Month: October 2024

To Be Loved

To be genuinely loved, truly,

Feels as though you were meant to be,

As though the world might stop,

If you were no longer in it.

And when the one who loves you,

Dies,

It is as though the world has stopped,

And you are no longer in it.

True love is like a shared gravity,

Pulling each into a shared orbit,

Seasons measured by revolutions,

Around each other.

A genuine love is a pure diamond,

Forged in the heat and pressure of life,

Across time creating,

Something precious and rare.

To be loved is a gift unmerited,

Bewildering and surprising,

To return love is the beginning,

Of life.

~FS

Table Dance

Here is a new little song I composed, as my interpretation of klezmer music. I really enjoy Klezmer music for its range of emotion. It is filled with pathos, humor, a tinge of sadness maybe, beauty and joy.

If you take a moment and listen (about two and a half moments actually) I hope you enjoy it. I entitled it, Table Dance, because for me I can see someone up on a table dancing, perhaps at a wedding, perhaps after having a little too much to drink, perhaps it is the groom, or maybe the bride, or maybe both the bride and the groom. Who knows, listen for yourself and see what you hear…

There is an audio-file and pdf linked here: the pdf is the sheet music, on the off-hand chance any of you are in a klezmer band and are looking for more material. 🙂

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nS-FCpDMS7rnAj3SzBfFtW9-4Oo3yztO/view?usp=drive_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cat-PtL_MijUip7sZBgSyKzW0IhvUsqJ/view?usp=drive_link

🙂

~Francis

The Hollow Christian & The Wildflower

We who profess Christ,
And who wear crosses,
Who are we, really?
If Christ is not at our core,
If Jesus is not everything?

I’m speaking to myself,
But, feel free to listen in:
It is as though we are a hollow tube,
A vessel that should be filled,
But is not.

I see a purple flower, wild,
By the side of the road,
In a mass of flowers and tendrils,
Cascading over a rock wall,
It lives in this world,
But is not of this world,
Not of this world of man.

I’ve not seen the flowers striving,
To fill themselves up,
As even we Christians strive,
Just like other men of unbelief,
Striving to fill our hollow core,
Emptiness inside us caused,

By the absence of Christ.

Why say that we are Christians?
Others are more honest,
Those who have left the faith,
And are busy now filling themselves,
Full, with everything else,
Everything else that they can find.

If we will not make Jesus Christ,
Our everything,
It is better that we take off our cross,
And follow the ways of this world instead,
Although, parenthetically and as a warning,
In this endeavor, we will never be full,
And we will always be wanting,
Wanting more,

Accompanied by the pain of never having enough,
With our innermost heart hollow, empty, even so.

Christian, be like the wildflower instead,
Every day it awakens,
And accepts what God gives it,
And it is full,
And in its fullness it gives,
It gives back its own beauty,

Reflected from Christ,

Out to the world.

~FS

A Frog and Me

A frog was sitting still upon a leaf,

It was no great matter, and it went unnoticed,

He was enjoying the warmth of the sun,

So, I lay down beside him, and together,

We spent the afternoon, overlooked and happy.

Really, this is all that is needed,

But for those interested in knowing more,

There is art and science in finding peace,

And comfort under the sun,

In the company of a frog,

And this is how it goes:

When worry assails me, as it always does,

I bring to mind how Christ is my defender,

I am His and this day is mine;

When I think that I should be working,

And I should be busy,

Then I look at my companion and I notice,

God brings him his flies, and he is fine,

And so I rest too.

When people are angry, and I’ve been unfairly accused,

I remember Jesus loves me, and He forgives me for you,

If I failed and I couldn’t do better,

Because it was the best I could do,

Well, God made me human,

And He’s my advocate too.

The art is remembering,

The science is believing:

Christ is my protector,

Christ is my provider,

Christ is my defender,

Christ is my comforter,

Christ is my healer,

Christ is my strength,

Christ is my all.

This is so easy that even a frog can do it,

But it is quite difficult for a human.

~FS