Christianity – Page 2 – This Jolly Beggar

Haiku Bouquet

can it be
you and me
in heaven?

        in the spring
        dance begins
        to flower

                come summer
                time’s bouquet
                radiant

                                in autumn
                                we breathe scents
                                of harvest

                                          winter turns
                                          on icy
                                          heels, shivers

                                                            time is now
                                                            eternal
                                                            singing day

                                                                                   first Adam
                                                                                   fell, second
                                                                                   Adam saves

1 Corinthians 15:21-28
For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.
When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

Retro Haiku 3-3-3
Eugi's Weekly Prompt – Bouquet – September 16
Cee's Flower of the Day

Count It All Joy

If our hearts delight in God and his face, then we can contemplate losing earthly joys without fear.
Timothy Keller

Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
James 1: 2,3

For Cee's FOTD, September 5, 2021:

See the gorgeous red dahlia "American Beauty" on Cee's site.
Flower of the Day Challenge (FOTD).  
"Please feel free to post every day or when you you feel like it.  
Don’t forget that my FOTD challenge accepts gardens, leaves and berries as well as flowers."

Stonecrop Joy

Light seeking

In light enfolded

See joy unbounded

In chastening trials

God entrusting

Each dear petal

Leaf and root

Together joy.

For Cee's FOTD, September 2, 2021:

See the gorgeous sunflower on Cee's site.
Flower of the Day Challenge (FOTD).  
"Please feel free to post every day or when you you feel like it.  
Don’t forget that my FOTD challenge accepts gardens, leaves and berries as well as flowers."

Perfect Peace

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.
Isaiah 26:3-4

For Cee's FOTD, August 22, 2021: See the beautiful pink hibiscus on her site!
Flower of the Day Challenge (FOTD).  
"Please feel free to post every day or when you you feel like it.  
Don’t forget that my FOTD challenge accepts gardens, leaves and berries as well as flowers."

Thirsty for You

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
Psalm 63: 1-3

For Cee's FOTD, June 27, 2021: See the beautiful red dahlia on her site!

Ginkgo (2)

a ginkgo’s viewpoint
is so simple
twilight dances
nighttime sparkles
darkness flees
morning brightens
God our Maker
shining, shining
benediction
calling, calling
loving summons
joyful gathering
are you hearing?
oh stop and listen!

For Eugi’s Weekly Thursday Prompt “viewpoint”; and Cee’s FOTD Challenge; click on the links and join in!

A Better Paradise

Concerning Paradise
we can’t go back again
said Adam to Eve

There’s Cain, there’s Abel
We’ll start all over again
Make it good this time

Abel’s dead by Cain’s hand
Paradise lies unattained
Eve said, my garden’s now a grave

Something greater lies ahead
Pride and death no more a stain
On this broken earth

With their dying eyes they saw
A bridge to life regained
The Son lifted up, reconciling God and man

For Eugi’s Weekly Thursday Prompt “paradise”; and Cee’s FOTD Challenge; click on the links and join in!

More Arms to Reach You

If I had more arms to reach You
Would that help? But You say,
Two will do now
To reach my neighbor.

Eyes upward, arms outward: Happy Lord’s Day

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
John 15:12

Check out more flower photography at Cee’s FOTD challenge for April 25, 2021

Poetics and Wang Wei

Laura at dVerse asks us to reinterpret one of several Chinese poems. I’ve chosen to reimagine “Stopping at Incense Storing Temple” by Wang Wei.

When in the concatenation of bells that toll
I stop at dusty pools of ghost-bearing scents
The rains having come and gone, ashes remain
The acrid smoke of the dead stings my eyes
Choking the young, ridiculing the old
I turn away to the bowers of forest glades
Where You await storing love’s incense
And I like a wanderer home at last
Stand strong in Your warm embrace
Escaping the dragon of the past
To rise with You to eternal joy.