Rebuilding
Walls have weakened, crumbling,
sinking low to ground, sagged
like our spirits as they view
the sorry edifice before us Continue reading “Rebuilding – Poem by Joy Lenton”
Empowering Your Mental Health | Faith Hope Love
Walls have weakened, crumbling,
sinking low to ground, sagged
like our spirits as they view
the sorry edifice before us Continue reading “Rebuilding – Poem by Joy Lenton”
This morning I heard this beautiful translation of Psalm 23. Enjoy
The Lord is my constant companion.
There is no need that He cannot fulfil. Continue reading “The Lord is My Constant Companion.”
Letting go
The more difficult the problem
the tighter we tend to hang on
as if by grim determination
we should squeeze the answer out
like the last toothpaste
from an already-squashed,
Three Gratitude’s
Every night before I go to sleep
I say out loud
Three things that I’m grateful for,
All the significant, insignificant
Extraordinary, ordinary stuff of my life.
It’s a small practice and humble,
And yet, I find I sleep better
Holding what lightens and softens my life
Ever so briefly at the end of the day.
Sunlight, and blueberries,
Good dogs and wool socks,
A fine rain,
A good friend,
Fresh basil and wild phlox,
My father’s good health,
My daughter’s new job,
The song that always makes me cry,
Always at the same part,
No matter how many times I hear it.
Decent coffee at the airport,
And your quiet breathing,
The stories you told me,
The frost patterns on the windows,
English horns and banjos,
Wood Thrush and June bugs,
The smooth glassy calm of the morning pond,
An old coat,
A new poem,
My library card,
And that my car keeps running
Despite all the miles.
And after three things,
More often than not,
I get on a roll and I just keep on going,
I keep naming and listing,
Until I lie grinning,
Blankets pulled up to my chin,
Awash with wonder
At the sweetness of it all.
Carrie Newcomer
Listen to a podcast interview with Carrie Newcomer by visiting On Being
Connect with Carrie on her Website and follow her on Twitter
We, so small and plain
and self-contained,
we live lives full of
petty concerns, and selfish gain.
We, all wound up and tight
and self-absorbed,
we draw up the drawbridge,
and pull shut the door.
With our concern for self
we become confined,
we narrow our world,
until there’s only room for one.
With our focus drawn in
we are cut off from Him,
the source of our joy, our power,
our love, our very fulfilment.
Open wide, open up.
There is an ocean at your door.
There is a river that through you would flow.
Behind you is the author of it all.
His is the strength that propels,
His the love that heals,
His the song that delights our heart,
His the touch that soothes.
His the deep contentment,
His the answer to our questions,
His the almighty provision,
His the balm to our wounds.
As heaven is high, and the earth is wide
so we can uncoil;
grow up like a seedling to the sun,
and in His warmth feel our hearts thaw.
We, so small and plain,
and self-contained.
We, who live lives of fruitless striving,
and senseless pain.
We, all wound up and tight
and self-absorbed;
we can open to His touch,
fling wide the door.
And as we do so we can breathe.
Now what others think no longer matters.
Our fears haven’t power to haunt,
our illusions shatter.
Sons and daughters of a higher power,
adopted in His Kingdom;
we finally sense from whom we’ve come,
whose love is entwined through every living thing.
We can reach out and connect,
without plans or agendas.
We can in freedom relate and trust,
and to His will we surrender.
We can love and be loved,
and as bearers of His light;
we can know the beauty of giving and receiving,
for naught but His delight.
Open wide, open up.
There is an ocean at your door.
There is a river that through you would flow.
Behind you is the author of it all.
Ana Lisa de Jong
Source: Refresh – Journal of Contemplative Spirituality (Summer 2013-2014)
Ana Lisa de Jong enjoys her work for NZDF Chaplaincy as a Chaplaincy administrator.
Previously in her teens and twenties she loved writing, but her poems were romantically inclined towards her partner. Now she’s writing love letters to God and it’s like the fulfilment of a gift, being able to give it back to God.
Discover her website Joy in a New Way
Photo Credit: David Kracht via Compfight cc
I am waiting
-for what?
To be there, not here,
To be somewhere else;
To have that, not this,
For ‘this’ to be over;
For then, not now,
To have tomorrow, today.
I am waiting for
The pain to be gone and
My future certain;
A sense of security and
My life to make sense;
My world to be different and
The landscape to change.
I am waiting for God to
See things my way and
Change His mind.
God is waiting for
My ‘there’ to become His ‘here’;
My ‘that’ to become His ‘this’;
My ‘then’ to become His ‘now’.
God is waiting for
Me to see things His way and
Change my mind.
God is waiting until
I see myself and my world
Through His eyes.
God and me, together, waiting –
Until there is no distance between
‘Here’ and ‘there’, ‘this’ and ‘that’, ‘now’ and ‘then’;
God and me, waiting together and
Both of us longing for
The waiting to be over.
by M. Jane Hansen
Jane Hansen is married to Jim, and is also mum and grandma. Jane enjoys country life
close to the Wairere Falls beneath the Kaimai Ranges, visits from family and friends and
writing in response to God’s grace in the blessings and challenges of everyday life.
Source: Refresh. Winter 2013
Photo Credit: red twolips via Compfight cc
Photo Credit: Sam Burriss
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Annie Johnson Flint
Photo Credit: AlphaTangoBravo / Adam Baker via Compfight cc
Barry Pearman
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Photo Credit: Sergei Golyshev via Compfight cc
by Jo Anastasiadis
Jo Anastasiadis is a born and bred Wellingtonian, wife, mother of grown children and spiritual director. She enjoys being outdoors, particularly walking on the beach, taking time out for retreats, and utilizing creativity in her relationship with God.
Refresh – Journal of Contemplative Spirituality Volume 12, Number 1. Summer 2013. I
Photo Credit: LOLren via Compfight cc
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Get my blog posts sent to you. Sign up to receive my blog posts for free via e-mail and get a copy of my popular e-book on Depression FREE.