Saturday’s Silence

My sister shared this with me today.  The sun is bright, the air fresh. We are alive and well, grateful to be safe at home. I share this photo and words from the Corrymeela Community in Belfast:

God of grieving,
God of silence,
there is a strange gift in having time,
one whole day this holy week,
to sit with questions of why
and how long
and to hear no response at all.
To rush from Friday to Sunday,
from death to resurrection,
wouldn’t do either justice.
Nor would it dignify the life
of those whose daily pain and grief
and constant pleas for justice
go unanswered in the world’s daily rhythm.
Let your silence fill this silence,
until our empty noise dies out.

Corrymeela Community is a non-profit organization in Northern Ireland dedicated to help bring healing to those who were traumatized by the many years of conflict and violence  that occurred there between Catholic and Protestant factions.

https://www.corrymeela.org   

Shame

“Metamorphosis doesn’t look the same for everyone. Don’t be afraid to share your story.”

We live in a time where Mental Health issues and PTSD  affect many in our society. Some things in life cannot be fixed by a pill, a doctor, or a will to change. In the past generation, sharing this kind of issue was a stigma and considered shameful by many. Our scars and differences are not something to be hidden or kept within ourselves. Sharing our story can be the first step in finding healing and wholeness again.  Our story is what makes us unique from everyone else. How good are you at listening to what others are going through?

“Shame happens

when we largely treat suffering

like a problem to fix

rather than a story to tell.”

Photo from: Lora Myers Roth

Used by permission

Quote came from an article in Christianity Today:

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2019/december-web-only/wakeupolive-heiligenthal-bethel-church-miracle-doesnt-come.html?share=&fbclid=IwAR3tKk4Mnz61_bKZX-iWhpBgXOSuBIalHIsmmN60A1RRmUotyGWSjaYIYHg

 

Expectations and Faith

After seventy-two years of observing the way Faith and Expectation works, I have come to the conclusion that we put way more expectations on our faith than the writers of our scriptures ever intended. The following is something I have been mulling around in my mind for a couple of years. This is the best way I can express what I personally have experienced. You may see it differently and that is OK. To me faith is simple and easy to understand. Many have made it complicated and demanding, filled with unrealistic expectations.

I’ve prayed but had no answers;
Believed in miracles // still waited my turn;
Had faith to move mountains
but the mountains remained;
Read the promises of comfort in times of trouble…
Believed I would find peace in the storm;
Yet saw only blackness and overwhelming sorrow.
Believed Jesus would carry me when I could not go on;
Instead, fell flat on my face crying to God for help.
Discovered there is a time for everything under heaven;
Everything in due season // sometimes sooner // sometimes later.
So, when you pray don’t expect expected answers;
You will usually wait for things to take their course.
Don’t lay on God expectations beyond what might happen;
Leave the miracles for the unexpected occasion.
Don’t let your faith become a denial of reality;
Most illnesses take their course // healing may or may not come;
Most troubles will blow over in due time with scars to show;
And yes, you will feel scared to death through it all.
So, hang on for a wild ride on this roller coaster we call life;
And, if in the end we are blessed with a loving caring family
and friends //consider them a blessing from God.
They will sustain us and walk with us
through the valley of the shadow of death.
If not, we will endure to the end…
When our spirit rises to rejoin our creator.

*********************
It is interesting to me how different most prayers are from this example Jesus gave his disciples!

Matthew 6:9 –
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11
Give us today our daily bread.
12
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one…

NIV – Gateway Bible.com

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Waiting for Mist to Rise

Beyond the mist the sun is smiling
Waiting for it to lift
The cool damp blanket of morning dew
Hanging on every stick
The flowers drink in the fluid of life
Standing shiny and slick
Lifting their petals in thanks to God
For the refreshing drink he gives

When the fog sets in and clouds your view
Accept it with gratitude
Consider it a time of healing
Waiting for the sun to burst through
In those inner moments as things close in
Our view seems not quite so clear
Let faith grow strong // cement your bond
Know the sun will shine through

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Horse Pills

“Horse pills” // that’s what I call them

Giant oval shaped tablets marked across the middle

Antibiotics to be taken twice a day for ten days

Oh, and don’t forget to take them with food

Medicine can tear up your stomach

Before it makes you well

By all means drink a whole glass of water

Send them dissolving into the quicksand

Don’t want those horses galloping in your system

Through a dry smoggy bog maze

They just might gallop right on out the door

Without doing their job!!

**************************************************

Photo: Horse Pills – queerty.com

Paul at d’Verse asked us to write a poem eluding to some form of medicine. Having recently finished a round of antibiotics. I chose those big horse pills as my inspiration.

Https//dversepoets.com

 

Beauty in the Broken

Brokenness is another way of reinventing ones self. Sometimes when the hard knocks of life shatter our plans for the future destroying our self-image, it helps to realize that this is not the end, but rather the beginning of new and greater things.

Beauty in the Broken

Look for beauty in the broken

For out of the shards of glass

Comes a beautiful mosaic

More spectacular than the original…

A healing of brokenness

Forever cemented together…

The pieces of anticipation

Broken, yet whole once more

***********************************************

Ceramic Mosaic: Lynn Carmichael

Our dVerse ~Poetry Pub is giving us a choice of offering today. To see what others are writing click on the site: https://dversepoets.com/

 

The Joy of Music

Music is so special that it has its own compartment in the human brain! The inspiration of music lifts the spirit and warms the heart. It can also bring healing to heartbreak and take us back in time to exact times and places when we first heard it. It brings us into connection with our God and brings joy to our hearts. Stroke victims can sing even when they can’t speak.  This is a painting I finished today. It is a recycled canvas from the Restore. I wanted to capture not only the figure, but the movement of the music. Can you name this tune?

Music and Words

Music tickles all of my of my tympanic spaces

Notes driving pounding every membrane

Notes floating lightly bouncing along

Embedding their unique melodies

Like fossils buried in my brain for all time

Waiting to be conjured up at a moment’s notice

Classical music beautiful and majestic

A multitude of instruments playing on cue

But the soul of music is in the words

Words give direction to music

Taking me back to the exact times and places

To that first love that first heartbreak

Music the story of my life

The first two notes the first two words

That preceding guitar lick

Remembered forever in my soft hard drive

Evoking feelings from deep places in my soul

Stirring joy tears raw emotion

A spiritual touch like no other

****************************************

Painting – Dwight L. Roth

Jaded

When evil stares us in the face, something happens within that turns average people into heroes. In our world tragedies like this are becoming more frequent. It can be easy to start to think this is to be expected and common place. But we cannot become jaded. We cannot give in to the evil always present around us. As we saw people in the midst of the firestorm of bullets risking their own lives to help others, we can see that we are greater than any evil force coming against us. Love overcomes in the end. As the Bible tells us, “Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good!

Jaded

Let us not become jaded

With reports of senseless violence

Brought to us in living color

Real time action like virtual reality

Worn across our eyes

Let us not become jaded

When shootings and bombings

Happening in a city next door

Or a country far away

Come across the screen in mixed truth

Let us not become jaded

When evil invades our life

Assuming it to simply be the norm

Listening to the talking heads blame one another

Let us not become jaded

Thinking all is lost and evil has won

Don’t believe it do not fear

Brother helps sister when danger is near

Let us not become jaded

For love is not lost

Tragedy brings unity

Realizing what is really important

Is standing arm in arm and hand in hand

Knowing that in the end Love Wins!

Some Choose to Bleed

I am sure you know people who will end up dumping their pain onto you every time you meet. They can’t seem to get over the past hurts and feel everyone should bear it with them over and over again. On some occasions Jesus asked the people who came to him, “Do you want to be whole?” Healing in some cases is dependent on the willingness to let go of the past and move on.  There will be scars, but there will no longer be the necessity of blood-letting every day with everyone you meet.

Some Choose to Bleed

Some like to bleed

To feel the pain over and over again

Never closing the wound

Allowing healing to take place

Bleeding all over everyone who will listen

Knowing every conversation leads to blood

Choosing to relive past wounds again and again

*

Bleeding daily is not therapy

It is staying stuck in quicksand

Sinking slowly being pulled under

Attempting to drag all who will listen

Down under the suffocating sand

Covered with cobwebs of despair

Eventually they will bleed to death

Or… they can live with their scars

And find healing

*************************

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

The Eye of My Needle

When confronted with the caustic attitudes of the current political campaign, it is easy to get caught up in negativity. How we respond is our choice. When a friend has been injured by the words or actions of others, it is easy to jump onboard and promote the negativity. I am proposing there is an alternative, sewing the wounds with love and compassion that can bring healing and help.  Negativity becomes a cancer of the soul. Don’t let it consume yours.

The Eye of My Needle

I’m a needle with an eye on the end

Waiting for a thread to pass through

Will the thread I use help to mend

Or as I sew will it leave you blue

 

Threads of darkness or threads of light

Joining together sewing things tight

Drawn through the eye with utmost care

Choose the thread that can mend the tear

 

To friends you know who are on the mend

Will your thread be light or a painful end

Perhaps it will be a thread of grace

From a true friend of the human race

 

Threads of healing or bitterness and strife

Will you be sewing their wound with life

Or, with caustic soda and the twisting knife

 

They say the eye is the window of the soul

Fill yours with Light that makes one whole