Archives: Religion and Spirituality

Bathed in the Spirit

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I bathe my whole life
In the Blood of Christ.
In Spirit, I place my Soul,
Envisioned as a newborn,
In the water that flowed
From the Side of Jesus,
At the piercing
Of His most Sacred Heart.

O Holy Bath, flow over me.
Flow within me,
Permeating even
To the marrow of my bones.

Embrace my thoughts.
As a river in flood,
Envelope all in Your path.
Possess all.
Carry the delinquent and wayward,
As a torrent,
To the ever peaceful Mind of Christ,
Redeeming and reconciling opposites.

May the Christ,
As priestly chrism,
Penetrate the mundane of me,
And divinate my being.
Heal forever my disparity,
Remove all trace
Of Sin’s dominion and damage.
O Holy Love, at Your insistence,
I trust in You.

Coming forth from this bath,
Dry me, Your child,
As tears upon Your cheek
to honor all the tears
You shed for want of me.

Be solace to my regret .
Be comfort in my sorrow.
Wrap me, in my infancy,
In the heart of the Mother,
That Immaculate Heart
That longed with You
For my birth anew,
And enflesh me as a child.
By water and the Spirit
As Your child.

Sweet Peace, O Holy Peace,
You are All in All.
I, a child of God, will thank You
For all Eternity
In Triune embrace,
A happy word, whispered in Spirit,
From the Son to the Father.

© 2013  Joann Nelander

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Awakening

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1

You stretch before me
In wondrous expanses.
Where are your limits, O Lord?
Where the measure
That contains Your domain?

The ethereal sky,
Hugging the mountains,
Kissing earth,
And spilling love across its plains,
Proclaims a God of beauty.

Hidden,yet revealed,
In the minuscule and mighty,
You peer from clouds
That radiate streams of Your glory.

You walk the waters,
Stride across mountains,
Blow like desert sands,
Seamlessly knitting terrain,
Texture, color, and contour
In organic harmony,
To announce Your Presence.

A world of darkness
Awakens each morning,
From its chrysalis,
As hope and promise courts
The sons and daughters of Man.

Quarried, cut and polished,
A darkened crystal,
Receives Your Light.
The soul of Man,
Focuses Your splendor,
And by grace,
You shine out in creations’ purpose.

Your Just Sun, O Father,
Crosses the great divide,
To shine on a "no one",
And "no people"
To stretch before the angels
The measure of Your Mercy.

Copyright 2014 Joann Nelander

Joann Nelander
lionessblog.com

As an Orchid

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My Lord Jesus,
As my eyes open
On a new day,
And sleep gives way,
I find You beside me.

As a lover,
You, have watched me sleep.
My stirrings,
During the long night,
Were covered
As with a blanket.

Chasing dreams,
I did not notice You,
Lying there upon Your Cross,
Waiting to be lifted into place.

Your forbearance frightens me.
What will it demand,
When dreams abandon me,
And leave me to Your Love.

Will my “yes”
Cause You to be raised
And die for me
On yet another day?

What You have done,
You are doing,
And still will do.
Such is the fearful Love
You waste on me.

To Love, I am a flower
Like no other.
Like one orchid,
Blooming among millions of orchids
In dense worldly jungles,
Never to be beheld,
Yet ravishing in perfection.

You cherish me,
As Your image,
Which the Beauty,
Growing in me,
Though unseen,
Will one day reveal.

Yes; A thousand times, yes!
I will be your Orchid this day.
All days!
You, upon Your Cross,
Me, in the world,
But not of it,
Mysteriously bound together.

Pick me!
Make of me a corsage,
One solitary bloom,
Graced beyond imaging.

Press me, then,
Onto Your Father’s Breast
To wear in proclamation
Of Your Life,
Spent upon a Cross,
Bringing me to Life.

As this day unfurls,
As a wave offering,
Remind me of the throne
I rest upon,
Worn as a treasure
Over our Father’s Heart.

By Joann Nelander

All You Have Given Me

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I love You, Lord. You embrace me in our communion of Eucharist. I believe in Your love for the sinner. I am that sinner. You come to me. I am empty and poor, yet You make my poverty Your paradise. Here I bring to You all You have given me.

Behold Your streaming waters tumbling over my rocky ground. Your light penetrates my depths; the caverns of my heart yield their darkness to You, O Holy Sun! Sit here beside me in silence, as praise becomes an uncontainable river within me.  Flow  from my humble abode to water Your thirsting world without.  Delight, O Lord, at the crashing thunder as majestic waves rise before You in a crescendo of thanksgiving, finally pounding down upon the shore of my unworthiness.  They ebb and flow and gather strength as I remember Your Mercies.  All You have given me, I give now with gratitude.

Joann Nelander

MOMENTS BEFORE DAWN

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In these precious moments before dawn
Prepare my waking body and soul
to serve You,
As You served our heavenly Father,
In Your Incarnation.

Dawning in the Virgin’s
Womb,
Hidden Divinity,
Secret, sacred, Savior,
Announced and served by Angels,
Alive in hallowed Love,
Glorifying Man in Your Mortal Garb,
You are hidden now in me.

Manifest Your glory,
In all humility,
As, yet again,
You dawn anew,
In this heart that longs for You.

copyright 2015 Joann Nelander

MY FEAST

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When You come to me in Eucharist,
You are the Eucharist.
You promise in Love that You will sup with me,
Along with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
You are the host at this Feast,
And the Holy Meal,
You are the satisfaction of the desires of my heart, My Love.

copyright 2015 Joann Nelander