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HOPE poems
Brief Visit
(Psalm 39; II Corinthians 5; John 14)
I had just settled in
with my tea and scones,
hot and barely buttered.
Mortality did not bother to knock,
Just opened the door
and barged in.
"Have a spot of tea", I asked?
Sparing of words, very sparing, he was.
"Get ready"--
that's all he said.
"Ready for what?"
But it was time to go.
I learned that I was the visitor when
I'd thought I was the host.
All the clocks and watches stopped
and unfinished lists fluttered to the floor,
It was suddenly cold and drafty,
And I realized it was too brief a visit:
although minutes sometimes dragged,
the days stampeded,
and decades vanished like clouds in the desert.
Am I ready?
Ready?
There is no time to pack,
and no room for luggage, anyway.
I've finished camping,
no more tents of flesh;
it's time to go home.
Will it feel like home, right away?
Will I get along with the rest of my family?
What if they don't like me?
Do they have to like me?
Do I have to like them?
Wrong questions.
I just can't shake this visitor's mindset.
I'm going home.
But it is so hard to let go.
Beginnings and endings are both so difficult.
His visit was brief as well--with heart-rending farewells.
But He's gone ahead and made me a room--
I wonder why I'll need a room?
I get the feeling that I have wasted too much of this visit.
Have I done all I was supposed to?
Have I learned anything at all?
I learned that I was not the one in the center,
not the one in control--
He is.
I learned how to accept a gift
when I'd rather earn my own way.
Self-reliance won't get me far,
but God-reliance will take me all the way
to my new home.
I don't like change much.
My besetting sins are worry and fear.
Mortality is growing impatient.
I set down my cup,
half-sipped,
and my scone,
half-tasted.
Just one visit,
one brief visit.
It is goodbye, then.
It is hello, then--and welcome!
lori fiechter
4-25-05
James 4:14 and Psalm 90:9
Seek to Find
Many choices, one priority.
Seek first
His kingdom, His face, His will.
Seek diligently, seek early,
Seek with all your heart.
And seek wisely.
You can tell who you are
by the things that you seek.
So seek Him, His heart, His paths.
Seek Him while He may be found--
Today.
Seek that one thing worth finding,
the one thing worth keeping--
that priceless pearl.
Seek it, find it,
And then, keep it close.
Close--
where you can never lose it,
Close--
where you can never forget it,
Close--
where you can always feel it.
lori fiechter
5-3-04
A Fountain, Not a Well
It is a fountain, not a well,
A fountain of grace and salvation,
of life and living waters.
It will not run dry in a
season of drought;
It is fed by eternal springs.
So, ask.
Ask for the living water.
There is always more for Him to give;
He is the fountain;
His are the clean and cleansing waters.
If you ask,
He will not draw His bucket
from a brackish well,
nor from a stagnant pond.
He will give you Himself,
He will give you His ever-flowing
grace and mercy and love.
You will never run out,
you will never run dry,
never!
Unless, of course,
you do not ask.
lori fiechter
5-3-04
"This little light of mine" needs an eternal source of fuel.
Fan these Coals
There is no more flame or spark
or even glowing embers.
but the coals are still warm
and there is the smell of smoke.
Blow, Spirit.
Blow life into dry bones
and strength into dying hopes.
Fan these coals into fire once more;
Pour on Your oil;
Consume the dross and the stubble.
Let me burn once more
with Your fire.
Let me glow once more
with Your light.
Fan once more these dying coals.
lori fiechter
5-3-04
We had a visiting minister Sunday who really emphasized this point.
Our nervousness in front of others when we talk about God--it's all letting self get in the way.
If we let self get out of the way and let God take over, then things can happen.
Step Outside of Yourself
Step outside of yourself,
It's not all about you;
cut that skin on your own little
self-contained world.
Cut that skin and climb out--
see how small you'd become
in your miniature house
with its minuscule rooms?
And your God was small, too,
He was all about You--
helping you with your own little problems and plans.
And of course, He was faithful;
of course He was true.
But what about His plans?
Have you asked Him that lately?
Asked how you could help--without credit or thanks;
without recognition or pats on the back--
to bring glory to Him, to bring honor to Him
to do something for Him
that was outside of you?
So step back, let Him lead,
and just see what can happen.
For it's not about you,
it's much bigger than that,
It's not about how you've let God
fit into your life;
It's all about how you fit into His.
lori fiechter
5-4-04
Beam in my Eye
Luke 6:41