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The Mast 

Tags: Despair, Suffering, Salvation, Cross, Prayer, Endurance

Shipmate longs to please the Helm.

He does whatever tasked and wishes a more,

Concerned for ship and crew.


Storms come, and adversary advance.

Great forces to numerate crash.

Great forces to take the priceless

Pitching, rolling, yawing, and falling.

Comrades tripping, slipping, and dying.


So many forces out for he

So few to hold the weak

The storm breathes doom.

So too, enemies loom.


What the last hope be? 

Alas, the Mast!

It rises high and mighty,

Standing a perfect T, with yards and sails be.


Whatever waves come, the center it be

Whatever the despair the Mast stands true.

There is no stronghold far from the Mast.

Most inward and structural it be.


In all reality, no weight the greater carried,

Then upon the Mast, corruption borne.

Pushing ship hence, bearing greatest load

Storm whipping to-and-fro

First target of enemy scorned.

To the Mast! To the Mast! 

To the only hope at last!

The Mast, the last stronghold.

In spite of agony, wind, or woe, 

In spite of friend or foe,

The Mast holds true.


The Mast, stronger than sin.

The Mast, holding Divinity and humanity painfully.

The Mast, whence all stone are cast.

The Mast, by afforded life and made to see.

The Mast, the weight of Love itself, battered, rent

Creaking and tweaking, yet never ceasing.


The Mast, none are betrayed in Thee

But Thee betrayed often be.

Too great the waves, too great the blast.

To the Mast!


Key to eternity.

From the yards, hang the sails of salvation true

stretched great, not divided in two

The sea so great squall.

Maelstrom set to befall.


Hope has faded to the last,

To the Mast!

To the Mast, all ye last!

To the Mast, lest with the rest sink fast!


No lifeboat fore to aft.

No recompense stern to bow.

Only the Mast! 

Embrace He that last!

Do you know that tree?

Tags: Sacred Scripture, Cross

Do you know that tree?

The one we are forbidden from

The single thing I cannot have

Does it captivate you too?

How mysterious it is, what is death?

The serpent says it is best

What have I to lose if it is the rest I gain?


Do you know that tree?

The one that brought us death

The fruit I thought was good

Has now left me in dread

Do you feel it too?

How dark is this, what is love?

The good has banished us

What have we to gain if we are lost?


Do you know that tree?

The one that gave Abraham wood.

The wood he gave Isaac

The sacrifice that was never rent

What did God give you?

Is there a lamb in the shrubs?

God has provided for us,

Why does He still care if we are lost?


Do you know that tree?

The one that made Noah’s boat

The wood that rescued the good in man

What has God done for you?

Are you sheltered from the storm?

God has spared us

What shall become of us now?


Do you know that tree?

That provided Moses his staff

The staff that rescued Israel

The lamb that made the sacrifice

Where is he leading us?

Have we any food or water?

Egypt is not our home

Are we now beloved people?



Do you know that tree?

The one use to build the temple

The place where God’s presence was among us

Where so many a sacrifice made

Does it bring you to wonder?

What did God want for us?

His presence transforms

Are we now a nation?


Do you know that tree?

The one that made the manger

It held God’s living presence in the flesh

Where Our King lay weak and poor

Why has He made himself in our nature?

Does it break your heart?

A sacrifice we bring

What has God done for us?


Do you know that tree?

The Joseph taught Him to carve

The wood he carried to make a living

Among his neighbors, He worked

What does God intend?

What will the Messiah do?

He made us like, Him not Him like us

Does God care for our daily lives?


Do you know that tree?

The that made the boat for the fisherman

The place where Peter met Jesus

The place where Love began his mission

“What do you seek?”

“What shall I do for you?”

We wish to be free

“Who do you say that I am?”


Do you know that tree?

The one we deserved

The one God the Sinless One carried for 

The sinners who scorned Him

What have we done?

Are we even forgivable?

“Peace be with you,” He says

“Do you love me?”

Cross & Crown

Tags: Death, Suffering, Salvation Cross, Sacred Scripture, Gospel, PrayerView Associated Post

May our crowns be the merits

cooperating with what Your generosity has given us.

The will to trust and receive may we be given and willfully inherit,

for You who love us do not abandon us.


As our hearts are pierced by our corruption,

as our minds are torn by our hunger,

may at least we stumble toward the Object of Passion.

Nothing more fervent, no risk greater.


Where there is no sacrifice, there is no victory,

Yet "no warrior is preserved by his strength, no king His army".

Sacrifice echoes sacrifice in every novel the same story.

In the image of my Love, no suffering nor death will harm me.


I seek your will my Beloved, what do you ask?

How I wish to say, "[I am a] worthless [servant]. [I] have done only what [I] ought to have done!" [1]

I pray Thee my God, do not set me about an impossible task.

You may not call upon me has the Stewart of your house, but I shall act so as to say "What you have asked, I have done." [2]


All the same, would that I be able to "trim my lamp" so as to persevere to the end. [3]

Shall I let my weariness get the better of me?

Grant me strength, O God that I would be awake at your return, which does impend. [4]

Until the end of the age, Lord help me to be with Thee.


Teach to be prudent with your desire as so many before.[5]

Teach me your will and I will prepare.[6]

Please let my demise be only folk lore.

In my service, may Thou know me as they servant to recieve me into Thy kingdom.[7]


FN:

"Death because I do not Die" by John of the Cross

Tags: Saint, Spiritual Life, Devotion, Prayer, Desiring God

I live yet do not live in me,

am waiting as my life goes by,

and die because I do not die.


No longer do I live in me,

and without God I cannot live;

to him or me I cannot give

my self, so what can living be?

A thousand deaths my agony

waiting as my life goes by,

dying because I do not die.


This life I live alone I view

as robbery of life, and so

it is a constant death — with no

way out until I live with you.

God, hear me, what I say is true:

I do not want this life of mine,

and die because I do not die.


Being so removed from you I say

what kind of life can I have here

but death so ugly and severe

and worse than any form of pain?

I pity me — and yet my fate

is that I must keep up this lie,

and die because I do not die.


The fish taken out of the sea

is not without a consolation:

his dying is of brief duration

and ultimately brings relief.

Yet what convulsive death can be

as bad as my pathetic life?

The more I live the more I die.


When I begin to feel relief

on seeing you in the sacrament,

I sink in deeper discontent,

deprived of your sweet company.

Now everything compels my grief:

I want — yet can’t — see you nearby,

and die because I do not die.


Although I find my pleasure, Sir,

in hope of someday seeing you,

I see that I can lose you too,

which makes my pain doubly severe,

and so I live in darkest fear,

and hope, wait as life goes by,

dying because I do not die.


Deliver me from death, my God,

and give me life; now you have wound

a rope about me; harshly bound

I ask you to release the cord.

See how I die to see you, Lord,

and I am shattered where I lie,

dying because I do not die.


My death will trigger tears in me,

and I shall mourn my life: a day

annihilated by the way

I fail and sin relentlessly.

O Father God, when will it be

that I can say without a lie:

I live because I do not die?

Epitaph by Merrit Malloy

Tags: Death, Mourning, Love

When I die

Give what’s left of me away

To children

And old men that wait to die.

 

And if you need to cry,

Cry for your brother

Walking the street beside you.

And when you need me,

Put your arms

Around anyone

And give them

What you need to give to me.

 

I want to leave you something,

Something better

Than words

Or sounds.

 

Look for me

In the people I’ve known

Or loved,

And if you cannot give me away,

At least let me live on in your eyes

And not your mind.

 

You can love me most

By letting

Hands touch hands,

By letting bodies touch bodies,

And by letting go

Of children

That need to be free.

 

Love doesn’t die,

People do.

So, when all that’s left of me

Is love,

Give me away.

Entrusting a Suicide to the Lord

Tags: Death, MourningRecommendation: Repeat out loud as many times as desired

Many a tear shed

Many a blessing felt

So heavy was he laid in his grave bed 

So much love, so much want


Far to young, far to good

Love Him God if you would,

How much more do you love him than I

I think of who he was and all I can do is cry


Love him God!

Love him good!

What wouldn't I do?

What wouldn't you?


I lay him down,

I do what I must.

I leave Him not alone,

His memory is not dust.


Enfolded in mercy so complete,

I leave Him at your feet.

Mother Teresa's Anyway Poem

Tags: Perseverance, Prayer, Suffering

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered; Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God; It was never between you and them anyway.

The Hound of Heaven by Francis Thompson

Tags: Salvation, Prayer
The Hound of Heaven.pdf

I hear a cry

Tags: Suffering, Spiritual Life

I hear the cry of a nation lead astray,

That dig for love blindly hoping for a single ray.

The grasping cries of many lost,

The creek of a bridge long befell by rust.


I hear the cry of pain,

the sound of the unjust that leaves many slain.

Promised what they had,

The lack of which they now have.


I hear the cry of regret,

Man deceived by an empty threat.

To ignore, to persevere, to pretend it happened not,

“What to do now” is their only thought.


I hear the cry of atheism,

“our best option is schism”.

Made for God’s love,

man grasps at the pieces broke.


I hear the cry of wound,

Clutching the sin which left man swooned.

Crushed beyond control,

Where has man left to go.


I hear a cry in the wilderness,

A bleat in a distance.

“Salvation and power come from our God”

A reality contrary to the past and no feeling so odd.


I hear the cry of unworthiness,

Love so great it is limitless.

Lowly I am found,

Less than dirt renowned.


I hear the cry of loving,

An undeserved promise of restoring.

The Hound of Heaven has found me,

We need dreadfully His welcome lovingly.


I hear the cry of truth,

Deepest anxieties left soothe.

Tears falling in awe love and joy,

The peace of freedom from sins alloy.


I hear the cry of mercy,

Forgiveness in the face of evil.

A love told of old,

Broken at the betrayal of a love so bold

You Never Know How God will us you 

Tags: Evangelization, God's Will

You never know how God will use you.

Struggling to breathe

Can’t hardly see through the tears.

Kids shooting fireworks

All she hears is the mortar shell hitting,

Part of her is home safe and the rest still shooting.

She finds a quiet creek, things never seemed so bleek.

She grabs her pistol, and the phone rings.

It’s her friend from school she ‘s in town,

She wants to catch up and do something fun.


You never know how God will use you!

A man who gives all to serve,

He lays down his good, don’t care if it hurts.

Only his friends know and that’s ok.

He puts on a smile anyway.

Haunted by demons he can’t see,

He can’t make out what God’s Will will be.

They tell him terrible lies,

No one is there for him and he cries.

Suddenly, his friends text him

“Bro, I am so glad you are in my life, all you are going through, it is worth the strife.”


You never know how God will use you.

She has so many scars she can only wear long sleeves.

Her life’s a mess and she’s twenty three.

Taking medication and going counseling,

She wonders if this is how it will always be.

She meets a new guy at work,

She tells him her hurt.

He smiles and says, “Ain’t it strange how God love us”

She asks “what do you mean?”

He says, “that’s fair you see,

I struggle too but I am with him on that cross.”



You never know how God will use you.

Told his whole life, you are fine.

All he can do is to keep from crying,

Abused and abandoned no one would believe him about what happened.

No one there to help him, no one there to listen.

He drinks his pain away, a little too often.

His friends pray for him, but he can’t see.

Someone finally tells him, “I am here for you man and I want to listen”.


You never know how God will use you.

Sometimes all we need is to understand,

Just what goes on in this land.

Sometimes we need to see God’s plan,

Often times the good is a hit-and-run.

Just one thing, remember for me!

God’s love for you is infinite, as though the only one.

How can you say spreading that love will ever be done? Because God will use you, provide for you, and you may not even comprehend it.

You never know what God is up to

A Poem for a Transition of Moving Away from Closest Friends

Tags: Love, Mourning, God's Will

I see my pain in the reflection in your eyes

a cloud of sadness that darkens the lights.

I have loved you enough to not suffer alone,

But still I love you more than you know.

 

It breaks my heart you feel this pain

I would not hesitate to be slain

If it took your pain away.

All I want is you to stay

 

The child in my heart wants only to run with you through the hay

through the wheat on a bright sunny day

I wish the only care to be to stay

I ask for your good as I pray

 

Still, I love you enough to let you go

Only in surrender now can my love truly show

To show its fullness, it must grieve

It must leave with you, within your heart.

 

I shall not be torn apart

I shall be with you always in prayer and sacrament

I will not be estranged only distant

Whatever pain I cry,

wherever your head lies,

there my God shall be where my heart dwells, in your skies.

There is bitterness in beauty

Tags: Suffering, Prayer

Every day we live for love

We know not where it comes from or where it goes

God’s own Son came from above

A fleeting rose


Bitter persons, thick as thieves

No happiness for their sorrows slaving

Oh His anguish, from dearest lovers bereaved

Every thorn feeling


Never enough for our beloved

Normal called their extraordinary pain

Oh His hurts unjustly received

Where it touches, the linens stain


Borne, bearing, and to bear still

Bruised, unaware, and others they are afflicting

Oh His agony felt fully upon the hill

Every sin, the world changing


Sharing with Him knowingly

Being with Him sparingly

Oh His love bearing Eternally

In each of His beloved, caringly.

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