Sunday, June 29, 2014

God Will Provide

Photo Credit: www.goodsalt.com










LOVE AND THE AKEDAH
The Binding of Isaac – Genesis 22

"Take your son
your only son
whom you love…"

Twenty-two chapters into Scripture
and it's the first time love is mentioned
as God tells Abraham,

"sacrifice Isaac
as a burnt offering"

What swirls
through the mind
of this old patriarch
(who after a hundred years
fathers the son
of God's promise…
the son he loves and
proudly watches grow)
What swirls as he swings
the sharp axe, splitting wood

It was three days journey
from Beersheba to Moriah—
Leaving his servants behind
Abraham hands Isaac
the bundled wood
and carries fire and knife
up the mount
himself

"Avi" (my father)
"where is the lamb?"

"God will provide the lamb
my son"

Abraham erects an altar of stone
arranges the wood and binds the lad
(whose faith and obedience
must be at least as great as his own)

Unflinching before the God
he has finally come to trust
the aged patriarch
(known to lie
to save his own skin
known to try to pull off
God's covenant himself
when it seemed God was slow
in keeping His promise)
this same patriarch…
raises the glinting blade
above his son, his only son
whom he loves…

Split-second
to knife-fall
the angel of the Lord calls

"Abraham! Abraham!
Do not lay a hand on the boy…"

The old man
who proves he would
withhold nothing from his God—
drops the bloodless blade
unbinds and embraces Isaac

O boundless relief
Effusive praise

and there, tangled
in a thicket, struggles
the substitute sacrifice
…a ram

Two millennia later
God's Son
His only Son
Whom He loves
carries wood
of a crossbeam
up the very same mountain

No angel of the Lord
arrives last moment
to halt the hammer fall
No ram appears
in a thicket

For God so loves
the world
He provides…
His Son
His only Son…the Lamb

Maude Carolan


Sunday, June 22, 2014

Listen to the Songbirds...

Photo Credit: my.nature.org

 BIRDSONG

I opened a window
to let birdsong in.
Warbles, twitters and chirps
from the great oak
filled the room
with nature’s rhapsody.

God could’ve
given winged creatures
brays, snorts, whinnies or croaks,
but He gave them songs.

Whose delight is greatest,
His, theirs or mine?

Maude Carolan


I thought this would be a good poem to begin the summer. It's an oldie. It appeared in my chapbook, "God Could've" which is now out of print.


Sunday, June 15, 2014

It's All About...The Lamb, Vol. 17, Issue 2

June 15, 2014
Vol. 17, Issue 2




It’s all about…The Lamb

Maude Carolan Pych/Quarterly Poetry Letter


Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches
and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” Rev 5:12 NASB


It’s all about…The Lamb is a quarterly publication for lovers of the Holy Lamb of God, who also enjoy poetry. The purpose is to magnify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and inspire an ever-deepening relationship with Him, the lover of our souls…

I’M CELEBRATING “TWO” BIG BIRTHDAYS…
As usual, June is busting out all over with gala celebrations…weddings, First Communions, graduations, recitals, etc. This June two celebrations are for me. Celebration #1 was June 3rd, my 70th birthday. The festivities began in May with a bus trip to beautiful Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, then onto an intimate lakeside dinner with my hubby, birthday cake with my siblings, a dinner at the Jersey Shore with my children and grandchildren and a get-away with daughter Beth to Point Pleasant, where I accompanied her on a brief business trip. To top things off, the icing on the cake will be a cruise to Bermuda later this summer with my entire family…Wow!!! All this fun takes the sting of turning a new decade completely away! (Well, almost!)

Birthday #2 is my spiritual birthday…I was Born Again and filled with the Spirit, June 6th, 35 years ago. Praise the Lord and Hallelujah! What makes this extra-special this year is that the Lord has been reigning in my heart for exactly half my life.

I have posted poems about birth and rebirth on my blog to mark these special occasions. To read them, go to http://maudespoems.com and click on the archived poems dated 6/1/14 and 6/6/14.


+ + + FEATURED POEMS + + +
The two poems I’ve selected for this edition both rhyme. They are “My Friend” and “Sky Dancers”. The first was written in 2000 and speaks of my relationship with the Lord, Who the Book of Proverbs tells us is “a friend Who sticks closer than a brother.” and the second is another oldie in sweet celebration of summer being right around the corner. I hope you enjoy reading them.



MY FRIEND
"…there is a friend
who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:34

Sometimes I go to God's house,
sometimes He visits mine;
He often comes to work with me
and helps me pass the time.

He's with me in the kitchen
when I cook and as I scrub;
I meditate upon Him
while lolling in the tub.

He keeps me company driving
and when I take a walk;
God and I stroll quietly
and other times, we talk.

God's there when I am shopping
and watering my flowers;
He inspires my writing,
in computer weary hours.

He's in me as I minister
and hears me as I pray,
lifts me up when I am downcast
and helps me through the day.

He sups with me at table
and He joins me in my rest.
Oh, when we are communing,
they're the times I like the best.

God loves it when I worship Him
and glorify His Name;
He shines His Face upon me
and ignites me with His Flame!

I read to know God better,
for He knows all about me;
fills sleepy thoughts at bedtime
with His sweet tranquility.

How blessed I am to know Him!
Love overflows my heart!
I count upon His faithfulness
and know we'll never part.

My heart is filled with gladness
every moment that I spend
with the Creator of the Universe,
Holy God, my Friend.

Maude Carolan

  1. Photo Credit: Flickr.com



  2. Photo Credit: Flickr.com







SKY DANCERS

There's something happy about butterflies.
They flit-flitter as they flutter by,
flying flowers against the azure sky.

They alight upon the milkweed, and then
they circle, soar and alight again,
toe-dancing on pink petals in the glen.

Ever dwelling in hue and sweet fragrance,
in garden splendor they flicker as they dance.
Pollination is purely happen-stance.

I delight in their overflow of joy.
(They wouldn't even know how to be coy.)
A flame of mirth! A whirligig! A toy!

Do they recall they once were grubby worms,
remember well their dark and squiggly squirms?
Reborn, now grace and beauty each affirms!

This almost seems to be sheer fantasy,
sky dancers as enchanting as can be,
springing from blossoms right in front of me!

So, merrily a-nectaring they go,
reaping and sowing sweetness in day-glow…
Seems they have learned what all of us should know.

In contemplation of their simple ways,
I wish to add their ballet to my days,
to sky dance gracefully on wings of praise!

Maude Carolan Pych


Comments are always welcome and appreciated. If possible, please post them to the website.

Look for the next edition of It’s All About…The Lamb, September 15, 2014


A FEW CLOSING WORDS…

Dear Reader/Subscriber,

I hope you have a delightful summer! 

In the meantime, every hour of the day…

May God be with ewe,

Maude



After God’s Own Heart Publishing
P.O. Box 2211, Woodland Park, NJ 07424

http://maudespoems.com









Friday, June 6, 2014

TWO!! Birthdays This Week

Photo credit: pageresource.com













THE UPPER ROOM
In remembrance of Pentecost 1979—
The Upper Room Charismatic Prayer Group at the Parish Center,
St. Catherine of Bologna RC Church, Ringwood, NJ—
Father Matthew Gaskin, pastor

Here I am, Lord
at the podium in The Upper Room
reading my poems again

The Upper Room—
room of my second birth
where thirty-five years ago
after questioning Your existence
and the meaning of life
the truth of the Gospel became real to me—

Yes, it was here, in this very place
that Father Matthew delivered the prayer
for those of us who desired to be Born Again
and filled with the Holy Spirit—
a birth both spiritual and virginal
from the Seed of God alone
a prayer that changed our lives
completely and forevermore

There was no primal cry at our rebirth
but exultant cries of “Hallelujah!”
and Pentecostal utterances
No amniotic fluid
but streams of Living Water
and Second Chapter of Acts tongues of fire
that we couldn’t see with our eyes
but knew in the realm of the Spirit
were blazing above our heads

In a wonderful and mysterious way
that night and this room was reflective
of another Pentecost; another upper room
another descent of the Spirit—
somewhere in Jerusalem, 2000 years ago

We became new creations that night
like those believers of old—
burning with Light
that has not grown dim


Maude Carolan Pych


On Tuesday I celebrated my 70th birthday; today (Thursday) I am celebrating my 35th spiritual birthday. I have been Born Again for exactly half my life and it's been an amazing journey.

This poem was originally published in the 15th anniversary poetry anthology of the St. Catherine of Bologna Patron of the Arts Exhibition held in Ringwood, NJ, in March. 

Sunday, June 1, 2014

NUMBERING MY DAYS...

Photo: buzzle.com














NUMBERED DAYS
 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10

I imagine her fright
was practically unbearable
when late to motherhood
those first contractions came—
too early

and I began traveling
down the birth canal—
prematurely

Oh, I’m certain she worried
as she endured the pangs
of relentless contractions
worried and wondered and prayed
as she watched hours tick away
on the clock on the wall—

worried

(until they numbed both mind and body
by administering ether)    

if I would make it

or if her lifelong dream
of motherhood
would be forever dashed

but her dream was not dashed
and they scurried to place me
in an incubator

I was very, very tiny
yet it looked as though
I would make it

but a day or two later
as she held me in her loving arms
and fed me at her giving breast—

I stopped breathing
and my flesh turned cold and blue

She screamed a scream
that surely shook the hospital walls

A nurse came running—
grabbed me by my feet
smacked me on the bottom
and praise God

I began to breathe again

and that indicates to me
that the One
Who has numbered my days
and multiplied my breaths
had a purpose

and the fact that I’m still here
sixty-nine years
and counting

indicates He has more
for me to do

and all I want Him to know is

Lord, here am I


Maude Carolan Pych

The above poem was written last year. I decided to post it here today because I'll be celebrating a milestone birthday this week...my 70th! Praise the Lord & Hallelujah! This is especially significant, because I will also be celebrating the 35th anniversary of my spiritual birth this week. I was Born Again at Pentecost, 1979, so the Lord has been reigning in my heart for exactly half my life. Inviting Jesus into my heart was the greatest decision I ever made.

"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." 
Psalm 90:12, NIV