JanBeek

Be Tenderhearted

Sometimes I am all business.
I put process ahead of persons,
process ahead of poetry,
the poetry of God’s whispers.

Sometimes I am too concerned
about the process to see
the point of the pin
that pricks at pained heartstrings.

Sometimes I’m caught in calendar,
all deadlines ahead of doorways
that lead to peace with patience,
that open to compassion with courage.

Sometimes God rises to reveal
a hardened heart that hears,
“Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry,
and plow through the process!”

Sometimes when I stop to see
the mangled mess I’ve made
with focus on the failures,
God stops my steps.

He points to the positives;
He gathers up the good
And puts the process behind,
Trading it for tenderheartedness.

He helps me humbly see
the covenant, the cross on Calvary,
the limitless love of letting
God’s grace return to the gathering.

Return it to the wondrous whispers
that only tenderness and transparency
can reveal as we enter the center
of God’s tender heart – and hear.

Hear His poetry, hold His hand,
sing His songs and shout “Shalom!”
Take His tender heart that tugs
at your heartstrings. Take it home.

Be Tenderhearted.

Growing in God’s Grace, Jan Beekman, poet