Mother’s Hands

Recalling fingers that modeled faith

With fingers intertwined in prayer…
That’s how our moms gripped hope.
By faith they grasped the Father’s hand
and held on so to cope.

Our mothers’ hands became the means
by which God answered prayer.
They rarely rested in pursuit
of finding ways to care.

Those gentle hands enveloped us
when we were very small.
They diapered us and cooked our food
and held us when we’d fall.

Those hands that touched our fevered brows
and rubbed our aching feet
were calloused by their servants’ hearts
and needs they tried to meet.

And when we struck out on our own
in search of grownup dreams,
those folded hands called out to God
to bless our hopeful schemes.

Those fingers dialed calling us.
They held a pen and wrote.
They typed a letter or e-mail
or texted a brief note.

Those hands (now wrinkled) symbolize
the values they passed on
to sons and daughters dearly loved
who all too soon were gone.

And so as we recall the one
God chose to give us birth,
we lift our hands in gratitude
to Him who holds the earth!

Bin Laden’s Ground Zero

Good news out of Abbottabad

There’s good news from Abbottabad.
Bin Laden’s death makes justice glad.
This mastermind of mindless terror
must now face Heaven’s court.

Goliath fell to David’s sling.
A waiting world at last can sing
of just desserts for what occurred
not quite ten years ago.

Since then he hid in caves unknown,
but now al-Qaida’s king’s dethroned.
His lifeless body has become
a feast for bottom fish.

His own ground zero came at last.
But lest we think our risk is past,
we’d best beware and be alert
to what his death might mean.

A Royal Wedding and Funeral

Celebrating William and Kate while remembering David

The time has come to celebrate
the wedding vows of Will and Kate.
A day the press has heralded
for nearly half a year.

A day of pomp and circumstance
when two young lovers took their stance
before the Church of England’s head
who stood in place of God.

Archbishop Williams called to mind
a fact to which the world seems blind…
that marriage is a sacred trust
between God, groom and bride.

To play the game of love for life
you need more than a man and wife.
The third strand of a three-cord braid
is love’s eternal cord.

When trials come, as come they will,
it’s faith that helps us foot the bill.
For faith is love’s foundation
that sustains the tests of time.

Faith nourishes our love with hope
and gives our vows the means to cope.
When hardships test love’s softer side,
God’s presence is a gift.

Meanwhile…

While the world of royal watchers celebrates
the wedding of a future king,
the Evangelical world grieves.

Unlike what is does on New Year’s Eve,
Time’s Square is not celebrating today.
A church in the heart of Broadway
(whose pastor preached the narrow way)
is stunned by news of his sudden death.

Today Times Square Church finds itself
preparing for a funeral
while contemplating
David Wilkerson’s remarkable life.

Like a switchblade knife,
his life cut to the chase.
Clinging to the old rugged cross,
he challenged teens
(held hostage by drugs
and victimized by gang violence)
to run toward Jesus.

Nicky Cruz was one who did.
But he was not the only one.
He was one of countless ones
who dodged a premature grave
by heeding Dave’s voice
and making the choice to live.

And so on this bittersweet day,
a day of joy and sadness,
I give thanks to God for a man
who touched my life
and shaped my faith
and gave America one last call
to contemplate its moral compass.

Peace to his memory!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wilkerson

Death’s Comeuppance

The day Death was served its just desserts

In the shadows of the darkness
on the day the headlines lied,
dawning light revealed a mystery.
Death at last had been defied.

Rumors flew. “His body’s missing!”
“It is nowhere to be found!”
“Could it be the place they laid Him
has become most holy ground?”

Absolutely! Without question!
Joseph’s Garden was much more
than a yard of bones and ashes.
Here was Heaven’s open door.

What had sealed his death on Friday
(that gigantic rolling stone)
had been moved permitting entrance
to the cave His corpse had known.

Strips that wrapped His stone-cold body
like a mummy still were there.
But this body bag of linen
boasted nothing but thin air.

Death’s comeuppance some have called it.
Satan’s curse that had been cast
was reversed that Sunday morning.
Life springs forth! The winter’s past.

“Christ is risen!” tulips trumpet.
Lilies echo their refrain.
Crocuses soon join the chorus
and the daffodils the same.

Spring is Nature’s sure reminder
of life’s power over death.
In the ancient Easter story,
lifeless lungs receive fresh breath.

Wind of God, sweet breath of Heaven,
as with Jesus, once again.
Breathe on us, most Holy Spirit,
winded women, winded men.

May this Day of Resurrection
animate our souls anew.
Through the hymns and words of Scripture
calibrate us, Lord, to You.

Flying Solo is for the Birds

Lessons for air-traffic controllers (and others); Why Birthdays are a Gift

Flying Solo is for the Birds
Lessons for air-traffic controllers (and others)

Air-traffic controllers
(who can’t stay awake)
sleep in ivory towers
feeding nightmares raw steak.

Those take-offs and landings
in time take their toll
on sleep-deprived sentries
who lose all control

of eyelids (quite heavy)
that long to stay closed
and threaten a future
of jobs they once chose.

These guys need a partner
to help them keep watch
so when they are weary
and tempted botch

their crucial assignments
of shepherding jets,
they’ll do what is needed
and have no regrets.

But then…

We all need companions.
God said so. It’s true!
We fail going solo
whatever we do!

Why Birthdays are a Gift
A poet reflects on the 59th anniversary of his birth

Birthdays are a chance to pause
and count our blessings (and our flaws).
To thank the Lord He gave us life
and loves us as we are.

The day we contemplate our birth
and tabulate our inner worth,
we eat a piece of birthday cake
(and also humble pie).

We know we don’t deserve God’s grace
for things we’d just as soon erase
that punctuate the years we’ve lived
preoccupied with self.

But in that candled cake we find
a sweet reminder that love’s blind.
Those gifts from friends and family
convey the way God feels.

One day a year we find the means
to reaffirm those life-long dreams
He planted in our pre-born hearts
before we took a breath.

Ah, yes. Our birthday is a milestone
to mark the ways in which we’ve grown
by making peace with what is past
and thanking God for grace.