Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Interesting God

God is the most interesting thing of all,
so I should be most interested in Him,
in heaven He holds everyone in thrall,
on earth we make Him subject to our whim.
All that we find interesting here He made,
yet though His beauty shows, He stays concealed,
wise Solomon in all his robes arrayed
is pale beside a lily in a field.
It's interesting that One with so much power,
and rich with infinite capacity,
takes so much care to form a little flower,
and pour His endless love on little me.
If I'm so bored with You we barely touch,
O God, why do I interest You so much?

                                 -- by Pete Voelz

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Prayer Before Prayer

May You, O God, out there,
attentive to my prayer,
so far beyond my fear,
come near to hear me say:

May You, O God, in here,
aware of every tear,
with care to share today,
respond, I fondly pray.

             -- by Pete Voelz

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Free to Love

Why does God love me more than sinless birds?
With no free will, they give Him no offense.
With no free will, they say no loving words,
and that to God makes all the difference.
God wants my love free more than anything,
and for it He has paid great love to me,
and promises me yet more love to bring,
but to accept or not I still am free.
Though He's commanded me to love Him too,
and also love my neighbor, friend and foe,
and to obey His law in what I do,
He still has left me room to whisper, "No".
O God, You finally freely give me heaven,
if I bring You a love that's freely given.

                                     -- by Pete Voelz

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Coaster Life

First comes the joy when, with love, life's a thrill,
the coaster rolls up to a happy high,
and then, with love's finale, life's a pill,
when happiness has said its sad goodbye.
But, unlike love, life stays when joy has gone,
and, unlike love, life knows the times will change,
the roller coaster rolling on and on,
with highs and lows the norm instead of strange.
Love can't be forced, but life's in our control,
we will to fix our gaze upon the sky,
God lets us be the captain of our soul,
we can choose to be permanently high.
Love's destined for the roller coaster ride,
but life can coast if we take love in stride.

                                        -- by Pete Voelz

Monday, May 23, 2011

Tethered God

God tethered me with His umbilical cord
within the womb of His creation home,
He tied me so I'll never go ignored,
no matter where in His vast space I roam.
Bonding His mighty grace, He wove His rope,
at the same time He gave me freedom wings,
holding me tight with faith and love and hope,
He freed me too to cut the apron strings.
Thin as a web, invisible to the eye,
my tether, light and sweet, still is so strong,
I don't care just how far or fast I fly,
so long I bring my tethered God along.
I thank You, God, You made me fiercely free,
to soar through life safe tethered You and me.

                                          -- by Pete Voelz

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Tears

Tears tell the truth of love deep in the heart,
they cannot be held back when love is real,
they show how true is grief when loved ones part
and joy that only loved ones joined can feel.
In sorrow all our tears are bittersweet,
they flow because we're sad we have to leave,
yet tears of love let us our sadness cheat,
and prove: to love is deeper than to grieve.
Because they tell the truth, the tears are good,
our love inside they force us to confess;
the tears show us the beauty understood
and so reveal what words cannot express.
The good, the true, the beautiful unroll
in tears that wash the windows of the soul.

                                         -- by Pete Voelz

(Inspired by my son first visiting his foster family
in Thailand after 18 years that he left at age 5.)

Friday, May 20, 2011

Light and Strength

My ship is small, O God, my sails are light,
I pray You, Captain, guide me by the shoal,
power up Your light and lead me through the night,
O gentle guard, protector of my soul.
Dark is the night, O Lord, high are the seas,
the coastline murky, God, I cannot see;
I need to make out what Your bright eye sees,
shine full Your spotlight, Lord, upon my sea.
Keep my hand on the tiller firm and strong,
hold me on course, Lord, with Your steady hand;
the waters are so deep, the night so long,
bring me to port where I can steady stand.
Your light and strength, O God, I know are mine,
I can be strong and see with help divine.

                                              by Pete Voelz

(Inspired by Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman's
"The Pillar of the Cloud" or "Lead, Kindly Light.")

Love Be God

The more I love, the more I am like God,
for God is love and all love comes from Him;
love's not for only those I'm fondest of,
for love's more than just feelings, blood or whim.
God orders me to love yet leaves me free
to love Him, others, myself or not to;
God's true unselfish love's not just for me,
it's better I love than be loved by you.
Love's not from God if it leads me to sin,
love that negates itself is out of place;
love's only there to let the other win,
not for my fun, but for each others' grace.
I want to love so love becomes my all,
to be like God by God's love is my call.

                                          by Pete Voelz

(Inspired by St. Therese the Little Flower,
who wrote, "My vocation is to love."
And by St. Francis of Assisi's peace prayer: "grant
that I may not so much . . . to be loved as to love,")