‘Lingering’
Even the happy things
hold a sadness, lingering
with importunity
like a fading kiss
Still hovering
on the premises
as wraith, as mist
Seeking to steal
kill and destroy our
joy and happiness
It’s darkening cloud
cloaking like a fine grey
shroud over every missed
opportunity and day
when hope takes wings
and flies clear away
©JoyLenton2014
There is a special beauty in autumnal days.
I love to watch as leaves give out a dying blaze before they crisp and curl then fall away.
And this week I have a wonderfully familiar yet completely different outlook.
My son’s garden and surroundings speak soft of summer’s ending, autumn’s kaleidoscope colours signalling the approach of colder days.
So as I’ve window-watched and pondered, taken images and enjoyed the views, it seemed good to share them with you too.
Because there is a bevy of beauty in the everyday as God pours out His glory and grace.
‘Autumnal days’
Autumnal days have a sacred blaze
They glow with mystery and a hint of history
Glistening raindrops gather soft light
as they turn liquid gold and rusty bright
Landscape misted by a foggy haze
in deepening darker rain-soaked days
No matter how dim and dull it may seem
there’s always a crack where the light gets in
And familiar green can become a scene
where a squirrel hides himself in plain sight
before he scampers clean away
having made his mark on the day
©JoyLenton2014
This poem shaped itself as I looked at the images I had taken this week. It is part of my aim to see beauty in the everyday and God’s grace in the commonplace during my #31days of #writingbraveandfree here and at Words of Joy.
Posts have of necessity been rather sporadic due to many health challenges and the extra fatigue from making a journey, but I hope you will enjoy what I’ve managed to write so far. 🙂
Sometimes we don’t have to travel far at all to see the wonder of the world.
It’s right here, on our doorstep.
Well within our vision.
There is beauty in the everyday.
Cause to celebrate the commonplace.
Eyes enhanced by grace see more than meets the eye.
Blessings abounding for the discerning.
We learn to marry the marvellous with the mundane.
I have had my eyes opened to enchantment.
My soul woken to the wonder woven through each day.
Being housebound means that each opportunity and ability to leave the confines of four walls is reason to rejoice.
Yes, even in a hospital waiting room, a trip to the doctor or the dentist! Surprising encounters can lift our days if we look for them.
I record #beautyintheeveryday on my Instagram feed as memory markers for darker, gloomier days.
All around we are offered opportunities to see life and to see it whole, to witness the outpouring of God’s goodness, glory and grace.
A short journey gives me a chance to see abundance of new life as sap rises in Spring, sultry, hazy, lazy days of Summer unfold, Autumn reveals her golden-clothed splendour, and Winter creeps its silvery, icy fingers on the land.
The poem below is celebrating my brief trips out in recent months, with a wistful looking forward to future ones.
‘Sightseeing’
I didn’t travel far
beyond my front door
Just sitting in the car
delighting in the things I saw
Landscapes, clouds and sky
spoke out God’s beauty
to me as I watched
and sighed. And trees
bloomed fresh and green
then shed their coat of leaves
in russet-gold of varied hues
midst fluffy-white and cobalt-blue
I didn’t get to see
or smell the salt-tanged air
of sea, or watch as
waves rose and fell
upon the sand
Though my heart desires
to see the coast
and ponder on eternity
as life swells forth
in ebbs and tides
amongst the surf
unto infinity
©JoyLenton2014
Life offers us scope to savour the moment. Pauses abound with potential and promise, breathing places where we can exhale the cares of the day.
There are those who deliberately seek sacred spaces and long for snatched time to enjoy them.
Though in a continually busy 24/7 society where instant gratification reigns, and express delivery is the order of the day, we find ourselves easily upset at any delays to our schedules.
Waiting for anything or anyone can feel like a monumental waste of time.
Our fingers tap impatiently when the PC/mobile/tablet etc fail to perform as they should.
Deep sighs accompany delays of every kind. We want to access this and we want it NOW.
Isn’t the latest technology meant to shorten the time we spend doing things? It only seems to further our impatience when it fails to work aright.
But what if we tried to view things differently? Could we find ways to enjoy and appreciate the stop-gaps in our lives?
I was inspired to write the poem below during a recent stint in a hospital waiting-room.
Rather than keep my eyes glued to a screen I prefer to ponder all I am seeing. It has the added benefit of reducing anxiety.
People-watching is a great interest of mine and I indulged discretely, not in a nosy sense but simply because people are fascinating.
We all share a common humanity and many common experiences, even if our reactions to them may differ greatly.
If we allow our souls to quieten we can see and hear far more than usual in the secular and sacred realms.
This is the result of a few minutes watching while I waited…
‘Waiting’
They stride
bold, with daunting efficiency
heels clip-clopping hard
down corridors long
hiding their frail humanity
beneath a veneer of
swift strong competency
While we
hold ourselves submissive
Seek to hide
our strain and stress, pain,
weakness and duress behind
a meek subordination
to their authority
But inside
we quake and tremble
pretending to be
patient patients
while in the thrall
of medical disinterest
or rapt attention
We abide
in whispering gloom
furtive glances
checking of watches
time slowed to a crawl
anxious for the call
in this waiting-room
©JoyLenton2014
I have written more about the challenge of seeking the sacred in the in-between seconds of life in ‘Minding the gap’ over at ‘Words of Joy’. It was inspired by reading Jeff Goins’ book, ‘The In-between:Embracing the Tension Between Now and The Next Big Thing’. I can highly recommend it as a great source of insightful thoughts on this topic.
As busy bees we go about our days, barely pausing to savour the moment or smell the roses.
Yet even bees pause, stop and seek out the nectar in each individual flower. They taste, enjoy, feed and then move on.
So absorbed in their task they seem heedless of distractions.
We are more likely to be easily distracted and fail to fully engage with one task before finding another to occupy us.
Shutting out the world’s noise and voice is a challenge we all have. It shouts so loud with an impatient impertinence, demanding to be heard.
But if we can find ways to draw back, step away and seek a sanctuary of silence, we are rewarded beyond measure.
Not only do we hear the outpourings of our own soul rising to the surface, we also make a spiritual white-space for God to whisper close.
And as we attune our inner ears to His voice we are in a good position to both believe and receive.
For our inner thirst and deep soul hunger can only be truly satisfied by His unconditional and eternal love.
No-one else can meet all our needs and answer the ones we haven’t even thought about, never mind prayed for as yet.
Shall we try?
Can we switch off in order to plug in to all that is essential to our health and well-being?
It will take great perseverance and persistence but it will provide far more than we ever knew we needed.
I’m willing to make way for holy moments in the mundane.
My soul seeks after God’s own heart. I crave the insights, wisdom and encouragement I receive from His word and in whispered conversations too.
I long for His touch upon my life, His healing for every wound and His mercy and grace for all my brokenness.
My body sinks weary into His embrace and finds comfort there. He holds me strong on my weakest days.
Will you join me? I hope so. Let’s take a pause from busyness and lean hard into quiet reverence instead.
God is waiting…
This poem is part of my #31days of writing brave and free as I attempt to eschew perfectionism and aim for a regular outpouring of poetry or prose based on listening deeper to God’s voice. You can find out more over at my sister blog ‘Words of Joy’ where I am posting regularly too.
I had an outing today as I accompanied my husband to a hospital appointment.
There is always a silver lining to such excursions, fraught as they are with anxiety and stress (him), weakness and pain (me).
We didn’t have far to travel but it was enough to alter my perspective.
Four wall living can become my default mode once Winter sets in.
I aim to get out and about as much as I can manage in the warmer weather, despite protesting limbs and weariness setting in so quickly.
And I was glad of the opportunity to see a change of scenery.
So I took a few photos to file away as memory markers on gloomier days.
Saw an electricity pylon stretching metal arms to a cobalt sky like a praise song.
Watched the interplay of light falling as beams across the clouds, with hints of glory sneaking through.
Marvelled anew at the beautiful, creative display God puts on day after day.
Engaged in a spot of people-watching safe in the confines of the car and shared furtive glances of a waiting room.
The poem below was a result of a few seconds’ glimpse where my imagination pierced through to a woman’s soul.
For there is always more than meets the eye with everything and everyone we encounter.
‘Hidden core’
A pale blue sun-hat
sat deep upon her head
as she marched forward
with fast, determined tread
At odds with the autumnal
coat she loosely wore
reminiscent of tides,
ice-cream, sand and distant shores
Her eyes turned downward
as she pounded city streets
No betrayal of emotion
in her persistent, plodding feet
Yet in the corners
of her heart there washed
a sea of thoughts and words
inexplicable, unseen,
unvoiced and unheard
Just like each one of us
she had a hidden core
where pain and sorrow mingled
and joy sat at the door
A place of whispers, shouts,
an appalling weight of tears
A place of silence, doubts,
where she carried secret fears
©JoyLenton2014
‘Final fling’
‘Dancing Queen’ did it for me
My final fling before
becoming so ill with M.E
I haven’t danced since
at a wedding, or some other place
If I did I’d probably fall
completely flat on my face
But I long to move
with style, rhythm,
ease and grace
For these limbs to
writhe smooth, and free from
stiffness, pain, infirmity
No fatigue would
slow me down
I’d be able to
walk all over town
to stride out with
confidence and strength
instead of limping along
in a weakened state
Maybe one day…
I will move with new style,
with energy and pace
For now… I rest, watch others,
wait here patient a while
sit still, with happy-tappy feet
and a wistful smile on my face
©JoyLenton2014
Now, I dance on the inside as my soul rejoices to know God’s goodness and grace. There is no confinement or constraint to inner vibrancy and joy.
“You have turned my sorrow into joyful dancing. No longer am I sad and wearing sackcloth. I thank you from my heart, and I will never stop singing your praises, my Lord and my God” ~ Psalm 30:11 – 12 (CEV)
This post is the first of my #31days of writing brave and free.
Today I am inspired by the word ‘Move’ from Kate Motaung’s list of daily writing prompts that you can find here.
I will be joining in on an ad hoc, informal basis as energy and strength allow me too.
For more details please read this post over at ‘Word of Joy’. I hope you will be inspired to join in too!
Poetry Joy 