Grace notes

How do you picture grace or try to describe it?

I see grace like musical notes that play out in our lives as rich background sound to all our senses, bringing harmony and melody to our moments and a song of praise to our lips and hearts.

These grace notes are Holy whispers we need to train ourselves to listen and respond to.

We live, breathe and have our being in God’s grace.

We are enabled, equipped and encouraged by its anointing.

We have all the riches of God’s treasure store laid out for us by faith in Christ.

Where does one begin to suggest the source of all strength, the power, peace and purpose of knowing our Saviour?

As a weary M.E sufferer (who has very limited energy or inspiration today), I know I cannot do full justice to these things.

But I pray that my lowly offering here will still touch your heart with some small measure of mutuality, a flicker of recognition or understanding.

START…

‘Holy whispers’

Dew-dappled leaves

sunlight fronds filtering through the trees

with holy whispers calling on the breeze

suggestive of love, hope and laughter

kindled with knowledge of joy hereafter.

With friends to hold hands and heart

for whether we’re young or old

they are a rich part  of common grace

goodness God gives and deploys

to be acknowledged and enjoyed.

And as we trust in the promise of Your word

 believe and receive all we have heard,

as we behold Your face

seeing life through new eyes

with renewed and restored view

of delight and surprise in dealing

with the everyday, we become aware

of how it all comes back to You.

Everything looks better than we had thought

it could be as we have sought

to know and follow closely

being alert in seeing each and every day

is liberally laced

with Your love

 revealing a fresh way of living

with help from within

and support from above.

For such is life when

You bring our senses alive.

All is gift

All is grace

All is Christ seen

within and around.

His love surrounds

Everything

enabling the freeing

of all

that soils and despoils

©JoyLenton2013

STOP.

Like many before it, this poem had a life of its own.

I began with marvelling at creation.

And veered off into marvelling at the Creator Himself.

Which is no surprise when He is the Source of all grace, all goodness and life itself.

Linking here with Lisa-Jo Baker and all the brave and beautiful writers who participate in #fiveminutefriday. Today’s prompt is:‘Grace’.

You are very welcome and warmly invited to join in.

PS:Grace is a topic I’ve written about many times before in Words of Joy and made into a series called ‘Grace Notes’. It all began here.

What is life like?

Questions on life have preoccupied scholars, theologians and laymen alike for millennia.

There are many and varied responses to this question.

It is rarely the proverbial  ‘bowl of cherries’ of popular myth.

Or if it is, then some get all the sweet succulent ones and others experience sourness and nothing but a mouth full of pips.

My painter/artist/writer friend, Pamela Hodges, is researching this topic for a forthcoming book.

You are invited to participate in the content of her illustrated new work by sharing your thoughts here.

I saw the invitation a couple of months ago and was so bowled over by the idea that I couldn’t contain myself.

Soon I scribbled a few thoughts, then the creative juices ran free.

As I wrote poetry flowed and you can read the result below.

My hope (and Pamela’s) is that you will catch the (writing) bug and send her your ideas.

They don’t have to be perfect, poetic or profound.

All entries will be carefully considered – one line is sufficient, I got rather carried away!  – and the best ones collated into the book with full acknowledgement given.

Plus, if you are a winner you will also receive a free e-copy of the book.

How good is that?

Do check our her lovely blog. She is currently going through a great series on learning to be confident with expressing your creativity.

I hope my post below will initiate the imaginative processes.

‘Life is like…’

A blank page, open book waiting to be written,

mystery of story unfolding with so much to fit in

Awe and wonder of a newborn’s cry,

comfort blanket cuddles and a lover’s sigh

Birdsong at dawn as earth stirs fresh and light,

a continual war zone, battleground, a fight

Heavy storm clouds threatening a sudden downpour

turning of the tide, waves on the shore

A weary trudge up a winding stair, wandering

aimlessly in a maze and getting nowhere

Harmonious melody, music in the air,

watching a movie unroll with popcorn to share

Mud pies and madness, joy beyond measure,

heavy mantle of sadness, merry-go-round of pleasure

Dark and light and every shade between, unfurling of a flower in the

petals of a dream, a silence and a shouting, a whisper and a scream

Kaleidoscope colours converging, finding rainbows through the rain,

pinprick stars of hope emerging through inky velvet stain

Intoxicating, heady champagne and wine, a drumbeat

marching steady, dominoes flat in a line

Mellow sunset rays warming heart and soul,

long hazy summer days doing nothing much at all

Footsteps treading in virgin snow, hesitant

and wary about where to go

Treasure mined in darkness, rich jewels glinting bright,

clouded shade and starkness of a never-ending night

Delicate gossamer thread spun into intricate webs,

songs and sonnets in our head, memory that flows and ebbs

A dandelion clock blowing years away, puffing through

gloom and fog, lost as waif and stray

Water to the thirsty, an unstoppable flow,

a dance filling heart, mind, body and soul

An adventure, journey of discovery, beginnings and birth,

all that lies between despair and dying here on earth

The best gift we’ve ever had, infinitely precious and rare,

which takes time to unwrap and invite others to share

A great vision, an open vista, a laugh, a tear, a song,

a brief spell, just a mist here before all that lies beyond

©JoyLenton2013

This is probably one of the longest poems I’ve ever written, and if you’ve made it all the way through then I thank you for your great patience, my friend.

And as I am taking a little needful break, there is much for you to ponder on here for a while!

Future poetic outpourings will be shorter. Promise 🙂 We’ve made it to day 18 of #poetryforthesoul and I look forward to catching up with you again soon.