A Garden Unveiled

I weave myself with you God,
a synchronicity of cords.

I crochet myself into your kindness,
I embroider myself into your wise ways.

I am on the loom of your handiwork
and your brilliance of design is my awe.

You have given me over to surrender
and quietened me through your gifts.

It isn't as I thought, so you guide my thinking.
It isn't as I imagined, so you move me by vision.

I am becoming aware.

I am stepping out of what seems to fit
into what is truly fitting.

I am woven into trust -
a banner of love that stretches
from the moment of my birth to my death.

My family are the witnesses of your creation.

You spoke and I came into being.
I was taken from the rib of a man
and enfleshed into form.

I was breathed from the earth into life
and every day ordained for me was given.

I have partnered with you, a Daughter.
I have championed with you as a friend.

And now I am ready for the angels to part swords
and to walk in on a garden unveiled.

I am waiting for my tapestry to cease being
framed, and to become for me a threshold into Eden.

We will walk together in the cool of day
and under the stars of a multitudinous night.

We will feel what it is for the first time
to face to face, be.

To come into the fragrance of uncountable flowers.

Jenneth Graser

(with loving remembrance of Viv Kidwell, written 11 June 2018, a beautiful woman, with an honest open heart, down-to-earth, gentle, say it as it is, and always pointing to Jesus. The words she spoke to me, which I will never forget, "Just come back to what it is to be loved by Jesus.")

Photography Poppie Pack Unsplash

Born out of time

On her death bed,
a woman transported on one of her final
breaths
to a time in her past.

Young as ever she did appear
and aware of what awaited her,
this window
into life as it had been lived
was given as a gift before she travelled through.

The moment chosen for her to relive
was on the blink of a mid-life
realisation
whilst snuggling her daughter during nightnight prayers.

She was with the little ones when they were so
small
and words rippled out of their mouths,
confounding them with sage-like wisdom.

"I love you with all the colours of my heart"
"Thank you that we are the praise of God"
"Your songs come into my mouth and my songs go into yours"

Fingers, each so like petals held
on,
as she leant into a beating heart.

Her daughter stroked her hair
as though she was the comforting mother
and the mother, her child.

And the revelation came: she could see herself as an old woman
looking back over time to this moment,
(a time often raced through to get to the next thing),

and she felt herself travel back to be here, be here now
and she knew that for the rest of her life she would
make every attempt to abandon herself to the call of love
by becoming more mindful
of living
in
the
present.

And then the woman found herself back in her bed
with the faces of those she loved around her.
A holding of hands, a kiss on a
breath
and she was born out of time into God.

Jenneth Graser

Photo credit unknown

Preparations for Eternity - in memory of Leaan

The day recorded on the calendar:
When realms meet at the point of death,
What do I wish for then?

People are the gift
Nothing else will carry through -
No ornament, or clutter kept
Or pendant, medal on the wall
No guilty stain, or shadow of regret.

Are words spoken in the libraries of time
Stored for future viewing?

Will I move into forever with a spirit that I grew
And watered, turned towards
The hands of my Great Gardener
For secret rendezvous of hearts combined?

Unfold each lesson from the offerings before me
As a gift from wisdom to be learnt and to be sung.

Build into the spirit, listen for the steps ahead.
Create beauty from the ashes
Allow the stars to touch my soul.

Hold the hands of my dear children,
Breathe into the space life makes
For those who set aside what does not matter.

Look carefully into the eyes of others,
Spend time with the people who are my treasure
Instead of money on what cannot last for long.

Get rid of what can't satisfy,
Be generous to the world at large.
Don't try to always understand what's going on.


Be one with my true self.
Embrace the unknown - mystery must do its work.
Turn over stones to see the smallness there.

Keep on peeling off the scales of all life throws
Massage oils of forgiveness into my heart
Dream and don't give up on dreaming,
Live in the senses of the now.

When it comes time to pass on through, this is what I wish for:
That eternity will not take me by surprise
If I make friends with it
This side.

Jenneth Graser

Sansui vintage Japanese scroll painting, Sage & Pine Tree Mountain