Lean into the Prayer That Holds Us

Silent on the still ways of wandering,
hope in the new breath that comes.

Pressed into the moments that lie before us,
we are bearing no heavy burdens today.

There are things going on everywhere we look,
much ado about so much.

The lines on our brow are a textured map
of deep thoughts, measured.

We have lifted up our hands like autumn leaves.
We have turned golden, red, and brown
under the pressure of elements that keep coming.

We are letting the things we know, drift outwards,
we are allowing our spirit to be felt and sown.

There is a kingdom within you have said
and the children inherit.

Earthly treasure cannot come close in comparison
to what is already in the field.

Would we be willing to sell all things for
such a fine pearl?

We would be willing to come if we saw you
on the horizon, beckoning.

But you have called to us from within, not far off.

It is time to rest into the kingdom you have placed here.
It is time to find the compassion that grows.
It is time to lean into the prayer that holds us.

It is the right time for such things
to bear us into your inner court.

We are the treasure you have been
waiting for.

Jenneth Graser

Photography - Petra

Listen to Beautiful Jesus by Melissa Helser

A Very New Time

My Dear

You are on the verge of a very new time
even though the mist is still thick on the fields.

As you notice the dew on leaves
and the fragrance of trodden earth,
I am there in the places you feel the most lack,
working.

My purposes are to build you up in the weakness
you face, especially in the places that feel impossible.
I am there, present.

In your heart's cry and needs, with your family and friends,
every relationship that bears down on your shoulders -
I am there, working.

You are on the verge of a very new time
and I have been restoring the history of your life.

In every small act of forgiveness, I am there.
You are not as far off as you feel,
in fact, the radiance of my face beholds you.

My love is as real as it was when you first knew me.

I am there,
I AM.

Jenneth Graser

Photography - Benjamin Balazs  

Listen to Julie True- I Need You Lord, Meet Me Here

To Know You Again

We were walking alongside thunder
before the first drops thump the earth.

There was the smell of waiting for things to happen
thick on the air, heavy on a sigh of prayers.

We were remembering what it is to be present
to each other.

The first time we gave our life over,
read your holy words,
heard your voice in unexpected ways,
felt your touch from within...

There have been times of forgetfulness.

Tears have been stored for another time
when tears will be more convenient.

But you have called us into the storm
where the wind whips through our cavernous
longing for you to meet with us in new ways.

The lightning illuminates the profile of your face,
but there is no wisdom forthcoming, no vision
or dream in the night to explain all things.

Only your hand holding my hand
in such a way, that I know with a grip like yours
I'm going to be held like this forever.

Let us journey into the rain
and feel the old things melt away,
making way for me to know you again.

Jenneth Graser

Listen to Audrey Assad: I Wonder As I Wander/ How Can I Keep From Singing featuring Sarah Kroger

Your Breath on the Wind

You have beckoned us with no haste
to take off our shoes for what is holy.

We have felt the soil of compassion
between our toes squelching with readiness
for what must be planted.

Change has come to us on an olive branch
in the mouth of a dove,
when we finally opened the window.

The outer case of our old ways of doing
has peeled slowly into revelation.

All butterflies at first look bedraggled,
and messy lumps of wings take time.

Leaving the things we found comfortable
and predictable,
we wait for the colours of a broader spectrum.

But we also stopped searching for silver linings
when we learned to appreciate thunderstorm grey.

There were butterflies under the rain
coming up into the sky
and being taken
wherever the wind was going.

We forget to take control
when we see your breath on the wind.

Jenneth Graser

Photography - David Mark

Listen to Gravity - Jenn Johnson

Still Small Whispers

The simple things have grounded me with praise.

I was reminded to lift my eyes to the hills
when there were mountains
of everything out of my control.

After all where does the governance of matters reside
but between your shoulders resting.

We have tried to figure it all out.
We have tried to put two and two together.
But things have not been adding up
to our satisfaction.

Underneath are the arms that carry
the weight of all things heavy.

We have been carried from underneath
and lifted to the high places.

At rest between your shoulders
where Benjamin received his blessings.

We abide in the still small whispers.

Beloved I am your home
Come back to the sweet place of trust
In the last days the love of most will grow cold
But you will remember first love

You will remember first love.

Jenneth Graser

Listen to Looking For A Savior (feat. Will Reagan)

You Are Known Child

You are known Child.

Crunching the snow
where the frost bites your nose.

All of last night's falling, covers the mud-slush of
yesterday's mistakes.

You are loved Child.

Each day piled up into ice on the lake
where holes are dug by the fishermen searching for
a catch of comfort on bitter days.

You are remembered Child.

There is a lot of forget around
when too much information presses you into
too many invitations demanding your attention.

The snow will bring you back to your childself.

Your thoughts are noted Child.

Each of your prayers is a personal
relationship when boots are taken off around
a log fire cracking the room into warmth

and you thaw into simplicity
with everything that really matters.

Jenneth Graser

Photography David Mark

The Sound of Amen - this newly released collection of 100 poems for download at Noisetrade is birthed out of a one year pilgrimage with God through difficulty, loss, the end of seasons and the beginning of new things. Discover an adventure into the deep places of your listening heart.

The Sound of Forgiveness

What does forgiveness sound like?
When people's hearts are willing
to see each other with new eyes.
What does reconnection feel like?
Or a breaking down of walls?

A situation may feel lost,
but when we fall upon the cross
"It is finished" is what we hear.

Animosity - It is finished.
Despair, death - It is finished.
Separation - It is finished.
Judgement with no mercy - It is finished.

We do not need a list of laws
to motivate us.

Your gracious Spirit meets
us courageous
from every temptation Jesus suffered
and overcame.

We are met with "It is finished".

No more are we to live under
the yoke of guilt ploughing
through the soil of no going back.

We can turn around and face
every unmentionable
only because of these three words
:
It is finished.

Jenneth Graser

Photography - Frank Becker

The Sound of Amen - this newly released collection of 100 poems for download at Noisetrade is birthed out of a one year pilgrimage with God through difficulty, loss, the end of seasons and the beginning of new things. Discover an adventure into the deep places of your listening heart.

Reach into the Side

Ashes strewn to the ocean
have returned to us as birds.

Notes are tied to these messengers
for the ones who have waited too long.

You felt forgotten amongst the heavy agenda
of Heaven's timetables.

Intercessions floating up to the throne
didn't seem to bear your particular fragrance.

But God has written down something for you
in his own hand.

Communion is once again opening
with lines that are clear.

You've been blessed with the
blessings of fumbling Thomas.

We too, have felt the doubt and the pain.

We too, can reach into the side of Christ
and come away with resurrections of faith

on wounds and scars, transformed.

Jenneth Graser

The Sound of Amen - this newly released collection of 100 poems for download at Noisetrade is birthed out of a one year pilgrimage with God through difficulty, loss, the end of seasons and the beginning of new things. Discover an adventure into the deep places of your listening heart. 

Crossing over Seasons

We have looked over the resolutions
of former years.

We have contemplated the possibility
of accomplishment.

Crossing over seasons, we hear a hum of bees
on the nectar of our dreams.

Every flower in the garden has potential
buds for the people,
each tree, potential fruit.

But what we try so hard to achieve
with our goals cannot reach you now.
It is into the heart you are seeking.

You ask me questions with your eyes
that only I can answer.
Time is sown into the areas we deem worthy.
What do you deem worthy?

What are we willing to set aside
to look with you into our hearts
and really see, as though for the first time?

We are willing to bravely look
with the courage your eyes impart.

We are willing to find the kingdom
you have placed within.

Jenneth Graser

Photography - Myriams-Fotos

The Moment of Meeting

Is it enough to choose to step upon the waters
of the crystal sea encircling your throne?

Is it enough to present myself to you as I am,
and reach for your outstretched hands?

Yes, to look at you and feel the universe
pivot around the grace of encounter.

To feel everything else orbit about
your magnetic invitation.

To be swirled on your foundations
and find my restless thoughts swung into oblivion.

It is enough to be myself with you here
and yourself with me here, where eyes do the talking.

To feel the acceptance you always show me,
as I've strayed on the rims of truth.

I will find you on the sea of glass
in the breath of us waiting.

We will hold this moment of meeting
and abide, where the rest falls away.

Jenneth Graser

The Unknown Seas of a New Year

There is a wind blowing off the sea
urging clouds across thirsty mountains.
A sail has responded internally
setting course for the unknown seas of a new year.

The goaded feet of many travellers
have found the chains, broken,
the fetters smashed.

It was enough to be reminded
of waters from within the most Beautiful Man
that may be drawn to quench all thirst.

Amidst one Son, a countless variety
of pilgrims are voyaging, many sails aloft.

Inside, the breath of the Spirit sets the course
as we stand with wind in our faces
setting our sights on what fills the horizon.

The waves may veer us to the left or the right,
but we hear a voice directing
with true compass navigation.

As the elements swirl around us on this blustery fine day,
we know with a sure anchor
that when we come into harbour tonight
the driven strife will have blown away
and we will feel filled with open spaces
waiting to be travelled.

The map is in the hands of our Captain
and his weather-worn face assures us
that this harbour under the stars
is a place for now, to call home

until tomorrow we set sail again,
and we will be carried
by the four winds of the Spirit
into whatever's ahead.

All we need do is raise anchor,
and hoist the sails.

Jenneth Graser

Artist - A. D. Blake

I wish all of you a Very Blessed and Merry Christmas and Joyous New Year!  Thank you for being part of the journey at Prayers on the Wing this year.  It has been for me in many ways a poetry journal and process of some very transitional times in our lives.  I appreciate each one of you and pray every blessing over you and your families into the New Year.

~ Available from Secret Place Devotions: A Listening Reflection for New Year 2017

~ Did you know that Catching the Light is available for audiobook download? ~ Episode 1-10 and 11-20: scripture reading, gentle piano background music, a devotional reflection and poetry for contemplation: Audiobook Catching the Light Episode 11-20

I Will Find You Again

I come to you between the lines,
in the places no one else can see
where seeds lie dormant under snow
waiting through cracks in the pavement.

Here is where you are to be found -
where no one is looking,
I will find you.

When relationships lag behind
expectations that cannot be met,
when the longing for a rekindling
of connection leaves us feeling bereft -
It is here I meet you.

You make for me a home
where Advent light realigns
the needs of family and friends
both near and far -
I will see you.

When I miss the people
who are no longer a part of my life,
when the children wake up
on the excitement of long ago mornings,

and when I look forward to so much
it cannot be contained -
it is here
I will find you again.

Jenneth Graser

Gift of Wonder

In the fledgling of this day
a gift of wonder is waiting.

Where a branch meets the welcoming sky,
leaves break the brightening palette with green.

A bird not yet grown
shows newly adult feathers peeking through
the down in shimmers of emerald and red.

A curtaining of vine shadows lace the walls
and family faces look like strangers wanting to be known.

Every smile is not taken for granted
where laughter is medicine
and we open this precious gift
that costs us nothing.

We come upon it as grace,
while imagination flickers with picture upon picture
of how the world could be.

We find ourselves praying into dark places
with hopes that are longing for more.

Wonder promises us that miracles
are here to stay.

Through every impossible dark,
there is one ray of light to point the way.

So we pick up the fractured pieces
as Spirit somehow makes sense of it all
in the way only Spirit can,

beyond reasoning or understanding
peace combines with wonder
as healing melts through the sun.

Jenneth Graser

Photography Silvia Stödter

It is Time

There were blank canvasses in cupboards

Unwritten pages in many journals,

Oil paints in wrapping, as yet untouched.

There were books like notes

On staves, unread on shelves

And dancing shoes under the dust.

There were days of perfect sun

Light, making history on the water,

With an empty bench for the view.

There were jackets needing mending

And clutter building up

In the kitchen, pots, utensils.

There were many buttons in

Grandmother’s box, from the good old days.

Envelopes and stamps as yet unlicked, unsent.

There were photographs set on origami

Paper cranes, from which eyes

Observed the passage of time.

There were guitars in their cases

And a piano, needing tuning.

~

Take out the canvasses, dear

Today is a perfect day for painting.

Write your poetry and your gratitude

In a journal of your choosing.

Squish your oils on a palette –

Mess with colour, mix, ooze.

Take out a book that speaks

Of places yet unseen, turn pages.

Put on shoes for dancing

To the beat popping the air.

Slow into your time dear,

On the bench made for you,

To satiate your mind with all you care to see.

Take those old jackets down to charity,

The pots, utensils too.

Make mosaic button rainbows,

Write a letter in your leisure;

Then call up the tuner

And peel off the cases –

It is time to make music.

Jenneth Graser

Photography credit unknown

Resting Seat

There are many things that could be said,
many that could be done.

Mountains to climb, up to the very top,
lists of the bucket kind.

A feeling of to-do lingers at the fringes of the day
as we drop exhausted into bed.

And Lord you are calling us,
you are calling us still...

Come my Beloved,
into a time outside of time.

Come to the resting seat in the garden
of my habitation.

There are no nagging voices or things to be done.

Here, there is presence that guides
everything you do on earth.

Listen to my voice, put on the music, lay aside your rushing.

Move into the pace of ease where my Spirit speaks
strength into your frame.

And whatever you need to face,
we will do it together.

Jenneth Graser

"My lover is mine, and I am his.
Nightly he strolls in our garden,
Delighting in the flowers
until dawn breathes its light and night slips away."

Song of Songs 2:16 MSG

Photography - Jenneth Graser

Listen to Ruth Fazal - instrumental violin album - Songs from the River 2

Make Room for You

It is time to make room for you
to come in ways I have not known.

My heart has become eager for the stretch
of tent pegs and widening of stakes.

The pain of a good stretch will be worth it,
to receive the mystery of your voice in the shade.

I will meet with you in places unfamiliar
and break bread with you, and drink wine.

I will linger over your features
and we will be silent for awhile.

I may not feel like talking,
you may not feel like talking too.

But we will be with the love that grows
through all things hard in a breaking of ground.

We will stay and observe what may come
from such a union, where old love feels new.

As our hearts synchronise,
we hear the rhythm combined.

Jenneth Graser

Image credit unknown

Brother Lawrence's Kitchen

I fold back the sleeves of the day
into Brother Lawrence's kitchen.

The dusky light shines through motes
making a silhouette of this homely monk.

The hard work of food, cooking and dishes
happens without the use of the word busy.

I feel love through the pores of him breathing
and his eyes connected to fellow, self and God.

No ordering about and yet, everything has a place.
No rushing, and yet look, it is all done.

There is peace in each duty performed.
There is a divine connection in the work.

Lord, your presence is all around me as I do,
everything that has a need can be settled into
without the driven edge of stress.

Let us practice the presence of grace
and rest in the bosom of your love
where work is worship.

Jenneth Graser

Credit unknown - From a book published by Fleming Revell Co. in 1900

An audio reading of the book The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence:

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

I Shall Not Want

I walk the path between trees
down into the glade
and place my soul into the water there.

A river alive with stones
awash with every story of my life
flowing downwards to the sea.

I am a flower falling on the stream
and floating in spirals of letting go
as my dreams make way for you.

I am my truest self in the song David sings,
each word unveils the longing of my heart:
I shall not want.

Jenneth Graser

Image - favim.com

The Layers of Thanksgiving

Open the day with thanks
as you shrug back the curtains into the view.
Stop for a moment, remain.

Peel back the layers of thanksgiving:

1. everything beautiful in your past to be grateful for.

Delve deeper and you find:

2. the painful things that have shaped your life for good.

Go into a new layer and you find:

3. the small, seemingly insignificant things that make a difference.

Deeper again, peel off another layer:

4. gratitude for the present moment.

Then you become thankful for:

5. the patience you learn through irritations.

6. the challenging people who teach you to love and forgive.

7. the big things you often take for granted.

Then you discover thanks for:

8. the best that is yet to come.

The emotion of gratitude takes over
and you realise the layers won't ever stop,
because at the ever-unveiling heart of thanksgiving you find,
something invaluable:

9. the spirit of contentment.

Jenneth Graser

Photography - Guido Mieth