You are not to lament.
Not to weep , not to let your tears run down.
For the tree was my lament.
Its branches cut down.

So often had I looked through the west window.
Its branches gently swaying.
Now the machines had cut them low.
Were they still alive, growing.

Yes the tree will live.
Paired of the rotten branches.
It will now thrive.
Given in its long life new chances.

In our life if our hopes are pruned.
Somehow new life will be resumed.

……

Do not lament
Nor weep, not let tears run down
For you will survive

…..

See Ezekiel 24: 15-24

The fathers have eaten unripe grapes.
And the children’s teeth are set on edge.
We wander forgotten in distant landscapes.
Truth hidden by an impenetrable mental  hedge.

But by the light of the sea.
We can see a little further.
We may not hear or understand but we can see.
Here we are free , not some mere time server.

What is about the sea that frees us slaves.
That transports us to another country.
Is it the relentless, lapping, sound blessed waves.
We seem here to belong to no century.

Time here is not of  the essence.
Only our physical sense.

…..

We eat unripe grapes
And our teeth are set on edge
Yet we have the sea

…….

See Ezekiel 18 : 1-10, 13, 30-32

The last of the enemies to be destroyed is death.
For everything is to be put under his feet.
Our last on this earth may not be our last breath.
We may breathe again after we approach his seat.

Awake at night , of course I started worrying.
And then suddenly I thought of Blessed Richard Leigh.
Immediately I saw wonderful lights appearing.
And a joyful  sense of peace set me free.

Are the dead really living.
How strange that he seemed so present.
Over four hundred years of death defying.
Maybe I should truly believe his ascent.

But how wonderful was that vision.
With the distant past true union.

……

Death can be destroyed
It’s the last of enemies
But God has the key

…….

See 1 Corinthians 15 : 20-26

Whatever you bind on earth.
Shall be considered bound in heaven.
At our death we find our true worth.
Death is the true leaven.

We should think of Maximilian Kolbe not because of his death .
But of what  he had become.
His choice already made with every breath.
He had to save life even if death would thereby come.

When the final trial comes at last.
The choice, if we have prayed,  will be clear.
He had lived his true self as he breathed his last.
He was just a true man , no sear.

We are what we have become.
Which only may be clear to some.

….

What you bind on earth
Will now be bound in heaven
That is surely clear

.. ….

See Matthew 18: 15-20

Your will is my delight.
Your statutes are my councillors.
I seek your translucent light.
And your holy mentors.

Do not be a rebel.
Like that rebellious set.
Can we our own dissatisfaction quell.
Are all our desires truly met.

What is it about the seaside.
That soothes the restless.
The everlasting waves an incoming guide.
The antidote to ever moving stress.

If you walk quietly amongst the dunes.
You can read the calming runes.

…….

Your will my delight
Your statutes my councillors
But do I seek light

……

See Ezekiel 2 : 8-3 : 4

So as not to offend.
Go to the lake and cast a hook.
We do not need always to break , we can mend.
We only have to really see aswell as look.

I woke up in the night depressed.
Negative thoughts racing.
Everything just messed.
Hope abandoning.

Then I said ,  remember no one who sought thy intercession.
Had their prayer unanswered.
Praying to Mary relieved the tension.
Nothing ventured , nothing tended.

When depressed cast a hook, pray.
And the Rosary say.

……..

He said cast a hook
And then they found the shekel
Can we do the same

…….

See Matthew 17: 22-27

The foolish ones brought no oil.
Whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil aswell as their lamps.
We make mistakes despite our toil.
And we receive precious little thanks.

Those who were  ready.
Went to the wedding hall.
Are we alert and steady.
Can we walk tall.

We can work hard all our lives.
And then make one foolish mistake.
And then nothing worthwhile survives.
We seem submerged in a deep dark lake.

But out of despair.
Can come lessons and repair.

…….

Have we brought some oil
Or did perhaps not buy some
Thus will hang our fate

…….

See Matthew 25: 1-13

But you, he said.
Who do you say I am.
Are all our doubts really laid.
Can I honestly say I know him as I know what I am.

This is the abiding question.
Nothing else really matters.
Is his Godliness just a suggestion.
Our all our doubts and fears in grateful tatters.

Peter spoke up, you are the Christ.
The son of the living God.
In our hearts do we really believe he is the Christ.
The only son of a living God.

This in our lives is the most vital question.
Is it fact or mere speculation.

…….

He asks who am I
Who do you say that I am
And we answer what

.. …..

See Matthew 16 : 13-23

They have found pardon in the wilderness.
Those who have survived the sword.
We are given so much , we should ask for less.
Always seeking truth through a spiritual sword.

I have loved you with an everlasting love.
So I am constant in my affection for you.
Seeking peace like the dove.
Not just for me but you.

I build you once more.
You shall be rebuilt.
Seeking and learning from holy lore.
Working through doubt’s cloying silt.

You will go out dancing.
For the planters have done their planting.

……..

Pardon, wilderness
If we have survived the sword
Everlasting love

…….

See Jeremiah 31 : 1-7

There in their presence he was transfigured.
His clothes became dazzlingly bright.
At last he was fully measured.
We see him in his true light.

When they looked round.
They saw no one but Jesus.
When we think or look around us,
Normally we think of anything but Jesus.

Jesus became for a moment as he is.
And as one day we may see him in reality.
He cannot be described as, he just is.
We can never in this life understand his true reality.

Perhaps we should spend less time looking around us.
And more time looking at a man standing before us, Jesus.

……

He was transfigured
His clothes were dazzlingly bright
But can we see them

….

See Mark 9: 2-10

I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry.
Even though doubt is rife.
All the other promises seem empty.

He who believes in me will never thirst.
We will win though.
Because we know he comes first.
In every high and every low.

Do not work for food that cannot last.
But work for food that endures for eternal life.
May we at last join the holy cast.
For a new life.

It is my father who gives you the bread.
From heaven, the true bread.

……..
He’s the bread of life.
With it we’re never hungry
But we must believe

…….

See John 6: 24-25

Rescue me from sinking in the mud.
Save me from my foes.
Save me from the coming flood.
Dress me in spiritual clothes.

Save me from the waters of the deep.
Lest the waves overwhelm me.
I know I sow what I reap.
But be merciful to me.

As for me in my poverty and pain.
Let your help O God lift me up.
Save me from pointless strain.
In my weakness give me a hand to help me up.

Do not let the deep engulf me.
Nor death close its mouth on me.

…….

From sinking in mud
Save me from the coming flood
From the deep’s waters

……

See Psalm 9

Tears flood my eyes night and day.
Unceasingly , a crushing blow falls.
What more can I say.
Only that the voice still calls.

I go into the city.
I see people sick with hunger.
I call upon all my pity.
Can I show compassion for longer.

If you pass poverty by.
Should you just walk on the other side.
Shouldn’t you take action, not just sigh.
We are here to help, not just here for the ride.

Are we rejected altogether.
Or can we act all together.

…….

If tears flood our eyes
Passing on the other side
But is that enough

…….

See Jeremiah 14 : 17-22

If you had been here.
My  brother would not have died.
He releases us from fear.
And our hope being derided.

But I know that, even now.
What you ask of God, he will grant you.
We hope we are rewarded, when we sow.
Even if, in faith , we are the few.

I am the resurrection.
And the life.
Only he cuts us from tension.
The goodly knife.

Even though we will die.
If we believe we will not die.

…….

Is he here now
Will he save us from our death
We must have faith

……

See John 11 : 19-27

If you do not exploit the stranger.
The orphan, the widow.
In the land I gave  to your father.
I will stay with you , you I will follow.

Passing in my air conditioned car.
I saw the woman and toddler living on the Delhi street.
I looked upon her from afar.
Just as the rich man and Lazarus would not meet.

In face  of this poverty.
All my efforts seemed futile.
What is our life truly worth next to this misery.
Why in helping, can we not go the extra mile.

When I die will I be confronted.
Or will I be comforted.

…..

Pass the stranger by
Then left behind by the car
Punished from afar

……..

See Jeremiah 7 : 1-11