John Lord

The Boat

Based on this painting by John Tunley

The tranquil water illustrates
The passing of a storm
The boat tells its story
The journey life’s sojourn

The picture is of stillness
The ocean calm serene
The clouds they look over
The sea that has no end

The boat is not perfect
The hull in need of work
The boat it seeks calm waters
The sand its final rest

The boat is at its journeys end
The boat has had its day
The boat seeks its place in heaven
The boat no longer sways

The people who have rowed her
The journey has an end
The resting place is near the shore
The waves they come and end

The boat will sail in heaven
The people will row on
The horizon meets the sunset
The work of God is done

Faith

Faith is the insight of truth hope and love
Those who don’t acknowledge it don’t see the human condition for what it is
A complex mixture of reason and emotion
They devalue the emotive ingredient
in the recipe of what we are
Faith surpasses the human condition called logic
It’s the residue when questions have no answers
Faith is God’s gift to those who see without seeing and know without understanding
It forms the missing link between what we know of God and what we don’t
It’s the gap in our inability too comprehend his actions, or often the lack of.
It’s more understood by those who have suffered and retained it
Than those who have suffered and rejected it
It can never be grasped by those who are not open to the experience of it
The reality is that faith cannot be obtained or appreciated without giving into its existence
For without faith doubt becomes the seed of disbelief
True faith is trusting God

Love

Art by Bev Palmer

Inspired by 1 COR. Chapt 13

Even though I may express myself eloquently
And with divinity of thought
And my knowledge be full of profound enlightenment
When what I have learned is only surpassed by
what I am yet to
Does all this amount to wisdom?
When I want for nothing can it be said that I
Have everything
Alas no. For all these things are nothing without love
Without love my words become scrambled and incoherent
Without love life has no absolute truth, no purpose and ultimately fails
Love is the pregnancy
That gives birth to truth and faith
Nothing can be fully understood unless it is with love
So if I were to lose all my possessions, all that I own, but still retain love
Then I must be considered wealthy by whatever measure
If I cannot give of my love as one would a gift to another
If I cannot share my love and want of it in return
If I cannot plant it and water it so that it might mature and grow
Then in the end I may as well wither and die
For in the end I am nothing without love

Truth

Of truth we can say, we are all in need
How we use it creates God’s division
Between good, evil, right and wrong
Truth is never fragile but does require delicacy
It can be black or white or different shades of hue
We can misuse it, abuse it, distort it and with it cause despair
In discussion we can eliminate it altogether
Too suit our own need
We can manipulate it to bring about sorrow
We can leave it open to interpretation and disguise its real purpose
But we can never ignore it
Together with love it is an ingredient of faith
It is pure only when it is exempt from desires of self justification
In its purity it is the basic essence of reason
When used to clarify decisions, it is the ultimate influence
Truth is not dependant on age or experience
Truth does not compromise or need illusion,
And never needs to justify itself
It can only be wise when used wisely
But is there a truth absolute? Yes
It’s called God’s truth and it’s found in the
Word’s of Jesus
You see, without truth, we cannot hope too understand faith without faith we cannot understand truth
And without both we cannot comprehend love

Young Lament

Why was our baby born?
A time our hearts so torn
Not wanted at the time
Yet a feeling so sublime
Our minds and hearts
Pulled between a need
Planted by a seed
Choices oh so few
Advice much given
What to do
Abortion they say
Is there no other way
Rationalize how can we?
What to do with
This young lament
We so young it wasn’t meant
Can we be forgiven?
Can we repent?
Pray ask God
Seek an answer heaven sent
Now before us our child born
Filled with joy a bouncing boy
What value had we given
To this new life now risen
I know God spoke
To us he said
With you its guardians
I claim this child
Be glad that in your union
And in my nameA unique creation
No other the same
So look with gratitude
Upon its face
And know your prayer
Is now in place
Then reflect on me
For I heard your plea


The Ordinary

Repudiate the fashion of ordinary
The commonplace of today
But seek you the excellence
A life extraordinaire
Be true to who you are

Be careful not to impersonate
For imitation is the tribute
That mediocrity pays
To aptitude
Be true to who you are