Empty…
Empty I stand before You, Lord –
The storeroom lies bare;
All that is mine has gone;
Nothing can I give –
No prayer,
No song.
Take what I have to give –
My wrong,
My care –
All I have to give –
And fill me with song;
Fill, that I may share
The overflow before You, Lord.
…Enough
Looks like an empty jar… but the emptier it is the more sunshine it can contain. So, the question remains…
Is it really empty?
I am their Teacher.
Their little faces are turned up to me, eager, expectant;
bright eyes shining like innocent stars filled with the sweet wonder
that only very little children have.
I am their Teacher;
they wait for me to speak.
I see perfect trust…
they are ready to believe every word I say.
They are ready to accept my word as their ultimate truth.
I am their Teacher.
Suddenly the awesome responsibility of what I say envelops me,
weighing on my shoulders like a thick, heavy blanket.
My words will shape their lives… will shape who they become.
My words will steer each little life along a path of thought
that will bring them somewhere.
My words will sink like stone…
or settle like dew.
My words will cause death, or bear life.
“Oh, Lord!” I cry.
“Let my words bring life to these tender plants placed in my care!”
The eight on my shoulders eases;
the heavy blanket settles like a prophet’s mantle.
I am their Teacher;
I will speak life to these little plants.
Deep green forest
closing round,
fresh the smell of leaf and ground;
earthy place where
tree meets sky,
‘neath your carpet,
secrets lie.
History of twig and loam,
and beast and bird
that call you ‘home’;
as I stand here
rapt in awe,
let me learn the hidden law:
That life begins where living ends;
from death comes life
The Giver sends.
A Little Bit of Heaven 