#faith

garden: a place where God meets with us

/ Joy Lenton / 10 Comments

“I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day.” — Frank Frankfort Moore

In the garden

Christ walks in the garden,
yes, this spring-fresh orchard 
where gaudy peacocks strut,

where incipient apples grow
and the trees speak
to me of bearing his weight,

while bluebells shoot
their vivid heads skyward
to match the now droopy tulips,
and green plants emerge

blinking into the sun
like newly startled birds
before the heavy,
drenching rainstorm comes.

Christ walks in the garden
of my soul — he comes 
barefoot and vulnerable,

with a steady tread
firm and purposeful,
as he hopes I will notice

his presence, fragrant 
as the morning dew
I prepare to dip my toes

into, and rise refreshed
as if I’ve experienced 
peerless peace and rest.
© joylenton

“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.” — George Washington Carver

waking up: when we hear the inner witness in our spirits

/ Joy Lenton / 7 Comments

“It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind.” ― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Waking up

Is it the moment 
when eyelids spring
open or feet hit the floor 
in a slow or swift movement?

Or does the pure act 
of waking up
stem from a signal 
within our hearts?

It is both act and art
to comprehend 
just when 
we fully awaken. 

Our souls might ignite 
with a lucid
holy light, illuminating 
more than our human sight.

Truth speaks soft to us,
a gentle whisper
we can barely hear within,
yet it calls out everything.

All our sadness, all our
joy, our hopes, 
our guilt and our pain are bathed
in a restful wave.

This awakening 
act is heard
inwardly as it speaks to 
the core of who we are.

Not the masks we wear.
Not the ugly
fears. Not the shining image 
we try to present to others.

Instead it echoes 
within our hearts and souls,
right to the very depths 
as it calls us loved and whole.

Yes, it sees it all,
with every wrinkle and stain,
each pain-filled place
wakening now to grace.
© joylenton

“Another reason for right living is this: you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for the coming of the Lord is nearer now than when we first believed.” — Romans 13:11 TLB

rising: learning how to exercise our faith wings

/ Joy Lenton / 7 Comments

“True faith is not a leap into the dark; it’s a leap into the light.” — Eric Metaxas

Rising 

There’s a clapping flap 
of wings beating the air
in tune with the universe 

as crows become airborne
dark blots against azure blue,
crest the currents 

with ease and grace,
reveal their natural
ownership of this space.

Sky’s acreage invites us
to investigate, seek to soar 
above and beyond 

our human state,
renders us minuscule,
reduced to earthly dust,

earthbound creatures
trying to advance themselves 
to earth’s outer reaches. 

Perhaps we would find 
ourselves less distinct, 
sharing an affinity, interlinked 

with avian life, 
note how we are connected,
joined together 

with threads of soul flight
while rooted here below—
inhabitants of day and night.
© joylenton

“Be like the bird who, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing she hath wings.” — Victor Hugo

united: joined together by our faith in Christ

/ Joy Lenton / 4 Comments

“On the essentials, unity. On the nonessentials, liberty. In everything, charity.” — Jack Hyles

United 

A closeness exists
between complete strangers,
no matter where 
or when they might gather
across oceans, lands or over
seas, or close to home as can be.

It’s a bond created 
long before they were born,
a friendship and fellowship 
which loves and serves and gives 
one to another 
like sister and brother.

Independent of age
or race, gender, station in life
or place or financial position,
you fit in, with no barrier
whatsoever, save that
of your own creation.

Children, teens, middle-aged
and elderly join hands 
figuratively or physically,
join hearts as one
(ideally, maybe) and share
bread and wine and meals
and pray for hope and peace.

Call it a gathering, a meeting,
a Body, a Church, a Union
or a Congregation, perhaps,
it doesn’t really matter 
because all are united in Christ 
and that’s stronger 
than what might divide. 
© joylenton

“Believers are never told to become one; we already are one and are expected to act like it.” — Joni Eareckson Tada

rootedness: rooted deep in faith just like the trees

/ Joy Lenton / 2 Comments

“To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.” — Simone Weil

Rootedness

A sweep of trees sway 
above me, with a deep rustling 
reverberating through each leaf, 

murmuring a message 
of presence, of being, 
of hidden strength and timely

wisdom encircling each trunk, 
as ageing rings mark out
the seasons, and bark folds 

itself into gnarled whorls
that speak of mysteries 
only trees can see and know.
Standing still beneath 
a canopy of branches, arching 
protectively above 

my head, I am entranced 
and given over to awe, 
marvelling in their statuesque 

beauty and grace, 
their manner of connectivity 
in this dark and sheltered place, 

where I am but a visitor, 
awed by their centuries’ 
old stability, peace, 
and lofty splendour.
There is a stillness here, 
a sense of timelessness, where
breezes stir the structure
 
of each tree yet cannot affect
their invincibility, their very 
rootedness into the ground,

which spreads much further 
than eyes can see, making
channels through this forest 

that help to keep them all
alive and vigorous, sturdily 
enduring as our lives unfold.
© joylenton

“If we surrendered to earth’s intelligence we could rise up rooted like trees.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

“And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust him, too, for each day’s problems; live in vital union with him. Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him. See that you go on growing in the Lord, and become strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all he has done.” — Colossians 2:6-7 TLB

I close with a few forest sights and sounds to help soothe the stress away and bring you a few moments of relaxation and peace…. Enjoy. 🙂 ❤

liminal: savouring the sacred space in-between the now and the next

/ Joy Lenton / Leave a comment

Honour the space between no longer and not yet — Nancy Levin

Liminal days

Caught in apricity 
as I savour the unexpected 
warmth of this wintry
sun, arriving soon after
a deluge of rain, witnessing 
the drama which unfolds
in contrasts, where light kisses dark
and light doesn’t pull back
because it carries 
difference in its golden heart.

These are liminal 
days, dancing on the edge
where a new season appears
to break, with sun revealing 
snowdrops, crocuses, incipient
daffodils, tender green fronds 
of beautiful bluebells to come,
eclipsed by what remains—
the spare, bare bones of winter
still grimly holding on.

My soul sits in ice sometimes 
because it’s waiting for a thaw
to relax it into love, plant it
in peace, persuade it to take 
a deeper breath, a longer
look, a calmer exhale, 
and to shift gratitude to 
a whole new level, as I face
the need to open up
to mercy flowering from above.

It isn’t arduous,
it doesn’t take much at all 
for us to reorient ourselves 
back to joy and faith when 
we see evidence of spring,
note vital change occurring 
and sense our souls being
set adrift, freed from winter’s 
harsher grip, as we float calmly
toward signs of hope unzipped. 
© joylenton

fear: from scared to secure

/ Joy Lenton / 8 Comments

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” — Isaiah 41:10 NIV

From scared to secure

Fear comes whispering 
in your ears
but it doesn’t sound
like fear at all. Oh, no,

it’s more like the voice
of reason, of questioning,
of common sense.

It brings all the what ifs,
what abouts, oughts and shoulds 
which are hard to ignore,
harder still to justify 

when faith feels a stretch
too far, while trust 
is asking you to take

a great big leap
into the abyss—into the 
dark. Our human hearts
are so easily 

alarmed, unsettled, made fraught
with worry and concern,
by scary thoughts,

by being asked for more
than we are capable 
of. But that’s only if
we rely on human

reasoning alone,
and forget to factor
in the power 

of our amazing,
death defying,
grace and hope 
supplying God. Because then

we’re not facing
anything all by ourselves 
or trying to make

important decisions 
without his help. But we are
relying, depending for all
we are worth,

on God’s mercy 
and wisdom 
to gently guide

and steer us forward.
It takes the sting 
out of whatever we
might be facing. 

The anxiety will leave,
be released
and slowly dissipate

as we move from being 
scared to securely 
dependent on God’s 
foresight and grace.
© joylenton

“God hasn’t lost courage. God isn’t wavering on endurance. God doesn’t fear another day or another test, and God is standing behind me. He is making available for me all that he is. By grace through faith, I have nothing to fear, no reason to feel defeated.” — Gary L. Thomas ‘Simply Sacred: Daily Readings

Fear tends to infiltrate us out of nowhere. One minute we’re happily going about our days, and the next (or so it seems) we become scared of this or that, stuck in the muddy quagmire of worry, and consumed by anxiety and fear. A wall goes up and we cannot scale it, despite our best efforts.

I’ve experienced this over the last few months with the added stress of moving house before our previous property is sold. It’s the plethora of changes and extra admin that sink me, alongside the sheer weary overwhelm of being busy beyond my body’s capacity to cope. But there is hope and there is help for all troubled souls.

No scary situation we might face is a match for our matchless, fear-less heavenly Father’s grace.

God sits beside us, gently nudging us back to trust, softly reminding us of His all-encompassing Presence, great faithfulness, and constant love. And more than that, we have the gift of His calming and comforting Peace to keep us from staying afraid. May our faith be above every fear as we hand each one over to God.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” — John 14:27 NIV

anticipating: the holy art of noticing

/ Joy Lenton / 10 Comments

“Nature is too thin a screen; the glory of the omnipresent God bursts through everywhere” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

My mostly sedentary, housebound life has, rather surprisingly, greatly enhanced whatever ability I might have for noticing. Observation pays dividends of hope and contentment whenever I look closely at living creatures, trees, flowers, and plants.

Nature lures me like a siren call, and I respond with joy, knowing how it lifts my spirit to engage with it all.

Anticipation builds as the seasons change because they all have different aspects that charm us. Life goes on without our full attentiveness, of course, but when we do pause to pay attention we are rewarded with wonderful scenic views, deeper appreciation, participation with the created world, spiritual insights, and maybe a poem to share..

Anticipating

Holiness seeps 
from each breath of wind,
whispering your majesty
because the still, 
small voice speaks 
louder than anything.

The land anticipates
your glorious presence 
as it waits to receive
each day’s instruction 
to shine your glory
and signal your peace.

Yes, even now,
with dripping trees bowed
low against each movement
of blustery wind and rain,
while a watery sun
licks the flowers again.

Even here, as the pigeon 
pokes her beak
into saturated soil,
expectant of finding 
seed, and the blackbirds
stoop to gather worms
as their daily spoil.

Nature might appear 
casually indifferent 
to holy breath 
but it shouts out the loudest
words of praise
to its Maker, always.

Earth has learnt
how to keep you
as its primary focus,
remaining sensitive 
to all the shifts
in its rhythmic pulse,
its seasonal chorus.

Oh may we be stirred 
to listen to its vibrant 
words, and give our own 
response, as our hearts rejoice 
in also being seen and heard.

May your peace rule
and reign 
in the midst of chaos 
because answers 
will flow, even if we think
no one can hear us.
© joylenton

“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.” ~ George Washington Carver

For those of you who might have been anticipating just when I would return and write here again, I’m glad to be back! But I have to say that I’m not sure as yet how regular my posts will be for a while, as this post explains. Keep noticing my friends. It will reward you more than you know to develop and heighten your awareness of God at work in the world. Xx 🙂 ❤

lightness: learning to release our burdens to God

/ Joy Lenton / 13 Comments

“Are you weary of the pace of this world? Does the never-ending deluge of information from the media wear you out? God promises that when we meet him, we find our true rest along these ancient paths—not in a new technology, a new medication, or the passage of new legislation, but through intentionally and habitually coming to Jesus and casting our burdens upon him. Only there do we find true and enduring rest.” — Ed Stetzer

Lightness

 Hot coals burn
 these palms of mine
 as a daily kind

 of frantic juggling 
 act goes on.
 Each burden sears 
 my soul

 as I grasp tightly
 at insubstantial things
 which dissipate

 like smoke,
 like lifeless rings
 blowing here and there.

 But if I pause,
 slow down,
 breathe you in
 with every inhalation

 I take,
 my empty hands
 of faith become

 filled with rich gifts
 of Light, of Life
 Hope, Joy, and Peace.

 Here in the stillness
 I let my burdens
 drop down
 Into your waiting hands,

 falling as dust,
 without form,
 substanceless.

 Each weighty care
 flows freely
 as if it were

 a balloon,
 a mist,
 but vapour rising
 then falling

 over distant hills.
 I watch
 them all floating
 on a breeze

 while lightness
 also fills 
 my mind, my heart,

 my spirit,
 and a smile
 twitches itself
 onto my upturned lips.
 © joylenton

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” — Matthew 11:28-30 The Message

lightness - lightness poem excerpt (C) joylenton @poetryjoy.com

“I am about to go to sleep and so I turn over to him all those people I have been carrying in my heart. He never slumbers, he never sleeps, he never fatigues, he never stumbles. I won’t pick them up again unless he prompts me to do so. His burden is light, his yoke is easy. He carries the heavy end of the load, always. I am just his kid, carrying what I can carry, and he is a good Dad and never gives me a burden that would discourage or harm me by its weight.” — Katherine Walden


May I pray for you?

Lord Jesus,

Turn our hearts more in the direction of your face, your heart, your voice, your love. Reveal just what unnecessary loads and heavy burdens we might be carrying, and encourage us to let them fall at your feet, where we receive your Peace.

May we sense the wisdom of spending quality time in your Presence to offload our cares and concerns and become strengthened. Help reorient our anxious souls back to faith, back to calm, back to rest, and back to hope.
Amen

wholeness: sensing hints of wholeness

/ Joy Lenton / 8 Comments

“I take literally the statement in the Gospel of John that God loves the world. I believe that the world was created and approved by love, that it subsists, coheres, and endures by love, and that, insofar as it is redeemable, it can be redeemed only by love. I believe that divine love, incarnate and indwelling in the world, summons the world always toward wholeness, which ultimately is reconciliation and atonement with God.” — Wendell Berry

Hints of wholeness 

 Where do we begin and end? 
 Is there a boundary between you and me
 and other living things?

 Don’t we all draw breath, our sustenance 
 given by a generous, almighty hand
 that loves us without restraint?

 Now we look at air and water,
 fire and earth, tree and leaf,
 noticing the connectedness.

 We see and sense our union 
 with all living things, our sentience 
 linked inexplicably with theirs.

 Earth in its rawness, primitive 
 soil teeming with hope,
 with richness, and with life.

 Fire exists in the heavens,
 wrapped in the golden glow of sunset 
 and sad devastation of forests.

 We see repeating patterns
 in the sky, in a flower,
 in each day, the length of hours.

 And our souls can sense
 areas of difference still
 giving hints of wholeness.

 Variety is seeded in the universe,
 in all burgeoning plants,
 in faith, and in infancy.

 What we will become
 is still a mystery
 for now, waiting to be revealed.

 Brokenness is our default state
 throwing us on God's mercy,
 his great forgiveness and grace.

 We learn not to divide 
 our hearts but yield them up
 in surrendering to his love.

 Our brothers and sisters 
 are not too dissimilar to us
 when viewed through grace.

 One day differences will subside 
 because what unites us
 is greater than what divides.
 © joylenton

“[Jesus] matters because of what he brought and what he still brings to ordinary human beings, living their ordinary lives and coping daily with their surroundings. He promises wholeness for their lives. In sharing our weaknesses he gives us strength and imparts through his companionship a life that has the quality of eternity.” — Dallas Willard in Ruthless Trust – Brennan Manning