So many times I have wondered what it was like for the adulterous woman in John 8 to stand before the Savior. Knowing her guilt. Realizing her very life was in His hands. Pardon the double spaces as I retell the story in my own words.

 

Torn from a stolen embrace

Thrust into public shame

Cringing as countless faces

In disgust call out her name.

She watches, eyes filled with horror

As all but one pick up their stones

And falling on her knees, she pleads

For one last chance, just one.

Her voice is weak from weeping

Her guilt too much to bear

Her life hangs in the balance

And there’s not a soul to care.

All of a sudden, the crowd falls still

The empty-handed man stoops down

Everyone eye is on Him

As he writes on the sandy ground.

The angry men around her

Wait to see what this stranger will say

He doesn’t seem to notice

He just writes-and writes away.

When He is finished,He stands and says

“Whoever is sinless here

May be the first to cast a stone.”

Their faces turn white in fear.

She  stares in awestruck wonder as

Each accuser walks away

Dropping their stones by the wayside

Without a word to say.

Standing alone with this stranger,

She tries to avoid His eyes

And he simply asks,”Where did they go?

Has everyone bid their goodbyes?”

Shaking, she answers,’Yes, my lord.”

He smiles. “What are you still here for?

I do not condemn you.

Go your way and sin no more.”

His face looked so familiar

Had she seen Him before? But how?

Well, this man is no longer her stranger

She’d remember her Savior now.

 

 

Sometimes, a picture gets in my mind and refuses to leave. It begins to overwhelm me with feeling for people I don’t even know exist or events that may have never even happened. Maybe it’s just my nature..This song was the result of two of those mind pictures. First, a young mother lulling her  little girl to sleep. Second, that same mother lying in her deathbed, her now teenage daughter sitting beside her in a stiff hospital chair, straining with all her might to keep her tearfilled eyes awake to keep her mother from breathing her last breath. Picture these scenes in your mind as you read the lyrics to this lullaby. If I could give you the melody over the Internet, I would. At this time, I do no not have the proper equipment to do so. Just let your imagination do the work.

Sleep, my darling/Close your eyes, my love/Think of all the angels watching o’er you from above/Sleep, my child, and/Remember this always/If you wake up in the night, you don’t have to be afraid//Just look up at the sky and see the shining stars so bright/Know that just beyond them lies/A world of heavenly light/In that world, the Savior watches over you with care/He waits for you to take His hand/And rise up to meet Him there.//Sleep, my darling/Rest your weary head/ I hate that you’ve had to see me like this/On this cold hospital bed/Sleep, my child,and/Remember this always/Though you’ll live on through this night/I’ll soon stand in glorious day//If you ever think you need me/Look to Him and pray/The ones we love can leave us/But the Lord will always stay//Just look up at the sky and see the shining stars so bright/Know that just beyond them lies/A world of heavenly light/In that world, I’ll wait for you/To join me as I gaze upon His face/ So this goobye is only goodnight/I’ll see you again that day//Remember ,remember/This goodbye is only goodnight(2x)

(Goodnight, my love.)

This is a free verse poem I wrote several months ago. Feel free to critique! :) Always.

What are we here for?
This empty, fruitless existence?
Is this our purpose?
Are our supposedly transformed lives
Meant to be lived in utter solitude?

Yet here we are
Wallowing in complacency’s mire
Allowing the blaze of God’s holy fire to die
Until all we have left is ashes
Refusing to wake from a sleep so deep
We can’t even see we are slumbering
Does He desire this?
Is our blood-bought freedom
Just another set of chains?

He can work miracles
We’ve seen them
He can heal hurting hearts
Those hearts were ours

Yet here we are
Choosing comfortable over the cross
Settling for self-sufficiency
Risking nothing, taking no chances
Wondering how we have wandered this far
From the only home we’d ever had

Why? For what reward?
Acceptance? Independence?
Is it fear that drives us
To resist showing who we truly are?
That keeps us from becoming all we can be
From burning brightly in this vast darkness?
Fear of exclusion, of mockery
Of emotional and physical pain?
What do we gain from our cowardice?

Within our hearts
We all know Christ can change lives
That He can do unimaginable things
But have we ever understood
That His work begins with us?
We are His workmanship
We know what He longs for us to do
We know we should serve Him with all we are
But, something is stopping us

What are we waiting for?
Yet here we are
Still wallowing in the mire of complacency

Still following the road that leads to nowhere.