National Poetry Month
National poetry month is wrapping up. Where did April go? I am so glad I was able to hear our state’s poet laureate, Chris La Tray, this month. He certainly inspired me. Have you tried your hand at writing some poetry this month?
Proverbs 16:9
“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”
My morning devotionals in Dec. 2023 have guided my steps in 2024. The Advent team challenged us to “…hold space for our weariness and our joy… seek a thrill of hope in our hurting world… cry out for comfort… and find many ways to rejoice.”
This is the poem Rev. Sarah wrote to kick off the theme that has inspired my 2024 thus far:
So, unzip the weight you carry around, and let God inspire you also to rejoice in this weary world!
My response to that poem was to let Rev. Sarah Speed inspire me to write my own
“The Last Time I Saw God”
The last time I saw God face to face
I opened the bedroom shades.
God was every color of orange.
I was merely a mortal in awe of it all.
The sun was just rising over the Madison Range.
God was in the sunrise.
I climbed my sanctuary stairs.
God was waiting there for me;
He was the brightest yellow.
The time before that,
A three-year-old was explaining her
understanding of love.
God was the brightest red
in her precocious explanation.
Love is helping others – being kind.
And in between these small gifts
were glimpses of God
in the warm morning hug,
the gathering of church friends,
the joy of guitar accompaniment,
and the sound of congregational singing.
Why yes, we are blessed.
We are more than blessed
for the moments when
God appears and speaks
through the purple haze
in a voice sweet as morning dewdrops,
“Listen, my beloved,
I am with you.
See me, my beloved,
I am here in your every breath.”
That was not the first
nor will it be the last
time I will see
and hear God.
When is the last time you saw God face to face?
Write about it!
God bless you!
Happy National Poetry Month!
Love,
JanBeek
