Author: rkcdlitt

God’s Eternal Soul

Our own personal lives,

that lives with the community

and worship in our churches,

find that we can live only in the now.

All are present in our prayers.

As a congregation we pray

for the Spirit to be with us,

join our souls with Christ.

When we are in a state of grace with Christ,

our soul is translucid  to God, for,

where God does his work within our soul.

God builds His home within us;

It is in the soul; and,

we must lift ourselves and join

with God to receive His glory,

His majesty, and his grace.

Our soul belongs to God

It is where He purifies us.

Love is also a Commandment

The blessed of life is God’s Love;

t’is a chance to live in the Divine

God’s presence is the magnificent sunrises

we experience as we awaken to

a new life each morn

and the dramatic sunsets we are

in awe of each eve.

His presence is the beautiful

music of man,

the melodic music of birds,

the fun-loving music of a baby’s laughter.

The failure of Love often brings suffering;

the failure of love brings rejection

by strangers, by the refugee,

by the sick, by oursleves.

We are all children of God

Whether we call him

God,

or Yahweh,

or Allah,

or any other thousands of names he is called.

He is the Father of us all.

When we love God

We love the stranger, and the refugee.

We love the Jew and the Muslim.

We love the sick, and we love ourselves.

The two greatest commandments

Given by Jesus is to love God, and

To love our neighbor.

Both bring the Divine to our hearts,

and this is how we pray to God.

Prepare (pray)

“And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.” 1 John 2:28

Why do we live our lives haphazardly?

Why do we hunger for substantiality?

Why do we thirst for substance

in our old age,

be that ninety or twenty?

Why are we ageless burdens to others,

And to ourselves?

We are not burdens to God,

when we walk in His light.

We are barefoot on a surface of

His feathery grass.

Our walk is comfortable,

because we are precious to God;

we are His children;

we are His faithful.

We prepare (pray) for God,

when we hunger; when we thirst;

when we are weary in our old age;

when we are burdens.

Giving our burdens to God

and trusting in God,

our walk is comfortable.

We are God’s precious, faithful children.

We are the Light of the World

“For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light.” Ephesians 5: 8

We are all children of God.

By His Grace,

we are the light of the Lord on earth.

We are the fruit of the Lord,

therefore, we are true and right and good.

If we accept God’s light and life,

our paths before us are filled

with His goodness and light and life.

The paths of our lives cross with others

on their paths of light and life.

When we accept others as our brothers and sisters,

we grow broader and deeper in God’s love.

Jesus says in Matthew that

we are the light of the world

and by doing these many good works,

we glorify God.

Missing the Boat

Why is the church

stranded in the ocean

on a boat

without oars or a motor?

How many denominations

preach their unquestioned

message of truth that only

they can possess?

Why the division over

who is closer to Christ,

when our black brothers

and sisters are murdered –

just for being Black?

Jesus says we are all one family.

Jesus says we share God’s love equally,

but we do not follow His teachings.

He was a poor homeless person . . .

shunned and persecuted by the powerful.

The apostles were in a foundering boat,

when Jesus walked by

on the water

and questioned their lack of faith.

The symbolism is missed

by most of us:

Jesus is too all encompassing

to be confined by one tiny boat.

His presence is greater than all;

He is too all encompassing

to be confined to one church,

to be confined to one race,

to be confined to one small way of thinking.

The apostles’ boat was filled

with a tax collector,

a doubter, a traitor,

sinners all, who did not

understand His teachings.

The boat is filled with us,

all unable to understand,

unable to get along,

because we are say we are different.

We have all missed the message;

we have all missed the boat.

But all is not lost;                                              

we can all become

the taxpayer, the doubter,

yes, and even the traitor.

They all finally understood;

yes, even the traitor.

It is not too late.

Let us open our eyes

and our hearts to the true message:

we are all one body in Christ.

“But the Comforter . . . whom the Father

will send in my name, he shall teach you

all things, and bring all things to your remembrance . . .” John 14:26

Too soon, we face death!

Are the soon forgotten?

Are we soon forgotten?

Too soon, I fear;

they lived and they loved.

We lived, and we loved.

Is this a sufficient memory

For others, or for us?

Only God knows the answer.

We know that Love transcends life;

Love also transcends death.

Love is the bridge between

the living still and those

who have passed on.

The only survivor is their memory;

the only survivor is our memory.

The only meaning is how they loved;

the only meaning is how we loved.

Does memory mean nothing?

Trust

“In God, whose word I praise; in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?” Psalm 56:4

In my house there is a special room;

its name is trust.

It has many windows and doors,

allowing many people to enter.

Those who enter this room change . . .

forever.

Those who do not enter

spurn this room, for

a lack of faith disappoints them . . .

always,

and petrifies them . . .

always.

When opinions enter this room,

they decompose.

Ideas of faith are strengthened here;

Truth takes the prize, for

God blesses all true ideas;

Trust is their name.

Only the faithful remain!

Yet all are loved!

Go and Bear Fruit

“I chose you and appointed you that you

should go and bear fruit,” John 15:16

God gives us plentiful gifts:

Love, Life, Grace.

We live with these gifts

that enrich our lives.

These gifts allow us

to Be true followers of Jesus,

to be friends with Jesus.

But being thankful not enough;

we are invited to take these gifts,

share them with others, with all we meet.

This is what Jesus means,

when he asks us to

go and bear fruit.

As Jesus was, we are . . .

created in God’s image.   

When he looks at mankind,

He is looking into a mirror.

Seeing His wonder and grace in us,

our awe is magnified by His love.

This is why Jesus commissions us to

go and bear fruit, to allow

others to see our good deeds,

which come from and

glorify God, our Father.

We Listen, but not always Hear

Jesus responds in His time  

and in ours,

as does God, but

we are impatient, misunderstanding,

because we are human,

as the apostles were.

The apostles did not hear

the parables, Jesus’s lessons in listening;

Jesus always mentions their lack of hearing;

the answers given in the parables,

they may not have known the questions.

Faith and prayer are our listening times;

God answers but we always do not hear.

We are not ready to listen;

we listen but do not hear;

we are Jesus’s new apostles.

When lying in pain,

we are unable to pray.

God feels us in pain;

Listen and hear’

we receive God’s voice through hearing,

not just listening;

His mourning prayers are made for us.

Jesus’ parables contain the answers;

all we have to do is listen, and hear!

We Rejoice before You

“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again, I say, rejoice.” Philippians 4:4

We awaken to Your love

Our journeys are comforted by love,

pitted with highs and lows.

We bear the burdens of all who affect our lives;

both disappointments and victories are short lived,

when we awaken to our true relationship with God,

be that direct or through our churches.

Our journey is smoothed by His love,

less affected by external occurrences.

We can rejoice in God’s presence,

our everlasting Father.

Rejoice and be glad;

our reward is with God.