Your Time Will Come

Nestled in your heart, you guard them well

these treasures of hope.

but they seem impossible to experience

and you keep hushed so no one will know they exist,

Still, you suffer in silence.

How can your dreams bring so much promise

yet cause such pain?

Seeds are not sown to stay in the ground.

Dreams are meant to give life full and bright.

The harvest comes in it’s season.

Your time will come

Songs Unspoken

I've been digging through some of my old writings.  This was inspired by a solo piano piece by Douglas Trowbridge with the same title.  

Songs Unspoken

A composer writes and places

notes with a surgeon’s precision.

Each Harmony is molded with

the loving care of a mother.

There is a message to speak.

All are interwoven to sing

with songs unspoken.

The musician flows from note to note

allowing the Spirit to move in them.

Out pours a symphony of passion

that captures the listener.

Music is to be experienced, not heard.

Have you ever heard a song that moved you?  I saw a sunset tonight that was so awe inspiring.  When I saw it, I literally said out loud, "Oh God, can you see through my eyes and view the beauty You have created?"  I've never seen such striking colors.  They were sooo vivid.   While a picture would paint what I saw, music would let you experience it.  

Padre Santo, gracias por esa visión.

The Cross

Vertical and horizontal

The relationships we hold

Between heaven and earth

and others and in our lives

It all starts with the vertical

For the strength of this bond

determines the altitude of all

The cross pulls it all together

The one who hung in the balance,

who was sent to restore relationships

carried them on His shoulders

We live out the horizontal

by pursuing the vertical and

living with those around us

Sometimes it Hurts

Sometimes you love and it is mutual

Sometimes you are on an island

alone with your thoughts

alone

Sometimes you win and life is grand

Sometimes you come up short

a deficit exists in your life

again

Sometimes it is smooth sailing

Sometimes it hurts just to move

unable to get away

ever

Sometimes it hurts

You can't change a thing

Trapped where you are

Alone

Seeking Your Face

I got a message from my sister some time ago that she is praying for me to meet God in some new ways.  She also encouraged me to seek His face.  That is an interesting thought when you consider it.  Why should someone seek anyone's face?

Have you ever had occasion to see someone you thought was attractive?  Many years ago I distinctly remember seeing someone I thought was pretty and she turned to look at me and our eyes met for a brief moment.  It was brief because I looked away the moment our eyes met.  They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul.  I believe that there is a connection between people when they look each other in the eye.  Whenever you are angry with someone you don't want to look them in the eye unless it is to convey your anger.  Why is this?  I think it is because we do not want that connection.  There an intimacy, but not in a sexual way, between people when they maintain that eye contact bond.  So much of our communication is nonverbal and much of that is in our face.

As I seek God's face, what am I looking for?  I think I am looking for that connection but for me it is more than that.  I want to know that there is love in God's eyes.  I want to see approval.  There is one more thing that I think I need.

For those of you that have a dog have you ever noticed that your dog is always watching you?  It has been said that dogs think they are human and cats think they are god.  I don't think it is possible for dogs to become human any more than I think I can become God.  However, should I not strive to emulate the best characteristics of God?  Does He not want me to live a certain way?  Should I not strive to obey His will when He wants the best for me?  Therefore, if I watch Him as my dog watches me, hopefully I can see His face and learn what He wants for me.  I will see His approval and hope to be obedient to his commands.

Unmovable Mountain

Every soul passes through trials

Many are strong but short

There are some that settle in like a long cold spell

Each day wears you down

An unmovable mountain

Daily we search for the exit but the beatings continue

Darkness continues and you try to endure

Eventually, the tolerance goes beyond your suffering

You pray for it to go away but it continues

Numbness enters as you realize it will be with you for the whole of life

The motions are engrained and the mode is survival

God allows these circumstances

He wants to be our Lord, our God

As our Creator, He is uniquely positioned to know us

While He is all knowing and all powerful

He wants us to come to the realization that only He can water our desert

Only He can quench our thirst

We can trust Him in all aspects of life.

Perhaps only when we are so beaten can we finally be ready to accept

God for who He is rather than who we think He is

Sometimes God is Silent

For twelve years she endured this affliction.  For twelve long years she had a slow, persistent hemorrhage.  With this thorn in her side, twelve years is a long time to settle and accept.  

She had been to every doctor she could find in her search for a cure.  However, the doctors only made her condition worse.  So she prayed.  She prayed to a God that she wasn't sure she understood.  She lived by His ordinances in the slim hope that He might hear her and grant her petition for healing.  For twelve years she piously did whatever she could to appease Him.  But her God was silent.  

Then one day she heard of a miracle man that came into town.  She heard stories of sick people who were made well.  Men who were lame from birth could now walk.  People who lacked sight now could see.  Some people who once could not talk, now spoke praises of this man.  A glimmer of hope sparked in the dark, cold embers of her heart.  Still, she steadied herself.  She had been let down so many times before.  It was better not to get her hopes up.  Too often she rode the heights of hope only to come crashing down to earth.  

The town was a buzz with excitement.  Electricity filled the air.  Great crowds pressed in around this man.   From a distance, she caught a glimpse him.  Just the sight of Him caused a quickening in her heart.  She felt herself walking toward the throng.  With each step, a purpose formed in her mind. I must touch the man's cloak.  No, I am not worthy.  I'll touch the fringe of his garment.  

Women in that day were second class citizens.  With the illness which resulted in her poverty, she was but a person who occupied space.  The town’s people normally ignored her as she went about the village scrounging for her existence.  But this day, she walked with purpose.  Her quest was to touch the fringe of the man's cloak.  

As she reached His vicinity, there was a wall of humanity that separated her from the man.  In the past, she would have gone no further.  She would have accepted her lot and retreated back into the shell of her mind and existence.  Today, with all the strength her anemic body could muster, she pushed her way through the crowd.  

Everyone in the village was pressing in on the man.  Everyone wanted a moment with Him.  The man's friends were carving a path for the man and a synagogue official who asked Him to heal his daughter.  As they were leaving the square, the woman finally reached Him.  Pressing her hand between two bodies, she felt her fingertips pinch together on some fringe but the movement of the masses abruptly jerked her hand away.  Instantly, the hemorrhage dried up and she felt a rush within her that whispered she had been heard.  

The man turned and asked who touched him.  Dumbfounded, his friends looked at Him.  They said to Him, "Lord, everyone is pressing in around You.  The whole town is here pushing to touch You.  Who didn't touch You?"  

The woman, knowing that she had been found out, trembled with fear as she walked toward Him.  She fell at His feet and, with a tone that begged forgiveness and fearing repercussions, told Him everything about her affliction and how she was healed when she touched His garment. He gazed into her eyes with a look that somehow said He understood her condition.  He said, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace."  

What is the silence you have endured for so long?  Have you given up hope?  Sometimes God is silent.  Be it a still small voice or a rushing wind the gently waters your desert, when the silence breaks you will be completely and profoundly changed. 

#faith