Simplicity of being
'....it is of the very essence of Christianity to face suffering and death not because they are good, not because they have meaning, but because the resurrection of Jesus has robbed them of their meaning."
Thomas Merton
*********
The moon fades,
clouds enshroud stars
pale trees glare
ensnared by winter winds
blanching at death's edge,
and yet you whisper
gently in the rain,
promise me gifts
of disease and pain
to strip me clean
and pure again.
O, make me
your sacrament!
pure essence,
of eternal gain.
poem by Steven Federle
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Related quotes
Don't Let Go
When brief day fades
and darkness fills your life,
don't let go.
In this sad land
when cold rain falls
and winter winds strip bare
the green summer trees,
hold fast my strong hand!
In the gray world
when clouds conceal
blithe stars, and even
the brightening
moon has
failed,
don't ever let go!
poem by Steven Federle
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Dark Trinity
Said I to Pain: "You would not dare
Do ill to me."
Said Pain: "Poor fool! Why should I care
Whom you may be?
To clown and king alike I bring
My meed of bane;
Why should you shirk my chastening?"
Said Pain.
Said I to Grief: "No tears have I,
Go on your way."
Said Grief: "Why should I pass you by,
While others pay?
All men must know the way of woe,
From saint to thief,
And tears were meant to overflow,"
Said Grief.
Said I to Death: "From ail and fret
Grant me relief."
Said Death: "I know you are beset
By Pain and Grief.
But my good will you must await
Since human breath
To suffering is consecrate,"
Said Death.
Said I to God: "Pale Sister Grief,
Bleak Brother Pain,
Bedevil me beyond belief,
And Death's unfain . . ."
Said God: "Curse not that blessed Three,
Poor human clod!
Have faith! Believe the One with Me,"
Said God.
poem by Robert William Service
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Lazarus And A Rich Man
What meaning can you find
in a Rich Man and Lazarus
both remembered lived died?
The rich man had already received
his reward in wealth luxury lived
could not forsake now for heaven.
Jesus allowed sickness
death to claim Lazarus
proved from death Lazarus
could be resurrected
from the memorial tomb
after dead four days
Jesus had told his disciples
outspokenly “Lazarus has died,
and I rejoice on your account
that I was not there, in
order for YOU to believe.” John 11: 13-15.
Jesus had said to his disciples
“This sickness is not
with death as its object,
but for the glory of God,
in order that the Son of God
may be glorified through it.” John 11: 4.
Jesus raised Lazarus
from the dead
by the will of God
who sent forth Jesus. John 11: 41-42.
Jesus has said
“I am the resurrection
and the life. He that
exercises faith in me, even
though he dies,
will come to life; ” John 11: 25.
when we encounter
poor suffering people
we are encountering
people who are enduring
the same life that Jesus lived;
in pure ransom sacrifice died
for; and as for me I have chosen;
better a tin shack in heaven
than a mansion in hell for eternity.
poem by Terence George Craddock
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Natalie's Gift
Natalie so bright and free
A flower to unfold
The essence of serenity
Of wisdom's tales untold.
Your magic tune
The song of life
Your essence of pure love
Will lift the world from darkness
To lofty realms above
And now the tide is turning
Your youthful mind is burning
And that for which your yearning
Is right within your soul.
Please know you're loved
And cared for in spite of
Life's cruel pain
The light you give to others
Has never been in vain.
And when the winds of time
Have blown away the clouds
You are the song of joy
The birds will sing aloud.
poem by Lynne FincherSpringarden
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Death and I
When death comes
I’ll need not love –
Consumed,
No wreath or dove
Could offer me salvation,
Not when I’m no more.
A weathered stone will bear my name –
Identity of once a being
Living out existence in
A world of risk, and never seeing
Sense of why we’re here.
My genes will die away thro’ child –
Hue of eyes and hair, the way of thought,
Will quickly dim with generation –
Bow to future dominance –
Memories of provenance
Resigned to curious few.
When death comes
I’ll need not grace
Below; no grieving face
Will call my resurrection,
Not when I’m at ground –
Death and I so bound.
Copyright © Mark R Slaughter 2011
D eath Crawl
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poem by Mark R Slaughter
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The Soul's Graduation
When Death comes near you,
Don't flood your face with tears
Do not let it control you
Or awaken your fears.
Do not make Death your stranger
For we will all face it one day
And though you may fear it
It still won't go away.
I will treat Death as my neighbor
Like an old, distant friend
For Death is the beginning
It should never mark the end.
And my meaning of Death
One to appreciate:
Death is the Soul's graduation!
So why not celebrate?
poem by Desiree Peters
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Cheating Pain
Time is of the essence,
Cheating pain
I'll pray
I'll give
You send the rain.
All we can do
To mitigate the suffering
Anything to alleviate the agony
In Jesus' name.
Count the minutes
Even the hours
Feel the POWER
In His holy name.
Natural Sciences
Cannot measure this;
Holy Ghost power,
Eternal frame.
If I say I have not sin
Make me a liar
Forgive me Lord
'A chief of sinners'.
poem by Buxton Shippy
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A Theme On Unrequited Love Via The Moon And Sun
the sun in its might
finds meaning
to the moon and stars
at night
love sought
love not found
and always in its heavens
love is unrequited
for the meaning of his might
and sunshine
is always that pain
and longing
the moon and stars
are waiting
and the sun
always
cannot reach
them
fate and nature has it
on its design
there is no meeting
there is no fulfillment
but come to think about all these
what if one day
when the sun and moon come
and make love
will this earth not burn
with their passions?
will we all still be here
on that fatal day?
will not all the stars explode
with envy?
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Fountain of Fire
"Just as it is impossible for a man to see his face in troubled water, so too the soul, unless it be cleansed of alien thoughts." Thomas Merton
Closing in
the ancient wind sweeps
still waters, turns clarity
to confusion, joy
to primal fear.
I seek my face
but see only a blush
on the river's edge,
red betrayal seeping
from deep within,
from a wound unseen.
Cleanse me, O Fountain of Fire,
still my fears
and again I'll see
my face
washed clean
by grateful tears!
poem by Steven Federle
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Red
There are three colores,
Each a meaning,
in its own,
a little more important,
Than the rest.
White is calm, white is blank,
white is pure and white is clean,
white is the color of doves,
white is the color of here and there,
white is pure.
Black is dark, black is full,
Black is absent and black is stained,
Black is the color of night,
Black is the color of life and death,
Black is dark.
There is one other to say,
The one that flows within,
This color is not white,
but it is pure,
this color is not black,
But it is dark,
This color is all,
It is calm, it is blank,
It is dark, it is full,
both pure and stained,
clean and absent,
it is life it is death,
it is here and it is there,
this is the color,
of everything,
It is red.
poem by Rebecca Adams
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I've always assumed that every time a child is born, the Divine reenters the world. Okay? That's the meaning of the Christmas story. And every time that child's purity is corrupted by society, that's the meaning of the Crucifixion story. Your man Jesus stands for that child, that pure spirit, and as its surrogate, he's being born and put to death again and again, over and over, every time we inhale and exhale, not just at the vernal equinox and on the twenty-fifth of December.
quote by Tom Robbins
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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August in the Vaca Mountains
"Everything must be elevated and transformed by the action of God, in love and faith." Thomas Merton
August descends.
Gentle heat
swoons on
holy ground.
Death sweetly sings,
in the scything wind,
in shafts of
shifting grass
resplendent!
The harvest is ready,
Make full the granaries;
make ready the land
for winter's
harsh hand.
poem by Steven Federle
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While it is alive
491
While it is alive
Until Death touches it
While it and I lap one Air
Dwell in one Blood
Under one Sacrament
Show me Division can split or pare—
Love is like Life—merely longer
Love is like Death, during the Grave
Love is the Fellow of the Resurrection
Scooping up the Dust and chanting "Live"!
poem by Emily Dickinson
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Moon-struck
"We must be content to live without watching ourselves live, to work without expecting an immediate reward, to love without an instantaneous satisfaction, and to exist without any special recognition. " - Thomas Merton, from No Man is an Island
high above my sight
she's shining with borrowed light
unaware of me,
oblivious of
the moon-struck sea, she sings her
song: simple, pure, free.
poem by Steven Federle
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The Winter Moon
Its the sweet sultry taste of winter on my lips,
the shadow of the pale moonlight on my eyes,
and behind the thin drapes of midnight clouds,
amidst the stars shining bright and clear,
smiles the radiance of the winter moon.
If I had seen heaven,
I would admit I had seen it,
hiding shyly behind the curtains of the night,
the winter moon at zenith, smiles down at me.
Its this breeze blowing gently,
mixing the scent of the winter with the moon,
and I stay awake,
my heart filled to the brim with love,
appreciating the splendour of the winter moon!
poem by Amatulla Mohammadi
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Father why have you forsaken me?
Faith is believing something which you can't question
........ not even classified as a blind obedient of what you believed
........ it is an inner self manifestation of the soul that reveals that only
........ your heart can define and fulfillment is rewarding beyond the
........ earthly prizes, so mysterious that no exact word can described
........ the meaning of faith
heavenly language are so simple that, only through following the foot
........ steps of the prophets, faith can be understood: the Bible, the
........ Qu'ran, the Torah has revealed and guided us the ingredients to
........ achieve perfection, the ancient wisdom provides the faithful
........ the way to live in human form of holiness
Jesus, is reflected in the scripture as the man who perfected his faith,
........ in the calvary of pain, suffering and that only our hearts can felt
........ a life that human has power to resist and define the essence of
........ self-giving through the wisdom of our faith, a sacrifice that brings
........ the meaning of the cross, a man who is willing to give his precious
........ blood
the significance of the cross, lay down the openness of our heart, our
........ hope, our faith, our future, even the human suffering we encounter
........ and along the road to calvary, all are equal, regarless of race, sex
........ religions and faith we possess
in the high-way, towards the vertical and horizontal horizon of direction
........ the cross gives us the sign that its only by meeting others in the
........ crossroad we will find the meaning of existence.... Jesus showed
........ us the way....like Him....we too shout.........Father why have you......
forsaken me?
poem by Antonio Liao
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October
Bright sun streams
pure golden breeze.
Green day fades,
red sun subsides.
Pale moon flies
into winter's dull light.
poem by Steven Federle
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Closer to Happiness
What do you get when you run away from
a predator? You get exactly what I'm
writing about: something chasing after
you. Not letting you go.
Walk around the house,
It's sunny outside.
It's nice,
Warm,
Pretty.
Then I hear the first of the
Trucks and I know
It's not going to end well.
No matter how far I get,
It always catches up to me.
I keep running.
Running away from all the hurt,
All the pain,
All the pessimism and all the suffering.
I keep running.
Running away from all the death,
All the heartbreak,
All the cancer and all the disease.
Trying to get farther from all that,
Closer to happiness.
He was a truck driver,
We saw him every once in a while.
It was nice,
Something we could rely on,
Then his cancer acted up again,
The chemo and radiation started,
And being a pessimist really sucked.
Being a realist sucks even more.
No matter how far I get,
It always catches up with me.
I keep running.
Running away from all the hurt,
All the pain,
All the pessimism and all the suffering.
I keep running.
Running away from all the death,
All the heartbreak,
All the cancer and all the disease.
Trying to get farther from all that,
Closer to happiness.
Nowadays, I have my friends.
I have my good days where I'm just a normal
realist.
I have my bad days, where I fight back the
pessimism that threatens to take over.
Here comes realism.
And.
No matter how far I get,
It always catches up to me.
I keep running.
Running away from all the hurt,
All the pain,
All the pessimism and all the suffering.
I keep running.
Running away from all the death,
All the heartbreak,
All the cancer and all the disease.
Trying to get farther from all that,
Closer to happiness.
I keep running.
Running away from all the hurt,
All the pain,
All the pessimism and all the suffering.
I keep running.
Running away from all the death,
All the heartbreak,
All the cancer and all the disease.
Trying to get farther from all that,
Closer to happiness.
Passing on my knowledge
as a realist is amazing.
Many don't know what really goes
on out there,
In this world we live in.
But once,
just once,
Can I please stay
Closer to happiness?
I keep running.
Running away from all the hurt,
All the pain,
All the pessimism and all the suffering.
I keep running.
Running away from all the death,
All the heartbreak,
All the cancer and all the disease.
Trying to get farther from all that,
Closer to happiness.
poem by Raven Lightner
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Flight to the Moon
I have the moon in my side as I fly
Like the small people, who are to fly.
My message is simply conveyed by sending all
This body sitting on the edge of the world.
My meaning is golden, like damage of a dragon
On the time of the year that is defined as death.
My moons are numbered ten,
And I glare at the honourable natives of the giant rock
All silvery in touch, to youth it kills.
The nine and the one, each have distinction;
I can not deny how helpful my moon is
For flight into the heavens.
poem by Naveed Akram
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Numbered
2359,0000 I made it another day
1159,1200 will I make it all the way
Sun and moon will I see where they stay
Pain, grief; death on my bed need I be gay?
Pen in hand on my deathbed sure I lay
In reminiscence of the heyday gone by
Young virile…oh me oh my…
Pure summers heat who to agile to duck my heat
Hmm…now fragile and pale; that new moon glow
Recreational death, death of a erection
Ash to ash, dust to.., the womb to the tomb
Unknown soldier, a lifetime now fighting time
Hope? I’m three feet into the grave
My turn to see, heaven hell truth or myth
January - December; December - January
My days are numbered
poem by Dave Harry
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