Dry Bones // A2 // A3

"Dry Bones" by Gungor

//

A2

Surrounded by blessing
upon blessing
why am I still guessing
and blindly thrashing
about
filled with doubts
not about the goodness
but in how it applies
within my life

my heart
cries
as these lies
invade

stuck in the shade
on a sunny day
should be so refreshing
and yet...

//

A3

"Peace be still"
but Lord!
Your will
it evades me still
and as I fill my life
with good and great
I feel one step too late
never to reach
the shores
of more
always drawing up less

this darkening address
as words return
and burn a way
a light
a path
as darkness cannot fight
the wrath
of what it has become- dark
but only the spark
of light
can fight the dark
save the day
pave a way
through the embers of my heart
to stir them into burning
restore the yearning
and quell
this feeling of needing to yell
in absolute frustration
at everything and nothing at all

Lord, where did I fall?

forgive me, Lord, as I recollect
and detect the moment
of possible disdain
that causes you pain
may Your name yet be
ever on my lips and in my mind
each moment Your presence find
though You fill my inner being
may I know your freeing
love.

Amen

//

He loves us yet... (think on that!)

A-1

I once collected flowers
roses
lilies
all
but now I collect none
but remember them all
through pictures and through thoughts
of the one that brought them here

and as I near
my time to sleep
in creeps
the anxious patter of my heart
why this start
caffeine may be the cause

all I want to do is pause
go back to where I began
to a place of simplicity
where I can merely be

to be alone
is beautiful
so tranquil and filled with peace
but give it time
and you will find a missing piece
as your heart atrophies and dies
and inwardly you cry
and awkwardly walk on.. sighing

I would be lying
if I said I did not wish
sometimes to fly or swim like a fish
to be lost
in the depths
of the worlds created in our minds
like the kind
lived in by children to fill the moments
of each day

what can we say
what can we do
Lord, I only want to get through
this depression
brought by lack of sleep
uncertainty
a lack of hope
as all that founded me crumbles
or at least seems to as I stumble
but does any of that matter?

in comes the patter

but wait, does it really?
am I the real me?
Have I become lost?
What is the cost?
Can I genuinely be-
or should I be a different me?

No more can I be
something other than my core
and yet I feel God calling me for more

please heal this discrepancy
this moment of sensitivity
and let me see

the beauty in front of me.

a

My Imagined Response to a Friend's Heartbeat

(for her)

Beautiful notes
ding into place
spreading out
filling the space
and as I breathe
up and down
there is no room to smile or frown
only to be

and though I feel not free
I am not tied
tied to emotions that make me cry
I am in this moment here
not for some reason of fear
but out of love
and so I sit
listening to the stars above
sit and talk
of things they've made
little figures
each season a different shade
as the earth twists and turns
and still we yearn for things to come

and in this
some lose their hope
their scope
their peace of mind
that is not the kind
of love you have given us
or life
you have given us this moment to be lived to the full
so what do we do
when we are sweating bullets
and life is anything but cool
and heating up
we fear
that the end
that moment of joy
will never be near

what then Lord
what will you say-

"stay

stay in my arms
in my sweet embrace
and whether you are in the child, adult, or parent place
I see your face
the twitch of your mouth
that downcast eye

But I have a surprise
a beautiful plan

yes you may be but a drop
but a special one
that through so much will be done
so don't discount what I have for you
there is so much for me to do
and I am working to show you the way
but don't worry about today
or tomorrow
or time to borrow
my plan is perfect
and it is good
and all will end up as it should."

//

(for the Lord)

I don't know what things will be
but know You are inside of me
and that You see
the world for me and more
and if I could see it all I would be floored
let my mind not be so inwardly set
full of frets and regrets
but rather let it with purpose be upheld
as You perfectly weld
my life into being. 

//

(for him)

There is nothing like a hug
to make you feel so safe and snug
to fill you with hope and love and peace
to give you that quick moment of relief

and you are so sweet
to come to my side
with nothing to hide
but full of joy
and adventurous thoughts
of wonder

and when the devil would try to plunder
no words may asunder
this moment
or these truths

that God has bound
His hope resound
through us

and that is worth the fuss
of many miles driven
and time apart spent
because of each moment together
strand by strand tethers
not to restrain but to free
the heart inside of me

and in thankfulness I daily sit
thinking of this
so thankful for each moment of bliss
that passes by
like a sweet feathery cloud
passing in the sky
with the grass below
and the sun covered above
feeling the warmth
of each thought of love...

Late Night Prayer

Breathing deep
I feel the sleep
roll over
my mind and my heart

but the second
starts
to pitter
and pat
over this
and that

and soon I am onslaught
with things I can't ignore
as they rip
and strengthen their grip

and compulsively
I clean, fix and straigthen
but to what end
to help a friend?
to help myself?

Where in this lies any wealth
and as I straighten my thoughts
and fix my dress
I give to you my stress
my worries
and my fears

and You say
sweet child
and draw me near
but I am a child no longer
and each day I realize that
I grow stronger
or at least pretend
to and that my friend

is the real end

so what in this life is more real
than the dreams
that plague our hearts and our minds
of a beautiful or brilliant kind
but Lord what happens when we are left wanting
and afraid

into still waters I would normally wade
and yet
for resilience we are formed and created
this life, this path we are slated
is not for torture
but for hope
and so as I teeter
on thoughts that are not so good
what would
You direct me towards
to help me move forward
in Your perfect plan

and You say, lean not on man
so lean not indeed
but in You, we are hopeful and freed
may You constantly my heart remind
with thoughts of this kind
so that in thought and deed
Your will may I ever heed

in Your name,

amen

Many Things

Hunger fills
as each moments stills
and I crave something more
in the dark, music filled room
there is something I am hungry for
to move
to do
to write

something about this is not right
and yet for this moment it is
and so I take great bliss
in knowing the blessing of being
in a place so full and freeing
but knowing too
that God knows what to do..

.even when I am fighting
a battle against His heart
to make my own plans, my own start
and He every time
gently helps me rhyme
to get to the part
where I realize His hope, His love
and His involvement from above

that He is not so full of rules
or teachable tools
but really a gift of grace
a familiar face
that cups our head
and gives us bread
or friends
or family
yes, You are more to me
than the things I read
or understand
because I have been given life
directly from Your hand.

//

God has greatly blessed my life through new things ( :

"Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praises from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof."
   -Isaiah 42:9-10

//

A well intentioned look
I read you like a book
put your pages you closed shut
and I asked you," What?"

You said, you'd tell me later
and to remember the date
you better believe I wrote it down
this was going to be something great

//

So as we sat on the bench
legs almost swinging and all

who knew
I'd be ready for the fall
of the words on my ears...

did I hear you clear??

and yet as doubts spread around me
I am filled only with light
knowing that this next step is both godly
and right
only God can have the last say
but I know this today
He led me to you
and He will lead us through

And as I look forward with hope
less and less I need to cope
but more I feel filled to the brim
with ecstacy
as if I dove in any more
I would be
swallowed whole
mind, Spirit, soul

but God has gently set me apart
to involve only my heart
and not to overwhelm my mind
but to fill me with a kind
of peace
to show me the piece
that I had been missing and that now is full

seeing so clearly now
all the rules
and how within them winds His love

and how He has orchestrated this from above
like Perez, & Boaz, & many more
God has done this plenty times before

and its not from the easy that He gave us son
but from many messed up persons, yes everyone one
with a faith for You and a heart to serve.

persons who against their circumstances had quite the nerve
and though I am far from that great woman this thing to say
but Lord thank you for being with me each day

And as things become more definite
as it becomes a "this is it" moment
and we begin to hint
at things to come
my heart is so content

the future spreads out in front without fear
but rather excitement draws near
and wraps around my heart
what a wonderful start
to a new adventure
prayed over and lifted up
with expectency
let's see
what God has freed and set apart
because only He could give us this beautiful start!