MOTHER

As daylight stretches out its long, cool bands,
streaking the clouds with promise of new light ,
she sits alone by the window,
wrapped in her robe and her thoughts.
Memories scroll on the screen of her mind,
recalling her children, the pain and joys,
The lonely vigils in the night,
the sometimes thankless tasks.

The noontime sun burns harsh upon the land,
leaving no place to hide, no shadow for relief.
She sits alone by the window,
wearing her shades and her smile.
Thoughts come unbidden of sorrow and loss,
and myriad times when her joy was so full
she thought her delight could not end,
the future secure at last

The sunset thrusts high in the western sky,
turning grey clouds incandescent with red.
She sits alone by the window
clothed in her shawl and her peace.
The glow reflects from her cheeks where the tears
left their streaks as she pondered the present
when all is not well with her kin,
and wounds will take long to heal.

But in it, and through it, beyond and above,
there is One Who sorts all, in love.
Sep 2014

TRANSITION

The day is young;
the night is dark;
the rain is pouring down.
I sit and wait.

My Saviour’s near.
I call His Name;
I wait for Him to come
and sit with me.

I know He’s come.
He said He would
if I would ask for Him
and sit and wait.

His gentle peace
surrounds me here;
my anxious thoughts are stilled;
I turn to Him.

His Father, God,
supplies my needs
while Jesus gives me strength
and purpose true.

That other One,
the Spirit bright,
glows in my weary heart
and bids me rest.

Now daybreak comes;
the light appears;
the rain has stopped for now.
I stand to serve….

THANK YOU

Father, thank you that you sent your Son.
How strange it must have felt to be apart,
and yet a part of one another still,
walking this earth, confined in human flesh.

Jesus, thank you that you left that place
where you Three always lived in perfect love,
to feel the hatred, know the pain first-hand,
give everything so we could join You there.

Spirit, thank you for your daily work
in my weak life, so prone to wander off.
You draw me on with comfort or rebuke
towards that day when all will be complete.

October 2014

Explanation and Celebration..

In case you are wondering what has happened over the next couple of months, my husband and I will be spending them in England visiting our 4 sons and their families, and catching up with old friends.

I will miss the input from the blogs I have been following, but hope to catch up on our return.

I would also like to celebrate with those of you who understand such things, that on 2nd January 2015, it will be 60 years since I made the personal decision to accept Jesus Christ as my Saviour, the One who died so that I might live eternally, my personal Lord and Master, whom I have followed all the days of my life since, with never a one day of regret…

Praise the Lord with me, all you who call on His Name.

Regards

Margaret

I WAIT ON GOD ALONE

I wait on God alone.

I wait. Alone. The sky is blue, sunlight streams, etching black shadow of leafless tree on sere grass and leaves. Dark umbra –cold, barren; yet life-giving sun moves on, flooding with life-giving warmth. If I wait.

Too sad, to move, only much later to discover I walked in shadow incessantly, needlessly. Only wait.

How long? Only the breadth of the shadow-maker determines that. Not the speed of the light. It will come, surely come. In His time.
Simply wait.

I wait on God alone. I sit in shadow, but I trust. He knows the breadth of the trial. His warmth and healing light are moving inexorably, unstoppably nearer. I simply, only, wait.

Margaret Pagdin

Disinherited…

Swiftly, inexorably, distant view
became obscured, replaced by blanket white.
Soon, wild flurries of large flakes gusted
over nearer view, quickly followed
by myriads more until the air was filled
with dizzily dancing, dropping petals,
nature-crafted from particles of ice.

I watched, mesmerised by swirls and eddies,
from the warm comfort of familiar shelter,
sparing passing thought for those less fortunate
huddled in some frozen vault, some ruin,
derelict and draughty, where they make shift
to paper up the shattered window-panes
and bridge the gaping holes with cardboard box
or packing cases scavenged from the yard.

It will not last more than a hand of days,
yet somewhere in the city a frail spark
of life will be snuffed out, the cold too great.
I cannot save them all – if they should wish it –
but what I can, I do, and offer up a prayer
that God who knows and can, may now move
in the hearts and lives of those poor souls.

CAN YOU SAY THE LORD”S PRAYER?

I found this when browsing through a book of cuttings…. interesting reading – or not? I found it challenging!!

CAN I SAY THE LORD’S PRAYER?

I cannot say ‘Our’ if I live in a water-tight spiritual compartment; if I think a special place in Heaven is reserved for me and mine.

I cannot say ‘Father’ if I do not demonstrate the relationship in my daily life.

I cannot say ‘who is in Heaven’ if I am so occupied with the earth that I am laying up no treasure there.

I cannot say ‘Holy be Your Name’ if I, who am called by His Name, am not holy.

I cannot say ‘Your kingdom come’ if I am not doing all in my power to hasten its coming.

I cannot say ‘Your will be done’ if I am questioning, resentful or disobedient to His will for me.

I cannot say ‘on earth as it is in heaven’ if I am not prepared to devote my life here to his service.

I cannot say ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ if I am living on past experience.

I cannot say ‘forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us’ if I harbour a grudge against anyone.

I cannot say ‘Lead us not into temptation’ if I deliberately place myself, or remain in a position where I am likely to be tempted.

I cannot say ‘deliver us from evil’ if I am not prepared to fight in the spiritual realm with the weapon of prayer.

I cannot say ‘Yours is the kingdom’ if I do not accord the King the disciplined obedience of a loyal subject.

I cannot say ‘Yours is the power’ if I fear what men may do, or what my neighbours may think.

I cannot say ‘Yours is the glory’ if I am seeking glory for myself.

I cannot say ‘for ever and ever’ if my horizon is bounded by the things of time.

I cannot say ‘Amen’ if I do not also add, ‘ Cost what it may’.

For to say this prayer honestly will cost everything.

IN PRAISE OF HIM..

Basilica of the Sagrada Familia
BARCELONA

We went with expectation.

As we approached, we marvelled
at the spirit of the human
who round each tower clearly
wrote ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’,
and higher yet, where mortal
could not scry out the writing,
he wrote more words and praises
that make the angels worship.

Within, the tall, slim pillars
reach up with outstretched branches,
a canopy of praises
to Him who made the real trees
and flowers on which this artist
had based ambitious project.

The stillness of the forest
imbues the whole if for one
fleeting , breath-drawn instant you
blank out the throng’s low murmur.
The constant movement feels more
like quivering of reeds and
shake of brush and bracken
than the tread of human feet on
the smooth and shiny marble.

Then suddenly the south wall is
glowing incandescent, each
stained glass window flaming while
colours stream in softest greens
and shining gold and orange,
gilding each waiting pillar
to a different, radiant tone.
And on the floor the colours
blend low and soft and subtle
as people, touched by glory,
walk slowly through this wonder,
with mouth and heart aquiver.

How can one not praise God, Creator,
for all that He has made and sees as good –
the riven stone, its different strength and colours;
the dye-stained glass, its many tones and textures;
the human hands and minds to make it so;
and that one man, the architect whose vision
has been picked up and shouldered by those others,
creating year on year and stone on stone
a masterpiece – and still, to those who see
and understand, all to His glory!!

LIVING…

We throb and thrust, digging into the serried swell.
Around us no friendly blink of light,
No solid peak of land,
No star to steer by.

As we surge onwards, we create turbulence,
Which turns into froth and bubble,
Then dies away into
Non-existence.

Do we wander aimlessly on the rolling tide?
Or are we compass-driven?
Is our aim the destination?
Or the journey?

Can we encompass both?

Learning to live; living to learn.. Day 2

I decided to change the title of what will be more of an occasional series than ‘What safety net?’
I felt the above was more indicative of how I feel about these studies. life is a learning curve – important that we learn those things best which will help us most to live a life worthy of our Maker…
So, onwards and upwards..

James ch 1 verse 12;
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

We talked about trials in the last piece. When you think about it, a trial must always have an end – otherwise how can you stand the test, how can you come out the other end victorious? So during a trial, always remember that there WILL be an end…This gives us the right to hope, to look to God and expect an end… Hallelujah!!

verses 13-15. When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Now these are not trials, these are temptations…. which are NOT sent by God. This is a result of our own nature wanting stuff, or wanting to do things, which our spiritual nature knows is not good and right. If we resist, and turn to God for help, He will enable us to remain free of these overwhelming thoughts and feelings. As someone said, it is not the thoughts and feelings which are sinful. It is dwelling on them and giving in to them!! If, when they enter our brain, we tell them to go in Jesus’ name, and mean it, they have to go!!! But do we hesitate? Do we want to dabble? Oh, no, that is no good… that is the way down…

verses 16-18 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Do we honestly understand that God gives only good things? All the rest is from the world, the flesh or the devil, as the old saying goes. Are we prepared to believe that God wants only the best for us, and look to HIm for that best, even if it may be a while in coming? Can we hope in a better, brighter future, because we know He wants our good, and He wants to give us good things? Sometimes things are NOT good, but these are part of life and living, and He wants to be with us in those times and circumstances, and at the very least ease them, at the very best, remove them… and the fact He has not done it when you asked today, does not mean He will not do it tomorrow. There are no guarantees, but God is unfathomable. We have no idea how his mind works, and we have no concept of why He allows some things and heals others, gives to one and not to another, and so on.. In the end, we have to trust. Just trust, that He knows best, and walk with Him. Remember, He does not change. He IS love, and cannot be other. He is also justice, and mercy, and grace, and so many other things… He is also VERY big….

Lord, help me today to rest on You, to trust in Your love for me and those I love, no mater how hard that will be. Amen