Year's End

What have I done
with this year,
stuffed with opportunities
and potential fulfillment?

Have I picked at it
like a plateful of food,
pushed around by
someone with no appetite?

Have I dived in
regardless of cost
or consequence,
and come away
bruised and a little disappointed?

Have I overextended myself,
so I cannot possibly
spin another plate,
and only stopped
to crash and burn?

Have I thrown caution
to wherever its meant to go,
and reveled in
new and exciting
experiences?

Have I learnt
to live a measured pace
of balance and watchfulness,
minding myself and others
carefully?

At the year's beginning,
I decided to take up painting.
It's the year's end,
and all I managed
was to paint a bedroom wall.

It's a blessing
a new year awaits,
with the possibility
to try once more.

Rest

And the Lord said to me,
"You do not know how to rest
and I would show you,
but you do not stop
long enough
to hear my softly spoken words.

The information flood tides
in your mind
whirl about and cannot settle,
even in your sleep.
You've troubled dreams,
and your spirit
has lost the art
of being still.

I would quieten you
with my love,
but you restlessly roam.
Receive from me,
and cease your elsewhere seeking.

I would show you
how to rest,
and not just through exhaustion.
To live in rest
and daily walk it out.

I would show you
how to be filled with peace,
so that no anxiety concerning
future uncertainties,
unlikely to occur,
can rob you of it.

I would show you how to be
and not to do,
for doing has its time and place,
but not in every waking moment.

I would show you many things,"
says the Lord,
"If you would let me."

Season Of Goodwill

Terrorist and politician
vie for center stage
in this season of goodwill.

Global policy makers and diplomats
stream through security screening,
to their guarded festive functions.

Presidents and royalty
skip through glossy pages,
consumed by multitudes,
then disposed of in recycling.

Actors, musicians and celebrities
seek the ultimate high,
and some die trying.

Tycoons and corporate heads
angst about tax haven efficiency,
and how to spend their next billion.

Displaced refugees
after their two seconds of news fame,
look forward to unknown ages
of housing hopelessness.

Overpopulated factories
churn out merchandise,
to separate the haves
from the have nots
more distinctly.

The fortunate few
at free funded gatherings,
will forget their daily misery
for a moment.

Pledges and promises,
bribes and corruption,
are rife in families with
small children,
and teenagers enhance
their negotiating skills.

People everywhere long
for the end of
the season of goodwill,
because
they have forgotten
or never heard
the real reason why it's here.

Tide

Soft sand
and shells
shuffling forward and back
in a time honored
tide dance.

Tumbling to a familiar tune,
meeting and separating
twice a day.

The sounds lull the listener.

It is hard
to feel frenetic
on a beach,
with pale, warm grains
between your toes,
and the intermittent breeze
that gently ruffles your hair
on its way past.

I sit on the snake of sand
found between
Pohutukawa blossoms
ready to burst
into crimson Christmas,
and the light chased blue
of the beckoning sea.

I listen
to the unchanging rhythm
of waves meeting shore,
dutifully keeping
within God ordained boundaries.

Mankind would do well
to do the same.

Hold On To Me Tightly

Hold on to me tightly,
through all the storms of life,
when waves threaten
to tip your little boat,
with all its precious cargo.

Hold on to me tightly,
when all is going well,
and cloudless skies
do not hint at future rain.

Hold on to me tightly,
when you love another
so much you cannot
bear to let them go
into my safe arms.

Hold on to me tightly,
when the way seems
cloaked with mystery,
and the path is not yet lit
with confirmation.

Hold on to me tightly,
when you are soaring
above the earth,
on achievements
that make you rightly proud.

Hold on to me tightly,
when all the world
is against you,
and you are misunderstood
and cast aside.

Hold on to me tightly,
when your sphere of life
is broken on its axis,
and sickness lays you low,
and all hope seems to fade.

Hold on to Me tightly,
for I made you,
and I know you,
and I love you,
says the Lord.