God Thoughts

I reach into my soul and tell what’s there,
though God already knows--which strikes me odd,
and telling it, I realize, is a prayer,
whatever--I just like to talk to God.

Does anyone want to listen to my soul?
Could anyone else just even understand?
Who watches when my thoughts are on patrol?
Alone Who welds them well to what He’s planned?

God makes my thoughts, and then helps me to think,
this mix of physical and spiritual
He pours into my thirsty soul to drink,
His deep gift to my human miracle,

From deepest me I feel this to be true,
so, Lord, I love to tell my thoughts to You.

         -- by Pete Voelz       4/30/13

Heartfelt Touch

As You reach out, O God, and touch my heart,
so You want me to touch the ones who cry
to help me see, though we may live apart,
still there but for the grace of God go I.

How can I tell if my touched heart is true?
Perhaps to do Augustine’s strategy--
to “pray as if it all depends on You,
but work as if it all depends on me.”

You once ascended bodily above,
and left us here to be Your hands and feet,
so we with whom You share Your infinite love,
can share it too with everyone we meet.

I trust, O Lord, You’re asking not too much
for me to pass along Your heartfelt touch.

                 -- by Pete Voelz       4/25/13

Telepathy Prayer

God reads my mind, there is telepathy,
He sees and hears what I say in my prayer,
then in my conscience He talks back to me,
we have a conversation everywhere.

There is no mystery to prayer--it works,
God wants us to depend on Him for aid,
just as in nature, in our mind He lurks,
so trust in Me, He says, be not afraid.

Prayer’s definition is--talking to God,
He answers us with words, but also deeds,
we needn’t say much--just give Him a nod,
He’s done so much for us, He’ll fill our needs.

God's generous, so patient, gentle, kind,
He’s listening now, so please keep Him in mind.

                           -- by Pete Voelz       4/28/13

Prayer War

O God, I pray You hard, I pray You strong,
I shoot at You my puny shells of prayer,
and I persist, O Lord, I pray You long,
shoot back at me, my target soul laid bare.

"Thy will be done" ends every prayer I pray,
yet I pray hard because I want this bad,
You won't give stones for bread, I saw You say,
but if You tell me no, I won't be mad.

And now, O God, You see me on my knees,
I don't just kneel and pray, You see me cry,
I beg You for what You can give with ease,
I fire prayer bomblets and let bullets fly.

God, I surrender what I'm praying for,
before we even fight this long prayer war.

                    -- by Pete Voelz       9/09

Weak Is Strong

My weakness crushes me, God makes me strong,
another riddle from God’s foolishness;
that first sin left our wills weak all along,
 Christ came along to give us strong redress.

My strength’s from God, Who made the earth and heaven,
Creation old and broken He made new;
Christ, killed by sin, leaves all our sins forgiven,
His death defeated death, my weakness too.

To demonstrate His strength, God picks the weak
to show it is His strength that gives them power;
the Spirit makes St. Peter boldly speak,
from then on the Apostles never cower.

Gaze on Blest Mother Theresa’s wrinkled face,
left old and weak, yet strong by God’s good grace.

                              -- by Pete Voelz       4/26/13

The Gs of Grace

(Inspired by my friend Stewart Arp,
musician and cantor.)

I played a gig and made X dollar Ds,
the Ds are paid to me as just reward;
in church my gig is paid in grace-filled Gs,
invisible to all except the Lord.

To meet my needs, the Ds I quickly spend,
my Gs are saved where grapes of wrath are stored,
which one will I take with me in the end
is something only counted by the Lord.

The Ds--the root of evil--pull me down,
then cut down by His terrible swift sword;
the Gs of grace will grace my golden crown,
as gracefully I bow before You, Lord.

I hope I stand, O God, before Your face
and offer You my priceless Gs of grace.

               -- by Pete Voelz       4/25/13

God Rector

God hears me even when I do not talk,
He listens even when I am asleep,
He joins me when I'm on a lonely walk,
He puts His arm around me when I weep.
 
God helps me up when I have fallen down,
He comforts me when I am feeling pain,
He rescues me when I'm about to drown,
He somehow turns my losses into gain.

God stirs the stars then stoops to stir my soul,
He gives me all from His infinity,
He makes me run when I just want to stroll,
together we produce the person me.

O God, You are the rector of my being,
may I see You when I’m not even seeing.

                       -- by Pete Voelz         4/09

God Dark

O God, why do You keep me in the dark?
I don’t know how the world works, much less You.
How real’s that silly tale of Noah’s Ark?
How do I know Your words are right and true?

I am impressed by some great miracle,
and even little ones that I can see;
beauty must come from someone beautiful,
so too the good in others and in me.

My freedom says I can’t hang in suspense,
I can add faith to what I see and know,
the more I learn of You, You do make sense,
I can’t deny You’re better than the foe.

I’ll trade You prayer for grace, for choose I must,
and when it’s dark, in You I’ll put my trust.

                           -- by Pete Voelz       4/23/13

God Visits

God does not come just to pot some sweet flowers,
though He put song in gardens long ago;
 their blossoms bend to His transcendent powers,
but basically He lets them be to grow.

Theophany was formerly more common--
Abe heard God say that he should slay his son,
and most of all God sent His Golgatha man
with us to stay 'til He salvation won.

We too begin like orchids in our origin--
a supernatural source for all our breath,
but sad for sweetpeas it's all downhill when
they blossom to extinction on their death.

For we will copy out an opposite story,
though mums are more majestic for the way,
as destiny we hope to see His glory,
our history's theophanies to stay.

In all of nature's variegated beauties,
to only us God's visit does entrust--
small miracles may diffract our daily duties
as prism He forms diety from dust.

                   -- by Pete Voelz         2001

Freedom's Sword

O God, I grant Your freedom to love me,
since You gave me my freedom to love You,
for Your love’s worthless if it is not free,
and with no freedom, mine is worthless too.

My love for You proves I am free, O God,
just as Your love for me proves You’re free, Lord,
love proves that freedom’s real, no mere facade,
love proves that freedom is the sharpest sword.

For if we were not free, could love exist?
It’s freedom’s sword that cuts us all a choice,
some choose to take Your love, some to resist,
we freely choose our destiny, our voice.

That we can choose to not choose is a lie,
the sword of freedom cuts until we die.

                 -- by Pete Voelz       4/21/13

How Shall I Love Thee, God?

How Shall I Love Thee, God?

(With a bow to
Elizabeth Barrett Browning.)

O God, how shall I love Thee,
let me count the ways.
I'll love Thee for Thy vast infinities,
tremendous powers that set the stars ablaze,
and genius that made haze, bees, seas and ease.

I'll love Thee for Thy grand aesthetic style
that shapes the lofty cloud into a tower,
that decorates this universe domicile,
and mints with rare design each elegant flower.

 I'll love Thee for Thy pure divinity
that stirs in me a strong centrifugal pull.
How dare we mere ex nihilo humans be
smug-like before One so adorable?

I'll love Thee thrice at once, O Trinity;
I'll love Thee incarnate One most intimately,
Who from transcendent home descends on me,
to closest love me--Eucharistically.
I'll easiest love Thee human-God I see,
in human-bread bestowed so lovingly.

But Thy sweet self in others I also see,
good looks and not, good, bad, rich, poor and free;
and since Thou lovest all as much as me,
I will for Thee love all in charity.

O Thou, all-loving divine infinity,
I'll love Thee most because Thou lovest me,
and though Thou givest Thy best love perfectly,
I'll love Thee here with this flawed poetry.

by Pete Voelz       11/98

Tender Hands

The Lord's most tender hand's upon my soul,
a little orphan low He raises me,
His loving care makes all my broken whole,
my fear of Him sets all my fearing free.

Good Shepherd He fills full His tiny lamb,
and lifts the load of lost that cripples me,
He tells me true of who I really am,
from all my struggling sins He sets me free.

The Father fair adopts me for His son,
with gentle care and love He cradles me,
He strengthens me until the course is run,
His power releases all my talents free.

I trust His guiding light throughout the race,
His noble image mirrored on my face.

                         -- by Pete Voelz      10/04

Who's Closest?

O God, Who made me in Your image tall,
You are the closest for I look like You,
my Father, called Our Father by us all,
Creator and Sustainer of me too.

O Christ, Who is as I a human man,
Who like me sees my Father in His Son,
Who, dying, opened heaven so I can
live there forever, You're the closest One.

O Holy Spirit, Comforter and Guide,
You strengthen me, inspiring me to hope,
You gently prompt my listless soul inside,
You're closest as You daily help me cope.

I cannot choose the closest One to me,
so I'll just take You as a Trinity.

                   -- by Pete Voelz      8/10

Piercing the God Facade

All the Apostles’ eyes saw Christ the Man,
but their eyes could not see that He was God;
my eyes can’t see the Man, but God they can,
by faith they pierce the spiritual facade.

With normal eyes my God I cannot see,
I’d not be me if I could see so much,
for seeing God, I’d be no longer free
to hurt so great a love my love can touch.

When His disciples saw a miracle,
He proved to earthly eyes His power divine;
to prove He’s here, God’s still discernible
when making miracles for eyes like mine.

If science can’t explain a miracle’s proof,
why should I hold my eyes of faith aloof?

                 -- by Pete Voelz      4/17/13

Life Fight

Life is a fight, I'm fighting all the time,
I wrestle with the world, my work and worry,
I pray God lift me from the sinful slime,
at times, though, He just isn't in a hurry.

I often fight the Devil on my way,
He tempts me just like Adam and I fall,
though sometimes I can win and hope to say,
"I've fought the good fight, kept the faith," like Paul.

I find I struggle with myself the most,
I slow me down, no mind how fast I race,
I cannot stop to rest or dare to coast,
my only push is by God's gentle grace.

I trust You, Lord, with these grim fights I'm in,
that though I lose them, with Your help I'll win.

                           -- by Pete Voelz         1/07

Meet My Maker

To meet my Maker how should I prepare?
When am I ready, worthy of God’s heaven?
Is it that I repent, my soul laid bare,
with mercy, God has all my sins forgiven?

Or Luther’s way--”We’re saved by faith alone,”
that I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord,
that for my sins He died and did atone,
for faith alone I’m worthy of reward?

Or be like Christ told us of Judgment Day--
to feed the hungry, help the sick and poor,
that I must love in action, not just pray,
that sorrow, faith are good, but love is more?

Louder than words, my actions prove me true,
to win You, Lord, I must in them see You.

-- by Pete Voelz       4/15/13

Who Loves Me Most

Who loves me most I'm most attracted to,
does anyone love me as much as God?
Who knows my worst, still loves me through and through,
and so I know His love is no facade.

I like God Who made me a miracle,
He never fails, He always does His part,
God is my friend, up close and personal,
He writes His care for me upon my heart.

God made me free to choose to love Him back,
He loves me so He takes a risk on me,
my sins forgiven, He does not keep track,
a faithful, sorry slave I'm free to be.

Since Your love, God, for me's so strong and true,
I want to strongly, truly, love You too.

Big Light Touch

O God, I am so overwhelmed by You,
and yet You come to me with a light touch,
if what they say of You is one-tenth true,
You still can dominate me way too much.

How much You overwhelm Your little one,
You do control me so much more than I,
Yet I’m in charge when all is said and done,
Your power in me I wish to magnify.

You gave me physical limits, these are plain,
Your moral laws I find hard to control,
my freedom makes me often fight in vain
between the light and darkness in my soul.

Though You alone can wrestle down my will,
don't overwhelm me so my merit's nil.

                                  -- by Pete Voelz         11/09

Pile-on Prayer

Because You said to ask and we'd receive,
You won't mind if we pile on with prayer,
You taught us how to pray and to believe,
so now we pile on to show we care.

You asked for it, so we don't think You'd mind,
if everybody piles on everywhere,
You said that we should seek and then we'd find,
and so we pile on to You in prayer.

You said to knock and it would open too,
so desperate we will pile on the prayer,
we don't think we are overwhelming You,
and so we'll pile on as much as we dare.

O infinite God, we trust You will not care
if we pile on and pelt You with our prayer.

                       -- by Pete Voelz          3/07

The Edge

In combat, Lord, I pray, give me Your edge;
I know You always give us grace enough,
but in temptation, out there on a ledge,
sometimes I need an edge because it's tough.

You know, O Lord, how much I feel so weak,
I shrink from things I know I ought to do;
You need a voice and I can barely speak,
a tug, a push, an edge I need from You.

Sometimes I leap before I know I should,
discretion, prudence, caution most I need;
then other times in order to be good,
the edge I need is boldness to proceed.

O God, give me a little edge each day
to build up bigger edges on my way.

                  -- by Pete Voelz        2/06

Gold Grace

Like love we share, unlike our cold hard cash,
the more we give of grace, the more we keep;
like gold, grace is the opposite of trash,
yet unlike gold, we treat it like it's cheap.

God sends us grace to bounce it off our soul,
but unlike love and gold, we scorn its power;
once it is ours, it's under our control,
to hide it low or let it flow and flower.

Our witness to the Gospel spreads our grace,
through time and space we send our grace with prayer;
if someone sees the smile on our face,
we leave a smile of grace for them to share.

O God, I pray You give more grace to me,
reflected from my soul for all to see.

                                -- by Pete Voelz       3/08

A Slice of God

God is so big, we each one get a slice,
He’s like a giant pizza in the sky,
His infinite Self helps to make Him so nice,
He shares His Godness, doesn’t even try.

I hunt among the slices that are His
to see what part of Him will fit me best,
I’ll find some slice by giving Him a quiz,
but He replies by giving me a test.

The ones that suit me well He has to show,
how could I search through His infinity?
Before He gives a slice of Him--hello!
He asks to get a slice or two of me.

Surprise! You give me, Lord, before I start
a slice of love that stabs me in the heart.

                 -- by Pete Voelz       4/8/13

If God Exists

If God exists, then really He loves me,
for God cannot exist outside of love,
only God's love explains my mystery,
God and love fit together hand in glove.

I look at God in everything I see,
there's tons of evidence that God is real,
yet one small step remains since I am free
to fathom God in faith past what I feel.

If God exists, what is my destiny?
If God's not there, then nihilism reigns,
no point to love nor spirituality,
and nothing rules my feelings nor my brains.

God's in my head, my heart and soul and being,
with God here really there's no point in fleeing.

                          -- by Pete Voelz           2/07

Man's Best Friend

How faithful is my dog, a man’s best friend,
with me he nothing wants but to obey.
If I keep faith with You, Lord, ‘til the end,
Your faithfulness will never go away.

My puppy gently puffs right in my face,
expectant watching eyes so full of hope.
Your’re in my face, Your hot breath full of grace
You hope will tether my soul like a rope.

My mutt looks at me with his loving eyes,
is there a better lover I abide?
Don’t You with Your love infinite take the prize,
Who yearns to be forever by my side?

O Hound of Heaven, Your faith, hope, charity
make You, I hope, in faith best friends with me.

                       -- by Pete Voelz       4/7/13

Prayer-Poems

I want to turn my prayer into a poem,
just as I wish to make my poem a prayer,
like prayer, a poem is there abroad or home,
recalled at any time or anywhere.

For prayer-poems sent to heaven He has time,
He loves the rhythm and the melody,
enjoys the sound and cadence of the rhyme,
and keeps it new for all eternity.

A poem demands the words be made succinct,
though we write many words, God’s never bored,
poetic license lets some rules be winked,
and God allows the winks for He is Lord.

I write, Lord, for an audience of One
in forms of praying poems that are more fun.

                  -- by Pete Voelz       3/24/13

A Galaxy of Love

O God, are You not busy with the stars?
A galaxy should take a little time;
our best minds busy marveling at Mars,
while I’m just busy writing up a rhyme.

You’re wrapped up with things like eternity,
holed up with the universe as a whole,
and yet somehow You take time out for me,
and worry Yourself sick about my soul.

I matter small in the great scheme of things,
next to those galaxies I see above,
yet I believe that Your attention brings
to me more than a galaxy of love.

If You make galaxies, Lord, work so true,
I should suspend some busy-ness for You.

-- by Pete Voelz       4/5/13

Power Share

Where does God's power stop and mine begin?
How much does He control my destiny?
I know I have some power because I sin,
and don't I have some power for good in me?

I know God's Providence provides for all,
and He created me, my time, my place,
yet also my free will to rise or fall,
and left it up to me to run the race.

I see His hand in history and fate,
in all our luck, coincidence and chance,
how far in me does His word resonate?
How much of my choice does His help enhance?

O God, since I'm so weak and You're so strong,
give me Your powerful grace my whole life long.

                                 -- by Pete Voelz     4/05

Surprising Grace

 O God, You did it, didn’t You, again?
You proved Yourself the God of the surprise;
despite my lowliness, and all my sin,
You pulled Your grace off right before my eyes.

You put a fantasy into my mind,
a little story I wished would come true,
then waved, it seemed, Your magic wand so kind,
and made it a reality from You.

How could I ever doubt, O Lord, Your love,
that You would spin such loving mystery,
and send it from Your mighty throne above,
to land upon the most unworthy me.

My soul can race but never can outpace
or trace, O God, Your most surprising grace.

                     -- by Pete Voelz       4/3/13

* Pope Francis in his Easter Vigil homily
spoke of how God surprises us.
The very next morning at Easter Mass,
 God gave me a big surprise--GMC.

Greedy for God

I'm greedy for You, God, and for Your love,
I'm greedy for eternal paradise,
not what's below, I want the things above,
to not die and go down, but live and rise.

I'm selfish since I want for me what's best,
it's not I want Your good grace just for me,
I also want salvation for the rest,
but I sure want You for eternity.

O God, I hunger for Your happiness,
I thirst for souls too, be they friends or foes,
I hope my every word and deed You bless,
I want my fill, 'til my cup overflows.

O God, on Your good faith I want to feed
forever as I satisfy my greed.

                     -- by Pete Voelz     6/10

The Purple Rock-cress Passion

A mass of brilliant flowers hides their leaves,
their four blooms with more cruciforms collide;
the red-stained cross is placed between two thieves,
His bloody stripes hide greener life inside.

The rock-cress spring perennial violet,
first prostrate, then ascending stems appear,
like flat, nailed cross raised to its silhouette,
when violet violent Lent returns each year.

Their petalled crosses ring the rocky shelves,
this criss-crossed cruciferae family,
like blossoming Christians learn to sign themselves
and show the cross atop their church so free.

Some hosts of bread-white rock-cress flowers grow up
near wine-red buds bred to be sacrificed,
like crimson vintage in the chalice cup
with snowy wafers consecrated Christ.

So we, anonymous like this little flower,
as He, incarnate died among us here,
was resurrected by a Father's power,
will be raised like God's rock-cress are each year.

                              -- by Pete Voelz         2002