THE CONCERT

I closed my eyes,

listened to the music,

and knew it came from You!

My drab day brightened

as the gray mist washed away

by the waves of color

drifted about my heart and soul.

Anxiety was quickly forgotten.

Hope’s brightness easily replaced it

like a love song . . .

while violyn kissed piano

and my soul drifted joyfully

in a dance that will never end.

By Martha L Shaw – © 2019

 

 

 

IN HIS IMAGE

If the rose

Knew only its thorns

Would it still be sweet?

By Martha L Shaw ©8-24-2015 

Words and Image

POETRY IN MOTION

BEAUTY IS EVERYWHERE By Martha L Shaw ©2016

 

Sightless?

It saddens me to meet so many

needlessly blind people.

Oh,

they are not exactly sightless,

but

true vision comes from deep within

the heart.

 

By Martha L Shaw – © 2016

Which Rock Rules Your Life?

I just heard on the news that my birthstone, the garnet, is said to bring me luck and prosperity.  I don’t own one.  I briefly thought I wish I could afford to shop.  Life hurts just now, figuratively and literally, and luck and prosperity initially sounded great.  But what is luck?  Do I want it?  What is prosperity?  Could it be that I already have it?

So, these pretty baubles . . . are they life changing?  Are these images of my rock?  Yesterday as I sat eating lunch and found the difficulties of my day weighing on me, I found myself meditating on the name of Jesus.  Unconsciously, I gazed out the window.  What I saw brought tears to my eyes and while it didn’t change the weight of challenges I faced, it did at the same time lighten my load.  Sounds contradictory, doesn’t it?  It’s not.  What I saw in the bushes outside my window was a vision of Jesus kneeling and praying and He spoke to my heart that He prayed for me.  He is my rock.  My load was still heavy, but I was reminded once again that I did not hold it alone.  No ring on my finger could do that.

He said:“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

2 Samuel 22:1-3

Saturday Quote of the Day!

And in the end, the poem is not a thing we see – it is, rather, a light by which we may see – and what we see is life.  – Robert Penn Warren –

Oh, I love this!  I have always seen the world as poetry even before I was a poet, though my love affair with expressing myself this way began before I started first grade.  Whether you are a poet or a lover of poetry, what a blessing it is to see the world through this lens!

My Cross – My Answered Prayer

 

I woke up feeling sad the other day.  Much of my life feels and truly is better than it has ever been, but there are one or two challenges which weigh me down no matter how I try to surrender them . . . since I keep picking them back up.  So, I was laying in bed praying for stronger faith and praying for the ability to feel the peace of Christ which I know lives deep within me.  My eyes were closed.  It was early in the morning and still dark out.  As I felt peace in my soul and my body, I opened my eyes and as I simply gazed up at the bedroom ceiling, there before my eyes was a cross.  What I saw was a simple shape formed from what clearly were two pieces of rough wood.  I closed my eyes and opened them again wondering how this could be?  My ceiling is simply white and the sun wasn’t up yet.  I hadn’t turned on any lights.  There was nothing reflecting light in my eyes and causing a shadow or any kind.  I looked around the room wondering how this vision could appear this way.  Then I realized it could only do so because the Lord caused it.  It was the answer to my prayer.  It was clearly a reminded I could see as well as feel of His love.  I got up and faced the day.

Last night I had trouble getting to sleep.  My human weakness seems to loom large in my mind and sleep wouldn’t come.  So, I was in my bed trying not to “think” and trying to focus on my prayers and trying to think of something or someone aside from myself.  I was distracted by worry.  I closed my eyes and seeked Him . . . I couldn’t hear His voice.  I opened my eyes and there once again was the exact same vision of a cross before my eyes.  EXACTLY THE SAME even though the light conditions were different, my position was different.  No way to explain it away in a logical human way.  He was with me and He did answer my prayer once again.  His love was and is the only answer needed. 

 

Pray, Give Praise, and Sing

Well, first off I’m sorry I’ve been away for a couple of days but I had another eye procedure on my right eye which has been  weak for a long time due to an eye disease for which I’m being treated.  Good news to report.  My left eye, which has been out of focus since birth and which the doctor cannot correct was also afflicted with the disease which troubles the right and as financial provision needs are still a work in progress, he recommended I not do anything about the left and we’d focus on the right which is the eye I rely on for everything.  I agreed.  Last month, the news was far from good in that my right eye after four years of surgery and procedures was once again in need of another procedure. 

To complicate things, the left was much worse than it had been.  I do have some vision in that eye but cannot read with it, do any fine work, etc.  Well, my friends, while the vision is still as poor as always, the health of the eye from the disease was MUCH improved.  He could not explain it, double checked my chart and said “I’m sure we didn’t do anything on that eye . . . right?”  It’s true.  This healing can only have come from one source.  I cannot yet report DRAMATIC AND SUDDEN HEALING in my right eye but it also shows improvement, and I have been urged to go ahead and get new glasses.  Now, I was reluctant since, as those of you who’ve seen a photo may know, my eyes are larger than most and thus a costly fit for glasses.  Given my provision challenges, I hesitated to spend more than the amount of a mortgage payment on a pair of glasses which might last only a matter of days or weeks at best since my sight can change at any time. 

The doctor and his staff did extra tests on me and were able to prescribe for glasses AND were able to help me obtain them at much less than glasses have ever cost me WITHOUT my having to subject myself to questionable shopping mall eye-glass companies with whom I’ve had bad experiences in the past.  I was also given a 90 day warrantee on the prescription which means if my prescription changes within 90 days, I will be given new lenses at no cost to me.    My doctor feels confident that if we continue to treat this eye on a monthly basis, we will beat this disease yet!  Praise the Lord.

I will add here that I have been praying with expectancy for 3 years now feeling certain to the core of my being that healing was coming and the time involved here has not changed that, nor has the many challenges which have come my way, even though they are not all resolved at this time.  The blessings come too.

My doctor and his staff are Christians and this is evident.  At one point just yesterday as I was examined by his staff for glasses, she saw my concern, excused herself for a moment, smiled and said “don’t worry, God has a plan.”  She returned a moment later with the good news that my glasses would cost me far less than the retail price and that I could be seen by the appropriate professional “right away.”  I must say the tears which came to my eyes at that point were not entirely over the news she shared, but to a great degree over her obvious joy on my behalf.  She was so excited for me!

Some days the storm clouds seem to block the sun pretty effectively, but we know there is light in the distance and thus the darkness cannot extinguish it, can it?  I was just listening to a song which I’d never heard before and this song so seemed to sum up much of the happenings in my life in the last few years.  Challenges?  For certain.  Living outside my comfort zone?  You betcha, but at the same time the blessings have been AMAZING and so I look ahead with hope even though I still feel the pain of yesterday’s procedure. 

Our path in life with Christ does include pain, but if we stay on one side and avoid crossing through the painful part of the journey, we miss the splendor of what waits for us beyond.  I’m not willing to miss it! 

So, I thank you for your continued prayers, for sharing my joyful praise of Him, and here’s a link to a great song:

http://youtu.be/8A-2jhdN0Vc 

I’m Letting Go by Francesca Battistelli-Lyrics

 

I was just drawn to this verse from the writings of Paul and I am sharing it with you:

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11

Are You Looking Through the Wrong Lens?

 

I have macular edema.  My retinologist assures me he can treat my unhealthy eyes and that my sight will not fail.  This can be treated surgically.  I’ve had 6 or 7 procedures thus far.  Things are better, but not great.  My doctor keeps assuring me that things all will be well.  Still, when I read my old favorite books I know I’m not seeing things as they used to be.  Why is he so sure . . .  I trust my doctor.  I do.  Really . . . but yet I do not understand . . .

 

My life is in flux.  I moved from all that was familiar to a place I’d dreamed of living and the Lord’s voice was loud and clear that I was following His path for my life.  It’s been four years though and many things are good but then there’s a big and scary need that isn’t yet resolved.  All will be well, He said and continues to assure me.  I trust Him.  I really do . . . but yet I don’t understand . . .

 

I was in the store the other day.  My godchild needed some things to bring back to college with her.  I wandered through the pharmacy department.  I idly picked up some reading glasses, noticed the price and thought I’d grab a spare pair.  Suddenly the still small voice spoke to me and as a result I tried on a few different prescriptions first.   I was sure nothing would have changed.  I was wrong.  I needed a pair with a “lower” strength.  My eyes were stronger than they’d been in two years. 

 

No wonder I’ve had a lot of trouble seeing.  I was looking through the wrong lens.  I have a lot of growing and healing to experience yet and so I’m wondering if the eyes of my heart might also be looking through the wrong lens . . .

Angels in Charge!

God’s grace is sufficient.  I’ve heard those words so many times.  I’ve always thought that was an odd phrase.  The word sufficient, in the ways I’ve often heard it used, didn’t sound all that great.  I mean, if my teacher claimed my test score was sufficient, I kind of figured I’d passed, but sure could have done better.  If Mom said we had a sufficient amount of milk in the refrigerator, I pretty much assumed it meant one glass for each of us was “enough” and that seconds were pretty much not going to happen.  So the words “God’s grace is sufficient” have at times sounded like we are to make do, try harder, or learn to live with it.  That is so far from the truth.  His grace is, as I view it, so far, far greater than mere sufficiency can express.  After all, something that’s sufficient is in a measurable quantity.  While His grace is steadily flowing to us, through us, and around us and He just never stops giving us more!  I say this to you now because while I was at church this morning and about midway through the service, while we prepared for Holy Eucharist and sang the Sanctus, God once again revealed Himself to me in a new and deeper way.  I am even now, several hours later, still rather shaken by His majesty and His love!  Before I tell you about today, let me back up a wee bit and share a little from the past.

Months ago, while at a mid-week prayer service, I asked one of the girls to pray for me about a concern I was dealing with.  She told me that the Lord had given her a vision for me.  She said that she wasn’t sure what it meant but could describe it clearly.  It was completely visual, and there were no words accompanying it.  What He had shown her was me surrounded by many angels.  I wasn’t sure what this was supposed to reveal to me was at that time.  I had, after all, asked for prayer about a specific concern and while it’s nice hear a vision like that expressed, it didn’t answer the question I’d asked the Lord to help with.  Well, that’s what I thought at the time.  Still I thought it was really cool!  Some time after that occasion, I was at an Easter Vigil at church and while I prayed in the darkened church I saw a vision of an angel over my head as I looked up toward the church ceiling.  I shared this with the one or two folks who were also praying during that hour on that evening.   They didn’t react as I’d expected with “oh, I saw that too.  Funny how the light from the moon shining in the window makes things look.”  They were there at the same time as I was and didn’t see anything.  I’ve been there since at that time of night and in the same light conditions.   Even though I was in the same spot, the angel wasn’t there.  It was a vision. 

I’ve often been called a visual thinker or a visual person.  I never gave it much thought.  I’ve always seen or heard things the way I do.  Thinking of it now, I realize that perhaps I do notice things in a special way that some of my friends do not.  This reveals itself in the art I create or the words I write.  I am blessed to be able to notice things that others just walk by.  It’s a blessing I’ve grown used to.  For a while now, however, the Lord has been speaking to me through this blessing of being visual.  He has on a number of occasions given me a vision that He wanted me to share with another person whom He identified to me.  He sometimes gives me a word of knowledge for others.  The two messages are similar, with the difference being one is verbal and one is visual.  Something new has been happening lately.  During my prayer and quiet time, with my eyes closed, I’ve been seeing faces . . . fleeting images, but real faces just the same.   They come to my spirit and are revealed clearly in human form.  Since the spiritual gifts He’s blessed me with include prayer for healing, I assumed that these were folks I needed to pray for.  I’ve never recognized the faces and so it made praying tricky, but when words don’t come to me in prayer I ask the Holy Spirit to give me a prayer language so that my soul can do the praying for me and my intellect can be left out of it.  This is praying in tongues.  All who are baptized in the Holy Spirit are given certain spiritual gifts.  There are many and we are all given gifts as He wishes to enable us to do His work in this world.  Paul writes of this in 1 Corinthians 12 where he says “ ⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.”  So, when these images have come to me, I prayed in tongues for these whom He revealed to me.  One day this past week as I rested with the Lord, a vision that came to me looked like the face of Christ.  I admit, I didn’t give that much thought and continued to pray as I typically have done.  Today, the Lord revealed something to me which brings all of these visions I’ve just shared with you together in a profound way.

As I sang the Sanctus, which I’m quite familiar with, I found my mind wandering to the words I’d just heard in the sermon and was thinking about the urging to go deeper with our faith and to seek from the Lord what He is trying to reveal to us when we keep finding ourselves stuck in the same place.  I’d mental noted it but didn’t think there was anything at that moment that required clarification for me.  That’s when it happened.  I heard the Lord speaking to me as clearly as if you were standing here beside me speaking to me.  What He spoke of was a reminder of the angel vision someone had for me when she prayed for me with the laying on of hands, and then again when I saw the vision on the church ceiling, and then of those faces that appear to me in my own prayer and quiet time at home.  He told me that those were the faces of angels He’s given charge of to be with me.  Psalm 91:11 tells us “He will put His angels in charge over you to protect you in all your ways.”  Those words are true.  I know.  I have seen them!