13
Jan
2023

Together

I went back and forth about sharing this because it’s personal and special to me but I settled on choosing to share.  A tradition that we started this past Christmas season was to have a special evening of sitting next to the Christmas tree as a family and each sharing something that we created, to express our feelings about / relationship with Jesus Christ.  This creation could be a story, song, poem, craft, visual art piece, etc. I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do but a few days before the planned date, I was sitting next to the light of the Christmas tree, in the early morning hours, and the lines of a poem started coming into my mind… a poem that hadn’t been composed yet.  So I started writing them down.  I continued to have lines come into my mind throughout the rest of that day and I jotted them down with the rest.  I had to stop here and there to figure out some good rhyming words but the main messages just flowed into me.  Over the next couple days more lines came until it felt complete.  26 stanzas.  That wasn’t intentional but it felt meaningful since my favorite number is 26 (anyone else feel a connection to their birthday number? haha).  After looking up the Hebrew meaning of the number 26 it felt even more meaningful.

Anyway, towards the end of the process of composing this poem (together with God, because it very much felt like the words were being given to me), I realized that the messages that the poem contained were directly linked to several notebooking pages that I had made throughout 2022, specifically over the previous several weeks.  Throughout the year I had been recording quotes and gems and my thoughts about my learning that came through reading, videos, music, art, nature, experiences, and pondering.  And then God used these words and messages that I had collected and organized them into stanzas that would speak to the depths of my heart in my current life circumstances.

After it was all complete I color coded the lines so I would know which parts of the poem were linked to which specific notebooking pages.

 

All of this demonstrated to me again the truth behind Charlotte Mason’s words that true education is between a child’s soul and God. It also made me think of John Drinkwater’s words about bricks… which is too long to put here but you can read it on pg. 113, of Catch the Vision, Volume One.

When I shared this poem with my family I told them that it probably wouldn’t make as much sense to them as it does to me because the messages that it contains are linked to things that the Spirit had been teaching me personally… but I guess that’s not really anything new. All art is deeper, more meaningful, and nuanced to the creator of it than to those that weren’t involved in the creation experience. The neat thing is that we can gather our own bricks and gems from someone else’s creations and then those bricks and gems can then be used to build something beautiful – a unique creation- in our own lives.
So with that (as if this wasn’t long enough already), here is the poem. It’s called Together.

Together

 

The messages swirl all around;
I feel like I am sinking.
The fog grows thick, It’s hard to breathe;
Confusion fills my thinking.

Yet still and small I hear the call,
And as I stop to listen,
These words pierce through my troubled heart;
They start to clear my vision.

Take my yoke, it’s Me you hear;
Remember Me, your Master?
Learn from me, I’ll calm the storm;
In Me you’ll find good pasture.

No need to fear, I’m right here,
With Me no thing can harm you.
I’ll be with you till all is through;
I’ll wrap My arms around you.

I’ll be your strength when you are weak,
Your comfort when you’re sad.
I’ll be your hope in times of fear;
I’ll make your heart feel glad.

Your bondage holds no power with Me;
Your fears that seek to drown you,
Give them to Me, I’ll set you free;
My peace shall soon surround you.

I’ll pick you up when you are down;
I’ll bless you with clear vision.
You’re light I’ll be when all feels dark;
Your progress is My mission.

I’ll see you when you feel unseen;
I’ll hear you when you call.
When you feel lost I’m here to lead;
I’ll catch you if you fall.

My yoke is easy, my burden light;
With me there’s no confusion.
My path is strait, just room for two;
My name is your solution.

I call to you, come follow Me;
I want to be your teacher,
Your healer, guide, and trusted friend,
I’ll make the bitter sweeter.

Come offer me your broken heart;
Please put it on the altar.
My sacrifice was given for you;
Please take what I have offered.

You do not have to be alone,
No need to remain broken.
Your heart can be made whole again;
Given to me, I’ll make it golden.

A heart of gold within your chest,
No longer stony and broken,
A new heart made of spirit and flesh,
I fulfill what I have spoken.

And while you wait for Me to work,
My traits you’re free to borrow.
My character is yours to lease;
You’ll own it on the morrow.

When yoked with Me, lack is not found,
Together we have all to offer.
With Me you have all that you need,
To give to those who suffer.

Though you’re not whole all by yourself,
With Me you offer healing.
Sent forth to heal the sick and blind,
My power you are revealing.

Together we will calm the storm,
That rages through the nations.
Together we will offer cures,
For some of God’s creations.

And while we work, sent forth to heal,
As we link arms together,
Unbeknownst to you at first,
Your soul becomes untethered.

As you outward turn to help a friend,
My work inside your soul can start.
In my great name you share my grace;
That grace comes back to heal your heart.

Your healing has begun to come;
Your heart is being mended.
Through seeking first to heal a friend,
Your limits you’ve transcended.

Again I say come follow Me,
Don’t brood about what’s ahead.
No need to fret or drown in fear,
Faith and peace be in its stead.

I am your Master and your Friend,
My power is over all.
No creature ever escapes my eye;
You can trust me with your all.

Shelly, you’re my little lamb,
I know you perfectly.
Come into my outstretched arms,
Your Shepherd I will be.

I will be the door at night,
that leads into the fold.
As you stop to enter through,
Your face I will behold.

One touch of the finger of My love,
Your tears wiped, your wounds dressed,
Peace spoken to your soul,
Safe in the fold, I give you rest.

I stand here at the door and knock;
Please open wide and let Me in.
I’d love to stay, this home transform,
Converted to a temple built within.

Divine Companion by Yongsung Kim

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