Poetry Joy

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rhythm_ seeking a slower pace to truly savour our lives @poetryjoy.com

May 21, 2018 / Joy Lenton

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Hello, welcome to my blog! It’s good to share life’s poetic rhythms with you here

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Recent Posts

simplify: seeking a more ethical approach to Christmas
deep: seeking solace, hope and joy during Advent
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My Instagram life

When you're off school with chickenpox you decorate the Christmas tree and make gingerbread men. And try to remember to save one for daddy! #gingerbreadmen #baking #cookingwithmum #happyboy #keepingbusy #decorating #makingfaces

Simplifying can become a way of life, not just an attempt to curb Christmas excess. Because we're saturated with stuff and causing harm to the natural world in the name of progress. I'm but a mere beginner at minimalising and learning to live with less, but I still plan to do more and hopefully raise awareness as well. My poetic lament below was written in response to these all too real concerns. Lament for earth If the sky cries out in sympathy with dry, dusty earth and sheds hot, salty tears, then wake me up, I want to be aware. Let me not miss a thing of earth’s dying gasps, be it by flood or fire, because I want to cry with her. Let us all weep now for our carelessness, our lack of faithful caretaking and love, our inability to take good care of our Mother Earth. We have been bad custodians, errant prodigals and wasteful ones, who now reap the cost for our sad faithlessness, while we watch its fast decay and death. © joylenton #lament #simplify #minimalism #caring #planetearth #poetryforthesoul #poetryjoy #poetsofinstagram

This is an excerpt from a poetic lament currently being profiled on poetryjoy.com as part of a post about seeking to simplify my life, while showing greater awareness and respect planet earth in how I live. #lament #planetearth #environment #caretaking #simplify #poetryforthesoul #poetryjoy

As I sit with the world at my fingertips, I marvel yet again at the wonder of internet shopping at a mere click. Christmas means I get to buy my favourite people gifts from the comfort of my own home. Yet the relative ease can lull me into a false sense of security and control. Simplicity of consumption can mean loss of the ability to simplify. Truth is, we’re all in danger of getting sucked into advertising hooks and consumerism’s greedy clutches. It’s all too easy to buy more than we need and neglect to think about its effect on us and the world in general. Though it’s vital that we don’t ignore it. What does simplifying look like to you during Advent? How do you avoid consumerism's clutches and the temptation to buy more than you need? #simplify #consumerism #ethicalshopping #minimalism #mindful

As I've been reading The Art of Advent: A Painting a Day from Advent to Epiphany by Jane Williams, some of the art work has stirred me to write poetry. This is an excerpt from my poem based on The Light of The World painting by Holman Hunt. You can read the full poem below and catch up with my Advent poetry posts at wordsofjoy.me as I reflect on aspects of Advent and relevant art that speaks to eye and heart. Light of the World You arrive at break of dawn, at the door of my heart, coming forth as regal-cloaked stranger carrying a lamp. Although your own radiance totally eclipses all earthly light we see, here it's enclosed, within your soul and fastened deep. You wear a crown of thorns, like a convict, not a king, who lives in heavenly realms, where you are revered, and where angelic voices sound. The door is shut, covered in creepers, held fast by ancient fears, no sign of lock or chink by which light can exit or enter in. Still you knock, with gentle firmness, undeterred by how long it might take for me to grant you entry. I might resist for days, moments, years, and yet you stay, such is your longing to dispense forgiveness and grace. You also know how hard Holy Spirit is already working in my heart and how it's worth the lengthy wait while I prevaricate. © joylenton #advent #hope #Lightoftheworld #painting #inspiration #poetryforthesoul #poetsofinstagram #wordsofjoy

Do you know you have a door in your heart? An entryway that can admit or shut up? It’s not a visible aperture but a metaphorical truth we can relate to. Because we all get to decide what we let into our heart and mind, what we’re willing to allow or want to refuse admittance to. Many of us struggle with guarding our hearts, while others have built a huge, defensive wall around them to protect from hurt and pain. I did the latter for years and kept the door of my heart closed tight to others. Creepers grew over the door of my heart. Although I didn’t know it at first. I lived in ignorance of my instinctive behaviour. Maybe you’ve felt like that? Finally, my eyes opened to acknowledge the wall I had erected around my heart. And I became willing to change how I normally responded. God has been gradually tearing down the wall, brick by brick, with my cooperation, as I’ve surrendered and opened it wider for Holy Spirit to work within. And He will do the same for you, my friend. #door #wallaroundmyheart #guardingmyheart #surrender #faith #holyspirit #grace #change #wordsofjoy

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