O'
Lord…
how
safe i feel in solitude
i
fear and tremble beneath Your sword
You
are no tame God to be ignored
no
Zen master or meditative mantra
can
temper the steel of my disobedient nature
only
by Your cross may i overcome the world
as
measure by measure Your love unfolds
i
delude myself before the world
revealing
myself before the Lord
O'
Lord…
how
safe i feel in solitude
in
Your hands my sinful soul uncovered
only
by suffering can suffering be conquered
in
Your hands i heal and hence recover
Your
words i lost then rediscovered
enlighten
all i know and then discard it
all
is vanity for the wizened wise
appearances
appear in clever disguise
what
man calls wisdom is just more decline
O'
Lord…
how
safe i feel in solitude
Your
will be done for all my tomorrows
You
are revealed in triumph and sorrows
You
serve them both from the same plate
bitter
or sweet, sour or grate
let
the vise of Your love never separate
let
it hold me tight at any cost
even
when common sense makes no sense at all
meekly
i pause and await Your call
O'
Lord…
how
safe i feel in solitude
prayer
not words but deeper sighs
i
am with You most in quietude
totally
speechless by questions why
Emmanuel
in me, no selfless denier
how
deep a mine i must quarry
for
the Spirit to reach my soul, and body
so
deep that i am united still
by
Your abundant love and blameless will
O'
Lord…
how
safe i feel in solitude
i
am closer to You than ever before
i
am a truant soul who has returned
converted
yes but not yet reborn
i
must go Your way as i relearn
a
child's love of sorrowful penitence
that
charms our hearts with feigned innocence
Yea,
if i could remember the kindness of my youth
the
love i wrought but as an adult forgot
O'
Lord…
how
safe i feel in solitude
in
Your fortress island far remote
Your
brick and mortar sustains my hope
a
new man converted beyond rebuke
i
am Your prisoner within horizon walls
who
must forge his own prison bars
i
look to You in all of my trials
to
sit with me at all hostile tables
with
an overflowing cup for enemies enabled
O'
Lord…
how
safe i feel in solitude
with
You alone the road is sure afoot
the
moral silence of Existential truth
the
cause of nausea and loss of hope
one
last breath as we knot the rope
one
breached life or still born birth
the
dogwood flower will bleed for earth
and
the children will call their mothers lost
O'
Lord…
how
safe i feel in solitude
in
church, the wood, the markets fair
each
crossroad met You stand there
humbling
me to the most ordinaire
amongst
a crowd the Holy Spirit near
through
me Your words i hope to share
reconciled
with all who hear
what
choice have i, my cross to bear?
the
prize, a gift, a palm of tears
O'
Lord…
how
safe i feel in solitude
Your
glory breaks through a drifting cloud
like
water from a summer rain pours down
baptizing
my resurrected body sound
where
the tabernacle of the soul is found
broken
bread You have made me whole
poured
out wine my cup you've filled
listening
in the darkness i am stilled
God's
nature known is Christ our Lord
O'
Lord…
how
safe i feel in solitude
shadow
trees sway round and round
the
fall from grace clocks me down
i
once thought my works profound
as
the world invaded from all around
all
my labor lost, my will unbound
what
we think freedom, hungry hounds
yet
in every secret hiding place i found
i
heard Your voice, “You must come out.”
O'
Lord…
how
safe i feel in solitude
green
grass from mud is grown anew
we
come from that same dark ooze
born
again we don't deserve
as
the season changes to flowered spring
in
desert climes from mountain streams
the
buds burst, the mustard seeds
where
they drop, the sparrow feeds
his
song of praises for Your blessings
O'
Lord...
how
safe i feel in solitude
You
take from me my temptation sins
sunspots
in the eyes that tear and tease
but
each time i fail You say, “Try again.
Do
not copy...be. By My grace you are thee.
Pray
and fast then walk with Me.
from
evil ye shall always flee.”
How
foolish i to not believe
with
such little faith You set me free.
O'
Lord…
how
safe i feel in solitude
Your
cross, Your stripes, Your blood renews
the
sweet scent of Your love, Your wounds
Your
silhouette 'cross a Judean sky
in
Your shadow the haunted cry
our
blessings for You, our gratitude
we
all must map our Jerusalem route
walk
Your walk, share Your cross
share
the agony of a father's loss
O'
Lord…
how
close to You in solitude
the
less i have the more the good
enough
is strength, too much escape
seduced
by the world's cheapening grace
i
shamed myself and buried my face
for
the sake of kin and status trace
for
the sake of friend and maddening race
No comments:
Post a Comment