On the potter’s wheel

in a small studio in the hamlet of Field, B.C.,

on the side of a blue-grey mountain

mere clay

turns out into impossible goblets, bowls

and serving plates, glazed copper

and cream; the practice of getting alone with God

akin to the soul as clay for the potter

              now spinning, shaping,

              accounting for the form, the function

              at the heart

of the matter

This poem about the shaping of a soul appears in my upcoming book on the Spiritual Formational Disciplines that lead us into a deeper experience of the One who Made Us and called it good. There is something special about wandering through a Potter’s Studio, smelling the clay, feeling the thrill of the wheel, admiring the finished pieces–vases, dishes, goblets. But I find their hands, their love of their craft, the thing I take away, hold onto to. Value most. It’s hard to imagine that God, who is the potter to my clay, not loving such work.

This features in my upcoming book of poems, ALOFT, a poetic response to longings of the soul.

When my children were young, we had Quiet Time.
It was beautiful. Here, they had time to grow,
discover who they were, learn to be at home
in their skin, let small things
take shape, become large—
within

like Thoreau felling trees to build a small cabin
in the woods, not far from home—a pond for company—
movement, sound, birds and a few other visitors
more than enough

or Elijah bunkered down in a cave, a proper non-address,
perhaps, for a Prophet who knew what it meant
to tell, to live the truth

like Jesus, they found solitude appealing, nothing like it, really, to put a body, mind at ease.  

This poem on SOLITUDE appears in my upcoming book on the SPIRITUAL JOURNEY. This is one of the key spiritual disciplines to reclaim, make new, a habit if you will, that leads to a sense of life renewed, refreshed by the presence, the companionable company of God, the one who knows us and calls us into a deeper place of faith; to journey on.

This features in my upcoming book of poems, ALOFT, a poetic response to longings of the soul.

a listening ear, a caring voice,

an honest word, someone taking time to hear,

patient under pressure, faithful

in season, reliable—this is

the fruit of deep

roots

in time spent with God

This poem about listening sounds simple, perhaps. But I’ve found the root of someone being able to really listen; to enter into someone else’s story and speak into it in a meaningful and authentic way, is often a vital relationship to God. When we spend time with the Lord, hearing, perhaps, what We need to hear; we are open to hearing others speak and work out their faith, their struggle, in a way that allows a new level of freedom to come alive, blessing both the one who listens and the one who hears, with a deep joy.

This features in my upcoming book of poems, ALOFT, a poetic response to longings of the soul.

Renewing our joy in the journey

springs from knowing all is well—not because

we say or sing so, but because God has made it so: faith

being a finished work on the cross of Christ,

belief—

a shining shard, jewel

in his eternal crown.

This poem appears in my upcoming book on Faith’s Journey, featuring poems on the path that leads us to the foot of Christ’s cross, to lay down what worries us, holds us back from looking up, receiving all that God has in store for those who love, who worship him in spirit and in truth–faith being a foretaste of heaven’s crown.

The church is Christ’s body on earth,

meaning we can all belong

to the one who is our

all in all.

You are invited to the table.

Welcome.

Let’s talk, pray, eat.

This poem appears in my upcoming book, available on Amazon, featuring poems that sound out our life with God in way that speak to the gathering points in our life that either fill us, or leave us wanting more; these poems are about filling our cups with God, which naturally leads to turning to the person next to us, and filling their cup; the book is about responding into a divine invitation to make the Lord our source.