poetry for the soul

dust: our origins and state are redeemed by God’s grace

/ Joy Lenton / 21 Comments

 

We may have entered Lent with dust ashes symbolically smudged on our foreheads, revealing we are dusty people in desperate need of a Saviour. God’s Light penetrates to show us the way to live and love with the freedom and compassion only He can bring. Our dust mote souls dance in its radiance.

Thankfully, Jesus didn’t come to wag a finger and point out our flaws, faults and failings. He already knows them all too well. The human heart is no mystery to Him. He came to rescue lost souls. To restore us back to the Father. To make us His own brothers and sisters by faith. To declare we are not forgotten but are deeply loved.

We may have begun our journey in a heavy-hearted way because the road to Calvary is always paved with pain. We each carry our own cross, often without realising it. But there is anticipation of joy to come.

There is cause for celebration. There’s a brighter future at stake and awe and wonder await all who come carefully and prayerfully, with growing awareness of why Jesus came to earth. Skies may darken soon but our souls grow lighter with every step.

Because we know our Redeemer lives. He has ransomed us from Satan’s clutches. He has set us free from sin’s steely grip. He has given us a new heart. A fresh start. Hope for today and into eternity. Love that will not let us go. Love that has paid the price so that God’s sons and daughters can live in close relationship with Him.

We remember we are people of the Cross, pilgrims on a pathway of faith and sojourners on earth, with our feet rooted in dust, in daily toil and concerns, but with our hearts set on an eternal purpose. It’s one we can scarcely fathom, though the mystery is an essential part of the journey itself.

 

We become changed from the inside out. Renewed, with an altered perspective and heart and an awakened desire to be who God always intended us to be: the best version of ourselves. Though we came from dust, we are destined for a glorious eternity with God.

Being dust

We begin as dust and ashes, red-based Adamic clay, ready
to be shaped and moulded by unseen hands, waiting
on breath of Life to blow as holy wind, naming
our earthen vessel souls as Man

We remain fragile, easily cracked and broken, full
of holes, etched with crevices, edged hard, made
soft with grace, gritty from frequent handling, soiled
yet bearing our Master’s hallmark

We are God’s handiwork, his creative vision, expressed
in tents of flesh—prone to wounds, rips and tears, weak
as water—we think we’re strong and capable
but only when he makes us so
©joylenton

 

solo: pausing to listen and become refreshed

/ Joy Lenton / 11 Comments

 

I cherish and need time alone. Solo suits me fine, especially when life overwhelms and all available energy to engage has dissipated. It recharges my failing batteries to be plugged in to God, my books and silence. Aaahh…

Except that silence is rarely, if ever, achievable, is it? Because we live in a world addicted to 24/7 activity and noise. Though if we can pause for a while, then we might hear other sounds that speak to us instead of rush and hurry.

Our own drumming heartbeat reminds us we are alive. Our own breath signals a need to slow and relax. Our ears, when attuned to silence, will pick up the slightest sound: leaves dancing, wind in the trees, rumbles from appliances, dogs barking or a solo song from a blackbird outside our home.

And when we listen to these things they speak volumes to us, revealing how we might love and crave our solo moments but we are all created for connection, for community and relationship with others, especially with God.

Solo

A solo blackbird sings into morning mistiness, his tune
dedicated to heaven’s breath and the unadulterated
joy of being alive, the sheer exultation of existence
while I sit inside a house, quietly listening, wanting
to tune my own heart to the eternal melody I can
hear heralding through an open window that is near

Yet somehow, something heavy seems to chain
me here to earth, something sitting on my soul
that presses me low, pushing me into isolation
despite the fact I am rarely alone, though often
feel as though I am, because this world is vastly
full, crammed with people, like tiny little islands

Our very individuality makes connectivity crackle
with defensiveness, and our need to curl away from
hurt and pain only makes us more vulnerable and
subject to the same, because God has created us
for togetherness, for knowing joy, hope, peace and love,
for relationship and companionship and soul friends

What we need is a holy seed to germinate and take
root within our hearts, a glimmer of grace to open
up our bounded souls, and let the light of God’s
presence permeate every part as it fills and floods
with heat and love, more than enough to set our
cold souls on fire and cause a thaw in our desires

Though alone in solo song, blackbird sings out first spring
to others, whether sister, brother or lovers, or her own
soul companions, who hear the sound as sweet music
to their ears and respond in kind with answering swift
harmony of voice and heart and mind, just as we are
created to do for one another, as God has designed
©joylenton

“Your love, GOD, is my song, and I’ll sing it!” – Psalm 89:1 ~The Message

As you relax and listen to the video clip below may it cause you to be thankful for the sweet sound of birdsong that is music to God’s ears, and usually to ours as well!  🙂

adrift: God is an anchor for our unsteady souls

/ Joy Lenton / 16 Comments

 

Being adrift is an unsettling feeling, isn’t it? Whether we’re literally unmoored,  marooned, lost at sea or life just seems to affect us that way. ⛵ I had a growing sense of unease and discombobulation when our internet went down for several hours recently.

Suddenly I couldn’t connect, never mind skim or surf the internet. And as it happens, it was a day when I really needed to get online—don’t we always?—and it just wouldn’t play ball with me. 🌐

After a few hours of attempting to access the world-wide web and failing then falling into a deeper sense of isolation and frustration, I wrote the poem below…

Adrift 🖥

There is no internet

All connectivity is lost

I am adrift

stuck in yesterday
so my calendar says

and the weather map
hasn’t updated itself

yet, nor my inbox caught
up with latest news

I feel the sting of loss

I can’t even share this event

with anyone or warn them
of my unavailability

Lost on a lonely sea
of singularity

where life’s time and tides
wash over me naturally

I am bereft, except
for one constant thing

because God has never
left—he’s always
here with me
© joylenton

 

Later on (acting on the wise and welcome suggestion of my husband), internet access was “borrowed”—with permission of course—from my neighbour, who has a different service provider. Hurrah! All was well. I could relax. Panic over…. for now… 😏

Then I came across this whispered word received in prayer a while back and it reminded me just who is our real power Source and stabilising strength when life unsteadies us. Because God alone holds our souls secure when we entrust our lives to Him. May it bless and encourage you too, my friend.  🙂 ❤

Believe – prayer whisper

“When you come to Me in your weakness, I am ready to infuse My strength into you, so that you live fully equipped in Me rather than relying on yourself.

Lay aside those heavy weights of your concerns and anxieties. These things sap your energy and captivate your attention. I want you to be free of them so that you can be attentive to My voice, and carry only those things that I assign to you.

Lean hard into Me. I am the solid Rock who keeps you safe, holds you fast and shelters you through hard times. I am the Anchor for your soul to keep you from going adrift.

When storms come, remember that you wear the belt of Truth to keep you afloat. My word and My promises will sustain you. Believe that I have already spoken and it will be fulfilled, even if your eyes cannot see it happening yet.”

“This hope is like a firm and steady anchor for our souls. In fact, hope reaches behind the curtain and into the most holy place.” – Hebrews 6:19 CEV

snow: a world washed clean like grace in action

/ Joy Lenton / 8 Comments

 

There’s something rather wonderful about snow. It falls gentle as feathers. It rests like soft drapes to comfort a winter-cold world. In its clean, pristine brilliance it makes us gasp. We are awed by this glorious reminder that purity can exist and shine bold like this.

Until footprints make it fluff and scuff. Until rain dissolves it into mush and slush. Before ice makes it treacherous to traverse. Prior to hands reaching out to grab handfuls to shape into hard-hitting snowballs.

Before all this and a world having to push through it to go about its business, we see earth hushed into reverent silence. We witness the chill and warm ourselves on thoughts that comfort cold hearts. We warm our souls on the awe and wonder reminders of God’s goodness and grace.

We are reminded that the Light of Christ and His amazing Love shines blindingly laser-bright, more radiantly than this, and we too are washed pure and clean by His cleansing blood sacrifice on the Cross.

The season of Lent may feel like it goes on forever and maybe it does in our souls to some extent. But oh what a vibrant Hope awaits us once the dark road to Golgotha is walked and we meet Jesus on the other side of His resurrection morning rising!

Today I bring you a helping of haiku. A trio of thoughts inspired by the sights out of my window or seen from a doorway, where opening up has become a rather challenging task due to the weight of wonder sitting on the step in all its glorious whiteness.  🙂

white like ice-cream

barely settled snow
ridges of white like ice-cream
waiting to be scraped
©joylenton

night-time snowfall

earth has the blues

green earth has the blues
draped in chill, shadowed and still
her colours show through
©joylenton

blue-shadowed snow bathed in sunlight

heaven’s coverlet

a world blanketed
with heaven’s white coverlet
snug and sleepy now
©joylenton

a garden blanketed in snow

beauty: we’re all made beautiful by God’s grace

/ Joy Lenton / 15 Comments

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. No two people admiring a piece of art, lovely landscape, or a person, will see exactly the same features that are attractive to them. We all have our own viewpoint about what we define as beautiful.

Although we may not measure up to contemporary or classical definitions of physical beauty, we can be comforted by knowing that the inner beauty of our soul and character are the most enduring qualities to treasure.

Like many women before me, right from girlhood I have mourned my perceived lack of attractiveness. Society sets impossible standards for us to reach. As does advertising with its emphasis on outward perfection.

So it’s a huge relief to know—especially the older I get and the more invisible I feel— that God looks at us with eyes of unconditional love. He sees beauty in everyone. God gives us beauty for ashes and paints us with His loveliness.

Broken into beauty

I had beauty once but I didn’t even
know it, so I lived like one impoverished
sitting in dust, when I was really rich

I ached for difference, because
I couldn’t match the face I met
in the mirror with my preference

Instead, I honed in on the flaws
and saw plenty enough to keep me
occupied. Several imperfections

cried out loud and I bowed down
to their name, holding it all inside
where my real self sits, and I

could barely stretch to fit the skin
I was in, never mind making room
for all those needful improvements

And now? These days my gaze rests and reflects
on a God-given inner vision, more than
having derision for a fading outer face

I can see life’s manifold brokenness and pain
but beyond it all what shouts out most to me
is how God is breaking us into beauty again
© joylenton

 

**I’m grateful for God-given inspiration, as I join fellow wordsmiths in sharing my five-minute-friday thoughts for this week’s prompt of “beauty”. You’re welcome to join us here and read the great posts being shared.  🙂 

photography: a contemplative way of seeing life differently

/ Joy Lenton / 11 Comments

 

Every picture (or photograph) tells a story. But what if we were to simply make one up in response to what we see? I actually do that all the time to some extent, when writing poetry to go with a photograph I have taken.

When using photographs contemplatively, the image itself acts as a prompt to stir contemplation and creativity. Words follow soon after. It’s a kind of contemplative seeing via a camera lens.

And an art I am slowly learning with every photo I take. It’s very satisfying to see more than the image presents itself as. To use our imagination and be able to trace God’s hand at work in what is before our eyes. It requires me to still my soul and focus on the object before me, while I take several snaps from different angles to gain a fresh perspective.

Today I am venturing back into the Twittering Tales creative exercise which my blogging friend, Kat Myrman shares on her site, among her eclectic and delightful offerings! I have written three responses, telling a consecutive story.

God inhabits our life story and seemingly ordinary days, making them sacred by His Presence. Our intentional holy-ordinary seeing helps pave the way for growing awareness of His grace in our lives.

Obscured

Almost obscured by leaves
this sign breathes renewed
hope into her sad soul
signalling a new beginning
where joy and optimism
overcomes pain
©joylenton

(139 characters)

 

We hop

She squirms higher in her seat because, at age 5, she can barely read. But she sees “hop we” as indicator of her family being happier here.
(139 characters)

Secrets lurk within

Hedged in by dense
undergrowth, accessed
by dusty driveway
a house stands proud
looks inviting but is
far from it, for deep
secrets lurk within
©joylenton

(140 characters)

 

This week’s photo prompt is based on the image at the top of my post, courtesy of Leigh Heasley at Pexels.com  If you would like to participate in Twittering Tales, you can find the rules and link up advice here.

**Are you interested in discovering more about the practice of contemplative photography? Here’s a helpful book by Christine Valters Paintner that’s on my wish list! My friend, Kate Kennington Steer has a great contemplative eye. Her Instagram feed is well worth following** 🙂

slant: how changing our perspective can alter the way we think

/ Joy Lenton / 15 Comments

 

When you spend a fair amount of time in bed it does tend to skew your visual perspective. Especially if you are lying in a tilted downward, minus 10 degrees angle for a fortnight, as my husband was while recovering from his last spinal operation.

Granted, his view of things was also affected by the general anaesthetic and the somewhat delusional mental state it engendered in him for a few days post-op. Not to mention having to make do without his glasses, of course. That didn’t help much. 😏

He began to have an altered reality perspective, including a mathematical slant on the room he was in, seeing swirling patterns on the white-tiled ceiling, odd shapes in corners and strange angles everywhere. Only they were invisible to everybody else, which was most frustrating for him. But it certainly helped pass the time!

Sometimes I think it helps to see life differently, though not necessarily in a tilted down state like my husband was, discombobulating as that can be. Rather, it can be an advantage to let our imaginations fly, give them free rein, in life and in faith.

Because when we have our eyes open to wonder, why we tend to see it everywhere. I particularly love clouds and obscure window views for the way they stir me creatively and spiritually on to thoughts of freedom.

Our days may seem pretty mundane on the whole but a capacity to anticipate holy joy and awaken to wonder in the everyday can alter our perspective in the most delightful ways. I’m so thankful for supportive, praying friends and the wisdom in God’s word that lifts my perspective and puts me back on track whenever I get derailed, especially by discouragement.

The poem below was inspired by an angled window view. I hope and pray it will stir a desire in you to try looking at your life from a renewed, slant perspective and readying yourself to be surprised and inspired by what you might see.

Let me see life slant

Let me see life slant, ready to be tilted
into a fresh perspective, as new angles
present themselves to the eyes of my heart

like lessons in geometry, wrought from
passing scenery. May I form irregular
lines, make shapes from clouds and

trees, let my imagination fly, unfettered
while I thrill to mathematics in the sky

filling my soul and mind with unfiltered
possibilities, limitless boundaries
©joylenton

remember: practising mindful awareness to enhance gratitude

/ Joy Lenton / 15 Comments

 

Winter is a season many of us shy away from, as we seek to hunker down and hibernate while we wait for warmer days. But what if we made a conscious effort to remember when things were different? Does the process of remembering actually make a difference in how we deal with today?

I think so. Because when our lives are less than inviting it helps to lift our spirits if we invite our souls to focus more on gratitude than grumbling. Our heart attitude helps to determine how our days shape themselves.

Autumn is one of my favourite seasons. I love the sheer exuberance of colour as God splashes vivid hues to decorate each dying leaf. It’s as if our generous Creator is asking us to take it all in, to remember this bounty before it all falls to ground.

God reminds us to practise daily gratitude for this moment, because this moment is all we really have to appreciate, here and now, while it is happening. Although it is possible to stay centred in the present, with an awareness of goodness in the past actually enhancing all we are currently experiencing.

“Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” ~ Genesis 9:16

A new year usually finds us looking forward, but if we remember God’s faithfulness toward us in the past it gives hope for days yet to come. When we do allow ourselves to consciously remember, meditate on the goodness of the Lord and the abundant blessings that He provides, we’re well placed to have a more positive mindset.

We can bask in a golden, autumnal glow, see it as a dying season’s last hurrah before the chill of winter seeps into our body, mind and heart, knowing how God so wonderfully sparks renewed life in what seems dead in us, as well as in trees and plants.

Although winter has its own stark, stripped back to the bones beauty, I enjoy reminding myself of days when leaves are in their final death throes and creation shows off its splendour for us to savour and hold in our hearts.

I remember russet

trees dressed in winter
but I remember russet
a golden arbour

stretching leaf to leaf
as autumnal splendour spread
an ochre blanket

and mantle of mist
delayed a breath of decay
for the last hurrah
©joylenton

A few joy notes…

1) A roast chicken dinner cooked by my man
2) Seeing our grandson togged out in his Rugby Tots kit
3) Being able to rest well today after a pain filled night
4) Supplements arriving to help boost my health
5) Having enough heat, snuggly blankets and warm clothes to wear
6) Creativity flowing although I am low on energy
7) God’s grace enabling me to write this post

warmed: cold hearts are warmed by God’s amazing love

/ Joy Lenton / 12 Comments

 

We’re on the threshold of an arrival. Are we waiting with eager expectation or indifference? Although external temperatures might be low, are we being warmed on the inside by the thought of Christ’s immanence with us?

Will we greet Jesus with joy? Or might we ignore Him, like a sideshow we don’t have  time for as we busy ourselves with preparations? It’s possible to press our noses close to the manger, be captivated by the Nativity, yet miss the wonder of the infant Incarnate Christ within.

Will we allow our cold, wintry hearts to become warmed by the love of God? I hope so. Because He desires our heart’s devotion above all things and longs for us to open the door to Him.

I am like most of you: knee-deep in extra busyness, weary while waiting and exhausted by the preparation. But as I pause to ponder just what we are about to celebrate and Who this feast is really about, I see how easy it can be to slide into secularism and neglect the most important thing.

Maybe, as we wrap presents, ready ourselves to exchange gifts and attend to last-minute activities, we can try to focus our attention on recognising the presence of God in our midst.

Because He breathes out His beauty every day. He is ready to rule and reign, starting with one surrendered heart at a time. Jesus is the Gift. Jesus is all we ever truly need. 

I have taken an imaginary winter walk in the sonnet below. Come join me? Together we can discover grace being showered on us liberally like snow from heaven above, thawing out our chilled, distracted hearts.

Hearts are warmed

We walk, crunching grass crystal shards beneath our feet,
Seeing hoar frost sparkle like diamonds twinkling in the dark,
While air swirls breath into a misted fog and fingertips freeze.
Icy ground is too frozen hard for footsteps to leave a mark
But these wintry sights enliven a chilled environment.
And hearts are warmed by creation’s breathed out beauty
Where heaven’s wings touch earth out of love, not duty,
And sprinkle shining stardust by angelic intent.
Maybe the human mind should wonder on seeing snow,
Become captivated and charmed by how a landscape
Can alter in a moment, setting cold hearts aglow,
Initiating a thaw within, making way for God’s grace.
A melting of minds begins a bonfire of the vanities,
Whereby space is created to believe and receive.
©joylenton

Dear friends, I hope and pray you will have a happy and blessed Christmas celebration, with your hearts warmed by God’s amazing love. I’ll be sharing my 4th Sunday in Advent poem on Poetry Joy’s Facebook page this weekend, then I am taking a break until the new year. You can read the offering to come and catch up with the rest of the Advent poems here. Lots of love, Joy xo ❤

normal: living beyond our limitations

/ Joy Lenton / 9 Comments

 

What does it mean to be ‘normal’? Is there such a thing? I guess it depends on your personal definition, doesn’t it? Because the world will always try to compartmentalise, squash us into boxes and confine us in its own straitjackets, if we let it.

The good news is God created each and every one of us unique. And we answer to Him alone, defined only by what His word says about us and who we are in Christ. That thought comforts me as I aim to live well with M.E and chronic illness.

You and I don’t have to fit within the world’s narrow (and frequently judgemental) parameters. We are special to God, understood completely by Him, if no-one else. God wants us to grow into the best version of ourselves we can be by His grace, to know we are His cherished Beloved.

I miss some of the activities I used to do before illness made being housebound a normality for me, especially spending summer days at the beach. Here in Norfolk we are blessed to have a few within driving distance.

However, they are often hard to access by foot (or wheelchair) once you’ve parked, with their steep inclines, long, winding pathways and uneven, pebbly stones to traverse, never mind distance from car to beach.

It’s been an outing I’ve had to forego for years because the car journey alone would exhaust me. Though I still travel there fondly in my memories, as in the poem below…

Normal for Norfolk

The sea tosses back and forth with wild, hyperactive
froth churning up thick rivers of mud, reflecting the sanded
character of a Norfolk beach, whose waters are latte-brown
with a side shot of espresso hiccupped out now and then

There’s a roar that steals away our words, deafening
as it drowns out all sound apart from its own
and we wonder anew at the way waves crash so
violently, yet dissipate into delicate filigrees

A surging wind stings our cheeks with saline drops
which wake us up, catch away our breath, bring tears
to stinging eyes and a gasp of surprise at its velocity
making unsteady, giddy skittles out of you and me
©joylenton

 

How do you view your life in terms of being ‘normal’ or otherwise?

What helps you to retain a positive outlook?

I’d love to hear in the comments below. 😊

PS: I’ve been writing about  the calming effects of the sea over on my Facebook page. You can find it here and read the #dailyhaiku #novembernugget posts being shared. May the soul snippets of poetry bless you, friend. ❤