Hopeful

Reflecting on Matt 7: 1-13 and Luke 9: 28-36

Passing Through the Cloud

I too hiked up that mountain, following the master,
and I stayed just outside of that thick cloud for too long.
I listened and I was assured.
The father told me to listen.
[Some days it is hard to just listen.
I can’t listen;
 words come out of my own mouth too fast.] 
Eight years I journeyed from the first words,
and I rejoiced at the mountain.
Here I am Lord; speak only to me.
In the dazzling white, I came to listen.
Moses and Elijah guide me some ways,
But Jesus speaks when I am awake.
Some days I am so afraid in the cloud.
 Still, let me enter the cloud each day.
I stay silent and listen.
 Let me be prepared. Teach me lord.
 I would still be prepared to tell the story!
Here on this…

Last Words

Hallelujiah! Glory Hallelujiah!
This is so great today–today I see it.
The righteous man, that old sinner who
started listening to God,
Now he is blessed!
He is blessed in beautiful ways.
It is God who blessed him,
and his kin are blessed too–
Blessed through him–by God!

He wrote his obituary, and its a good one.
God is in it. God wrote it. God loves it.
He isn’t afraid of being bad news.
He’s good news.
God is in him, and that is the news.

There are poor and sick folks who recall him,
Because he’s God’s man,
The righteous man lives on,
He’s God’s man,
and his work endures.
His Word endures–in the righteous man.

(C) Feb 9, 2012 Thomas Bolton, West Allis

About 14 years ago, I started writing poetry in response to scripture.  My first poem in 1998, after a 30 year break from…

” He said also, ‘just as fish die if they stay too long out of water, so the monks who loiter outside their cells or pass their time with men of the world lose the intensity of inner peace. So like a fish going towards the sea, we must hurry to reach our cell, for fear that if we delay outside we will lose our interior watchfulness.”

Abba Anthony—-Sayings of the Desert Fathers

I would venture to say that very few of us that will read this are monks. Nevertheless, the challenge is very clear. Christians who spend the bulk of their time seeking pleasure from material things will find themselves in spiritual distress. Take the lesson from the wisdom of the fathers,and spend some time each day in the things of God.

Reflecting on Matt 7: 1-13 and Luke 9: 28-36

Passing Through the Cloud

I too hiked up that mountain, following the master,
and I stayed just outside of that thick cloud for too long.
I listened and I was assured.
The father told me to listen.
[Some days it is hard to just listen.
I can’t listen;
 words come out of my own mouth too fast.] 
Eight years I journeyed from the first words,
and I rejoiced at the mountain.
Here I am Lord; speak only to me.
In the dazzling white, I came to listen.
Moses and Elijah guide me some ways,
But Jesus speaks when I am awake.
Some days I am so afraid in the cloud.
 Still, let me enter the cloud each day.
I stay silent and listen.
 Let me be prepared. Teach me lord.
 I would still be prepared to tell the story!
Here on this…

Jesus our peace, if our lips keep silence, our heart listens to you and also speaks to you. And you say to each one of us: surrender yourself in all simplicity to the life of the Holy Spirit; and with that surrender we may know you in a superlative way. Lord help me to observe a sacred silence. AMEN

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• 9.5 Invitations into the Contemplative Renewal of Christianity – Invitation #2:Grow Deeper (contemplativechristians.com)

I’m sharing a poem from March 2012.

The Waves Do Circle Me

I hear new waves this morning
Splashing on the shore not as warning,
But waves splashing on my soul,
Calming me, lifting my spirit full.
Jesus loved to be at his lake,
And at my Lake Michigan I am fully awake.
Crowds passing me, and the water breaking at the pier,
I have left dull sadness behind, sunny waves flushing my fear.

In this community of Christ’s disciples, support circles me in waves.
I am uplifted by folks who have been with me for days and days.
Support comes in waves.
Spirit holds me; He saves.
Shepherded by disciples who hold me,
And let me look through many eyes to see,
My spirit leaps, and I am lifted high,
Joy fills my dull senses, and I reach to the sky.

I am blessed by new waves.

© Tom Bolton…