Do you hear the water,
Do you hear the water flow?
Above the creaking rope
Which draws the last of hope
From an arid well
While your parched lips
Split to pray?
Do you hear the water,
Do you hear the water flow?
Raining over you, raining over you,
From a darkened sky it falls,
Do you feel it, do you feel it?
Pouring down your hair
Flowing into skin
Draining the dirt and thirst
While the clean and living rushes in?
Do you hear the water,
Do you hear the water flow?
Flushing the broken and stained,
The past and the pain,
Into puddles to rivers far away,
While flooding in the new.
Do you hear the water,
Do you hear the water flow?
Dancing along the sea,
Do you feel it, do you feel it?
Splashing on your feet and knees
In laughter it has set you free,
Set you free!
Do you hear the water,
Do you hear the water flow?
The waves in gentle roar,
Speak against the beach,
The waves are calling, the waves are calling,
Do you feel it, do you feel it?
Their voices calming you,
Calming you to peace.
Do you hear the water,
Do you hear the water,
Calling you to Me?
The Loosening
Another heart is torn
Pierced by sin
And crippled by shame
That listens to the lost
And chooses surrender
To the enemy of love
Another vow is breaking
The original cause
Grasped and held
The fruit of not
Desired more
Than what was given
Another tear from God
Mixing with my own
His Love cast aside
So anger warms
A heart of stone
Another thorn
Piercing Him
To set me free
From bitter’s wrath
And lead me Home
- Dan E Mason
Dakota’s Lullaby
Hush Hush now my little one
You are held by God
You are held by God
In His arms
You have peace
You have joy
You have love
Hush Hush now my little one
God gives you to me
My precious gift from above
My precious gift from above
I tickle your feet
I hold your hand
I see you smile
Hush Hush now my little one
You are held by me
You are held by me
In my arms
You are peace
You are joy
You are love
- Dan Mason
Hide and Seek
Within the shroud of darkness
A cold breath steals the last
While the grieving feel the rain
And cannot find a sheltered rest
Little Jack with vision speaks
To PawPaw who is coming
Small and stealthy Jack
Peers around a post
With sparkling eyes
And giddy squeaks
Pawpaw’s playing
down the hall
Joining him, he rushes
Leaps into the lap
of the empty chair
Where PawPaw’s reading
Echoes in his ears
In the light that scatters
While dusty angels twirl
Jack can play with PawPaw still
And hear his laugh and song
The child can see what we cannot
The child can know what we doubt
There is no room
Where PawPaw is not found
In the gilded halls of Heavens Home
Laughter’s heard
While Daddy’s running, hiding, waiting
To play another game with me
Of Hide and Seek
-Dan E Mason
“Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” – Revelation 4:1
The Mending of a Tattered Life
Sometimes the shame of a messed up life can climb on your back and weigh you down until you are crawling to survive. The days are long with worry, and the rest you need doesn’t come at night. You avoid contact with those you know because you don’t want to be seen or looked into the eye that can reveal the disdain you feel for yourself. And you will do anything to keep it covered. We all have regrets that won’t be silenced. Their relentless voices put us down, and remind us of how imperfect and smeared we are. We lose hope that we can love or be loved…or shouldbe loved again.
As we attempt to form relationships, shame may trigger from past experience making intimacy and vulnerability a near impossibility and the pursuit of it a repeating frustration. We lose sight of God’s presence, His power to heal…
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Easter Rise
The darkest it’s ever been
Waiting for nothing
With eyes that could not see
No power to change
The lost to living
In the night someone stirred
God had reached
Into the hopeless
And brought back life
The light returned
On Easter rise
Within a heart
Cold and shaken
Warmth flowed through
It beat again
Inside of me
Rise, O Rise
My Easter, Rise
Feel the mist of morning
Upon the skin
Sing aloud the song once hidden
That now burns my lungs
And bursts my throat
Rejoice, rejoice
Within the tomb
Love is found
Cloth of decay
Left behind renewed
Bathed in light
I stand
Alive! Alive!
My Great God
My Great Love
On Easter Rise
-by DeM
Finding Home by DeM
Curled up in a ball
Her face in a pillow
Soaked from tears
That fall, and fall, and fall
She’s crying out for Him
To hold her again
And to whisper in her heart
The brokenness will mend
She’s finding Home
It’s a longer journey
Than she wanted
She takes a step
And then another
As hope is stronger
She draws closer
To being whole
She’s finding Home
The failures of his life
Put him in the pew
He can’t scrub enough
To blot the stain from view
And now he’s at the end
He’s crying out for Him
To wash it all away
And make him clean again
He’s finding Home
It’s a longer journey
Than he wanted
He takes a step
And then another
As hope is stronger
He draws closer
To being whole
He’s finding Home
In the darkened room
A daughter strains to hear
The labored breathing
Of her mother
Inside a weary mind
A Husband calls her
To release the hand
Of her daughter
She’s finding Home
It’s a longer journey
Than she wanted
She takes a step
And then another
As hope is stronger
She draws closer
To being whole
She’s finding Home
We all get lost
And are afraid
But in our suffering
We are not alone
He promises to find us
To pull us from the ledge
To put us on His shoulders
And carry us to Home
We’re finding Home
It’s a longer journey
Than we wanted
We take a step
And then another
As hope is stronger
We draw closer
To being whole
We’re finding Home
“O Lord, you have always been our home.” – Psalm 90:1
-DeM
My Surrender
I held it tight to my chest
“No” I repeated
“I will not”
I turned my back
And held the thing I loved
Closer still
How could I give it up
This thing that burrowed deep
That brought a smile
A euphoric release
That made me feel
Unalone
And met my need
So completely
For just a moment
If not more
Within my grasp
This thing unnoticed
Sliced my wrists
While it offered me
The sweetest taste
Of freedom, of deception
unmasked
It bled my soul
“My dear one”
The Voice ensued
“If you will trust Me now,
Believe My love for you
Has something far greater
To give
For what you hold so tight.
I will give you something Pure
Something Perfect, and Alive
That will never end
And will never fail
To meet the need inside”
I trembled and fought
But could not win
Against His love
He bound my wounds
He healed my soul
He took the broken
And made it new
In my surrender
He gifted the power to live
In my surrender
I gave Him nothing
And He gave me
Everything
Who will be the one beside you
My father battled cancer for more than a year and a half. My mother supported him and helped him daily during that time. She was never far away, and always prepared to assist him. During his final week, I watched my mother continuously, and how she cared for the man she loved. My father rested in a hospital bed situated next to a large picture window in their living room. He needed oxygen, and the cantraption can be a bit confusing to figure out how to use it correctly. My mother put it on his head one way, but it didn’t fit correctly. His breathing was labored, and she continued trying it one way and then another. She was determined to get it right. She made a joke about it, and then got it turned about properly, so that it fit into his nose and around his ears. She patted him on the chest and asked if that was better. He grunted affirmingly.
My father was too weak to move. She would have to change his position in bed. He could not go to the bathroom, so she would change his Depends. She would wash him. She would remove the grit from his eyes, that could barely see at all. When he was afraid, and made a gruff comment about what was happening, she would console him with her voice and her words that everything was okay. She would grab a rag to remove the mucous that came up out of his lungs. She would joke with him, ask him questions, check on how he was feeling, and she would feed him. She kept jello in the refrigerator because it would bring a small comfort and help to cool the burning radiation sores in his mouth. She mixed a pill in apple sauce so he could swallow it better. And she would always stay alert to his breathing, watching to see if his chest would rise and fall. She was the representation of Christ’s mercy. The epitome of tireless love in action.
My father could do nothing to repay her for her attentiveness and her assistance. He could barely speak (and mostly did not), and was hardly conscious or alert most of the time. She did those things for him, with no praises or accolades, out of the sheer love she held for him. In watching this, it made me think deeply. All of us will be in this position eventually. We all grow old, our bodies waste away, and we develop diseases and sicknesses that make us incapable of caring for ourselves. Who will be the one beside you in that time, when you are unable to care for yourself?
When my wife left, this was the greatest thing that bothered me most. She had broken the trust of being there for me when we were wrinkled and gray. It is so important to consider the cost of marriage. This is how it ends if you are determined to live out faithfully “til death do us part”. One spouse sacrificially caring for the other.
If you are dating, or thinking of dating, may I tempt you to consider these questions:
“What do I want my life to be like from this point forward?” Right now, this very moment, no matter what your past has been or how you’ve been hurt or hurt others in your relationships…answer this question. Are you willing to submit yourself to serving God with your life…to serving others instead of yourself? To look to their needs instead of your own? Are you willing to open your life to the Love of God, and allow Him to shower that love onto others around you? Who do you want to live for? What will be your purpose? Look ahead, what do you see? Who do you see? Now look for that person who can help you get there.
“Will they be there for me?” Think about the character of the person that you need. You will be old one day! Do you see them being able to stay with you through it all? Will they put their hands into your urine and feces? Will they make sure you are comfortable? Will they prepare you something to eat? Or will they walk away and let someone else take care of you? Will they even care about you if you cannot meet their needs? Will they focus on themselves, or will they reach deep within a reservoir of selfless devotion and commitment to honor and care for you as God wills them to do so?
“Can I be there for them?” Do you have what it takes to care for this person when they need you the most? And they will need you. Do you have that reservoir of sacrificial love within you to help them as God would have you to do?
“At the end, can I say that my life had more purpose and fulfillment with them, than without?” Are they your companion? Is your relationship mutually invested and fueled by each other’s care and concern for the other? Is it one sided? Are you doing everything to make it work? If so, it will always be that way, and you will be very alone. Do you have a shared goal, or ministry to others? A spiritual foundation is a must if you want to find joy and peace in your relationship. Do they lead you to a higher purpose, do they seek out ways that you can serve others together? My parents’s shared beliefs and ministries strengthened their bond with each other, and developed a faith that showed up in their unyielding love.
In the late hours of night, my father took his last breath on earth, and took his first step in Heaven. My mother was by his side. Holding his hand. Watching his chest fall, but never rise.
Who will be the one beside you?
The Release
It is time
Open your hand,
wide…wider still
Loosen your grip,
Offer them,
Those that stand
On naked palm
Whose roots
Implant your heart
Your lost child
Your dying father
Your suffering love
Your parted friend
Stand before Me
And believe
They are mine
And not your own
I will find them
I will raise them
I will restore them
I will keep them
In the beauty of My Presence
In the comfort of My Love
They will stand in strength
Forever by My side
In glory beyond compare
I will clothe them
And they will reign
In laughter, and in song
Release them
Now
And while the tendrils break
And you writhe in pain
Trust My Love for them
Is far greater
Than you could ever know
For you, like they, are merely made
And I am the Maker
And where they go
You will come
In but a moment more
Open your hand
Wide…wider still
-by DeM
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