God with us
     throughout the years.
Born of blood,
     bone and tears.
Shouts, singing
     can you hear?
Joyful news
     for all ears.

I have tramped around the vineyard
Watched others toil in the fields
When called I never answered
Someone else can harvest the yield!

I would support those who worked
Trying to meet their needs.
Outside the fence line I lurked
Keeping down the weeds.

Maybe I'd drive the truck
Loaded to the brim.
Or dance, stomping in the muck
Juice so deep one could swim.

But into the vineyard I will not go
Beautiful as it may be.
Watching the vines as they grow
From outside I will be free.

Then one day it happened
I was pushed over the fence
Upon the ground I'd flattened
And found I'd been so dense.

Inside was so much more
Than I had ever dreamed
There was truth behind the lore
I truly am redeemed.

The vineyard is my home.
I never want to leave.
It is for those who only roam
That I will always grieve.

*Songs of Solomon 7:12
let us go out early to the vineyards, and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened and the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love.

Wanting to be known,
          Heard, understood, supported.

Wanting to be held,
          Rest, strength, protection.

Wanting to be touched,
          Awakened, cherished, excited.

Wanting to surrender,
          Consumed, united, filled.

Wanting to love,
           Breathless, pleasing, forever.

*Oh, get up, dear friend,
    my fair and beautiful lover—come to me!
Come, my shy and modest dove—
    leave your seclusion, come out in the open.
Let me see your face,
    let me hear your voice.
For your voice is soothing
    and your face is ravishing.
Song of Solomon 2: 13, 14

There must have been a story
For the scar upon my hand,
How? I cannot remember.

Invisible scars on my heart
Are unforgettable stories,
Never completely healed.

*"My grief is beyond healing, my heart is sick within me...For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded."
Jeremiah 8:18

Need just one card
Then I could win
Flipping through the deck one more time.
But the Ace of Diamonds never surfaced.
Giving up, scrolling across the screen,
There it was! The card I had searched for
In front of me all the time.

I had lost big time in life.
Everything held as important was gone.
Wondering how to ever get it right
When I had tried so hard!
Letting go of everything
Sitting under the Banyan tree pondering......
My consciousness experienced Him.

An infinite God is not easily
Spotted from a finite perspective.
Especially since we have never
Known a moment of our existence without Him.
He is the big bang of all the multiple universes' out there.
He is endlessly smaller than any semi conductor findings.
His is a part of every thought within each of us.

Walking away from everything I held as important,
Wondering how life could be different,
Knowing that my efforts could always be thwarted.
Asking, "How can I get it right?"
Then and only then
Did I finally see the card always before me.
The one card I needed to win the game.

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day. John 6: 44

Beloved, do not be surprised a trial by fire is occurring among you, as if something strange were happening to you. But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when His glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly." 1 Peter 4: 12-13

*Jesus said to his disciples: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit."   John 12: 24