Poems & Stories etc.

 

Have you walked in the garden?

(Mk14:33-34,42, Jn20:16)

 

Have you walked in the garden of desolation,

Do you know what it’s like to fall down?

Have you trusted and shared and been rejected,

Has the broken heart within you turned to stone?

Have you known the pain of misinterpretation,

Of betrayal by the ones you knew as friends?

Have you pleaded that your nightmare might be lifted,

Just to waken to a night that never ends?

Have you walked in the garden of desolation?

 

Jesus walked in your garden.

Let him lead you from the garden of your suffering,

Let him show you to the place beyond the night.

He has overcome the darkness by his death upon the cross,

He has won for you his glorious Easter light.

There is life and joy within his resurrection,

There is freedom and forgiveness for the past,

Let him lead you in the garden of his triumph

As he calls your name and offers peace at last.

Let him lead you from the garden of your suffering.

Daphne Kitching

 

**

 

Snowdrops

I took a walk along Swamp Lane,

And then it did start to rain.

“Oh dear,” I thought, “It’s rather cold,”

“I’d better hurry,” so stepped out bold.

 

Then out of the corner of my eye,

I spied a little clump-so shy,

Pure white and undefiled-snowdrops.

 

I stopped to take a closer look,

And then I thought,

“How beautiful they are,”

“Like little stars from afar.”

 

Then I continued on,

Looking to left and right,

To see if there were anymore.

 

In the front gardens of Hose Avenue,

Crocuses were pushing through-Narcissi and tulips will soon follow,

More treats to look forward to on the morrow.

 

When I arrived back to my home,

I felt so happy and content.

 

All the troubles in this world cannot stop the seasons turning,

Proving God’s love to those who are yearning.

Iris Cowell

John the Baptist
(Lk1:14-17, 44, 76-80, Mt 11:1-6, Jn1:34-36)

At the sound of Mary’s greeting,
Unborn,
He leaps for joy.

Strong in the Spirit from birth.
What then is this child going to be?

A delight
And a cause of rejoicing,
The time of God’s promise at hand.

A prophet
Preparing the people,
Preparing the way for The Way.

A voice
In wilderness warning,
Announcing the Word to the world.

A servant
Submissive and faith full,
Knowing Jesus as Lamb and Lord.

Strong in the Spirit to death.

      Daphne Kitching

**

Immanence

I come in the little things,
Saith the Lord:
Not borne on morning wings
Of majesty, but I have set My Feet
Amidst the delicate and bladed wheat
That springs triumphant in the furrowed sod.
There do I dwell, in weakness and in power,
Not broken or divided, saith our God!
In your straight garden plot I come to:
About your porch My Vine
Meek, fruitful, doth entwine;
Waits, at the threshold, Love’s appointed time.
From a poem by Evelyn Underhill (1875 – 1941)

**

River and Sky

Move our hearts with the calm, smooth flow of your grace. Let the river of your love run through our souls.  May my soul be carried by the current of your love, towards the wide, infinite ocean of heaven.
Stretch out my heart with your strength, as you stretch out the sky above the earth.  Smooth out any wrinkles of hatred or resentment.  Enlarge my soul that it may know more fully your truth.
A prayer of Gilbert of Hoyland, (died c.1170,  Abbot of the
Cistercian monastery of Swineshead in Lincolnshire)

**

From your hand

From your hand, O Lord, we receive everything.  You stretch your powerful hand, and turn worldly wisdom into holy folly.  You open your gentle hand, and offer the gift of inward peace.  If sometimes it seems that your arm is shortened, then you increase our faith and trust, so that we may reach out to you.  And if sometimes it seems that you withdraw your hand from us, then we know that it is only to conceal the eternal blessing which you have promised – that we may yearn even more fervently for that blessing.
A prayer of Soren Kierkegaard, 1813 – 1855.  Born into a wealthy Lutheran family, he spent almost all his life in his native Copenhagen.  His philosophical writings have made many consider him the father of modern existentialism.

**

The Sun
A hail to thee, thou sun of each day,
 As the skies on high thou dost pass;
Strong on the wing on high is thy way,
 Thou glorious mother of stars.

In swallowing sea thy resting lies
 All scatheless and all unafraid;
On a wave of peace up thou dost rise
 In fresh bloom like a queenly maid.
  An ancient Celtic poem

**

Haytime

It’s Midsummer Day
And they’re cutting the hay
Down in the meadow just over the way,
The children all run
For a frolic, and fun –
For haytime is playtime out in the sun.

It’s Midsummer Day,
And they’re making the hay
Down in the meadow all golden and gay,
They’re tossing it high
Beneath the June sky,
And the hay rakes are spreading it out to dry.
  Irene F Pawsey


**

Afloat, afield

God and Jesus and the Spirit so pure,
Posess me, and shield me, assist me sure,
Order my path and before my soul go
In hollow, on hill, and on plain below,
Afloat, afield, the assisting Three sure.
 An ancient Celtic prayer