A Long Walk

I am in the middle

Of a long walk

With God

A journey

A pilgrimage

From those ahead

I receive these assurances

“Yes, it gets

Sweeter and sweeter

His face

Becomes clearer

His love

Thickens the air”

I have already

Tasted

That thickened air

And I give those same

Assurances

Back down the path

Behind me

A few warnings as well

Watch that curve

Slow down and rest

I have crashed right there

And stay clear of that

Mud hole

I was stuck there for a while

Don’t give up

It’s worth the climb

Green pastures

And still waters up here

The view is spectacular

The air is sweet

© 2013 Julie Clark

Categories: beauty, Faith, God, Life, Love, Paths, Poetry | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Morning Psalm

Arise O God

Come into your resting place –

Me

Holy Spirit come fill –

Me

Some mornings –this morning

Flat

A bicycle tire leaking through the night

Flat

Blank

A sheet of paper

With a few undecipherable pencil scribbles fading away

Blank

 

Life of God

Love of God

Fill my spaces

Contemplation, meditation

Remembering

You don’t sleep

You never leave

Your presence not dependent

On my feelings

But on your faithfulness

I’m waiting

Your waiting

Heaven touch earth again

As I pray

“Your kingdom come

Your will be done

One earth as it is in heaven”

 

© 2013 Julie Clark

Categories: Faith, God, Life, Poetry, Prayer | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Paint Me in the Picture

Paint me in the picture

And leave me hanging

Near the corner of my mind

All year around

Paint me with

The photosynthesis

Bursting in every leaf

With the heavens

Erupting like it never

Had a worry in its life

With all the blooms and blossoms

Grinning from ear to ear

And the water

All a-dazzle

Dancing in sequined shimmers

And don’t forget old Baldy

Keeping an eye on us all

From his lofty perch

Making sure my

Ten pound pup

Doesn’t stray too far from me

I’ll need some audio nearby

Of the gulls and lap lap lapping

Of tinkling birch

And surging stream

Can you paint in the perfect

70 degree’s as well?

Categories: beauty, Life, Poetry, Trees | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Welcoming the Blues

Welcoming the Blues

Categories: Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Decide

Close all other doors

But one

Step through that one

And watch

The infinite amount

Of possibilities

Arise and emerge

Unfolding as

You move

Forward

Categories: Faith, Life, Paths, Poetry | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

Now

God is present

So I come to His presence

In this present

And pray

Which is my response

To His presence

In this present

Categories: Faith, God, Life, Poetry, Prayer | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

My Front Door

There is a world out there waiting

An adventure ready to unfold

When I step out my front door

It’s uncomfortable at times

I don’t know my neighbor

I don’t’ know how to ride a bus

Or start a conversation

But once I take that first step

Say that hello

Make eye contact

Smile

The journey has begun

The question moves from

Who is my neighbor? To

Am I a good neighbor?

What if we each do our small part?

What if we stepped around fear?

What would we find?

Perhaps a new friend

Or some way I can make a difference

A new purpose to keep me going

Put a new spring in my step

Categories: Faith, Life, Love, Poetry | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Northwest Sunshine

When the eagles soar

High over the high ways

I have to be careful

Not to bump the car ahead

There were four the other day

Two the day before

Did they notice the sun was out?

A rare occurrence in the northwest spring

Were they just being like the rest of us?

Drunk with sunshine

Low tolerance for it

Only a little makes us giddy

And run out the door

 

Categories: beauty, Life, Poetry | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

To Boston With Love

Yesterday, in-between watching CNN, I sat down and wrote a blog on building Parent/Child Connections: http://faithfullparenting.wordpress.com/ This was one of my responses to the unfolding drama in Boston.  I know it is just one piece, the parenting piece, in the complex array of broken pieces in this tragic story.

 

Why did this happen?  There is the emigrant story, the broken piece where the emigrant does not assimilate to the American culture and life. To understand this more Mary Pipher does an excellent job in her book: The Middle of Everywhere: Helping Refugees Enter the American Community

 

Then there is the broken piece of radical religion.  How does loving God mean doing something like this?  It does not. God is love and this is not love.

 

Perhaps another cultural broken piece is family loyalty trumping everything. An older brother influences a younger brother to join him in an atrocious act.  We could find and name so many broken pieces.

 

It is important to work through these questions on the road to recovery. Along with this, in order to heal we need to choose our response.  There is a lot of hard work ahead to do in order to heal.  Will we become haters?  If we choose that route we align ourselves with the same spirit that motivated the terrorists and they win. We become like them. Anger is a normal response to grief, but we can’t stay angry and let it poison our souls.  We must move beyond it to the hard work of grieving, sadness, and the seemingly impossible process of forgiving. Hate, revenge, and bitterness are not the answers we need for healing.  They never are.  They will only destroy us and turn our hearts to stone.

 

Dear Boston choose the harder path of healing and recovery and you will find yourself surrounded by heaven ready to help.  Our prayers are with you.

Categories: Boston, Faith, God, Life, Love, Paths, Prayer | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Love Challenged

 There are some days when love is challenged.  Today is one of those days for many after the Boston Marathon Bombing. For some, every day love is challenged.  It depends on where you live or where you happen to be when a bomb goes off or a shooter shoots.  A personal tragedy or trauma can challenge love.

“In this world you will have trouble.” It’s a guarantee.  There is no “bed of roses” promised.  What is promised is His presence.  Emanuel: God is with us.

Anyone who has seen love chosen, love in action, knows it changes things.  The ripple effects of love grow wider and wider.  The “pay it forward” factor comes into play and not only one person is loved but many as the ripples continue on.  Love is powerful that way. But, there are days and times for us all when loved is challenged. It is much easier to give in to fear, hate, revenge or hopelessness. We wonder if our world is a lost cause, or if our acts of kindness will make any difference? This is when we need to take some deep breaths and pray. Then get out there and do something good.  It might be to give blood, to pray for those hurting, to release anger and fear, to forgive someone, or to just step out your front door and see what good you can do today.

 

Categories: Faith, God, Life, Love, Prayer | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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