Calvary

Your body strung out

Bruised and broken

Beyond human repair.

Some saw and wept

Unable to save their saviour,

Some saw and scoffed

The victory was theirs 

As you hung on the cross.

Man's darkest hour

Made possible

Through the evil

In our own hands.

What we called weak

God proclaimed glorious,

No greater love

Has man ever known. 

To life you rose

Death's sting

Was dealt it's final blow.

Your body lay in it's tomb

No more than three days.

Some saw and believed

Your scarred body

A reminder of the life

You gave for us.

Father,

Open our eyes

To your wondrous Love.

Moving Mountains

My faith falters

As I fix my eyes

On the war

That wages all around.

My prayers 

Turn to silence

As I struggle

Under these burdens.

My heart is troubled

At the mere thought

Of the dark valleys

That lie in wait.

This is when

My world crumbles.

But in all this

Your Word remains

The Light

Piercing the darkness.

So I believe.

My faith is made strong

When I fight doubt

To fix my gaze

Only on You.

My prayers

Become flaming arrows

For this battle

Is not of this world.

My heart is at rest

For I know

Your hand is in mine

As I walk through the valley.

This is when

I can move mountains.

Safe

There is no safer place to be,

Than in Your arms

Of love.

Jesus

The answer

To life's

 Every high

And every low.

Scars

I struggle to imagine
The hell
That you 
Have lived through.

You've fought battles
Not your own
Walked the line
Between good and evil.

Glimpsed faces,
Scarred
With the hatred
That dwells within man
When only he
Allows it room
To fester and grow
Into something evil
Uncontrollable
Ferocious and ugly.

You wake up
Hoping, praying
It was all just
Another nightmare.
Truth is,
This is
Your reality.

Winter

Winter's breath lingered

But not for long

Somehow it knew

It's time had come

To move on.

Quietly

It whispered it's farewell

Echoed in the cool breeze

And dying embers

Of fires long gone.

Nothing could stop

The coming of Spring

Bright blooms 

Promises of fresh starts

Untouched skin

Paths waiting 

To feel the weight

Of faithful feet.

Spring came 

Full of promise

For winter had thawed

Even

The coldest of hearts.

Dreams

What happened 

To all your dreams?

They were big

And brave,

Full of courage 

And determination.

Now you've all

But settled

For the comforts 

Of this world,

With all it's charms

It's easy to stray.

One day,

I hope your eyes

Are opened to the Truth

Once more.

You've so much to offer,

That I know

For I was with you

As you dreamed

Those dreams

Big and brave.

Honey

You're sweet

Like honey

You're poetry

To my ears.

I gave more

Said I care,

Now that would be

Just another lie

I hurt 

When you hurt

I cried 

When you cried

Now 

That's past,

You've gone

And left this space.

I'll wait

Surely

There will come

Another

Hope

Light fades

As day waits

For night 

To take over

Hope fades

As she waits

For you

To find her.

Perspective

I've been quiet for a while 

Trying to find the words

They come and go

As they please

Never long enough

To gather them 

And make sense 

Of it all

Despite the ocean

Or more between us

Your story weighs

Heavy on my heart

Yes

You've struggled

Doubts linger

For much longer

Than they should

But honestly 

I thought 

Your head was surer

And your heart

Far stronger 

Please

Don't let go

Just yet

Hold on for a while longer

There are far greater

Things to come

Of that 

I'm sure

Someday

We'll see things

From a whole new
 Perspective

How long?

Till your hand is in mine,

Till your breath becomes

The air next to me,

Till your eyes 

Glimpse only me.

Undo this confusion

Smooth out these rough edges,

Sharpen my ability

To discern

Your ways from my own.

May

There are times 

When, in my own strength

I try to wade through

The unknown

My head and my heart

Are at war

With the other

I know one thing

But I feel another

My head asks questions

That my heart cannot answer 

But then 

If I listen hard enough

And wait long enough

Slowly but surely 

I begin to see the two

Converging 

As they finally 

See the Light

So that my whole being

Does only what He wills

Forget

My heart aches

At the thought of losing you.

Soon to be replaced

By another.

Burning questions linger,

Their answers

I dare not find.

Will she love better than I?

How long till you forget?

For so long now

I have watched you grow.

Nothing much was said

That first day,

I did all the talking.

Slow but steady,

Your words began to flow

Sometimes they failed to stop.

Your world became mine

As you chose to trust.

I saw your strength

And your weakness

You could not hide.

And that is how

I grew to know,

To understand,

To love.

In the crisp air, the sky was like a dark piece of silk 

studded with tiny diamonds. The silence was dense, 

with only the quiet sound of the river and the

 twittering of some night birds to challenge it.

A Fort of Nine Towers

Qais Akbar Omar

Nongstoin

Next month I have the privilege of going back to Nongstoin once again. Every trip there is a lesson learnt. Lots of lessons learnt actually. The world is a big place. Nongstoin is a small town. God is a big God and Nongstoin and it's people matter to him. I wrote this on one of my last trips over there.  

Nongstoin, I will not miss your stares, my feelings of not belonging,

your dirty streets, your red teeth, my inability to communicate in your language, 

your lack of rubbish bins, your hostility towards your neighbours, 

your narrow thinking, your lack of democracy, 

your unwillingness to welcome the outsider, 

your power cuts and slow internet connection! 

But more than that Nongstoin, 

I will miss you because you are home to my amazing parents 
(and Soldier and Charlie)! 

I will miss your peaceful nights, the solace of the morning, 

your smiling faces, your strength in the midst of great hardship, 

the sound of the river in the quiet, your determination against all odds, 

your warmth, your singing, your courage, your children, 

especially the children of RightHope School - your hope for the future.

Today

Today's end welcomes

The beginning of tomorrow.

Sunlight,

Casting shadows 

In the morning.

Today is a new day

A bright day,

Full of hours

Longing to be lived.