Faces
Song of Solomon 2:1
“I Am the Rose of Sharon, and the Lily of the Valleys”
“I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance,” *
and thus defines the essential
appeal of Jesus, His compassion and
His mercy, and why so many in
the crowds would press around Him,
clutching at His garments,
as if His words were falling
upon good soil in the heretofore
barren desert of their ears,
and multiplying in each their hearts
a Rose of Sharon – beautiful
in hope, and in purity oblivious to
mortal anxieties and fears.
Luke 17:11-19
"Where Are the Other Nine?"
“Go and let the
priests examine you,”
Jesus said, and so in fulfillment of
the Law all ten crocuses
obeyed. While enroute to the priests,
they were each made clean, but
only one crocus decided to
return and thank Jesus.
Jesus said, “There were ten
made clean; where
are the other nine?”
The only reply the lone
crocus could make was to stand
in praise, radiant amidst last
autumn’s leaves of brown,
now clothed in Easter’s
finest purple raiment,
and tho’ a Samaritan, no
longer lost but found.
O’ Fallen Leaf
Like an unexpected
Hug you are to me, or an
Extended palm to
Grasp in blessing, but
‘Something’ good you
Definitely seem – a leaf to
Wish me goodbye,
E’en as we’ve just met and
Say our first hello,
Each in mystery passing,
Each cloaked in our
Seasonal disguise to
Face the cold.
Who Dares Say This?
Click for meditationRegarding "Who Dares Say This?"
When I was watching
A video clip of the wild sea state
Occurring at Plum Island
On January 29th, I
Was reminded of the
Old Christian hymn,
“How Great Thou Art.”
The basis for this famous
Work was a nine
Stanza poem written by
Swedish minister,
Carl Boberg, in 1885.
He had been on the Swedish
Seacoast on a beautiful
Day, when he was
Overtaken by a tremendous
Thunderstorm of
Unspeakable power.
And then, just as suddenly,
The sky changed again,
And a beautiful blue
Appeared and birds began
To sing! He dropped
To his knees and began
To utter words which
Would be the basis for his
Poem and afterwards
His song. Next to “Amazing
Grace”, it is considered
The most beloved
Of all Christian hymns.
Flash forward to several
Weeks ago, when on
January 29th, a ‘bomb cyclone’
Snowstorm ravaged
New England and parts of the
Massachusetts coastline
With up to 30 inches
Of snow. In the midst of the
Frenzy that day, a very
Brave woman had, in a sense,
Her own Carl Boberg
Moment, and captured a
Forty two second video clip of
What it was like that
Instant to stand just a few
Bare feet from a wild,
Frigid Plum Island surf.
Thanks to the courage
Of that woman, we, too, can
Understand how someone
In 1885 would say,
“How Great Thou Art!”
Leo Carroll
February 13, 2022
Who says the
Lord God is not great,
That the Lord is not
All-powerful and
Not Sovereign over all
He hath made?
Who dares say this!?
Who dares say
God is not Master
Of the blasting and
Blistering sand
Grains and the wind
Which whips and
Howls, that God is not
Superior to the
Creatures we are,
Caught amidst
This maelstrom and
Travail as waves
Wail as if hath come
Our final hour!?
So Cold
Click for meditationRegarding "So Cold"
These two poems are
Simply two instantaneous
Impressions of what an
Old, worn oak leaf lying on a
Winter ground manifested
To me. The oak leaf,
Lying atop snow crystals
And accompanied by a few
Sparse pine needles,
Could potentially convey an
Infinite number of
Possible meanings and
Associations. In theory,
I could write of this
One scene my remaining
Life and never lift the
Lid on all the aspects and
Interpretations.
Everything about us has
Countless takes and
Re-takes as if in a studio
During filming. This is because
Everything is part of
The unknowable mystery
Of Creation, and as the
Lord said in Isaiah,
“For My thoughts are not
Your thoughts, neither are
Your ways My ways.”
Creation’s faces are
Uncountable and ever-
Changing, but unfailingly
Have imprinted on
Them the divine features
Of Love and Beauty,
Together with those of life’s
Every day cares.
Just look into the eyes of
Whatever or whoever
Stares back at you, and you
Will see the light and
Shadows and hurt and
Happiness of the moment.
A January Dark
At not more than one
Hour before sunset, begin to
Gather in a circle to
Keep warm an oak leaf, a
Few pine needles, and
Some shivering snow and
Ice crystals, the last
Of the last to head to bed,
Already feeling the
Shadows of tree trunks
Overspreading them,
And knowing soon
Arrives another night
To close the door against
A January dark. Who’d
Have thought they’d be chosen
To spend the long night
Together – a desiccated
Leaf from a mighty
Oak, a few needles from
A towering pine,
And a collection of
Snow crystals by way of
Jacob’s Ladder, which
Had descended the rungs
Like sweet angels,
Couriers of God so the
Leaf and needles
Could softly recline.
Oak Leaf
So cold it could no
Longer hold by its fingertips
The last shivering branch
Of a nearby oak, down
It came – a twisted
Remnant of what it was,
The definitive end to
Autumn’s both anthem
And mayhem, and
With naught to do now
But to flit on frozen
Snow and ice, until again
This spring when the
Six creative days of Genesis
Would be reenacted
And re-begin.