Children’s religious program

“Almighty . . .
Forgive
My doubt,
My anger
My pride.
By Thy mercy
Abase me,
By Thy strictness
Raise me up.”

“Have mercy
Upon us.
Have mercy
Upon our efforts,
That we
Before Thee,
In love and in faith,
Righteousness und humility,
May follow Thee,
With self-denial, steadfastness, and courage,
And meet Thee
In the silence.

Give us
A pure heart
That we may see Thee,
A humble heart
That we may hear Thee,
A heart of love
That we may serve Thee,
A heart of faith
That we may live Thee.

Thou
Whom I do not know
But Whose I am.

Thou
Whom I do not comprehend
But Who hast dedicated me
To my fate.
Thou –“

Failure is not something that I want to know,
It suggests that I am less than I think I am.

I want to bask in my success
Instead,
Failure’s a part of my story,
I know failure is part of everyone’s journey.
I didn’t think it would be a part of mine.

But, here I am.
Living with failure,

Failure is a word that I hear again and again,
That word clatters around my head,
Noisily,
Constantly,
Painfully.

Will it ever stop!

A constant gaze inward,
Makes it very hard to see,
That my Heavenly Father,
Plans the best for me.

Prides constant pull,
Seeks to draw attention to me,
I forget my Fathers gaze,
And his love I fail to see.

Lightness is calling loudly,
It longs to set me free,
If only I open my eyes,
Becoming all he wants me to be.

“I am dead because I lack desire;
I lack desire because I think I possess;
I think I possess because I do not try to give.
In trying to give, you see that you have nothing;
Seeing you have nothing, you try to give of yourself;
Trying to give of yourself, you see that you are
nothing;
Seeing you are nothing, you desire to become;
In desiring to become, you begin to live.”

The day is coming soon when all I will do is praise God,
Sometimes I forget to do it enough,
This morning my heart just wants to praise God.
In the midst of a sea of uncertainty,
This is my assurance,
Praise is my new language,
I am learning to be fluent,
Learning new words every day,
Communicating daily to eternity.

Each day my first task is to praise God,
I come to him seeking truth,
It flits past me,
When I seek to grasp it,
It slips from my grip,
Like the rainbow’s conclusion,
Tantalizing me I yearn to discover where it ends.

I think about Truth, day and night,
Why does it create pain?
Where does my searching end?
Love’s truth always ends at my beginning,

Truth’s harsh reality is a difficult path,
I feel scared of its uncertainty,
It requires a Holy Trust,
I am not the master of my destiny,
The Lie of sin is that I can know truth,
Holy Trust is a daily finding of Truth.

When I consider your truth this morning,
I can see it confounds lies,
Destroying any chance of dishonesty,
It’s a frightening fate for the dishonest,
A comforting hope for the faithful,
Resting in your truth,
Eagerly anticipating your daily Voice,
Leading me forward.
Able to face whatever this day brings.

Another day begins,
The choice is mine,
Praise God,
Or, choose myself and misery,
Two options,
Choose life – or, death.

I love the life path,
It is an eternal unfolding possibility,
Not limited by human intervention,
Every day full of God opportunities,
From the moment my eyes open,
My world is filled with laughter.

The death path is for the ignorant,
Self consumed with their own plans,
They will lead themselves and their family,
Into a life of destruction.
Continuous dissatisfaction will be their reward.

Even when I was ready to give up,
God was getting ready to avenge the lies,
The daily stench of contempt’s voice,
Vomiting up put downs,
Contempt hated laughter,
Every word tried to quench hope,
God was listening to my daily sobs of failure,
When I wilted under a continuous onslaught of hate,
He is waiting for the right time to set things right.

Contempt has chosen a treacherous path,
Death is the end point,
The only hope is to turn to God,
Life is the eternal hope.

Confusion is my best description of this life,
Sadnesses abound,
When happiness is my desire,
I long to see a clear path,
That takes me directly to happiness,
Instead I am diverted by regrets,
I cannot see the next step,
Lost is where I found myself.

My deepest unplumbed thoughts,
Are laid bare to you God,
I don’t trust my own heart,
And, its deceitful truth,
My tears of confusion,
Are the only words I can speak.

Lord, take my weeping, sobbing heart,
Open it to your love,
I need to Rest,
Opposition doesn’t understand,
Painful words screaming at me,
God is not hearing me,
He will let me fail.

My stomach churning,
As this new day begins,
Uncertainty is my reality,
I long for God’s voice today,
To speak with clarity,
From the fog emerging truth,
Praise for what will become,
Trust transforming tears.

I felt the hot breath of hatred,
Every day screaming my stupidity,
While wilting under its onslaught,
My deepest parts clung to my God.

The hater was full of himself,
He thought he was God,
Power was his crutch,
Gathering a pitiful group of believers,
Love of money brought hate to full flower,
Its message being dispersed far and wide,
He considered only his own wealth,
When I was left with nothing.

Death is everyone’s reward,
Trusting in human power is the true stupidity,
It doesn’t last – we all end as dust,
Greed is a deadly pursuit,
God hates the vindictive and power hungry,
The hater doesn’t know love,
Nice words are laced with destruction,
He should be worried,
God will avenge their hate legacy,
Goodness is death’s conqueror.

Laughter is community’s song,
Even the tone deaf can catch its tune,
It’s always sung best with others,
Even when alone it has an open invitation,
For others to join this song.

Laughter is a gift from the Creator’s community,
Life began with laughter as an idea was shared,
The sound of deep joy and loving what is good,
The song sung by creator and creation,
Inviting the whole world to sing.

Truth understood is a slippery thought,
Fully caught when it lives in my heart,
Then my soul reveals what was within,
Truth eludes what I thought I knew.

Truth lived is where my soul and heart connect,
Joined together in an awkward dance,
Reality seeks to tap its shoulder,
Interrupting its awkward rhythm.

Truth hoped for is my heart’s desire,
Connecting soul and heart and dance,
Seen by its audience to testify,
Truth joined and moulded with who I am.

I felt God’s warm breath on the back of my neck,
I knew he was close,
His gentle whisper in my ear,
Saying, my dearest child,
I have chosen you,
Your broken heart,
Was so that you could know more of my love,
It was the only way that you could hear me,
Once broken it could never be closed to me again.

A tightening surge rises from within,
Uncertainty, fearfully, remembering,
Breaks the imagined calm,
Too much, too fast, too soon,
Restlessness breaks in on every task.

Serenity is imagined from my soul’s mind,
Hopefully, trusting, relearning,
Reality is almost in sight,
Rest, slow down, wait,
A settling transforms whatever comes today.

Truth is the soul’s main labour,
Connecting heart and head and eternity,
Truth lived brings laughter and tears,
Truth understood is shared intimacy,
Embracing with none of love’s regrets,
The longed for hello,
Not the regretful goodbye,
Truth is not clinging to a failed understanding,
Truth is the soul’s daily work,
The creative heart work of the true human.

A breath of stillness passes by,
A whisper that is barely caught
I was still just now,
I heard a voice speaking,
Love and hope for those left behind.

A life passes sadly in the din,
Barely heard,
A small voice in a crowd,
My God cries out to me,
Be still and hear him now.

What does this life say to me?
I pray my soul is not deafened,
To the cry of the poor,
Not drowned out,
by a raucous busy life.

I took a moment to be still,
I heard a voice speaking,
I took a moment to be still,
I heard his voice speaking to me

I know Salvation’s price is free
That part is done by you
My Father’s life freely given
Before my life is born
Your plan for me was made
Your desire for perfection
Life’s promised fullness
Is all completely paid

The community your son created
Against which hate cannot prevail
Is the place to discover
Salvations price revealed
Daily loved shared deeply
Connecting to an intimate me
Seeking hope in all who come
To our Father’s community

But to know what’s truly given
I must learn to let go
Of all what binds within
This world’s hopes
Clawing for my attention
Attachment’s present desire
Means to linger in the shadows
Today I choose the gift

When the cloud touches the mountain,
And evening arrives early,
When daylight is overtaken by,
the fog’s clinging haze,
The light – succumbs to shadows,
Darkness oozes in,
The light gives way to gray,
Constricting what is seen,
The view ahead is limited,
By the thick enveloping blanket,
that dims the light ahead,
It blurs behind the darkness,
Fog clinging to all it sees.

The fog’s haze meets with me,
Both from the outside and looking in,
Life battles my situation,
That seeks to take away,
My hope – is crushed by anxiety,
Despair is lived each day,
My creativity is limited,
By the fog’s shadows,
Covering all I do and say,
I seek to catch a glimpse,
Of what will come today,
But, my vision is limited
By the fog that lies within.

I know the fog will visit,
For a time and then will leave,
It’s clinging dimness struggling,
Against the sun rays clearing,
To the emerging day,
That opens a brighter, loving way,
It is transparent and surprising,
Because of where it came,
Shadows highlight light,
To show the path ahead,
My sight renewed, refreshed,
No longer am I limited,
By the fog’s brief touch with me.