And today there were sheep

And today there were sheep
In the lower field still
jumping about and
climbing the hill
They ignored us of course
but I waved just the same
as they didn’t know
the reason we came
For today there were sheep
but sometime there are not
Sometimes it is cold
and sometimes it is hot
But we always come
because this is our grace
and together we three
are alive in this place

Saving Grace

Slowly dusk descended
and it got really hard to see
but the birdsong in the evening sky
was great for Sal and me

And though we’ve said it here before
we really love this place
and though a broken record-like
it is our saving grace

Fate

When things went well I’d rarely say
I ought to credit God or fate,
Statistically at any rate.
I took full credit for my day
At least when outcomes went my way.
The magic dust no one could see
I thought I sprinkled liberally.
I don’t know why I gave up this.
I did. Perhaps it was that kiss,
That slap, of Grace that conquered me.

Sitting in the sunshine

It’s a beautiful thing
A perfect distraction
sitting with sunshine out here
And with a good book to read
and the breeze on my brow
I will often be here with a beer

HAIKU: THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS

By Charles Robert Lindholm

The Joy Of Christmas Comes

With Grace

Mine’s the only beach hut open
yet the sun is shining bright
The beach is quite resplendent
but there’s no one else in sight

HAIKU: IT’S NOT PERMISSION!

By Charles Robert Lindholm

We Are All Sinners   

CHRISTMAS HAIKU: OFFERED TO ALL

By Charles Robert Lindholm

The Best Christmas Gift

HAIKU: PEACE IN YOUR HEART

By Charles Robert Lindholm

 

If you keep trying

Profitable

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I ran away, but then I found
That God would set me free.

Untainted Grace

Her head held high, wearing her crown with dignity

Proud of the woman she claimed to be

Carefree of all of life’s mishaps

Life happened to her in a split second

Dragging her pride and her head down with it

As her head continued to hang low the crown started to slowly slip off her head

The once sparkling jewels became a testament of her demise

The mist that rose from her sorrow as the cold tears hit her hot cheeks

Tainted her crown, filling it with rust that clung to the hinges of her heart

HAIKU: OFF BEATEN PATHWAYS

By Charles Robert Lindholm

 

I cannot wander

too far off beaten pathways

Eden

Eden

-Linda Lee Lyberg

Darkness falls and I am alone

Emptiness abounds, no place to call my own

Grace, Not Perfection

Perfection’s highly
overrated. Give me grace
to let myself live,

Quiet My Disquiet

Some days I feel on top of things and everyone’s content,
But then come days just like today—composure’s quickly spent.

A fall from grace II

Sadly now the Bridgewater Canal
a shadow of its glory days
is almost forgotten and hidden from view
in Manchester’s streets and broadways
Now twenty-first century pubs and bars
vie for trade where once it was steel
Nightlife and partying along its towpath
hide a wound that time cannot heal

A fall from grace I

There’s a boat on the river
that’s sad and bereft
For I’m sorry to say
there’s not a lot of it left
Abandoned to fate
several years ago now
It’s slowly been fading
from its stern to its bow

Knapweed the Greater

I have a bolthole on the beach
and you’ll often find me there
Gazing at the open sea
oft with a pensive stare

The Sweet Hand of Grace

.

In the Shadows of bleak darkness and fear,
In the face of the Monster that mercilessly leers
Be Assured the Loving, Sweet Hand of Grace

Bequeathed by grace

Bereft of foliage
great trees stand
proudly gracing
England’s land
There amongst
the winter green
the rolling landscape
clearly seen

One Day’s Grace

 

photo by Debbie

After three very difficult years, people ask me all the time, how on earth did you make it through all that physically and mentally?  My answer was always grace for only one day at a time because that’s all you ever need anyway, no guarantees of another. All I know is God gives us grace when we need it, comfort when we hurt, joy to last the ages, and peace when there is fear.  Just ask for One Day’s Grace and step back and be amazed at how you’ll make through one day at a time at the foot of the cross.

When mountains loom in front of you so high

Crossing raging rivers trying to swim or die.

Raise your voice to Jesus, ask for One Day’s Grace.

That’s really all you need for what you have to face.

The penguin dichotomy

 

Like little old men
they totter about
wobbling unsteady
as if they have gout
They fall over a lot
on their short stubby legs
and are really unsteady
on those little pegs

Two Parts

The Lord made you
In two parts
One to feel
One to see

The Lord made you
In two parts
One to believe
One to find

Pain

This pain I suffer
You blessed, my lord
To sink my heart
By your heavy wisdom

The hope of the sun

As crisp shadows form
With the hope of the sun
Down here I see promise
Of the warmth that’s to come
With blanket-clad legs
I gaze long at the blue
And know in my heart
that winter is through

Flower Lesson: Haiku

flower, alluring
arches back in deep prayer
man bends, but to pick

image: graceandbradley.blogspot.in

Grace for the here and now

Gracefully she wends her way

Keen to start each new day

Joy in the journey at last is hers

A friendly word here and there

A supporting hand to show she cares

Argument – Where to?

words we may speak
strangling each other’s voices
yet the story held by strings invisible
in the hands of a universal force
beyond our hands
leads the outcome