Lord of Flowers

Lord of flowers, great and small

Display your power over all

With caress of a zestful tale

Dress your fields and forest vale

Swirl your colors all around

Twirl them in a rainbow found

Declare your fragrance in symphony

In the colorful dance of harmony

You created the rose to tickle our nose

But crowned her queen of all flowers seen

To the gentle passer-by

She points to the sky

Her secret scent of love

A gentle kiss from above

You were not crazy

When you made the daisy

For every little child

With all their hopes gone wild

Picks them and says,

“She loves me, she loves me not”

Round and round he goes

And where he stops

Who will know?

The beauty of the hyacinth

You made in a pinch

Filled her with laughter,

Color and joy

And said, “She’s a cinch!”

From the quiet little violet

To the shiest purple iris

Hushed with a deep purple hue

You speak and declare,

 “I will make all things new!”

For every heart burdened with worry

To every soul in a fit of flurry

Watch a flower never toil or spin

For God clothed it with beauty without and within

So will He not then care for you!

A Winter Land's Praise

Beauty awaits those who trust in you, O Lord

You allow my eyes to capture all your wonders

The autumn leaves wither and fall

Spinning around thither to fall

They blanket the ground

Cover it without a sound

Leave the trees naked and bare

The forest’s deep and silent share

No more rustling of the wind

 Silence resonates deep within

Yet without a word

It pleads heavenward

You, O Lord, answer

You take away the shame

Of late autumn’s name

For you bring a winter wonderland

Upon a dead and barren hinterland

With a hush all the beasts of the field

Of hill and mountain vale

The raccoon and bear

The deer and bird

Scurry home

While men, women and children

With chocolate laden mugs

In houses so snug

Await your answer

Then with a gentle command

You open the treasure house of white gold

And scatter it upon the trees, young and old

You cover them with a heavy cloak,

From evergreen pines to ancient oaks

You dress the fields in a diamond crown

That sparkles and twinkles with a star’s renown

Shall your enemies pursue?

Then you open wider your treasure house of snow

A furious squall shall rage and blow

When all is as you have planned

We as children romp and play in your diamond lit land

I wrote this poem a few years ago.  Many people for some strange reason do not appreciate the beauty of the snow.  However, God has a treasure house of snow that he deposits upon us (Job 38:22) so I say why not enjoy it?

A Christmas Poem

‘Twas the night before Christmas and there was no room in the inn,

For Joseph and Mary and the Holy Child within

Travelers from Nazareth, where the journey began—

At least a three day venture, over some sixty miles of land—

To Bethlehem, the city of David the king,

Where shepherds guard and angels will sing.

 There, in a barn unknown, in a humble abode

Came Bethlehem’s Renown as a prophet foretold

To rule and shepherd Israel My own,

Joseph, this Babe shall take your father’s throne!

Wrapped ever so tender, lain in a manger,

Your Royal welcome: only lowly strangers.

Of shepherds and sheep who were blessed to hear,

An angel’s voice to calm their earthly fears,

To bring glad tidings of a Heavenly sign,

Wrapped in swaddling cloths in a manger you’ll find,

Christ the Lord, a Savior’s birth,

Share the word tell all the earth!

Joseph, Mary’s husband, a righteous man standing by

Did you ever ponder the tiny Wonder from Heaven’s high?

Given from God to the world as a gift,

To reveal thoughts, men’s hearts He would sift

The Glory of Israel, to the Gentiles a light,

He is Emmanuel, to the blind He gives sight.

Mary, Joseph’s wife, did you know from your womb,

Came the Word of life who would call a man from his tomb.

A simple word to speak, waves and winds to calm

The lost to seek, His touch a healing balm

A vast plain of five thousand men would be fed,

With a child’s small meal and He the Living Bread.

Who is this Child in yonder stall?

He’s the Promised One to redeem us from the Fall.

Who will weep in Gethsemane in anguish prayer

Betrayed by a kiss to face a trial unfair,

Condemned to Golgotha, our sins He will bear,

Nailed to a cross, in a criminal’s death He will share.

Who is this One whom the angel’s sing?

It is Christ the Lord the Risen King!

The One who crushed the serpent’s head

Look again He’s risen from the dead!

Seated at His Father’s right hand,

And He will reign over all the Land!

A Little Butterfly

For many years you were chained by your fears

And with tears of pain and cares of shame

You wove into your womb

To await a change from his empty tomb

There his eyes watch this

Great mystery of metamorphosis

From the old to new life

Formed in the likeness of Christ

And I think the time is soon

For you to climb from your cocoon

To steal the wind with your wings

And feel the freedom as summer sings

The joyful reminders that new life has begun

So with a quiet hush with grace and power

Spread your wings

And brush a kiss on the face of a flower

Fly little butterfly, fly with the wind

Soar on your wings

For he has chosen you to win

Fly little butterfly, fly with the wind

And grace his fields with love

I am not quite sure the exact details of why I wrote this poem.  Perhaps I viewed myself or others as a butterfly emerging from his/her cocoon and ready to grace this world with the Father's love.  Anyway, enjoy!

Lord of All

Verse 1

Creator of my flesh and bones

 The stars at their birth

 Bow at your throne 

Though I am but dust of the earth

You knew me before time was known

 Chorus

You are Lord of all

You are Lord of all

I bow my desires before you

With all my heart, my soul and my strength

I will serve the Lord of all

 Verse 2

Savior from my sin and shame

Every knee will fall

At the glory of your name

Though I am but the least of all

You died for me and showed your greatest love

This is another poem I wrote.  My friend Matt Newby put music to it, sang it and recorded it.  Thanks Matt!  You can listen to it if you click here

Celebration

Seated on Heaven's heights

Far removed from human sight

Almighty Alpha

Beginning of all

Awake the dawn by morning's sun

Glisten the dew a new day's begun

Paint the skies a radiant blue

Open my eyes to the ardent clue

That I may seize 

Every minute as a blessing

Every hour a cherished gift

Every day a Christmas wish

That I may never cease

To praise you for your endless display

Of creation's symphony

The silence of a fish one wonders a wish

But you see their fins and a tail that goes swish

And take their delight as praise in your sight

To resound in the sky found way up so high

Little songbirds sing to bring joy to all

And tickle your ear with each coy and call

The deer with her fawn, cautious with care

And the white swan or the light-furred hare

You hear their scratches, pawing and sighs

And declared it all good in your everlasting eyes

Those creatures of night sing as true knights

The raccoon in her mask with her God given task

To root for the grub and share the loot with her cubs

The beaver to cleaver the wood in the woods

And create a dam to do him some good

The architecture humans pondered from old

But the Beaver learned it from One ancient I'm told

But I as a man with life in my heart

Will join from the start

In the symphony of life

As I was created to reflect you to earth

My life song from a second birth

Yahweh

Zion's Omega

Invisible God always nearby

Seated on Heaven's high

I wrote this poem as part of a class assignment where I had to reflect on 'celebrating God.'  In truth all of God's creation celebrates him...O Lord, open our ears and eyes that we may join in that celebration!

The Alleyway

Deep in the recesses of a starless night

Down the dark alleyway hidden by sight,

I wonder, Lord,

Why do you lead me this way?

The terrors of time torment me

And the fears of the future frighten me

They shake their heads and say,

“ You are tailored from yesteryear’s failures

You are lost and look what it’s cost:

Twenty-nine without a sign

A call but many falls

‘Things get better’ is the lie

Better believe it or you will die

Here in this fateful alleyway

Didn’t God say, ‘This was the way?’”

What do I say to future’s fear of choice?

Or reply to the terrible tick of time’s voice?

When all they say seems true to me

And experience ever betrays me

I stutter to speak but yet they demand

“What is the way?” from my feeble hand

A weak sorrow from a heavy sigh

Pierces all heaven—

The Lord has heard my cry

His gentle hand guides my tears

And his whisper quiets my fears

“The alleyway will brighten in my time

It is not for you to know for it is mine.

If out of the frying pan into the fire

Then what I command you must desire!

The terrors of time will always tick

But to my heart you must always stick

Close by my wounded side

Then a friend you will be

In whom I confide."

In early January 2006 when I was 29 yrs old, days before I would journey to India for the third time, I felt unprepared and anxious of the future.  I felt very much like a man trapped in an alleyway...thus the poem was born.  May Lord grant us all his peace as we walk through those alleyways...