HOW DO I HEAR THEE?

How Do I Hear Thee?

Poem Written 2008 02 19 Tues 8:30am

I think of the poem (by Elizabeth Barrett Browning?),

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

I love thee…

And I re-phrase it in terms of prayer:

How do I hear Thee? Let me count the ways:

I hear thee in the little things that come,

Encouraging my heart to find its home

Within Your heart and there for all my days

To travel without leaving from Your grace,

To find my strength in You and You alone,

To see myself as seated on Your throne,

Upon Your lap, and looking at Your face.

The world would crash and savage me again,

My flesh join in and gleefully agree,

The devil take advantage every chance.

But I take refuge in my Rock and stand

Against myself and all attacking me,

And know, again, the joy, the rest, the Dance.

KCSJr 2/19/08

How do I see Thee? Every passing day

Reveals new mercies—I am still alive

With joy and strength; my spirit starts to thrive

In watching for Your hand to guide my way.

I close my eyes but see Your majesty,

Abounding in my thoughts and in my dreams,

As dolphins leap, or rushing mountain streams

Cascade upon the rocks in splashing glee.

But still, I long to see You face to face,

To melt into Your gaze of fire, to know

The vantage point of Your perspective, high

Above the changing, pointless, fruitless race

I find me in—I want to find the flow

Of seeing through Your focused, perfect Eye.

KCSJr 2/29/08