“Not Mine But Thine”

In Your strong hands hold my weak heart,
     Reach deep within my chest
That I may now take Mary’s part—
     Through me be others blessed.

May Mary’s nature be my own,
     For she gave hers to you—
A nature that is Spirit blown
     From cross created new.

May your response, ”not mine but Thine,”
     Now lodged in Mary’s breast,
Become my words from end of time—
     Cleanse me of sin confessed.

Then make me here what I’ve become
     For all eternity
And make my heart your Spirit’s home:
     From sin’s hold I’ll be free.

Cleansing Water

From temple of the Church His water flows
To irrigate our dry and barren land
And bathe us in His sunset’s after glow
To take to death creation by His hand
And raise it once again in light of dawn–
Cleansed of our sin by water’s cleansing might
And Word that says to Satan to “Begone,”
For you and sin can’t live in heaven’s light
That sparkles in His water, flows from grave
Through font that in the narthex now is found
And flows from there into the Church’s nave
To find its source on altar flowing down:
Gives beauty, truth to all who’re by it splashed,
And Satan’s plan for us forever dashed. 

You Bring Us Mary’s Heart

                             The earth and sea and sky can testify
                             To beauty, goodness you bring in our lives
                             With truth dispels the Devil’s spiteful lies
                             As to you Mary’s heart her own Son gives.

                             For love that’s in your heart is warp and woof
                             Of who you are in Holy Trinity,
                             And you have for us all become the proof
                             That God is present for us all to see.

                             At Mass you lead us to the Father’s Son
                             Who comes to us in Body and His Blood,
                             And we know He’s for us the only One
                             Who brings salvation with His Holy Rood.

                             In you we see alive our Mother’s heart
                             As through you she a Mother’s love imparts.

                                     Happy Eighty-Third Birthday
To My Beloved Wife, Sandie
                                          From your Knick
                                           February 24, 2024 

The Death of Sin

O Lord, I see our sin gives birth to death–
Those two will not among the living be–
But creep upon us in their cunning stealth
To bind us and to never set us free.

But You, I see, have come to kill these foes
Who for protection wrap themselves in self,
Discover their own inner world of woe
Is on the way to death and not to health.

Your breath You breathe in us is heaven’s air
With fragrance sweet from that eternal “yes”
Your Mother spoke to open garden fair
Where gate was locked ‘til we come as her guest.

O death, you are the sword used by our Lord
To kill our sin with His Incarnate Word. 

Setting Sun

I do not scorn the setting sun
For it to me will signal death,
And my old self will be undone
As I’m restored to Eden health.

The setting sun will presage dawn
When my new self will with Him rise,
And I’ll live life for which I’ve longed–
Familiar will be each surprise.

My wife so dear is by my side,
As radiant as she’s always been;
Together, we in Christ abide–
Made free at last from death and sin. 

 Exodus

With You we celebrate our exodus
From Devil’s land and sin to which we fell,
And from our feet shake off Old Eden’s dust
To follow You who are Emmanuel. 

The road ahead we’ll climb will lead above
To land of milk and honey—it’s goal–
Where we’ll learn heart of all that is—Your love
That all of us enfolds to make us whole.

Good fellowship we know along the way
And sing the Lord’s song as we journey on,
While Spirit keeps the evil one away,
For we know now where each of us belongs.

In exodus we know in You we’re free
As we become who we are meant to be. 

My Inner Eye

I pray, come heal my inner eye
That I may see You face-to-face
So I may flee the Devil’s lie
And truth in You my heart embrace.

May You around me wrap Your arms
And breathe new life into my chest
That in You I may flee all harm
And follow truth that You know best.

May others with You me surround
That we may hand-in-hand go on
As grace in every heart abounds:
When You’re in us Your vict’ry’s won.

And when we come to heaven’s gate,
We’ll join the angels in our praise
For You’re on time and never late;
You give us all Your endless days. 

Light and Darkness

Your light with darkness will not mix,
For darkness is the Devil’s brew.
He tries on us his hellish tricks;
Do we prefer his greyish stew?

Will we succumb to tempter’s voice
And fall into his darkened clutch–
Damnation is our freedom’s choice–
Find we’re enslaved by Devil’s touch?

But Jesus comes, and we can choose
His Cross to kill our sinful life;
His New Life comes when life we lose,
And we see dawn brings us new light.

Now darkness in us fades away
As light comes down and bids us rise,
For Jesus is for us the way
To heaven, holy paradise. 

Rainbow Cross

The Cross is rainbow in our sky,
God’s sign to tell us storms will cease,
For we are apple of His eye
And He will grace us with His peace.

Our understanding cannot know
His peace within our fallen hearts
Unless He enters us to show
The purpose He to each imparts.

We ask not why when storms descend
But for what purpose will this serve,
And He comes in to our hearts mend,
Creation’s purpose to preserve.

And then His Rainbow Cross we see
And through it see what storms have done:
Our sin is washed away, we’re free;
We’re raised with Him in vic’try won. 

 Lady Wisdom

O Mary, may your wisdom come to dwell
In me and capture my strong, stubborn will,
For I would welcome our Immanuel
As Holy Spirit did your womb indwell.

O Lady Wisdom, pray in Lenten time
That I with you will open to God’s Word
So He will come and fallow make my mind
To know Him in my heart as Savior, Lord.

May my heart’s arms be little Bethlehem
And cradle I your baby deep within
As Mother’s Wisdom in me wraps up Him
In clothes, unwrapped when He will rise again.

My longing is that my will, mind, and heart
Will open to your Son—His life impart.