the daily haiku

when we want thoughts to flow like water #thedailyhaiku 11

/ Joy Lenton / 14 Comments

 

As a writer and poet I experience days, weeks and even seasons when words falter and fail, the flow stalled somehow. When it stutters to a halt it usually indicates that I need to stop, take a break for as long as necessary and just let things happen naturally in their own good time.

There’s no need to panic when you hit a writing hiatus. Thoughts flow more freely when we yield to the need for rest, stretching our our stiff limbs and getting some fresh air if possible. Straining to write rarely yields a good result.

And when we rest, relax, feed our souls with prayer, quiet times with God, our favourite music and good books, we find they tend to stimulate a flow once more. It might appear in small dribs and drabs but one day a stream will issue forth and we will write with words begging to be put down on the page.

If I desire to write poetry then it helps me to begin again if I read some each day. Gradually, the lines I see in everyday, ordinary things will leap out at me. My soul starts to spot a rhythm and cadence that can set me off in the right direction. Once a few words are formed, it isn’t long before a new poem takes shape with ease. Such days are beautiful grace gifts and blessed indeed!

flow like water

these quiet currents
flow like water over stone
rippling through my mind
©joylenton

our dark universe is a velvet eternity school for love #thedailyhaiku 10

/ Joy Lenton / 23 Comments

 

We watch diamond-bright stars glinting like tiny jewels set with precision and perfection in an inky, indigo velvet sky and it takes our breath away. Darkness of night always makes the light shine brighter than before. Every shaded thing makes brighter colours sing.

And as we gaze into the heavens, or look closer to home and observe tiny pearlescent beads of dew coating flowers and leaves,  and ponder just Whose caring hand is behind every created thing, we become filled with awe, wonder and gratitude towards our Creator-God for spilling His treasure so lavishly on earth.

Each plant and flower, every drop of rain that falls, all the shining stars and lustrous planets in the universe are tokens and expressions of God’s great Love being made manifest for us. There is spiritual intent behind the daily graces we often take for granted.

Earth can seem so dark at times, filled with so much sadness and pain, yet these symbols are significant in revealing God’s steadiness and faithfulness, as He holds them out to us as a holy offering again and again. In the seeing, with eyes renewed by faith, we begin to trace His love spilling forth in large ways and small, just as we are meant to do.

a velvet eternity

our dark universe

a velvet eternity

it’s a school for love

©joylenton

despite the odds faith lasts #thedailyhaiku 9

/ Joy Lenton / 10 Comments

 

Faith is intrinsic to our lives. It’s exercised every day. We cannot even drive a car without trusting our skill and the vehicle we are in, or sit down in a chair without having faith it will support our weight.

Some say they have no faith, yet the art of science is faith-based, leaving room for human fallibility, questioning and supposition before any degree of certainties are reached.

So much of our lives are full of conjecture, questioning and making space for mystery. Christian believers sometimes doubt their faith is strong enough to take the weight of their expectations, hopes and dreams.

But what if we saw faith as a gift of grace? We’re meant to have more faith and trust in God than in our own ability to have faith in our somewhat wobbly faith as such. It’s God’s promises that are secure, His love remains unfailing, His mercy is without end and His word revered as our trustworthy authority, guidebook and training manual.

Despite our own worst fears, our tiny mustard seed-sized faith actually grows in adversity, is stretched during challenges and is made manifest when we are called to account. It is more apparent than we believe and it lasts eternally. So let’s keeping trusting and living into the answers to come.

faith lasts

it’s no fairytale
despite the odds we will find
our faith grows and lasts
©joylenton

we require ripening time #thedailyhaiku 8

/ Joy Lenton / 10 Comments

 

It doesn’t take long in the walk of faith before we realise that lasting change isn’t usually swift to come to us and neither is the sanctification process. Rather, we spend our time alternating between resting and resisting, going solo and surrendering to God.

However, we needn’t become discouraged as we journey on with the Lord, because every pausing place is opportunity to receive God’s grace. Each step of faith we take gets us closer in our experience of intimacy with God. Even the faltering ones whereby we stumble and fall can become ways in which our Father gently guides us deeper into His will for us.

I’m slowly learning the benefits of resting in Jesus our Saviour and eternal Vine, allowing His energy to fuel my days and His strength to sustain me in everything. Though it comes at the cost of laying down our self-sufficiency and pride, we never lose out in yielding to the Lord, albeit little by little.

just like a flower

just like a flower

we require ripening time

growing on the vine

©joylenton

seeking a quiet space in which to breathe #thedailyhaiku 7

/ Joy Lenton / 10 Comments

 

I know that when I take on too much, feel overtired and overwhelmed, nothing else quite helps me to get back on my feet again like setting aside time to be still and quiet before God.

As I lay my burdens at God’s feet, stay in His presence long enough to relax and breathe more freely, I’m in a prime position to rest and receive. A quiet space in our days can become a sacred space in which to ponder and pray.

God pours out His love like a warm holy hug, wraps me in a welcome that never ends and comforts my fretful soul with sweet encouragement and insight enough to see the way ahead.

No longer frazzled and fraught, anxious and upset, I can calmly face what comes next or choose to have a longer rest instead, as I finally recognise I am too drained and depleted to carry on.

It needn’t take long or be complicated to become restored and refreshed on a daily basis. It simply takes a willing turning of our hearts to God and a desire to spend a few moments lingering with Him in quiet contemplation and stillness, enjoying the close companionship relationship He longs to have with all of us.

a quiet space

we learn to embrace

a quiet space in our days

relax, breathe easy

©joylenton

And here’s a little breathing space exercise for you to try. As you listen to the music below, may it relax you and gently usher you into God’s presence, our greatest place of refuge, comfort and rest. May you become strengthened and refreshed for what lies ahead. 

 

why it pays to listen carefully #thedailyhaiku 6

/ Joy Lenton / 9 Comments

 

In any given day we are subject to a whole host of voices and the challenge remains: just who or what are we listening to? What is having the biggest influence on our way of thinking? Whose words are we paying attention to?

It pays to listen with discernment, due care and attention. Because what we listen to and take in ends up feeding our soul for good or ill. Maybe it’s our own sharp stabs of negativity that are shaping us, or is it the vital life and health-giving thoughts that we find in God’s Word?

Life is full of voices but the one we need to listen to most is the Voice of God as spoken in His written word and made manifest in Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Our listening choices have eternal consequences for us.

I’ve struggled with my own inner critical voice and negative thoughts for years. It’s a constant battle to ignore them, requiring inner vigilance and prayer, and to replace the flawed and faulty thinking with what God’s word says about me. Perseverance and wisdom is needed to help us discern our own jaundiced thinking and the enemy’s taunts from God’s voice speaking to us.

listen carefully

life’s full of voices

choices have consequences

listen carefully

©joylenton

luminous: seeing light in our darkened times #thedailyhaiku 5

/ Joy Lenton / 8 Comments

 

Dusk is a Celtic thin space time of day, a place of transcendence where heaven appears to touch earth and light fades gently, giving off a luminous quality that feels almost tangible. It’s the real twilight zone that offers us a needful break and breathing space between activity and rest.

Piercing daylight, as it turns to softer shades of muted pink, faded gold, indigo and silvery grey, is where we see light before it vanishes, swallowed into depths of night. The last golden glow we glimpse in a day is a visible reminder of God’s continual presence with us, despite darkness encroaching and seemingly covering up the light we had.

luminous

all is luminous

in this liminal space where

dusk’s soft light appears

©joylenton

gems: nature’s beauty swept into doorways #thedailyhaiku 4

/ Joy Lenton / 14 Comments

 

Autumnal drifts begin to collect, most of them made wetly dark and drab, mushy and sad where I live. But those that come from areas where maple trees and other startling, vivid-leaved beauties grow, when lit by sun’s rays, glow jewel-bright, entrancing the eye.

Vivid autumn leaves are  a glorious reminder of the lavishness of God’s grace, that He would expend such beauty on things that quickly rot and decay and are swept into doorways or gathered as garden mulch or rubbish.

Let’s aim to enjoy the splendour in each season, especially this one of “mists and mellow fruitfulness”, to quote from the poet John Keats’ lyrical Ode to Autumn. And here’s my tiny haiku offering for today as I ponder these scattered gems.

scattered gems

leaves have collected

like scattered gems, jewel-bright

swept into doorways

©joylenton

available: being wholly and holy available #thedailyhaiku 3

/ Joy Lenton / 8 Comments

 

God is continually pouring out His goodness and grace but we’re not always in the right mindset to receive it. Can we become more wholly and holy available? I think so.

All it takes to become available to God is the slightest turning of our hearts in His direction, a whisper of His Name, a memory stirring deep within, a recollection of how marvellously He has always taken care of us.

As we turn the eyes of our heart and our faces toward God, we are rewarded by a saturation of grace, an outpouring of peace, a rush of joy and a calming in our souls. Shall we do that now? A few moments in prayer can make all the difference to how a day turns out.

holy available

face cupped to sun’s rays

I’m holy available

please pour out your grace

©joylenton

freedom: bright butterfly of hope hovers close #thedailyhaiku 2

/ Joy Lenton / 10 Comments

 

Butterflies always speak of freedom to me. I envy their ability to break out of their earthbound chrysalis confines, emerge sparkling new, beautiful and ready for flight.

If only I think. If only we could be like a butterfly, see an end to our struggles and break out into the clear light of freedom. Such a time may be a long while off, though small victories here help build upon the scent of freedom to come.

But we have that blessed eternal Hope from God awaiting us, even as we wrestle with things in the here and now, while we learn how intrinsic faith is to our eventual flight to freedom.

It’s close,  my friend. Closer than we think. Closer than we know. It shimmers in the air around. Keep believing and hold onto your hope for better times to come.

Butterfly of hope

Freedom beckons us

like bright butterfly of hope

shimmers in the air

©joylenton