Friday, March 24, 2017

SPRING PROMISE

Aching as I walked,
I wondered if my life would ever again
be joy-filled and bright.

Then I found my answer.
It was only a small shrub
– two bare branches rising up from the earth –
but at their tips
tiny green buds had appeared.

I breathed a prayer of thanks,
and was blessed again
by the yellow smiles of daffodils.


24March2017 - mshr

Saturday, March 18, 2017

UNPREDICTABILITY

The calendar said it was almost spring,
but snow covered the bright daffodil blooms.
Weather is unpredictable;
Mother Nature is a Mistress of Surprises!

My mind says that spring
should always bloom in my body,
but the aches of age
blot out that lovely wish.
Life, too, is unpredictable;
the Creator sometimes surprises me.
But,
being more loving than Mother Nature,
always comforts and carries me through.


18March2017 - mshr

Monday, March 6, 2017

WALK ON THE BEACH

Surely the Almighty is like the ocean
a vast sea of loving goodness
waves constantly breaking around me
and over me
kissing me with pure white foam
and trickles of water
between my bare toes.
While invisible beneath the roiling surface
pulses deep, fertile, and mysterious 
power.

Shore birds feed sumptuously
on the gleanings of the surf.
Tiny crabs, like silent monks,
dash quickly into their sandy homes,
close to the water
but safe from the waves.

A peace I cannot understand envelopes me
as I walk the beach.
The nearness of God 
has washed the stress from my soul
as the waters rinse the sand from my feet.

No wonder, Incarnate Word,
that You spent so much time on the seashore,
inviting us
– and all of creation –
to come and experience 
the reality,
the power,
and the joy
of the One from whom You came.


6 March 2017 - mshr