I Am Saddened
I am saddened
I watch a young woman
Struggle with the idea of You, God
Some Churchmen
Threatened by her strength
Have clipped her wings
And
In an effort to hold her down
Have bruised the vibrant Spirit within
You treasure her
You know her
You Love her
You would grow that in her
She rages against injustice
Sadly she blames You
But I know
You also value Justice
You stand firm on Dignity and Rightness
You would be angered by their dominance
Lack of respect
Lack of understanding
In this they do not speak for You
But out of their own Fear
Thank you
For showing me better churchmen
Men honest about their walk with you
Men confident in Your love for them
I am thankful that You loved us first
You Love deeply
Not in a soft soppy way
You love with strong, sometimes tough Love
You Inspire with deep gulping breathes
Of respect
You have looked long and hard
You Know me completely
You encourage Character to be carved in me
You
See the best
Believe the best
Encourage the best to emerge
You make it possible to soar on Eagle Wings
Even when my feet are stuck in clay
For the Mystery of Free Will
Respecting my choices
The decisions I make
Even when some are truly awful
You stay with me
Work through the consequences
To teach me
Develop me
You listen even when I rail against you
When I tell You how wrong I think You are…
You
Creator of all
You
King of Heaven
You
Lover of my soul
You are so real to those who Trust
Those who risk a relationship with You
Yes…
It does defy logic and understanding
But experience speaks loudest
I experience you in Gentle Ways
In very Real Ways
In very Simple Ways
That’s how You are
So Simple
So Effortless
Sadly
We don’t do clean-cut well
We seem to crave complicated…
Many believe they must
Give up
Sort out
Fix things
Before
Coming to You
There is no need
Coming to you with an honest open heart
Even if a certainly grubby heart
You have worked with me
On each of my needs
One by one
Step by gentle step
You hold me
Nurture me
Polish me
Like a precious jewel
Causing me to shine
Because I Treasure You
and I thank you…
Words and Photographs © Denise Stanford 2010
Within the Vine 