When a world weeps

a world weeps - PJ

The world feels like it’s drowning in sorrow. Swallowed up in multiplying misery. Weighed down with weariness.

We weep for refugees, for the homeless, rootless and lost.

We cry because we share a common humanity and deep down we’re all wounded as can be.

And it seems so insufficient somehow, when all we can offer is our shared tears and desperate prayers.

But still we lament for the broken, weep for the wounded and weak, and cry out for the hurting.

They are large in number and feeble of voice, often silent or silenced despite their plight being daily news.

Then we remember the Man of Sorrows who holds all our tears, weeps alongside us.

Our God full of crying love cries out that he is listening and loving and staying beside us.

Weeping Spirit seeks to offer solace and consolation while sitting in the dust and ashes with us.

We see that we are not as alone as we may feel. We are accompanied in our loss. We are given room to breathe and believe again.

God is here. He sees and he cares, far more than we can fully know or understand.

He brings peace to hearts full of pain, hope to the helpless, comfort to the lost, and renewal to the rootless.

And we learn how to sit with them too, accompany others in their distress, knowing there’s a time to weep and a time to act.

Crying Love

Weeping Spirit

there is no limit

to your crying Love

poured out amongst

earth’s populace

And as you grieve

for the sons of men

our tears also water

dry and dying earth

Each drop glistens

bright as living reminder

of redemption’s Light

and Hope breaks out

with hosanna shouts

ushering in new birth

©JoyLenton2015

“God will wipe every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish (sorrow and mourning) nor grief nor pain any more, for the old conditions and the former order of things have passed away”  Revelation 21:4 (Amplified)

a world weeps PJ pin

While we are waiting

savour the moment waiting post file image PJ

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

hospital waiting room PJ poem file pin image

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.