God's Plow Dance

God times things well, just like a minuet,
He brings a sequence to events to show
cause and effect, we’re always in His debt,
how He reaps bread from weeds and seeds we sow.

A fallen world we broken people work,
we little sense God leading us in dance,
beside the plow we do not see Him lurk,
coincidizing what we deem as chance.

Dumb as an ox, we dance behind the plow--
if only with our eyes of faith we’d peek
and raise them just above our sweaty brow,
we’d see the art and artist that we seek.

Lord, when I glance at Your dance mastery,
You help me to dance blind with You--and see.

                     -- by Pete Voelz       1/31/13

GMC Surprise

Each GMC God does is a surprise,
a novel way for God to intervene,
He makes things happen right before your eyes
in ways that you would never have foreseen.

For each God-Made Coincidence is true,
two ways God shows you love and helps you learn:
a blessing and a message just for you,
the blessing’s clear, the message you discern.

There’s no coincidence, luck, chance or fate,
His Providence means God is in control,
you have free will but GMC’s are great
to let His power do wonders for your soul.

Lord, personal and full of mystery,
keep making minor miracles for me.

                   -- by Pete Voelz       1/30/13

Resisting Trust

God’s Providence prevails, but I don’t trust,
I do my thing and give it all I’ve got,
work must get done, and I do what I must,
can’t wait for God, can’t be something I’m not.

God’s Providence demands some compromise,
to see my fate in His hands more than mine,
to look good, not in theirs, but in His eyes,
I’m only human, only He’s divine.

God looks for patience from a can-do man,
He asks no more than that I do my part,
my prayers discern the puzzle of His plan,
more than the work, He wants a change of heart.

I’ll trust more, Lord, and let You take the lead,
“Let go, let God,” You fill my every need.*

* St. Augustine said, “We should pray as if 
everything depended on God,” yet he added, 
“but work as if eveything depended on us.”

                           -- by Pete Voelz       1/29/13

See Christ, Be Christ

I have MS, each night Christ visits me,
He’s female, old, and looks just like my mother;
is not Christ God, One of the Trinity,
and more, my Savior, my Best Friend and Brother?

Christ phones each night, He sounds just like my daughter,
He is, though God, to me, though old, so loyal;
so much like her, He does the things I taught her,
these nightly calls make me feel simply royal.

I see my sister’s love poured on her son,
next hear one called, the mother of my wife;
the years of love shine strong though almost done,
so who sustains such love throughout our life?

At death, love means I gave more, Lord, than took,
to see You and to be You, I must look.

                              -- by Pete Voelz       1/28/13

Tough Love Leads

You drag me kicking, screaming, Lord, to heaven,
not that I do not want to go up there,
but You insist I need my sins forgiven,
and that without You I don’t have a prayer.

I want to have my cake and eat it too,
I don’t want to let up on all the fun,
and yet I want to very much please You,
but just not have You be the only one.

I realize all that You have done for me,
my life, Your care, my cup filled up, Your grace,
Your infinite love as far as I can see,
You make me wanna gaze upon Your face.

I do want You to fill in all I lack,
and ever lead me, Lord, to love You back.

                      -- by Pete Voelz       1/25/13

Love War

Let love become our battleground and war,
“All’s fair in love and war,” let it begin,
a place to fight where love has won before,
where the sole enemy to fear is sin.

Who can fight on when love’s the atom bomb?
Who would resist when love is the police?
Who can oppose a missile of “Shalom”?
Who’d not surrender when love is the peace?

Why war with blood and violence so mindless?
Since God is love, we’re on each other’s side,
instead of guns, let’s kill ‘em with our kindness,
God’s sure to win, and so love will abide.

You teach us, Christ, to love our enemies,
bring on the war of love, Lord, if You please.

                          -- by Pete Voelz       1/26/13

Mystery God

I see how much You, God, are mystery,
so much about You we just cannot know,
yet that You care at all for little me
increases my desire to love You so.

That I should claim I’m so much bigger than You,
and could pretend to think You don’t exist,
can I deny all that You say is true,
the love shown in Your gift of Eucharist?

Who am I to stand up against Your Church,
that holds it is Your living body on earth,
can I all those historic thinkers outsearch,
and so profess that my thoughts have more worth?

When death comes, Lord--which I don’t understand,
I hope I’ll rest in Your mysterious hand.

                             -- by Pete Voelz       1/25/13

When You're Not There

O Christ, where are You when You are not there,
how can I see the You I cannot see?
Yet I sense You are listening to my prayer,
and I feel You are looking now at me.

Why can’t I see You more when I want to,
when I’m depressed and need to know You care?
I am not certain where I can find You,
when I am troubled, and life is so unfair.

I know some answers lie inside Your book,
I too can feel Your presence in Your church,
I know some help is there if I’d just look,
I know You’ll lead me if I pray and search.

Perhaps You’ll show Yourself a bit more here,
if I just open up my heart sincere.

                        -- by Pete Voelz       1/24/13

My Friend God

God is my friend, but am I friends with God?
He's so demanding and I've lots to do.
In our relationship, my side's so flawed,
and I, I need my independence too.
 
God hovers over me by night and day,
and everything I am I owe to Him;
All of His works I see here on display,
I know He's filled my cup up to the brim.

Still I am me, I have a life to live,
of course, I pray He makes it fun and long;
but why does He keep asking me to give
Him back so much that is more right than wrong?

Why does this friend keep lavishing on me?
Why not just be a pal and let me be?

                       -- by Pete Voelz        1/04

Untrite God

Much talk of God is trite, but God is not,
God is the opposite of what is trite,
God is in charge of everything we've got,
you always want Him with you in a fight.

For God's omnipotent, untrite and deep,
the maker of reality is most real,
the One Who gave us all the stars to keep,
Who made the ocean depths--He's a big deal.

Don't ever let them tell You He's not great,
or that He doesn't love you through and through,
much greater than the trite of chance and fate,
He has a destiny for me and you.

Next to Yours, Lord, my resume's so slim,
against Your tide, let me not want to swim.

                           -- by Pete Voelz          5/09

God's Little Cloud

I, Lord, am like a lonely little cloud,
I set my sights to sail across Your sky,
I’m silent, still, unlike the lightning loud,
that strikes with thunderous clap as I slink by.

You have a plan for fleeting mists like me--
to join with other clouds to make the rain,
to gather wet together so that we
may drench the plain to grow the fields of grain.

You make me fly as if I were Your Son,
Whose grain becomes His bread if we persist,
we change the drops to vines ‘til we are done,
so bread and wine become His Eucharist.

To make men more divine I fill my role,
a little cloud with all my heart and soul.

                    -- by Pete Voelz       1/21/13

All God Does Is Love

Since God is love, all that He does is love,
so, Lord, it’s love--all that You do to me,
it is God’s love we’re at the mercy of,
Your love, O Lord, has planned my destiny.

His love’s our crown of thorns, our nail and cross,
You scourge me, Lord, with daily aches and pains,
God sends both sun and rain, He is the boss,
but if I ask, You break my sinful chains.

God’s loving cross is only for our good,
the load You give me, Lord, is light and true,
God leads us but to do the things we should,
I take both love and cross and follow You.

I’ll walk Your path, Lord, in this vale of tears,
Your love will win in just a few more years.

                        -- by Pete Voelz       1/20/13

Retroactive Prayer

Does God not dare a different paradigm,
undaunted by our limitations here,
in timeless grace beyond our space and time,
content with His celestial stratosphere?

What if in His own vast eternity
He stores our prayers to make them last and last,
to have them all appear so fresh and free
for those we pray for buried in the past?

Might He in some fantastic time-warp way
then use our prayers to shuck off evil's curse,
and change the sins of those lost souls today
so that their fate is placed in some reverse?

O God, I pray You take those in despair
and reap them with my retroactive prayer.

                             -- by Pete Voelz       2004

Father God

Mysterious God and Father of us all,
begetter of the Son You love so much,
You two beget the Spirit by love’s call,
O Father we can’t see or hear or touch.

You leave tremendous mysteries in Your wake,
a universe that You’re Creator of,
then You make us like some perverse mistake,
while really You immerse us with Your love.

You give us life, then heaven as destiny,
You drench us with Your bread and wine and grace,
then hide from us what, Lord, we long to see--
in us the image and likeness of Your face.

This visual distance, Father God That’s You,
demands of us a faith that’s strong and true.

                          -- by Pete Voelz       1/18/13

Why Turn Away?

God is the God of all, why turn away?
God loves each one of us, so why not me?
God gives us everything, so why not pray?
God loves all heartily, and so should we.

God wrote a book for us, so why not read?
God told about Himself, what He revealed.
God sent His Son to die, for all we need.
God made us all His children, signed and sealed.

So you can see, God is so good to me,
God holds me in His heart, all of the time.
What care I if He's such a mystery?
God made us stairs to heaven, so why not climb?

God sends His angels for us when we die,
to live with Him forevermore, no lie.

                           -- by Pete Voelz        9/04

Real Reality

The body dies, the soul lives on and on,
which is, I ask, the true reality?
in death, my fingers, toes, all parts are gone,
my soul’s delights are all that’s left to me.

Death proves my body’s just a tool of time,
the past has flown just like a little breeze,
all things will pass, Christ said, just like this rhyme,
life’s just a blink ‘twixt two eternities.

There’s nothing that’s more real than that time flies,
or truer than time and life take their toll,
 this life slips through our hands before our eyes,
we’re left to only hold on to our soul.

Now is the test--what’s on my soul I choose,
my self and God’s love I don’t wanna lose.

                           -- by Pete Voelz       1/16/13

Love Gives Up

How can I love, I can’t give up a thing?
You gave up being God to come to earth,
I owe You for so much, You are my King,
without Your gifts, I don’t have any worth.

From nothing at all You created me,
I’ve nothing, Lord, except for what You’ve given,
and me You offer an eternity
of love and joy and happiness in heaven.

I only take, You show that love means give,
without Your love, I wouldn’t leave a trace,
I need to share Your love so long I live,
and how do that except to use Your grace.

You give Your life, O Lord, Your love, Your all,
I need but give my answer to Your call.

                       -- by Pete Voelz       1/15/13

God's Decor

So I must rearrange my furniture,
and throw some out or change what I possess,
and decorate a new interior,
just to create a soul You want to bless?

Rebuild my sand-based house instead on rock,
and chase the dark out with Your candle bright,
and even move it to a different block,
raise it from sullen earth and take to flight?

Can I be open to such glorious change,
can I find strength for such a daunting task,
will You help me my property rearrange?
I know You’re open if I simply ask.

You want, O Lord, my soul-house to re-pack,
in faith I’ll let my baggage love You back.

                       -- by Pete Voelz       1/14/13

Cool Heart, Warm Arms

In Your warm arms, Christ, is there room for me?
To come to You with love, why do I wait?
We both know there is where I need to be,
there’s no place more where I can say I rate.

I know You hold the world in Your embrace,
You have all power from where You reign above,
it’s me You call, still I resist Your grace,
You love me, yes, but You want back my love.

You’ve set me free, the burden’s mine to choose,
I know the alluring world will end in doom,
I know You’ll win, without You I will lose,
it’s rather for You, my arms must make some room.

This is the question I must answer true:
Lord, is there warmth in my cool heart for You?

                              -- by Pete Voelz       1/13/13

Death into Life

Eye has not seen what God for us has stored,*
in death we're born into eternal life,**
no grapes of wrath for those who fear the Lord,***
no terrible sword to cut away the strife.

Oh, what a thrill to enter His great realm,
will we sail slowly softly on the wing,
or land like lightning bolts that overwhelm,
amidst the multitude cheering for the King?

For He will be with me to free my breath,
I'll offer up the life He let me rule,
why should I be so sad to face my death,
when He's rejected only by the fool?****

I'll let God slice my slender thread of life
like butter severed by a searing knife.

* 1 Cor. 2:9
** St. Francis’s Prayer for Peace
*** Battle Hymn of the Republic
**** Psalm 14:1

                       -- by Pete Voelz      3/07

The Best of You

O God, if I can sin behind Your back,
how can I sin before Your loving face?
If I fall weak to Satan's bold attack,
how can I fall when me You fill with grace?

O God, am I a faithless tool of Yours,
a symbol of Your failure to succeed?
Or do I fall to all the Devil's lures
because I'm just a weak and broken reed?

Why am I weak when You still strengthen me?
I blame this fallen world, my fallen ways,
my lack of insight to Your mystery,
I take too light the light Your Church displays.

Teach me, O God, Your message strong and true,
that I may represent the best of You.

                          -- by Pete Voelz        5/06

Man Christ

Christ is more human than He is divine,
or so He seems to us poor humans here,
just as His cup seems less like blood than wine,
the hosts like bread more than like flesh appear.

Our minds subscribe to what our senses bring,
the human Christ seems normal, much less odd,
the eyes of faith see the invisible thing,
like love and truth and Christ, the Word of God.

Yet greater minds than ours define Him so
as fully God and fully human too;
our reason tells us what in part we know,
with faith fulfilling what we feel is true.

His food less like His body than just bread,
to us He seems, though God, more man instead.

                              -- by Pete Voelz       5/04

To Worship

What does it mean to worship and adore?
It means to put God first in everything,
to bow down low whenever we're before
our God, and hold Him far above each king.

It means to follow God in every way,
and not to question Him or turn our back,
to hear His loving Word and then obey,
to say there's nothing good that He can lack.

It means to tell He is the Lord of all,
to recognize He's perfect and divine,
before His face, down on our knees we fall,
respect His name and build to Him a shrine.

O God, we owe You faith and love galore,
it's You alone we worship and adore.

                   -- by Pete Voelz          5/06

Faithful Moon

The moon peeks through the clouds and looks my way,
beyond the window like some giant eye,
then just like magic gleams a single ray,
a spotlight stream to where I dreamily lie,

as if to say, "I'm watching over you,
though you may be unwitting in your sleep,
while loyally I my ordered path pursue,
obedient to laws natural, true and deep."

How regular you are, O constant moon,
so comforting to me 'til night is done,
unknowing I, all safe in my cacoon,
how you beam bright the light from mighty sun.

O faithful God, Who made the moon for me,
let me obey Your laws as faithfully.

                         -- by Pete Voelz       11/07

Faithful Care

If God is everywhere, then He is here,
He is not God if He's not everywhere.
If God is close to me, why should I fear?
And with Him near, we have a lot to share.

What this all means is God must care a lot,
and if He cares so much, why shouldn't I?
I know God always cares though I may not,
and if I don't care much, I ought to try.

God pours His love, how can I not get wet?
His love burns so, how can I not get warm?
God gives so much, I'm always in His debt,
His love's so great, He, not I, sets the norm.

O God, I know You care so much for me,
since You're so faithful, then why can't I be?

                           -- by Pete Voelz        4/08

Always Back

No matter what, I must come back to You.
Who else can dress the lilies of the field?*
I see Your laws, and every one is true,
when I need help, You are my sword and shield.

With molecules, I haven’t got a clue,
I can’t draw one, but You make every star,
my DNA?--The fingerprint is You,
through microscopes and telescopes You are.

I change my tune, but I hear yet Your song,
I wear dark glasses, still Your sky is blue,
though church may bore, I know where I belong,
for there is where I most come back to You.

I bump into You, Lord, at every turn,
after a while, you’d think I’d finally learn.

* Matt. 5:28-29

                       -- by Pete Voelz       1/6/13

My Ambiguity

Sometimes I'm lost in ambiguity,
while here my sins leave me in desolation,
yet there some parts sing like a symphony,
and, God, I look to You for affirmation.

I know I try to take care of my own,
and aiding them, I'm always wanting more,
yet Judgment Day, instead of all alone,
I want to be surrounded by the poor.

O God, I know Your mercy's always there,
and Your forgiveness is forever free,
so desperately, I turn to You in prayer,
and place my trust in You to care for me.

O God, if here I'm not sure what to do,
let me not be ambiguous to You.

                -- by Pete Voelz      10/07

The Trinity and Me

What is the frame of my relationship
with Father, Son and Spirit God in Three?
On my horizon are they but a blip?
Who am I to this Blessed Trinity?

Do I see them as Three or are they One?
God Who created me I call my Father,
my friend is Jesus Who's my Father's Son,
with Holy Spirit I can barely bother.

It's hard relating to Them as a group,
it doesn't all make sense, this mystery;
Each does His thing, yet They're all in the loop,
Each has a role as They relate to me.

How we all fit, I leave You to decide,
O God, let me with just You Three abide.

-- by Pete Voelz        12/05

His Strength

How can I bargain from a place of strength,
if I must bear my sins that make me weak?
How can I forge my depth and width and length,
if I must always turn the other cheek?

Like David's psalm, my strength is in the Lord,
Who, by His power, for me made heaven and earth,
Who conquered death by mighty spiritual sword,
Who helps me conquer all with spiritual worth.

Christ takes my sins, He makes my weakness strong,
when I repent, His tender mercies flow,
it's God Who makes me deep and wide and long,
with God's love I make friends of every foe.

O God, help me to conquer self and sin,
true victory--the crown I hope to win.

                              -- by Pete Voelz          3/10

If All Men Stopped Their Love

If all men stopped their love, would I stop too?
If all would cease to care, would I still care?
If no one loved You still, would I love You
in that same way that even now is rare?

If mankind watered down its love for God,
would I stay faithful to His love for me?
If I felt following Him was truly odd,
would I give up and from His rule break free?

I see our paganing culture drift apart
from all God's loving ways I know are true;
I feel the constant tugging at my heart
to quit unpopular paths and try the new.

O God, if I do drift I pray the more--
take me to loving You the day before.

                  -- by Pete Voelz          1999

To Give or Just Get

Christ asks of us to give, we wish to get,
we want lots of possessions in this life,
He offers us just heaven, but not yet,
we hope to fight the devil without strife.

We put our trust in things, He says, “Trust Me,”
we like the physical, He’s spiritual,
 we much prefer to deal with things we see,
He wants our hearts, that takes a miracle.

God wants our love, but we don’t have the time,
we’re worried about money and our worth,
He says seek first His kingdom so sublime,
our eyes are focused here and now on earth.

I do not wish to think beyond the grave,
yet, Christ, I know You have the power to save.

                      -- by Pete Voelz       12/29/12