The Fall

The fall

Humiliated
I double over, stabbed
by sin's sharp blade.
Where can I hide
my shameful wound?
Let the earth swallow me.
Let the mountains fall
and bury me in rubble.

Humble
the Lord stoops down
lower than I can ever fall.
With wounded hands 
He lifts me out of the dust,
Sets me upright once more.
I am enfolded in the arms
of everlasting mercy. 

Everlasting fire

Fire burns
With hungry horror
Devouring the hell-bound.
Fire burns
Bright as a beacon
Among the souls
Of purgatory
Fire burns
With divine glory
Consuming the saints
In radiant bliss.

Once a wall

Once a wall climbed to heaven.
Again and again my prayers struck it.
Not one of them could get through.
Once a wall blocked the highway
others traveled without care.
I ran into it full tilt.
Rock solid, it would not yield.
My tears could not budge one stone.
At last, battered and bleeding
I limped away in despair.
"Why are you silent?" I asked.
"Why won't you open to me?"
The desert swallowed me up,
dry years parched with endless thirst.
Yet I caught glimpses of you
like a mirage, leading still.
You were there, you brought me through.
The wall is gone. Others walk
the path, singing out their joy.
An altar awaits me now
and you, come down to feed me.

The storm

Lord, help me when like Peter I take my eyes off you.

The storm is here
the boat awash
but the master of the storm
ride with me.

The waves are high
the thunder loud
but the master of the storm
rides with me.

Soon He will rise
bid peace, be still
for the master of the storm
rides with me.

Prisons

Lord, I thank you that you save us even from those prisons that we build ourselves.




From Joseph
to Paul
there were prisons,
long years
locked away,
enforced solitude,
days of waiting,
nights of watching,
for you
who came
who always come
with deliverance.