The Humble Things*

The Humble Things

Raging winds of confusion rise

In this, the ending time;

Suddenly awakened, the dove cries out--

As whirlwinds scream and whine--

This storm was born in prosperity,

For fake light and lies deemed true--

God's word ever holy, thunders

Tossing silly plans askew.

Behold: rains ravage mountains

And thunder confounds the sky;

Men connive in folly and pride to profit

As little birds croon and sigh--

But look! Glory rises for the longing

Of wing, and prayer, and bud;

All those that flutter underneath

Will lift to the Saviour's love.

Seed-- and bird-- and orphan--

Turn within this arc;

Creation bends, a circle--

God spun the world with spark.

Oh, little dove, yet trembling

Be still that frantic wing;

For the Father hears your lonesome cry,

And regards the humble things.

(~Abby Elizabeth Charland

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and he shall not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall not make it good?
                                                                           --Numbers 23:19

*

SPARKLE

For all they see, these eyes bear tears;
Sorrow for friends, who wander away,
Oceans rising in the night--
O Father, hear me when I pray.

This heart, a broken vessel,
Love drips on the floor--
Still I regard the fount of Jesus--
And his truth, forevermore.

Heaven cannot be bought or sold,
But many sell flattering fakes,
Still God is revealed in earnest seeking, alone--
And a heart's willingness to break.

Father help us to be faithful;
Calm our hearts with thy tender rain--
And let your holy Son of righteousness
Carry every pain.

Your people cry out, O mercy!
As we plead on shabby knees;
Divine righteousness, alone
Will judge what sorrow sees.

Though the narrow Way be fraught with peril
God's holy light shines ever through--
In the scripture, drenched in glory,
Behold Christ Jesus-- bright and true.


--Abby Elizabeth Charland

And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
For every one that asketh recieveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

--The Words of Jesus Christ
   From the Gospel According to Luke
   Luke 11: 9-10

BAPTISM

Salvation isn't complicated--
The simple path is this:
Worship God, and obey his word--
And resist the tempter's tricks.

There are not multiple paths to eternal life--
Beware such foibles of intellect,
For the Enemy lusts for innocent blood--
And he spins a sticky web.

Consider the love of the Father
Who beheld from the holy throne;

As his precious Son bore our penalty--
That Satan's snare be undone.

It was the Father's mercy that compelled the cross--
The fallen world uplifted thus;
Thus we are compelled to love as well:
Heaven's heart, in earthen cups.

In this valley of decision, then
We honor truth or truth defy;
What fills the heart is that which one serves--
Choose the Gospel-- or choose a lie.

Jesus Christ pitied the sinner's every brokenness--
He regarded our helpless plight--
And when we are buried in  his blood
All stains are rendered white.

Depths of compassion spring to fountains of life--
Truth and mercy: God's manifest will--
And Jesus returning, open arms for his own--
Our Father's glory overspills.



--Abby Elizabeth Charland

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

    --The words of Jesus Christ, from the Gospel According to John
       John 4:14

Shelter

Sometimes even love
Is required to stand
Alone.  Faith, shining in the eyes
Has more power
Than billowing flames
That mushroom in a final dusk.

So, which way will you burn--
A single candle, flickering from that corner, or
The upteenth shadow
Seared into a wall?

The purpose was, for God's children
To kneel in simple grace
Safe beneath Provision's boughs
The roots of redemption wrapping
Every rotten bone:

But rebellious minds still blaze,
Arrogance called to ashes: oh--
Such silly little stars,
Careening in the empty darkness,
Grieving the holy Spark.

Yet, it is the Father's joy
To shield the lovely humble
In the shadow of fluttering grace: that mercy!
(The peace that the world can't understand.)


--Abby Elizabeth Charland


Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.
                                                                                             --Psalm 57:1