Faith, hope, love, God, oneness, peace, Prayer

Oneness

Lord,

We know that after death
All souls are one with you,
And yet we fail to grasp that here, in life,
The same is true.

So how can we hate others, Lord,
Ignore, exploit, condemn,
When they are one with us, and we, like you,
Are one with them?

When we look down on others, Lord,
And try to shut them out,
This proves we do not love ourselves,
Whatever words we spout.

All concepts of me, us and them,
Are ignorant and blind,
For we are one with you, Lord God,
And with all humankind.

Forgive us, Lord; we are ashamed.
Please cleanse us with your blood;
And help us all to follow you,
By offering your love.

 

References

I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one – as you are in me, Father, and I am in you (John 17:21; NLT).

Why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgement seat of God (Romans 14:10; RSV).

Love your neighbour as yourself (mark 12:31; NLT).

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28; NKJV).

Follow me and be my disciple (Matthew 9:9; NLT).

Anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love (1 John 4:8; NLT).

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Faith, hope, love, God, Prayer, prayer, healing, contemplation, oneness, love,

You are the Word

God-Over-All, 
You are the Word;
You make and rule 
Both heaven and earth.

Jesus-In-All, 
You are the Word;
You come to share 
Our human birth.

Spirit-Through-All,
You are the Word;
You give us life:
The Father’s breath. 

Oneness-Of-All, 
You are the Word;
We reunite with you
In death. 

 

References

There is […] one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all (Ephesians 4:5-6; NLT).

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1; NIV).

Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us (Colossians 3:11; NLT).

Don’t you realise that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16; NLT).

I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one (John 17:22; NLT).

  

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Faith, hope, love, God, Prayer, suffering

You felt God had forsaken you

You felt God had forsaken you
When you were dying on the cross,
And yet, Lord, he was one with you,  
Enduring all your pain and loss,

Just as he is with us, in turn,
For he shares all our suffering,
Until, like you, we quit this life,
To reunite with our great King 

 

References

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34; NLT).

The Father and I are one (John 10:30; NLT).

In all their suffering he also suffered (Isaiah 63:9; NLT).

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil: for thou art with me (Psalm 23:4; KJV).  

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit (Luke 23:46; NIV).

The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7; NIV).

The Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods (Psalm 95:3; NIV).

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death, suffering, life, courage, help, bear, illness, mental, physical,

Waiting for the ambulance

Lord, 

Waiting for the ambulance,
At last, I fully comprehend
That when I die, I’ll leave this life,
And instantly transcend 

Beloved partner, family, home,
The hastily-packed bag,
And all the things I foolishly believed
Could make me glad.

With nothing more to think, or do, 
And nothing more to say,
My mind and heart will cease to be,
My soul, unseen, will slip away,

And I will quit this body, Lord,
Leave time, and space, and mass behind,
To merge with all the universe,
In your unfathomable mind.

 

References

The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7; NIV).

The same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself (Ephesians 4:10; NLT).

There is […] one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all (Ephesians 4:5-6; NLT).

How unsearchable are his judgements, and unfathomable his ways! (Romans 11:33; NASB).

Who has known the mind of the Lord? (Romans 11:34; NIV).

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Prayer, spiritual development, personal growth, faith, exploration, wholeness,

May I live in your presence

May I live in your presence, Lord,
By praying night and day;
Then I will trust in God, like you,
Rejoicing in his way. 

May I live in your presence, Lord, 
By walking at your side;
Then I will speak the truth, like you,  
And constantly confide. 

May I live in your presence, Lord, 
By sitting at your feet;
Then I’ll increase in wisdom, Lord,
For all your words are sweet. 

May I live in your presence, Lord,
By kneeling at your cross;
Then I will grow in love, like you,
For all else, Lord, is dross. 

 

References 

They will pray day and night, continually (Isaiah 62:6; NLT).

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him (Matthew 9:9; NLT).

We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ (Ephesians 4:15; NLT).

Mary sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught (Luke 10:39; NLT).

How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey (Psalm 119:24; NLT).

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-3; NRSV).

He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross (Malachi 3:3; NLT).

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Prayer, suffering, life, courage, help, bear, illness, mental, physical,

May we share your Passion

 

May we share your Passion, Lord:
Gethsemane, the cross;

Then we will grasp your sacrifice,
And comprehend your loss.

May we share your glory, Lord:
Your reign in heaven and earth; 

Then we will serve with joyful hearts, 
And fully know your worth. 

 

References

If we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering (Romans 8:17; NLT).

Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood (Hebrews 13:12; NLT).

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34; NLT).

In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus (1 Peter 5:10; NLT).

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18; NLT).

Serve the Lord with gladness! (Psalm 100:2; RSV).

There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her (Luke 10:42; NLT).

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Lent, solitude, silence, stillness, darkness, contemplation, prayer,, suffering

Rain, your tears, Lord

Today is the first day of Lent, so I want to share with you a favourite poem I first posted a long time ago:

 

Rain,
Your tears, Lord;
Sun,
Your light.

Stars,
Your beauty;
Frost,
Your night.

Fire,
Your anger;
Earth,
Your bed.

Rocks,
Your footpath;
Stones,
Your bread.

Blood,
Your life force;
Dust,
Your flesh.

Fear,
Your anguish;
Pain,
Your death.

 

References

Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head (Luke 9:58; NLT).

If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread (Matthew 4:3; NLT).

Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7; NLT).

He was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood (Luke 22:44; NLT).

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34; NLT).

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