Category: Poems

Imagine that you are living eternally even now,

and that every thought and action that you enact in this moment,

is establishing you in eternity.

 

Virtue as steps to heaven,

or passions like withered vines.

 

What foundation are you building here,

and what seeds are you planting now?

 

Imagine if this moment were to be captured and lived out perpetually,

your current inner state to be cast in stone, or formed in iron;

is this who you want to be?

 

Cast instead, yourself at the feet of your maker,

and plead with God for the power and wisdom to live this moment,

as He commands.

 

We all fell with Adam when we were deceived,

by the devil in our pride,

and perpetuated by our unaccountability.

 

Why continue to fall? Haven’t you fallen far enough,

exchanging heavenly realms above,

for meaner, more solid, yet less substantial joy in this lower world?

 

Yet even lower worlds than this are calling,

for those who desire them,

as higher ones are being prepared for your return.

 

What step will you take at this very moment,

which direction will you move in your eternal now?

 

For as step leads to step,

here becomes there;

what appears insignificant now,

will echo forever.

 

~FS

Glorious evergreen trees—

describers of beauty,

and illustrators of God’s Love,

dignified and wise sentinels—

you stand watch in the awakening dawn,

your upturned faces aglow;

and you crown the twilight skies,

your silhouettes stark against the waning light.

 

Alone or en masse you inspire me—

by your serene patience and constancy,

always at attention,

alert and perceiving,

quietly, silently, exuding your wisdom.

 

Thank you for standing watch over me,

and all of my brothers and sisters.

 

You are always here among us,

as a testament to our Heavenly Father’s enduring love.

You are living examples of life eternal,

for by comparison with our short human sojourns,

your arboreal longevity seems infinite.

 

You stand unmovable like rock,

but you are alive like flesh.

Deep within your furrows,

and under your barky skin,

there is life, alive and vibrant, and energetic.

 

Though you stand so still and stoically,

you teem with vitality, and are active beyond measure.

A never ending river of life courses through you,

as you make food from light,

and shower us with oxygen and water.

 

In so many ways I depend on you,

and not least of all you show me how to worship.

I always see you standing in constant prayer—

Never failing.

 

Like arrows, your bodies, they direct my thoughts to heaven,

and your many arms, outstretched and swaying, call upon the Lord all day and night.

 

As I gaze up into your massive structures, I am in awe of you—

and your slow, yet inexorable,

and indefatigable climb upwards into the Heavens—

I hope and pray that I may seek that same Kingdom

with a fraction of the dedication I perceive in you.

 

Glorious evergreen trees,

thank you for all of these things,

and thank you God,

for giving us one another.

 

~FS

Some are made to scale great heights,

some are made for grandeur.

Yet I have found a simpler place—

a life akin to manure.

 

Let others steal their place in the limelight,

only to come away burned.

A spotlight is too harsh for me,

though I’ve sought it many times.

 

Some can thrive in that bright light;

I thought that I could bear it.

Its heat and pressure is unpleasant;

I’m blinded by its brilliance.

 

My place is in the earth,

not upon the stage.

I wasn’t made to reach the stars,

or be the best there ever was.

I was made for simpler things—

a humble life, like humus.

 

I am a humus-man,

an anti-modern,

counter-culture man.

 

I am not a company—

I will not market myself,

nor charge a fee.

 

I’m not a brand,

but just a man.

 

I’m casting off the social medias,

the pressures to be relevant,

I’m finding freedom within the earth,

hidden peace shrouded in the dirt.

 

I do not matter—

not in the ways of this modern place.

I am matter—

hoping to nourish you with a humble grace.

 

~FS

I love this time of year:

when the geese come,

and the ducks,

and a gentle breeze blows through the reeds.

 

Everyone is on the move now,

while I stand silently.

I smile, as I listen,

to the ducks as they laugh—

 

they chuckle jovially,

as they lift into the air.

They are a humorous bunch—

come listen, and see.

 

A group of them are swimming about in the early morning light,

testing their jokes on one another as they pass—

a chuckle here and a chortle there—

it is a good morning.

 

Suddenly erupts

a hearty guffaw from the entire group.

I couldn’t hear what was said,

but I laugh along with them anyway.

 

They clap their wings,

the show is over,

and they fly away.

 

I stand motionlessly

at the waters edge,

as joy takes flight within my heart.

 

~FS

Have you cast me into outer darkness, O Lord?

Dear Lord, why have You forsaken me?

I search all day long for You, and do not find You.

I don’t know where You are, and am lost in searching.

 

Others, they mock me for my searching and say,

“God is nowhere to be found, why waste your time looking?”

They are content in their surroundings,

they grow fat on the wealth of the land.

 

But I am not comforted by the comforts of this place.

I yearn for You, and call upon Your name.

Why have you forsaken me?

You leave me alone in a desolate place, where I wait for You.

 

I grow weary in waiting, and my heart grows faint,

You are my only hope, and in You I put my trust.

Only come Lord, do not leave me here forsaken.

Do not cast me out, Lord, but come speedily to my aid.

 

Please do not let me be a fool, and an object of derision,

to those who place their trust in here and now.

Raise me up out of my misery, Lord, that they may know,

there is a God in heaven above and on earth below.

 

~FS

 

I do not feel You,

yet still,

I know You are near.

 

My thoughts disappear into darkness,

yet still,

I know that You hear.

 

I am rooted in You,

although,

I do not know how.

 

I am filled by You,

although,

I cannot say how.

 

We meet—

without word,

without emotion,

without thought.

 

I am standing in a cold,

indifferent night,

within a strange,

unfamiliar light.

 

And You are might.

You are might.

 

~FS

On the other side of loneliness,

there is a place.

Listen.

I’m telling you.

 

I’ve been there

and it’s not so bad.

There’s nothing to be afraid of,

because it isn’t nothing—

this loneliness.

 

You aren’t alone,

though it may feel that way,

for a time.

 

Yes, I’ve seen you running

trying to get away.

Away from that fearful silence.

I understand.

I’ve been running too.

 

Let me tell you though—

on the other side of loneliness,

is the place where you’ll encounter you.

I know because it’s where

I encountered me.

 

You may have felt it in a forest,

or heard it whispering at the beach—

stillness calling you to silence.

 

Have courage—

endure the boredom,

face the tears—

the twin veils which mask

your entry into you.

 

Else, live a life of constant fleeing—

never finding rest.

 

~FS

 

Rejoice!

Victory is won.

Liberation from our oppressor,

is achieved.

 

Glory, Glory, Glory!

It is the coming of our Lord,

with companies of angels,

to banish our foes.

 

Holy, Holy, Holy!

It is the rising of The Dawn,

bright and morning star,

Radiance of the Eastern Sky.

 

Showering us with Mercies.

 

Arise!

For the Prince of Peace is come,

He is victorious,

the battle has been won.

 

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!

It is our Independence Day,

may we rest,

within our Lord.

 

~FS

Preparing for the journey;

traveling light.

 

You won’t need those things,

where you’re going.

And you can’t take them with you.

 

Can you squeeze the world

through a pinhole?

 

And if you could,

what use would it be to you,

in your new home?

 

Pull up what you have hidden,

under the floorboards—

throw them all overboard.

 

You’re a traveling light now;

traveling light.

 

Goodbye to darkness,

all your shadows disappear,

dissolving into brightness,

total victory over fear.

 

Perfect light,

contains no darkness.

Perfect love,

contains no weight.

 

Death in Christ—

means traveling light.

 

You are a traveling light now.

So travel light.

 

~FS

We are in a weightlessness of space,

untethered and floating away into darkness.

The Father’s love is reaching out to us, to catch us,

and draw us back to safety.

Our choice to reach out and grab the line

offered us through Christ His Son.

There is no other tether to draw us back into our original bliss.

Certainly there are other ways to ameliorate our supine sleep,

and other comforts to enjoy,

as we fall away into abandon.

 

We look for other suns to warm us,

in our slow inevitable decline,

as we are passing our time in this cold, dark vacuum.

We see stars and reach out to them for warmth,

but they are indifferent to our inner yearnings,

and laugh secretly at our poverty.

We attempt to hitch ourselves to a passing comet,

the newest one, that might take us home again,

or give our freefall meaning,

but it glances past us and sets us in a spiraling motion,

still floating, arms flailing now and grasping at stardust.

 

We cannot breathe,

for the weightlessness of our world

is crushing us and we gasp for air,

searching desperately for a way out.

Meanwhile the Father’s love is reaching out to us,

to catch us, and draw us back to safety.

Would that we only reach out and grab it

and follow His line back to our eternal home.

 

We search for a new world, a new home in the darkness of space

and reject the best one that is offered to us.

 

~FS