Embracing the Cross

Help me to love the crosses
  That come to me each day.
Show me the joy distresses
  Can bring to mark Your way.

To take up my cross
  Deny self, and follow You.
To shed away the dross
  Remake me, devoted and true.

At the thought of pain
  My natural man will shutter.
When insults are plain
  The temptation is to mutter.

I need Your abiding grace;
  I need Your strength to walk
With a bright and cheery face.
  My daily cross - I embrace.

Thank you, O Lord
  For the trial at hand.
Thank you, O Lord
  For the courage to stand.

By Julie Dunlap  3-22-2011
 

Healing

My heart is like the barren sand
Stripped of fairy-tale delight;
Miles of windswept prairie land
Grief, our most unwelcome blight.

Jesus, come - restore my life;
Upon this vessel pour Your balm.
Jesus, come and calm all strife;
You alone are Truth, my Psalm.

by Julie Dunlap 9-20-2007

I dedicate this poem to the family and friends of Daniel Frouman.

Lent

Lent is a tree without blossom, without leaf,
Barer than blackthorn in its winter sleep,
All unadorned. Unlike Christmas which decrees
The setting-up, the dressing-up of trees,
Lent is a taking down, a stripping bare,
A starkness after all has been withdrawn
Of surplus and superfluous,
Leaving no hiding-place, only an emptiness
Between black branches, a most precious space
Before the leaf, before the time of flowers;
Lest we should see only the leaf, the flower,
Lest we should miss the stars.

by Jean  M. Watt, 20th century

Vessels of Grace

Blind eyes
Deaf ears
Dark minds
Hard hearts

God's grace transfigures His children
Christ crucified unveils God's glory
The Holy Spirit penetrates sinful souls
The Blessed Trinity - Wonderful, Wise Worker.

Opening our eyes and ears
Shedding light into our minds
Softening our sinful hearts
Forming vessels of God's grace.

by Julie Dunlap 3-7-2011

Poem

I give you no formulas, says the Way,
I give you no equations.
But I will heal you in my own time,
In my own way,
Imperceptible to you,
Your mind races, seeking a solution;
But there is no solution that can be grasped by the mind.
Your mind tries every avenue,
Thinking that at least one will open up suddenly on the longed-for goal:
Freedom from pain.
But every avenue is a dead-end;
You are up against the wall,
The goal is not reached.
That is because the pain is there for a reason.
It is like a maddening fever that burns up and drives out disease.
By it alone do I heal you:
Without it you will die in your sickness.
By it alone do I change you unto perfection:
Without it you will be as a foreigner in my Kingdom.

Seek no formula.
Seek no equation.
Only be patient:
Wait on me
While I do my unseen work inside you.
When you are changed and fit for my Kingdom,
You will know that something happened.
But there is no need for thought.
Enter, then, into my joy,
You who have waited, in devotion, in my pain.

From Christ the Eternal Tao

Welcome to my blog

   Thank you for taking a look at this blog.  My husband and I are fond of Christian poetry and songs so I thought it would be fun to share some of our favorites with you.  We have also written quite a few poems and songs. I hope you find encouragement as you read these selections.