Head For a New Way

We awake to a day
that feels like an invitation.

The sails of our dreams
have been folded so carefully
in a put-away chest.

We have given ourselves
so much advice
over the years

And had a hard time
keeping up with it.

Sails so perfectly preserved
can always come out for one day
when the weather is perfectly good.

The anchor has become
almost part of this turf.

Familiarity has layered the soul
with small expectation.

And now a morning that asks for more?

A boat tethered to the stump
must remember what it feels like
to surge over the swells on fullness of sail
and head for a new way.

We are asked for more than we have been
and disappointment can not have the final say.

We are willing to pull out the sails,
do what needs to be done
for what it is that calls us.

Jenneth Graser

Love is Never Wasted

We have opened our hands
to let go of the final precious offerings.

There is nothing left in our control.
Now the pallette is empty
for a deposit of your colour.
Now the parchment has been erased
for the readiness of your pen.

Our relationships have been
relinquished on your threshold.

Where we have been unable
to make things right,
our forgiveness may be the gift
that reconciles, or your unseen hands
may sculpt a new possibility.

Letting go may be a kite of dreams
that sets free the seeds of grace,
for in another realm we may wait to truly know
each other once again.

How many seeds are planted in love
only to bear fruit in eternity?

As many seeds we may sow
and never see the harvest this side,
may be planted in eternal realms
to become fruit for the lips of God.

Love is never wasted
and will always cause growth
hidden in our everlasting souls,
in our physical realm made manifest,
or in the Spirit, as yet unfelt, we may never know.

But we can rest in the knowledge
of love that always bears the fruits of peace
and takes what is stretched out,
our palms open as wings,
finally able to feel space enough
to take to the sky,

unencumbered by the weight of
trying to bear matters
that belong in the care of God alone.

Jenneth Graser

Photography Kyle Szegedi

May We Rise

May we rise
As eagles who lean on thermals.

May we rise into the music,
Into the sky and higher.

May we rise
Above the turbulent waters of many conflicts,
Above the need to figure it all out.

May we rise above the thirsty earth,
Above the insatiable need for more
And then higher.

May we rise above the past, present, future
And breathe through timeless places.

May we rise into the great company
Of witnesses, all welcoming.

May we rise into the essence of prayer
And unconditional being.

May we rise into the fragrance of worship
Where every note creates a new possibility.

May we rise into Ascension,
May we rise in resurrection.

And there let us be taken
On the thermals of many praises
Where only higher we may find ourselves
At one with all Love is.

Jenneth Graser

Photography Amonn Maguire

A Tree Psalm

I am a tree deepening my roots
into the earth.

Every word of your Spirit is encircling my heart
with each ring in the trunk of the passing of years,
making your word a part of me.

I am a tree beside the river
flowing under my leaves.

I listen for the wisdom that daily comes
on the breath of your Spirit
and meditate day and night
on the wisdom you give.

I am a tree delighting in life
with the sun through my leaves.

I am a green cathedral of stained-glass
windows of healing leaves and
fruit that comes in season.

I am a tree that grows without striving
as a tree must grow,
and I lift my branches every day to Heaven
and I worship the One who made me.

Every day my roots delve deeper.

Amen.

Jenneth Graser

Photography Hatham Al Shabibi