My hope for you

Poetry speaks to our minds and hearts and is meant to communicate more than the sum of its words. It is an apt expression of our walk with the Lord. I encourage you to forward this link to those you love. I pray this poetry leads you into reflection and prayer but I also want to start a conversation. You, too, have something to share with others-not only in person, but also here. Your experience is yours to give away to build up and learn from others in the Body of Christ. Share the word that you hear, the experiences you have lived. We are all part of the New Evangelization.If you also want to contact me by email, feel free: genefirn@yahoo.com

Table of contents: October 7, 2012

Sunday, June 27, 2010

The Circle

praise and thanksgiving
living for the Lord to
love Him first
above all
before all
Love as He Loves
the Ideal is
so far from my reality
but so close to my heart
so easy to be lost in daily living
caught up in circumstances
trials that challenge
faith to its edge
hope to its core
love to its end and
sometimes result in
anxious imaginations and
vain dreads that
move me imperceptively away
from the Source where my
eternal journey began
without realizing their detours of
self-centeredness
ego's enthronement
self''s futile striving
feeding my flesh's
unsavory appetites
until Mercy reveals the new
projected destination and
awakens me back to
metanoia's resolve
initiated by Grace which
points my heart back to the One
who lifts me by the Spirit's wings
before Heaven's throne
there to worship in tears of
greateful sorrow
praise and thanksgiving
resolving to Love Him
first
above all
before all and so
the circle continues
ever deeper
ever new

Reflection/Discussion:
-What is "Metanoia"?
-What is the 'circle'?
-What is your experience of getting "off track" and coming 'home' again?
-What are your 'anxious imaginations' and 'vain dreads'?
-How can we minimize 'falling away' from the Lord?
-What is your prayer life like?
-How can you become more disciplined in your walk with the Lord?
-How can you become more 'accountable' to others?

Sunday, June 20, 2010

The Claim

yes or no
His claim demands an answer
He is or is not
our response has meaningful
consequences for
now and forever
He was either a madman-
another in the
long line of psychos
making wild divinity assertions
who have
come and gone
throughout history or ...
He was who
He said He was-
The Son of God
in the Flesh...and
not just a good man
doing magical deeds
beyond explanation
no..More than just nice and
a little .......off....
no... His teachings..
relationships
interactions
even miraculous deeds were
always rooted in
Life-giving Reality
not  fantasy island
well then.......was He
full of truth or deception?
He claimed to be The
Way....Truth....Life
did He lie about that?
was He proven to be a
deceiver about other things?
did He ever say one thing and
do another?
did He.......ever.......
promise one thing and
not deliver?
no......not once
then...there is the ultimate
assertion about the claim...
His Resurrection from the dead...
what we can say for sure is that
there were hundreds that saw Him
His disciples that spoke and ate witth Him
then ultimately were tortured and
killed rather than deny Him
as well as the untold numbers
throughout history who
lived lives of self-sacrifice and holiness
who also testified with their blood...
so......if it was true then
it is so now that
He is Alive!
Risen from the dead to die no more-
proof that He is the Lord
the Christ
the Son of the Living God
we must either believe Him or not
and if we believe Him
accept His claim on our lives
to be His disciples
then we will know Him
as a lover experiences the beloved
even as we become His beloved
the Source and End of our lives
it is a personal decision
a giving over of our lives
our being is transformed
and no longer merely human
but is a sharing in the Devine Life
a communion not only with Love
but also with those who also
become Divinized
there is no middle ground:
to believe a little and
not seek the more
is to not believe
to not be real
to not be true but
to be lukewarm...false
so carefully reflect upon it
He asks
who do you say I am?
madman, liar or Messiah?
deliberately choose...for
not to choose is
to choose
and if you believe His Claim
accept the Truth
follow the Way
live the Life
BE "ALL IN"....




Reflections/Discussion:
-What are the argumenets of deceiver, madman or Messiah?
-What are the arguments against believing?
-What about all those saying they believe but not act like it?
-What keeps you back from accepting and following Jesus?
-If you accept His Claim, where do you go from here?
-What does being "all in" mean practically?

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

The Process

Your Love upholds me in ways unperceived.
Desperate for your voice or touch
In a free-fall leading to destinations unknown
With only my fears and frustrations to comfort me,
A battle to surrender the death-grip
On my life and desires
Nurtured from long ago-
Identity's ideal both toiled and sought-
Is now contested by life's twists
And light's demise.
Clarity's illusion remembers itself
The more as tears fall within.
Silent cries for Mercy's relief,
Seeking the Lover of my soul,
Whose true union and calling
Passes through the cross.
Purity's gain lies in flaming embers
Rolling from opposing melodies and
Dancing in unison-but only in lilting revolutions.
True progress is a dream
Without compromise
Holding on with faithful weakness
Beyond resolution's might-
With only promises in sight-
Though not with any tenderness.
Trials, clothed in suffering,
Disciplines the heart
and molds the sojourner
into Light's image-though only by
Ego's power bleeding into air.
Surrender's affirmation is never-ending,
As sincere as it is impure.
Pride's effacement needs a Savior,
One who is tireless and adept
In the process of transformation
For the human heart
So entangled by self's enticing web.
Freedom from idolatry's prison-
Becoming a true child
By letting go of the me
In gift to You-
Through patient endurance-
Trusting by grace alone, and,
Never dying without a struggle,
We bear the imprint of Calgary
And a Glory to come
Letting it happen
In hope,
By faith,
With Love.

The Process

Your Love upholds me in ways unperceived.