A Poem about a Serendipitous Occasion

 A Welcome Sight

Nathaniel Lawrence

Seeing you there tonight reminds me of

Seeing you before,

In the cool breezy rain,

Walking with a friend,

And how happy I was to see

A friendly face . . . 

Someone I’d seen before, 

Someone who was committed to the 

Common good, like I am . . .

And made me thankful

For things that we shared, were aware of,

Like the changing of seasons

The changing of weather,

And how everything matters, 

Amongst our human community.

And that there is a Creator who started everything, 

Planned for,

And gave of the earth

That we are still called to work,

To love and share and appreciate 

With our family both near and far,

From here on after . . . 

Like seeing you here on this corner,

Alongside irises and day-lillies

That seem to bow and nod,

As if in reverent greeting 

Or sacred watchfulness. 

A poem on reality as I see it

Here is something I wrote a number of years ago after reading a book. . . . It is called, “Telling Yourself the Truth,” and the main idea was “how to find out the way you are thinking in order to change the way you think.” 

The thing I didn’t realize at the time though, was that, for someone with obssessive-compulsive tendencies like me, a person can get obsessed with the process of “trying to find out what you are thinking.” And although I wouldn’t recommend this book to someone with OCD-tendencies, I finally came away impressed at the God-centeredness of the life which the authors proposed—with the joy and peace, thanksgiving and happiness that includes.   And I felt inspired at the writing of this book of the vision and possibility that it proposes.  And so I wrote this poem. . . .

How It Is

God in the middle. . .

Me in the periphery.

With me in the middle, things don't make sense. . .

Out of place . . .

Not the way it's meant to be.

God in the middle,

Greater than even my own awareness. . .

Higher than all is where God reigns.

Those who speak and those who listen and all involved 

are all judged—and provided for, watched over and delighted in as well,

One 

Creator.

Does it seem strange that I set my heart, my mind, my intentions

On Someone you can’t see and have coffee with,

Like me sitting here beside you?

Yet He's here and He is real

More real than even me or you.