Thoughts Around Eastertide
A fragrant smell,
a gentle touch
And wondrous sights to see,
Music with
harmonious melody;
Gifts beyond all worth
a touch of heaven here on earth;
Five things we have from God,
To touch and taste and see
And smell the fragrance all around
These are given out for free
Last of all I like to stop and listen
As I hear God speak to me.
So I survived the weekend without alcohol or drugs,
or buying a half price sofa deal, a fixed price laptop,
75% off carpets and whatever else offer was thrown at me.
What I chose to do didn’t end at 6pm today
or demand 19.9% interest over 3 years
or will wear off by lunchtime.
Instead,
I chose to celebrate everything that has worth,
Love,
peace,
healing,
grace,
mercy
and forgiveness
are found at The Cross.
There was a weight he had to bear
A burden beyond compare
The predetermined path to death
With every ounce of desperate breath
The cross upon his shoulders lay
Knowing there’s no other way
To go the course complete the will
Of him whose wrath he could fulfill.
He’ll never walk that road again
No criminals walk of death sustain
No piercing pain of timber weight
Or jeering crowds of fearful hate
I am convinced and now confess
That on that road of loneliness
The cross upon his shoulder then
Was not the burden carried for men
The Father’s judgment, sins reward
No passing cup, no golden chord
My guilt my shame my sin my death
Jesus carried till his final breath.
Barely treading water,
Lord, I don’t know why?
All the dreams I once believed,
somehow passed me by.
———
Do I make a difference ?
Do I serve you well ?
Or am I just a failure?
Sometimes so hard to tell.
——–
I need to feel You close to me
I need to see Your Face
I need to rest upon The Rock
To sleep in Your Embrace.
——–
I need to find a better day,
a better way to be,
then perhaps I’ll get it right,
see the You in me.
——–
But for now Im tired Lord,
I can’t find Your Hand.
This thing called life has got me beat,
and I don’t understand.
——–
So Father, could you carry me,
at least, until I see,
a plan, a purpose to it all,
a reason just to be.
——–
Pity parties aren’t my style.
So this is just for You.
You know,
You see my shredded heart,
Help me shine on through.
========
Patience is a friend–
But not to all,
A friend with an odd taste.
For it befriends testiness and anger,
And only they could bring him out wherever he exists.
In the face of calm and reason,
Patience shies away into solitary.
For with love it rarely shines
Of anger?
It blossoms–where the seed already is.
A man who befriends patience
Should fear no stormy day,
Neither should he dread a nagging woman,
For only then can his friend,
show his face for all to see.
Death don’t mean nothin’ to me
Cause I have a God
He’s up in Heaven you see
So death don’t mean nothin’ to me
People can’t live forever
There just isn’t enough room
They all try however
But death don’t mean nothin’ to me
God takes care of my every need
He is the one who loves me
He is the one to whom I plead
So death don’t mean nothin’ to me
Jesus died on the cross
If it wasn’t for Him
All would be lost
Death don’t mean nothin’ to me
God has a plan for my life
I try to follow it as best I can
But sometimes troubles cut like a knife
So I don’t let death mean nothin’ to me
When I die as we all will do
I hope Jesus meets me at the door to Heaven
I will bow down and give Him His due
That’s why death don’t mean nothin’ to me
I miss those who have gone before
But with just a little bit of grace
They will meet me at the door
So death won’t mean nothin’ to me
Amongst the thousands staring
and no-one caring ,
We too stared and stood
next to the Woman alone and weeping
as her hopes were seeping
away into the sinking Sun ;
The crowds had been shouting
with each cheer doubting
the innocence of that Woman’s son ;
We too stood and watched
a woman alone and weeping
as her hopes were seeping ,
and heard in the crowd something odd
perhaps the son of that Woman
was truly the Son of God ;
Amongst the thousands staring
and no-one caring ,
We too stared and stood..
Time times time
without the happy ending ,
sans the fond farewell
only the pain of knowing
of all that time mis-spent ,
mis-used mis-placed
in orgies of indolence
bacchanalias of sloth ,
all those years spent kow-towing to
all those minds that were shallower than ours ;
Time times time
we should have played to the final whistle ,
endured one solitary moment longer
given hope that extra second ,
knowing that whatever we did ,
whatever we thought ,
whatever we said ,
time was always against us ;
and yet ,
time times time
we find ourselves back near the beginning
where there is still..
time.
It wasn’t any power you wielded
that made them afraid ,
it wasn’t your persuasive argument
which they couldn’t counter ,
it wasn’t the numbers following you
that caused them sleepless nights ,
it was the thought
which lingered in their minds
that they were doing wrong
and were bound to fail ;
and of all the people they could think of ,
who they didn’t want around afterwards
giving a witness statement ,
it was you.
Footnotes:-
Who stands firm? Only the one for whom the final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, his virtue, but who is ready to sacrifice all these, when in faith and sole allegiance to God he is called to obedient and responsible action: the responsible person, whose life will be nothing but an answer to God’s question and call.
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer ( 1906 – 1945 )
Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer stands out among the Christian leaders during the Nazi era, for he was one of the few to actively resist the racist actions of the Nazi regime. In addition to his legacy of courageous opposition to Nazism, Bonhoeffer’s theological writings are still widely read in Christian communities throughout the world.
Standing in our stockinged feet
on the surface of an alien world ,
wondering whether we can ever go back
go back go back again to that
place where we started from ?
So very far away so very
long ago that somehow we left
somehow find ourselves in our
stockinged feet standing and staring
staring across an unfamiliar horizon
wrought of jewels burnished with gold ,
dazzling and shining and when
all is done and all is told
we simply stand with one question
remaining on our lips ,
How do we get back home ?
