Short Reflection on the Ascension

Acts 1”11 (NABRE)

“Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”

Sometimes we are awe struck by the massiveness of God's mercy and wonder. Instead of standing around waiting for something to happen, we are called to be his mercy and wonders in the world. Jesus lives in us. Jesus returns daily in our lives and witnesses to the world in Christians. The witness is how we live and what we do. We are the extension his resurrection. Each of us is asked by the Holy Spirit to be the miracle of Christ in the world.  In this we ascend to find the Kingdom of heaven that is here now and bring it to a world looking for something they do not understand. 

Prayer:

Dear Lord delight us in rejoicing in the blessings found in the Ascension of Christ your Son. Eternal joy is found where Christ is gone to be in your divine presence.  We pray for this the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Mercy Will Have Mercy - WEGoss2

Mercy will have mercy,

Mercy generously, Filling

creation - Mercy is Perpetual

Force continuing eternally.  

At dawn, fill us with

Mercy, at dusk Mercy

overflow.

Mercy will have mercy on which Mercy will

have mercy

Atonement is Mercy; mercy filled

reconciliation with Mercy. 

Forgiving sins is Mercy

found in a sacrifice. Mercy

happens between Mercy and creation.

Mercy is rich in creation,

made alive in an unmerciful death.

Mercy reprisal withheld

consequences for our humanness.

Mercy will have mercy on which Mercy will

have mercy; Mercy

we do not deserve.

Mercy is not getting

what you do deserve. The withheld punishment

is God's goodness. This is mercy.

 

Funny, that mercy draws sinners to

Mercy. Yet mercy pleases true

Mercy. Infinite, wonderful,

immeasurable. Taking Mercy for granted

is humanness. Ungrateful sinners

sweetened by Mercy sweetened infiniteness;

holiness without mercy is not Mercy.

Mercy will have mercy on whom Mercy will

have mercy; Mercy that

a chosen purposeful disorder in creation

does not deserve.

All the mercy in creation derived

from Mercy is free.  Mercy

given for merit is not mercy.

Creation, polluted never earns mercy.

Nothing earns Mercy;

nor forces it. Mercy cannot be made to love us.

Mercy loves us even in our disorder.

Mercy will have mercy on which Mercy will

have mercy; Mercy that

a chosen purposeful disorder in creation

does not deserve

any consultation or comfort

Mercy is an overflowing

Mercy; infinite eternal,

believe in Mercy. Trust

in Mercy and imitate

Mercy by coming to the aid of a neighbor.

Find rest in Mercy. 

Mercy - consultation and comfort,

prayer. Mercy

forgiveness and bearing

wrongs patiently. Without Mercy

what does life profit?

Have mercy on those who doubt. Too

bad to deserve,

mercy given by Mercy

rejected by self.

Mercy will have mercy.

Finding Time to Pray

Our Priest is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. He was asked by the Priest Chaplin at the local hospital to work with a young family. The family is having problems and went to the priest for help; neither parent had a religious upbringing. They have three young children, the oldest is five. The children have never been exposed to prayer. Father decided to teach the children a simple prayer. 

He instructed the children to pray, one, two, three, four, five. The prayer the children were to learn was to make the sign of the cross and then clasp their hands in prayer. One - touch the forehead, two - touch the chest, three touch the left shoulder, four touch the right shoulder, and on five clasp your hands in prayer. It was a simple prayer but more than they had ever prayed.

In our lives we often have a similar dilemma. We have a hard time praying. Most of the time, God's presence in our lives is not dramatic, sensational, or impossible to ignore. Because of this, it becomes easy to push our prayer lives to the back of our daily activities. We get religious waywardness; forgetting to pray. They don’t have the time. Forgetting the importance of daily prayer, people forget how to to pray. Unlike the children who never knew how to pray, some Christians loose sight of their need for prayer and begin an get into a habit of spiritual unfaithfulness. 

James 4:8 (NABRE) “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands . . . and purify your hearts, you of two minds”

The Christian tradition has three types of prayer; Vocal prayer, Meditation, and Contemplative prayer. (CCC 2721)

How do we improve our prayer life.  Here are a few ideas; one method is no more effective than the other. The only one that will be effective is the one you do. Short prayers can open our hearts to the grace needed to be aware of God’s presence in our life. Short but sincere prayers can be only few words:

• “Here I am Lord.”
• “Lord, thank you for your presence.”
• “Give me wisdom/insight.”
• “Do not let our hearts be troubled.”
• “Jesus, I trust in you.”

Meister Eckhart, philosopher, priest and mystic, said that if you only prayed “Thank you” that would be enough. I like to think that I offer every breath I take as a prayer of thanksgiving and praise to God, offering my whole self to his service.

If we look for time to pray we will never find it, so we need to make time to offer prayers. At work, use the moments between meetings, before and after phone calls, on the way to and from coffee breaks or lunch, before you go to work or leave for home as a time for prayer and reflection.

It is also important to take time several times a day to do an examination of conscious and take moments to reflect on your daily activities. These are times of brief contemplative prayer. During a coffee break, reflect on what has happened up until that time in the day. Have you done anything to wrong another person? Have you honored God in your thoughts and deeds? What has happened and how is God present in that experience?

If you are looking at the things in your calendar that has passed or is upcoming take the time to pray over each event, meeting or appointment.  Pray for the people involved or touched by that time or event. Ask for the grace to realized God in each moment of your life.

Psalm 46:11 (NABRE) “Be still and know that I am God!"

A time for meditation can be found before you get out of the car when you get home, stop and meditate on your day. What are you grateful for? Who are you grateful for? Does a coworker or friend need prayer? Realize the moments of God’s grace in the day.

Finally, in the quiet time before bed, pray to Jesus Christ.  Ask for forgiveness for the times when you failed to love God and your neighbor.  Thank God for all the gifts he has given you and be quiet and listen for his voice. 

Like little children, prayers must be offered in a purity that is earnest and from the heart.

Pray constantly, (1 Thess 5:17). It is always possible to pray. It is even a vital necessity. Prayer and Christian life are inseparable. (CCC 2757)

Prayer - Trust in the Lord

PSALMS 37:5

Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will act

Prayer:

Lord God,

We stumble 

to you 

in our human 

pride and weakness 

which is failure

to trust in you, Lord. 

In meekness and humility 

allow us to commit 

ourselves to you 

through the Holy Spirit 

that you send to us.  

Help us 

to put away our failures 

and 

show greater love to others. 

Amen

Speaking at Mass

Sunday, I was asked to speak about the Holy Spirit at Sunday's Mass. This was asked of me at about 6:00 pm on Saturday evening as my wife and I were preparing for an anniversary date. (Twenty-nine wonderful and blessed years for the curious). I decided that I would prepare after our date and the next morning.

So, I asked and prayed about what to say. Copious notes were taken. The catechism was studied. I was prepared. When I got up to speak, what I prepared and what came out was something entirely different. What I said was not what I had studied on or what I had prepared. When I stood up, I spoke without knowing my end but only what I was being led to say. The first words out of my mouth were the Holy Spirit is harmony.

In our diaconate studies on the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is identified as the love that exists between the lover and the beloved. The unity that is between the Father and the Son is where the Holy Spirit exists. In this unity and love are where the fruits of the Holy Spirit come from and include love, joy, and peace. This is the essence of the unity between the Creator and the Word.

In this unity we also find the gifts of the Holy Spirit including wisdom, understanding, and fortitude. These are the fruits and the gifts of the Holy Spirit that Pope Francis is praying comes upon the people of the Holy Land and the rest of the Middle East. 

In these things I see the harmony that the Holy Spirit brings.  The harmony of peace, that brings love and joy. The harmony among people found with wisdom, understanding and the fortitude to use these in dealing with other peoples. Yes, I see that the Holy Spirit brings harmony. 

In the beginning the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. (Gen 1:2) 

The Holy Spirit was there at the beginning of creation. It existed so that when the word of God came forth; wisdom, understanding, fortitude, peace, joy, and love all came to God’s creation. The Holy Spirit did not create but made creation hear the Creator’s words. It brought harmony to the chaos.

Just as the Holy Spirit was there at the beginning of creation and brought the harmony need for creation. The Holy Spirit is the first to awaken faith in us.  The Holy Spirit is always available to bring the harmony to our spirit that seeks to be a child of God, to know the peace and love of Christ, and to seek the joy that that is the kingdom of heaven. The Holy Spirit makes us now Christ. The Holy Spirit makes us hear the Father’s word and to know his grace. It brings us to harmony in our faith.

The funny thing is that when I was through, I wanted to read on thing that was written on my notes. So I looked down to say a prayer.  I stuttered and stumbled all over it. Maybe the Holy Spirit did not want people to hear it because it was not what God wanted me to say.

The Holy Spirit communicates to us the new life that God the father bestows on us through Jesus Christ. (CCC 684)

Holy Spirit does not speak of the Holy Spirit; Makes us hear the Fathers words; Makes known to us Christ (CCC 687)

Finding Happiness and Good Cheer

Colossians 3:15

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

In high school science class, we learned about grafting. This process of grafting is when you take a piece from a good productive plant and put it on a hardier root stock plant.  In the south, this is how many of the larger pecan hybrids are developed.  Both trees receive a gift.  The gift is the graft from a plant that produces good large pecans and the good strong root system to support the pecan.  As the tree grows that plant becomes fruitful and strong.  It produces good pecans.  

This is our lives as Christians.  Each one of us, so different, are brought together in the peace and love of Christ. Each of us is the root stock. We receive the gift of the Holy Spirit from God. In this gift is found happiness and peace. Promised to us by Christ, they are made part of us by the Holy Spirit.  In these we are empowered to bear fruit.  

These fruits are the fruits of the Holy Spirit.  They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Christians are to share these fruits through their lives. These are the qualities found in true happiness that restores us through the Holy Spirit to paradise and leads us to the Kingdom of heaven. (CCC 736)

Prayer: (Saint Augustine)

O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there your cheerful beams. Amen.

Working for God

Philippians 1:9
"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment. . ."

Prayer: 

Heavenly Lord,

Yours are the gifts 
of love and talent
that we give to your service. 

Let us discern 
to use them justly 
for the good of many 
in the light of 
your truth and grace.  

We do this through 
the power 
of your Holy Trinity; 
the Father, 
the Son, and 
the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Character and the Badge of Christianity

Isaiah 29:13
"The Lord said:
this people draws near with words only
and honors me with their lips alone,
though their hearts are far from me. . ."

Pope Benedict XVI wrote that "our character has to do with our being." Isaiah tells the same thing. Sometimes, God's people are his people in word only. They do not live for God. Even today, people profess God by saying they are Christians. Too many times, Christianity becomes a badge to wear not a life to live.

In time, our lives will reveal the motives of our heart. Our humanity divulges secrets. In the deepness of our inner self, we live a continual conversation with our self realized truths. We self reason and justify the desires of our heart. This self idealization can become misinterpreted as a divine path. 

Our unqualified reason has a natural basis and can be understood in the individual life experience in which it originates. However, it is usually an ill-equipped reason. Singularly justified, this reason is flawed in its ability to distinguish the successes and failures in the practices of life.  

God desire for us is to realize truth. Only in God's conversation with our character can we become the image of Christ. In our self reason, we must hear God and know Christ's love to answer "yes" to this conversation every day. In this we live truth.

Prayer:

Lord God,

Our lives reveal the motives of our hearts, our character is in our being, grant that our hearts are pure and our lives reveal your truth.

We ask this in Christ Jesus name, Amen

Memorial Day Prayer - WEGoss2

Lord God of Peace,

We pray
for those who have served and
laid
down their lives
to protect and defend freedom.

We pray
for the care of those
who still live the battles,
with spirits and bodies
scarred by war.

We pray
for our country, and
the healing
of wounds
received - near and far
defending
our freedom and
the freedom for others

We pray and remember
those who serve us now
shield
them from danger and
bring them home safe.

We pray
that all who have fought
to find in You, Lord
the power
to be gentle, and
the strength
to forgive and find peace.

We pray,
remember
in patience ,
understanding; and
endurance
the required duty
right and just

May the Giver of life –
bless these memories;
grant to each
of us peaceful souls.

May the Creator of all
help us to devote our
life
thoughts and
energy
to justice and peace.

May the Holy Spirit
create in us
the passion to fulfill
the destiny
for which all men were created.

Christ Jesus, hear our prayer,
Amen.

Finding Hosea in the Modern World

I learned a new word today. The word is “foist” which means to impose an unwelcome or unnecessary thing on to people. I discovered this word by accident. I was studying a blog by Christian writer Dylan Dodson. Dylan’s blog is a good example that I could tie to my bible study of the book of Hosea. Dylan did not use the word; but, when you start googling - You can just go all over the place. 

There is no fidelity, no loyalty, no knowledge of God in the land. (Hosea 4:1 (b)).

Hosea was written between 755 and 725 BC. That was a long time ago. Funny a whole lot of things don’t change. In his blog, Dylan Dodson writes about one of the same things Hosea writes about. Dylan makes the point that people can call themselves Christians but actually do not believe when they don’t agree with God’s commandments or Church teachings. This is similar to Hosea's prophesy.

If you believe in God, then there is a core reason for that belief.  Sometimes it is hard to say why you believe, you just know you believe. With all the ramifications, do and don'ts believing asks of Christians, people tend to pick and choose.  All that God asks is sometimes hard to accept in the world we live in. Even the people of Israel who could remember God working in their prophets, kings, and nation often fell short of what was asked by following false teachings that fed their human wants.  We also fall into the habits of worshiping our personal wants.

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command? (Luke 6:46).

Dylan Dodson and the Prophet Hosea talk about sexuality. But these are not the only things that Christ is asking of us. 

Jesus gave the apostles authority to build his Church and continue his ministry. Yet today, Christians forget this command, shun the Church, and pick what they want to believe. There is a disconnection between identifying oneself as a Christian and living a Christian lifestyle. Jesus asks us to follow him in all the details of our lives. If we believe that Jesus is God and God is truly our Father Creator, then we must also believe in what he is the Lord over.  

That same website where I discovered the word “foist” stated “religion focuses the people's attention and energy on a single, unchanging, uncompromising and invisible supreme being who created an inferior humanity.” This supreme being established oppressive and arbitrary rules to live by. These statements were written by an atheist.  

Isn't this great that this is not our God? Sadly, this is how many Christians understand God. But, we are not asked to be perfect, only to try to live in his commands. Disappointingly, many people just say they will do what they want to do if they do agree with Jesus' or the Church’s teachings. In doing this we are actually worshiping a god that we make.

Just remember God always believes in humanity. God is always revealing truth to us. Even if we see God as the god we selfishly want, the Truth of God is always calling to us. 

God is love and forgiveness.  Pope Francis wrote about forgiveness, “. . . God’s mercy has no limits if you go to him with a sincere and contrite heart.” So even if we sin and get off track through our own selfishness, we can recognize our faults and truly ask for forgiveness. God was there with Hosea and the sinful people of Israel almost 2800 years ago. God is there for us, today.

Prayer:

Lord God our Father,

Give us the strength 

to live the life you call us to live.

  

Help us to put our human temptations behind us

so we can live in your glory. 

Most gracious God, 

show us our faults and forgive us when we fail. 

In Jesus name, Amen

Catholic Charities

I attended a meeting today of a group trying to bring Catholic Charities to my area. The group was men and women from the different Catholic Churches. They are leaders in charitable works and the love ministries to the less fortunate in the community. All are people who want to help. They come bringing their love and the love of the people in the churches they represent. 

“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.” – St. Augustine

There are many types of love. One of the basic types of love is described by St. Augustine. It is the respect and caring that we feel towards another person. This is what we as Christians call brotherly love or charity. Sometimes people forget that outside of love of family, this is the most basic love that exists. Love makes us social creatures. Love pulls people together into groups. This bond has always been there in society. It is the source of empathy and sympathy that we have for those around us.

Empathy is the ability to experience the hurt, brokenness, despair, and so many other feelings that humanity experiences. This comes from the fact that no matter how small or great we are we have probably lived through the same experience. We are all created by the same God. We all live in a shared world. No matter what your nationality, we all grieve, we all hurt, we all experience disappointment. Love for others can only exist in the kindness, empathy, and understanding we have for others. We seek justice and dignity for the love of other people because of empathy.

Sympathy is the ability to feel sorrow and pity for others misfortunes. These are actually for the times when we do not have the experiences of others. Maybe we have been fortunate in our lives and cannot know the misfortune of poverty.  But sympathy is the feelings that pull those who are not alike together. We are not like kings who have never seen poverty, sickness, old age, or death. But the suffering that comes with these can make us feel compassion and respect for those less fortunate than us. In sympathy we also find love. 

Empathy and sympathy can bring us to a connection with other people. It allows us to see that each of us has a vulnerability to the world. When we recognized the common vulnerability this is where love grows.   

Jn 14:12 “Amen, Amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these. . .”

Jesus Christ is where we find the strength to defend against our vulnerability. Christ living in us, allows us to be a continuation of his miracles in the world. Miracles found in his love. This love inspires faith and asks us to do great works in the world in his name. It is the empathy we feel for having been in need of miracles and the sympathy for those less fortunate that allows us to love. The love we find in Christ asks us to be his hands, to be his feet, to be his heart, and to be his love in the world.

This is Catholic Charities and what they bring is Christ's work to help rebuild lives.  Doing the work Jesus asked each of us to continue.  When asked if the area would support another social agency, one person attending said that this area had an undeveloped philanthropic resource.  I do not know about the philanthropic resource; but, I do know we have a large resource of Christ's love.

Prayer: 

Lord Jesus

I believe in you with my whole self,
allow me to do your works.

Let my feet be your feet,

let my hands be your hands,

let my heart be your heart,

let my love be your love, and

allow me to see you in those in need,
allow others to see you in me.

Amen

Finding Joy

Acts 13:52 - The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

The Bible tells us to rejoice. But the ability to rejoice, the act of being filled with joy, is not something that every person automatically experiences. Joy is not easy to obtain in the world and is an extraordinary and valuable gift. It is something that must be found in the journey of life. A gift found in life, that is worth pursuing.

Joy is not simply something we have.  Our inner conflicts battle on whether we are deserving of joy. Sometimes we simply reject it because we do not feel worthy. This rejection is because we do not know what joy truly is and where joy exists.

Most people would believe that joy is happiness.  Others relate joy to sensual pleasure.  These two things are physical and often short lived. 

Are you happy? Many times yes, being with friends, enjoying a meal, or eating a big bowl of ice cream, but if we are honest, happiness isn't necessarily something lasting in our lives.  It’s far from being permanent and can melt away like that ice cream.  Happiness is accidental. It just comes upon you.  You can’t buy it, earn it, or achieve it. Happiness is related to the way you live.  But, is it joy? No, truly it isn’t.

How about pleasure?  Is pleasure joy? No, in fact it isn't.  Pleasure is the sensation of feeling gratified.  As good as it may be, life is not merely about pleasure. There are other things more important in life than just being gratified.  

Joy is more than short-lived happiness; and it is more than gratification of a sensual pleasure. There is much more to joy than these.  Joy is the intensiveness that lies beyond temporary happiness and a complete gratifying fulfillment more profound than a sensual pleasure. Joy is the inner change that is an undying experience of these two sensations that affects our lives.

Psalms 126: 2(a), 3 - We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

For a true believer, there is no inconsistency between the joy of life and the joy in God.  Joy is created in relationships.  It begins with others who love us for who we are and accept us fully. Joy is in the happiness experienced in loving others and the true self. Joy is profound and hopefully unending. Joy is the certainty that you are loved forever, no matter what.  Joy is being set free.

Like the apostles, Rejoice! Let your heart sing, fill your being with joy.  This is the reality of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, experiencing life in a totally different way. It is in the divine that we find true joy and love in the world and the joy of heaven.  Heaven is ever lasting happiness and enduring pleasure sharing love with God and those you love forever and ever. 

Remain in my Love

Jesus told his disciples, remain in my love. 

Jesus asks his disciples to continue to exist in his love when others had abandoned that divine relationship.  Continued existence (past, present and future) is a definition of time. Jesus asks for time and love.  Love like he gives and like the Father gives.

This is what Jesus says about the Father.  The Father remains in me and I in him.  As my Father has loved me, I have loved you, remain in my love.

I have two children.  When my oldest child was born, they carried her out all bundle up in a new clean blanket.   The nurse handed her to me.  She looked up from my arms, her little fist clinched as babies do.  She looked into my soul with eyes that could only see my shape.  Not seeing me but taking my love.  No matter how old she is, I still see this perfection.  I still see the baby who looked to my inner soul.  She will always remain in my love.

When my second daughter was born, it was different.  The doctor graced me with the privilege to accompany my wife during the delivery.  Being in the delivery room, I held her mother's hand and heard my daughter first gasp for air.  I saw almost immediately after she was born, still naked; her eyes open looking deep into my heart.  Her arms flailing outstretched reaching to hold and she grabbed my soul, the same but different. She will always remain in my love.

No two people are exactly alike. All human relationships are different. They cannot be because they are not in the same place or same time.  They are different because they happen at different times and between two different peoples.  Relationships are based on the time love dynamics and that makes them unique.  Times change, person change, and dynamics will change.

Only God is eternal and without change. Gods love for us is constant because the love that existed for us in creation is the same and timeless.  In the constant and timeless is the absolute and perfect love.  This is the goodness of God.  

God's perfect love exists in an imperfect world.  An imperfect world of human existence that is not eternal but is forever changing.  This constant change is the result of our free will.  Free will cause people to experience love in different ways. This is source of that personal relationship with Christ because each person's love of God and love of Christ is a different experience. 

This free allows us to find unique and personal love in another person and is God has an opposite effect.  Time and situation happens by chance and surrounds each relationship.  The accident of human relationship in the subject and object of love is unique.  Relationships can be built on the same relational foundation but each is a collection of different experiences, persons, and time particulars.  Sadly, however, this free will in an imperfect world is a reason that bad things happen.

In people, the act of love is self creative, self conscious and self giving though intrinsic and different in each relationship.  But the love from the divine is eternal and constant.  God’s time does not change because it is timeless.  God love does not change because it is constant.  God’s love is accessible to all, yet is an inaccessible object that we cannot change. It exists independently of our love and is its cause.  

My mother always told her children she loved us each as much as the other.  I tell my children the same.  My love for my family is complete.  It is timeless and constant in human imperfection.  

But no matter how much love I have, it is love tainted by human experience that can never be as complete and uninfluenced as God’s love.  Human love is imperfect in its bias, influenced by the time in which it exists.  God’s love is without prejudice.  To make our love more perfect, we need to tune ourselves to the ever present goodness of God. To our example of love and goodness found in Jesus Christ.  

In the eternity of time and the constantness of love, I know that God is good.  In bold quiet ways, God loves us and asks us to remain in his love.

people say i would love you if i had the time

people say

i would love you

               if

                          i had the time

time in the moment

called now, likens

to a lover

expectantly reaching

tenderly 

            to a future love

to touch the small of the back

that now is a love

past

in the moment, now

of time - love

the wedding dress

           is always used

only the future bride

is dressed

          unstained, virginal

soiled by the lover

now

the lover, now

is never not,

         the same only now

but different in a moment

in both

the excitement and boredom

future and past

always looking

i would love you

               if

                          i had the time

time - love

found in a changing

thing changes

never one and the same

before and after

Identity is found

In the now

before it is violated

but if

the same is the same

before and after

change did not change

time did not love

or experience

now

look at the past

to find

what is true to build

a future

better than now

with only moment

to build

continual now

time – love in moments

is eternal of

God

of eternity, outside time

before the beginning and the end

eternal love, pledged

love in the past

is the first greatest

love in the future

is the last greatest

constant greatest of the moment eternal

what shape

is time

a line,

without beginning or end?

what shape

is eternity,

a point

without beginning or end?

and eternal depth?

what shape

is love

a ray that grows forward?

or shapeless, eternal?

and infinite in

the Father’s perfection

does time - love in

creation grow as

once i die

my now stops becoming

eternal 

to growing time.

In time - love

becomes part of the past

fertilizer laid

growing the reality of time 

harvested in a future

but only nourishment in moments

of memory

that too becomes fertilizer

past feeds the present now and

the future

in prodigy

prodigy, prodigy, prodigy, prodigy,

shipwrecked in

time - love  

lost in the moment of now

lost from the will eternal

lost without understanding

eternity 

without salvation

a future that never comes

because (stalling)

eternal absence

from the horizon constantly redeemed

time - love 

conversion briefly 

discouraged

by

the lover, now, not crossed

in the past

realize 

perception is the truth 

about time - love

              those present

exists over an interval

not including what has happened

in the past

what will occur 

              is the future

is now

not known only anticipated.

the fruits of a human

life time are just now

a moment in eternity. 

i would love you

               if

                          i had the time

yet, eternity’s gaze

               on my moments

hopefully

finds prayer

time in now

making a difference 
               in the moments of others. 

moments time - love

               found in now

found in past

found in future.

knowing time - love

the now

               just past to history

is an absurdity

              cause and effect in reverse

to profess knowledge

                 of the future,

                 of God’s will

except time; except love

known in the moment, 
now.

if

    i had the time

                          i would love you