life: acoustic & amplified

what do you want?

Whoever wants music instead of noise,
joy instead of pleasure,
soul instead of gold,
creative work instead of business,
passion instead of foolery,
finds no home in this trivial world of ours.

—  Herman Hesse

THE ROAD

 ============

I was afraid

that the road was too narrow.

That myself and my load

could not together pass.

 =========

Then I was afraid 

it might in fact be too wide.

That I would turn in circles

and miss the landmarks.

==========

I was afraid

it might at times give out.

That what I believed was a road

was instead a track to naught.

 =========

I was afraid to walk.

Afraid to point others 

to this road or that,

as right.

 ========

Had I not thought that roads 

were a path to follow?

That they needed strict observance

to a map.

–

But then in relief

I felt my heart held,

in hands that were

both loose and tight.

 ❤

My gracious guide 

revealed the road was not

a maze that we must in earnest

navigate.

^^

It is a way of life.

A relaxing into arms that bear us up.

Where-ever the road takes me,

He is at my feet and side.

 ——

Ana Lisa de Jong

Living Tree Poetry

August 2018

I AM AFRAID THAT prayer is really not for the wise. The wise avoid it on two bases, at least two. In the first place, if there really is a God who has this power to heal, to make whole, then it is wise to be very cautious indeed because if you go to him for healing, healing may be exactly what you will receive, and are you entirely sure that you want to be healed? By all accounts, after all, the process is not necessarily either quick or easy. And in the meanwhile, things could be a great deal worse. “Lord, take my sin from me—but not yet,” Saint Augustine is said to have prayed. It is a wise man who bewares of God bearing gifts. In the second place, the wise look at twentieth-century man—civilized, rational, and at great cost emancipated from the dark superstitions of the past—and suggest that to petition some unseen power for special favors is a very childish procedure indeed. 

 

In a way, “childish” is the very word to describe it. A child has not made up his mind yet about what is and what is not possible. He has no fixed preconceptions about what reality is; and if someone tells him that the mossy place under the lilac bush is a magic place, he may wait until he thinks that no one is watching him, but then he will very probably crawl in under the lilac bush to see for himself. A child also knows how to accept a gift. He does not worry about losing his dignity or becoming indebted if he accepts it. His conscience does not bother him because the gift is free and he has not earned it and therefore really has no right to it. He just takes it, with joy. In fact, if it is something that he wants very much, he may even ask for it. And lastly, a child knows how to trust. It is late at night and very dark and there is the sound of sirens as his father wakes him. He does not explain anything but just takes him by the hand and gets him up, and the child is scared out of his wits and has no idea what is going on, but he takes his father’s hand anyway and lets his father lead him wherever he chooses into the darkness. 

 

In honesty you have to admit to a wise man that prayer is not for the wise, not for the prudent, not for the sophisticated. Instead it is for those who recognize that in face of their deepest needs, all their wisdom is quite helpless. It is for those who are willing to persist in doing something that is both childish and crucial. 

 

– Frederick Buechner Originally published in The Magnificent Defeat

turn this fool into gold
turn this broken heart into a whole vessel
turn this weak voice into an instrument of authority
turn this messy life into a picture of healing grace
turn these eyes to see the holy heart of the other
turn this mourning into laughing
turn these wandering feet to the roads of peace
turn this sorrow into pure joy
keep me from turning from the work that is mine
keep me passionate and keep me focused
this is my prayer
turn my fear into courage
turn my self will into a puddle of love
as I choose to lay down each day
as I choose to pray each day
turn death into resurrection
resurrection
into
celebration
light up the whole world
❤

Amy Lloyd