EQUITANT LEAVES

July 29, 2003

Like equitant leaves God’s wonderful Word
Straddles my grief stricken soul,
Words more healing than others I’ve heard
Like fresh falling rain, flood my soul.

Their message has been here all the time;
I know; I’ve preached it for years;
Though others have found that message sublime,
Somehow it failed to dry my tears.

“Heal thyself”, says my mind,
To mock and question what I believe,
But equitant leaves so gentle and kind.
Say, “Not what we say, but what we receive“.

I’m sure those words which flow through my heart
Are words God’s Spirit puts there;
As pastor, to speak them, I feel is my part;
Surely grief healing must be my fair share!

To speak and receive are two different things,
It’s possible to speak of gifts not known,
But oh how the choir of heaven sings
When the gift we describe becomes our own!

It’s then that the equitant arms of God
Surround like an Iris new faith as it grows,
That our loved one no more under sod,
Sings with the saints wherever she goes.

Once the equitant task is done,
The inner leaves can stand on their own;
So equitant leaves, their victory won,
Wither and fall, as the Iris has shown.

Then let this selfish self-pity I feel
Fall like the equitant leaves of the flower,
As comfort I seek, become very real;
Makes equitant leaves with comforting power.

RECALLING WITH DOROTHY ON FACING LIFE "DEMANDMENTS"

July 22, 2003

Sweetheart, do you recall what Daddy Reynolds said,
My timid soul so filled with fear
When God's clear call so firmly led
Me to preach, that more might hear
The Word He laid upon my heart?
Sometimes a word hard to believe;
Yet God plainly said, "Do your part
For whosoever will receive."

"Just roll your shoulders back," Dad said,
"Trusting God to flood your soul;
Preach the Word as you feel led;
God's Holy Spirit will make you whole;
By faith, the message, plus the man,
Will call us sinners from our ways.
For by God's grace, He always can
Turn tougher times to brighter days."

Is this not true of this long wait
That always seems to make me sad?
Am I condemned to this mean fate
In which all days seem so bad,
Or should I now "roll shoulders back",
Renounce the darkness of these days,
Refuse to think of what I lack,
Refresh my heart with godly praise?

Surround myself with positive friends,
Who shun the darkness as I do,
Who fix their eyes on happy ends,
Be to their calling, always true?
Of such friends I've found a few,
Who laugh with me, and share my tears;
Along with them, I will renew
The joy I've known across the years.

Sad 'twould be should I bemoan
That you have moved into a "Town"
Where no one ever walks alone,
Or feels that life has let them down.
I will rejoice in your great gift,
And share your blessing, all my life,
For what could be a greater lift
Than knowing God cares for my wife.