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Renaissance Woman

~ Test All Things; Hold Fast What is Good-1 Thessalonians 5:21

Renaissance Woman

Category Archives: Poetry

In the Garden

25 Monday Apr 2022

Posted by Kate in Poetry, Writing

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Holy Spirit, Indwelling Spirit, National Poetry Month, Poem, Poems about Jesus, Poet, Poetry

This poem is inspired by Song of Solomon 2:10-13.

In the Garden
I blink and find I am
in a long and darkened hall
The door I thought had opened
for me was not mine at all
"God doesn't close but what He opens"
others call as they brush by
They mean to offer comfort
but all I want to do is cry
I don't understand all the locked doors
or why You leave me so bereft
Your presence is always with me
but You don't say why I'm left
alone in this darkened hall
with windows and doors locked up tight
I have to grope as I make my way
searching for a glimmer of light
Finally at the end of the hall
a door opens the merest crack
I ought to rush but I'm hesitant
but there is no going back
I look through the door opened for me
unsure just what to expect
Never I could I have guessed
this barren and dry aspect
of wilderness waiting for me
once I step through the open door
Would be the thing You want for me
I think I'm too heart sore
to walk the wilderness again
though I do long to obey
Your voice-I hear you call to me
"Rise up, my love, and come away"
Step by step I wander through
this dry and thirsty land
There are no colors to assuage my eyes
as I struggle through the sand
For a time there's relentless heat
but then I swear I feel a breeze
I blink my dry and reddened eyes
and see that there are trees
I hear birdsong come from them
there is cook green grass below
now everywhere I turn my eyes
bushes and flowers grow
I don't know when it happened
that hot and barren wilderness
had utterly transformed 
into a garden of such lusciousness
the likes of which I never dreamed
nor caught the merest glimmer of
until I had obeyed all You said
and trusted in Your love

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Meditation From A Bridge

25 Monday Apr 2022

Posted by Kate in Poetry, Writing

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Holy Spirit, Indwelling Spirit, Living Water, National Poetry Month, Poem, Poems, Poems about Jesus, Poet, Poetry, Water of Life

Meditation From A Bridge
I stand alone and listen
To the water rushing
Over obstacles it's flowing
Ever onward it is heading
Wherever it will go
If only time were not a river
In one direction surging
From past to future moving
Every instant carrying
Passed mistakes of long ago
If I could ride that river backwards
To those mistakes I am wishing
I had the option of fixing
Certain I could knowing
Everything I now know
I stand and watch the water
This is idle thinking
New mistakes I would be making
Besides time is ongoing
I cannot reverse the flow.

Your peace is like a river
Ever swelling
Never ceasing
In Your showing
Though the past is set in stone
And I cannot hope to change it
My way You were attending
Your promise You were keeping
Even though I was unseeing
I was not alone
You were always with me
In this joining
There's no hindering
Your redeeming
You have made my past Your own
Your peace the greater river
The flow revealing
You give meaning
The past measuring
Just how much I have grown.

Life in You is like a river
First the wading
Then the swimming
Then the full immersing
As you carry me along
I am surrounded by the water
Truest living
All consuming
Perfect cleaning
Of all I have done wrong
Your Spirit is the water
He's imbuing
And renewing
Then He's teaching
Words of a new song
In this river of Your life
Constant flowing
Forever growing
Eternal knowing
In You is where I belong.




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Translation

11 Monday Apr 2022

Posted by Kate in Poetry, Writing

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Christ in Me, Christian Life, Holy Spirit, Indwelling Spirit, Jesus Christ, Poem, Poems, Poems about Jesus, Poet, Poetry, United with Christ, Unity

Translation
I did not know I walked in darkness
until I saw the light
I loved alongside my fellows-each one
doing what we thought right
We did not always agree on this
which meant we had to fight
But that was just the way it was
we could not escape our plight.

We trusted those who seemed to have
the gift of clearer sight
We bowed the knee to those who could
enforce their vision by their might
It was always there of course
that tiny shining light
But if I kept my back to it
It didn't shine too bright.

The light refused to be put out
and steadily it shone
Stranger still-I heard it speak
in a gentle, tender tone
It promised It would care for me
said I was not alone
Strangest of all the Voice itself
was one I'd always known.

I tried to share the Voice's words
My fellows began to wail and moan
"All lies!" they said; "You can't believe
a thing that you've been shown
It isn't care at all you'll find
but a cold and merciless throne
It will enslave you and then kill you
for the Light consumes its own".

Part of me believed them because
they sounded so sincere
And I could not deny try as I might
I couldn't always hear
The Voice that flowed out from the light
Its words weren't always clear.
I knew if I wished to hear them so
I would have to draw near.

Came the day I could hold out no more
and though my heart leapt within in fear
I began to walk towards the light
leaving all I had held dear
Though many warned me not to go
I didn't turn an ear
Away from the voice that called to me
I could not cease to hear.

The Light grew as I approached until
it was all I could see
As I entered into it I found
It had entered into me
As I dwelt inside the light
I made a discovery
The Light was not an It at all
but Personality.

In Him I was cared for-I was safe
My sense of enmity
Was something that the darkness birthed
there was no need to flee
From the truth He'd rule o'er all my life
I chose to bend my knee
Both His death and life in me now meant
We lived in unity.

I still hear the voices of the dark
that unrelenting din
Some are strange ones I ignore-
some are kith and kin
Who seek to call me back to them
I seek the right words to begin
To explain there is no more going out
but they can all come in.

There is naught to fear inside His Light
this new life is akin
To the greatest intimacy of all and yet
greater than all have ever been
Us in Him and Him in us
is how we live herein
And anything that might be lost
cannot compare to all we win!






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Prayer in Dark Times

04 Monday Apr 2022

Posted by Kate in Poetry, Writing

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Celebrating Poetry, National Poetry Month, Poem, Poems, Poems about Jesus, Poet, Poetry, Prayer, Prayer Poem

It’s National Poetry Month and thus I am taking a brief hiatus from my study posts. I’ll be celebrating poetry all this month and will share new poems for my regular Monday posts but will also spotlight a few of my favorites throughout the month. I am continuing my study of darkness and plan to return to Isaiah 45:7 in May.

Until then, I hope you enjoy.

Prayer in Dark Times
To them who love the Lord
I dedicate this prayer
May we turn our eyes to Jesus
Show our neighbors that we care
May we show them love unfailing
Unconditional but not compliant
May we show God's grace unending
That on Him we're all reliant
Let us have mercy for our fellow man
Instead of condemnation
Let us leave our judgments with the Lord
Let us see their desperation
May we be a light in darkness
For we know the One they seek
And when they turn and ask us
May it be His words we speak
May we be Jesus personified
To everyone we see
And in this present darkness
May you say these words to me

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The Greatest Blessing

07 Monday Mar 2022

Posted by Kate in Poetry, Writing

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Blessed Life, Blessings, Blessings of God, Brain Injury, Christian Life, Giving Thanks, Holy Spirit, Indwelling Spirit, Jesus Loves Me, Living Joyfully, Living with Disability, Living with TBI

Good Day! I’m posting this later than usual but I wasn’t sure I could post at all as, a few days ago, I had a TBI Incident. There was an amusing brain game on Social Media, I tried it, and am now adding amusing brain games to the list of activities Kate can no longer do post-brain injury.

With my synapses reeling and my brain down for maintenance (copious amounts of sleep and trying not to think too much while awake) I have to postpone the next installment in my study of Isaiah 45:7. With high hopes for continuing next week, I offer this poem for your enjoyment.

I wrote it years ago when I had passed through most of the stages of grief but, instead of coming to acceptance, I was more at resignation. Something needed to change. I was tired of my “oh poor me” thoughts and decided to take stock of my blessings. There were more than I thought once I started counting and, greatest of all, the Holy Spirit had not left me because I was now disabled. Perhaps that sounds silly but it was an important revelation for me. This damaged body was still His temple, I was still one with Jesus, and I was still loved by the Father. Knowing that is my greatest blessing.

Love Letter

A love poem from me to You
Is what I am striving to write
But the words will not come-the words will not flow
And I know I'll be at this all night.
What is it exactly I'm trying to say
That hasn't been said once before?
Perhaps there is nothing, nothing at all
But I'll not sleep without trying once more.
I long to tell you of all in my heart
And I'm not sure just where to begin
So I'll start with I love you, a good place I think
And I'm grateful I'm redeemed from sin.
I am grateful also for so many more things
That I'm walking and talking and wielding my pen
For You've blessed me so much, even more than I know
That I can't but give thanks once again.
I can tell You I'm awed that the Creator of all
Would care so much about me
That He'd choose the cross and face so much pain
Knowing it would mean setting me free.
So I thank you so much for the blood that You shed
For the relationship I have with You
And I'll show all I love You as much as I can
Because,really, what else can I do?

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← Older posts

Categories

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