Cynthia A. Morgan's Blog, page 232

#Musicand#MuseMonday – The Morning- #Sonnet 40

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Upon the morning stirs her Shimmering Light

As nighttide sleeps the Daytide Smiles;

Proclamation of Engendered Treasure

Beyond the compulsion of pretense and guile.

Untamed the Morning Sings a Blazing Song,

A harp string Reverberating loud;

Unmerited , we watch with shaded eyes

As Creation wakes and Smiles proud.

Listen then, if Breath be in your soul

And let the Music of her Smile Shine;

No other Serenade is as Glorious,

Nor like to Reach within and then Entwine!

With Life and Luster the Morning Radiantly Glows,

Stirring ethereally what seldom shows!

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~Morgan~

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Beautiful Original Music by Thomas Bergersen

Filed under: Music and Muse, Poetry, Sonnets Tagged: BnV, BooknVolume, Harmony, Musical Inspirations, Natural World, Nature, Poem, poetry, Poetry Blog, spirituality, Sun, ~Morgan~

Visions of Love (Guest Blog)

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Image: Pixabay

This is a story birthed as a result of two visionary and powerful poems written by Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. He is an individual I admire much for his creative talents and ideals. The breadth of his work ranged from fiction, poetry, songs, dramas, stories, literary criticism, philosophy and social issues. An extensive list it has to be said! Tagore was awarded the Prize for the following reasons, which I would like to quote in full:

Prize motivation: “because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West”

Field: poetry

My creative ideas are gestated and birthed through a myriad of ways, much of it emerging as stream of consciousness. Poetry has an especially powerful influence on the mind and heart, generating quite profoundly emotional responses as in this case. Tagore’s poems, Unending Love and Brahma, Visnu, Siva, sum up for me the mystic’s relationship with the Cosmic Principle, God, the One, whatever we like to call the source of all creation. The twin poles of union and separation occupy quite a central part of the journey toward our chosen god-head, and as such bring with them quite intense emotions. The mystical experience often seems to be couched in the language of love (just think of the Sufi poets), and why not, love is the strongest force in the universe and this elixir of the heart, when poured into the chalice of the soul, is capable of bringing about quite astounding transformations.

Love is manifestly present in Tagore’s works, especially his poetry and I allowed myself to become beguiled, bewitched and bewildered by what was in these two pieces. I became the pilgrim who was undertaking this epic journey through the land of my ancestors; their memories, desires, hopes and fears became mine. As did the ultimate consummation. One cannot help but become overwhelmed by such beauty. These poems are included in a book of Tagore’s poetry translated by William Radice, Selected Poems, Penguin Books, 1985

Well, I think it’s time we walk through the veil and face the mysteries waiting on the other side:

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Image: Pixabay

Now my journey starts in earnest. I sleep the sleep of eternity, from a time before the universe sprang forth from the abyss and so shall I continue long after the flames return it to Brahman’s embrace.

Many forms have I taken to walk this material world, one face melting into the next, but always the “lotus of my heart” has remained constant. I have been the smile glimpsed in a crowd, sunlight raining through the forest canopy, sacred incense rising to the heavens, the kiss of a loved one, and the sensuous scent of roses filling the evening air. What takes your fancy? I am all and nothing.

My soul has pondered endlessly on the meaning of existence – from its beginning to its ending and will carry on doing so until the very last beam of our star gives up its light and we return to the eternal night once again. The sum of all my knowledge has been poured into your soul yet the spring never seems to run dry. Why do you think this is so? Your smile tells me that you do, so I shall keep my silence.

What is it that you seek beloved? What inflames your spirit and keeps that flame burning steadfast on the sacred altar. Your words have often caused me to stir from the shadows and seek you who has touched my heart – in response my answers have flowed free in the silence of the temple. I am that gentle whisper in your ear, the caress of the wind against your cheek and the warmth of the sun against your skin. Can you not sense what is being given to you? Who do you think I am? Look at the world around you. Shall I say more?

No, you do not need to say more. For eons it seems I have sat by the banks of sacred Ganga praising the One until this moment, when you emerged from her waters and captured me in your eternal embrace. You lead me into the Void, that place within which lie the deepest desires of the heart and soul. With my hand in yours I fear neither the darkness nor the emptiness.

All is empty, limitless, eternal, as great Brahman stirs and his joy causes the first utterance. The Word resounds throughout the Universe, all life unfolds before me and I am overcome with the majesty of this spectacle. Cycle after cycle creation flows and flowers within me, I am at one with the Absolute Reality, the unknown becomes known.

Eons pass and all of existence grows weary, this age must give way once more, ready to return to the darkness. Siva return us to our original state! Faint thunder echoes from all corners as He awakens from his trance and then all falls away into a sea of fire. Oh how my very being has moved to his rhythm time after time. Siva’s feet beat out the dance of life and death and I readily follow his lead. Sun, moon, stars, all fade as the candle flame that is starved of life giving air. I too dissolve into the great Ocean of Unbecoming,

Finally my journey has ended and I have come full circle, once more to enter through the gates of Brahman’s city.

Filed under: Guest Bloggers on BnV, Poetry Tagged: Brahma, Love, Microfiction, Mysticism, poetry, Rabindranath Tagore, Shiva, Stream of Consciousness, Vishnu

Listen – #DailyHaikuChallenge

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Listen, can you Hear

All She tries to gently say

Amid the Silence?

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To take part in the Daily Haiku Challenge see The Original Post from Day One

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Day 92 / 365

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~Morgan~

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Beautiful Original Photography found on Pinterest.  Credit Gratefully Acknowledged to the Original photographer. Thank You~

Filed under: Daily Haiku Challenge Tagged: Beautiful Photographs, Beauty, BnV, BooknVolume, Harmony, Nature, Poem, poetry, Poetry Blog, Poetry Prompt, Silence, Winter, Writing Challenge, ~Morgan~

A Poem for My God

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©susanirenefox

A Guest Post
by Susan Irene Fox

 

Your fragrant scent is like a rose,

Perfume which, when inhaled, does flow

Throughout each cell to calm and ease;

Your Spirit lifts with harmonies.

 

Each bird delivers highs and lows,

the notes your whisper tells in prose.

Your voice delivers sweet mercies,

Your Spirit lifts with harmonies.

 

Delicious taste of berries sows

a hunger for the wisdom those

red words of Jesus’ scripture pleas;

Your Spirit lifts with harmonies.

 

Your touch upon my heart bestows

the softest love I’ll ever know

and coupled with your grace agrees

Your Spirit lifts with harmonies.

 

The sunrise wakens me and shows

just why it’s You I finally chose;

and glad I am you’ve chosen me,

Your Spirit lifts with harmonies.

Filed under: Guest Bloggers on BnV Tagged: Choice, chosen, Christian poetry, God, Grace, guest blog, Love, Mercy, Spirit

Poem: “Incinerated” (#guestblogger)

On a blistered patch of ground,

a place where no water flows,

and nothing green can grow,

there’s something that crawls,

sneaks, and creeps;

but, what – guess,

oh, what – yes,

does it see?

A. R. Frederiksen is a recurring guest blogger here at BnV, and her own writing blog can be found here, where she dabbles in flashfiction/poetry and reflects over the, much elusive, ABCs of writing.

Filed under: Guest Bloggers on BnV, Poetry Tagged: BnV, BooknVolume, Fire, freeverse, Melancholy, Poem, poetry, words, Writing

I Know He Will (#GuestBlogger)

Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord my soul to keep

I know He will. I know He will.

He’ll keep me through the trial

He’ll keep me thorough the storm

He’ll keep me where I’m safe

He’ll keep me in His arms

I know He will. I know He will

He will because He promised

He will because He cares

He will because He loves me

He died my sin to bear

He will because He purchased my salvation on that tree

And His will became mine the first day I believed

If I should die before I wake

I pray the Lord my soul to take

I know He will I know He will

He will prepare a mansion

He will wipe away my tears

He will take away my sorrow

And He’s coming back for me

I know He will. I know He will

He will because He promised

He will because He cares

He will because He loves me

He rose up from the grave

He will because He lives to give eternal life to me

And His will became mine the first day I believed

What He promised, He will do

He can never tell a lie

What He wrote remains forever

And His love will never die

I will stand upon his word

And I will not be denied

He will because He promised

He will because He cares

He will because He loves me

He died my sis to bear

He will because He purchased my salvation on that tree

And His will became mine the first day I believe

Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord my soul to keep

If I should die before I wake

I pray the Lord my soul to take

I know He will. I know He will

 

Please visit my blogs if you like what you have read here:

Poems

Blog (currently a study through the Psalms) and reflections

Travelling with Paul (currently a study through Ephesians)

 

 

 

 

Filed under: Poetry Tagged: Guest Bloggers, Poem, Prayer, spirituality

This Calm Quiet Place

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~Morgan~

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Beautiful Photograph found on Mother Nature Network

Filed under: Visually Lyrical Tagged: Beauty, BnV, BooknVolume, eternity, God, Harmony, Nature, Night, Peace, Poem, poetry, spirituality, ~Morgan~

Pale – #DailyHaikuChallenge

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Soft Pale Majesty

Shimmers amid the Silence

Captivating Hush

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To take part in the Daily Haiku Challenge see The Original Post from Day One

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Day 91 / 365

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~Morgan~

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Beautiful Original Photography found on Pinterest.  Credit Gratefully Acknowledged to the Original photographer. Thank You~

Filed under: Daily Haiku Challenge Tagged: Beautiful Photographs, Beauty, BnV, BooknVolume, Harmony, Nature, Poem, poetry, Poetry Blog, Poetry Prompt, Silence, Winter, Writing Challenge, ~Morgan~

Pride – Part 3 (#guestblogger)

In case you weren’t with us, in Part 1 of this series, I gave a background of my own struggles with pride as a backdrop to this study, In Part 2 , we looked at two examples of prideful people – one obvious and one not so obvious, to set the stage for this post. In this third installment, we are going to look at various ways pride manifests itself in people.  Some of these are fairly obvious, but others most of us would never guess that pride was at the center of it.

 

You might recall that I gave pride a new definition in the last post.  I define pride as an inordinate amount of attention to self:  Self-love:  Making everything about oneself.  You may say that this is what you always thought pride was, and I would ask you if you mean a prideful person can be the quiet shy type who avoids others because he/she has low self-esteem.  Most of you would probably say that person is not prideful, but I see that they are very prideful – they have a lot of attention on self.  So, before I get ahead of myself, let’s get started with Part 3.

 

I am going reference a book entitled “Irresistible to God”1 by Steve Gallagher several times in this post.  Steve Gallagher is the founder of Pure Live Ministries (See Part 1), and has done an excellent study into the effects of pride on a person, among other great books he has written.  All of his books are available on Amazon, and I highly recommend them for anyone wanting to get more of this world out of their system.  In “Irresistible to God,” Steve deals with pride, and how getting pride out of our lives helps us become like the title of the book.

 

The first thing you must recognize about pride is that if you have it, you will deny it.  Gallagher writes “Pride is so extremely subtle that many actually think they have little or none of it within them.  The truth is that it has the ability to mask its presence within a person’s heart.  In fact, it is usually true that the more a person has, the less he is aware of it.”1 The problem we face is that not only is pride hidden within from the person afflicted by it, it is also a very dangerous trait to a Christian.  Gallagher writes “Pride is the governing principle of hell and the unredeemed world it influences.  It causes strife in the home, in the workplace, the political arena and yes, even the Christian community.”1 It becomes paramount to rid a person, especially a Christian, of any pride they might have.

 

I was a prime example of someone who had no idea pride was in my life.  I should have known, because my wife kept telling me I was full of pride.  No one else saw it, especially not me.  Everyone else simply thought I was an outgoing guy who loved to chip in and help whenever I could, loved to be center stage whenever possible, and thought nothing of volunteering for special singing or filling the pulpit.  But it was all me wanting attention – pride!  Oh, how I wish I had listened to my wife those many years she told me pride was a problem.  Heck, I thought I was humble – really!

 

Gallagher lists seven types of pride in his book. I will use these types to show the various ways pride can manifest itself in a person’s life, including a Christian.  These seven types are: a haughty spirit, vanity, self-protection, unapproachable pride, know-it-all pride, rebellion and spiritual pride.  The three I was most guilty of were know-it-all pride, spiritual pride and self-protection.  As we go through these one by one, I urge you to take a hard look at yourself and see if anything fits.  Remember that if you have pride, no one will ever be able to convince you that you have it.  The Holy Spirit has to do that work in you.  So, allow Him to search your heart as I discuss each of these types.

 

A Haughty Spirit – This is the type all of us would probably agree is pride.  These folks think they are better than others.  We see them a lot and recognize the pride in their lives.  But the haughty spirit is not limited to that picture. Because of thinking they are better, a haughty spirit leads them to be judgmental and critical of others.  Have you ever met a person who is always saying negative things about other people?  They constantly find wrong in them and make sure everyone knows about it.  Or they compare one person to another all the time, wondering why the one doesn’t shape up!  This is all haughty spirit pride because it puts this person above others.  “I am the best!”

 

Another way the haughty spirit can manifest itself is with long-time saints and new converts.  The long-time saints see themselves as having gone through the fire, and just wish the new converts would get their act together and get rid of some of those little annoyances that plague them, like dressing the wrong way, or bad language, or smoking.  The list goes on and on.  Sorry all you long-time saints – to me this is one of the worst kinds of pride.  Let God do that work on those new saints!

 

I was guilty of the first part of this, not the second.  But it was subtle.  I rarely would be judgmental of others to their face, but deep inside I did believe I was better than most.  “I could have preached that message better.”  “I do a better job leading worship”.  “Don’t they know how to put a worship service together?”  These are all things that would go through my head.

 

Vanity – We all know people who fit this category of pride.  They do anything necessary to get approval from others.  All they care about is being accepted, even if it means compromising on all their values.  They so care about what others think that they might do drugs or wear a lot of make-up, or have sex, or go to this church or that church or dress a certain way, act a certain way, talk a certain way.  They might join every committee in the church and work in the church like mad just to gain the acceptance of others.  It’s all vanity, and it’s pride.  “I have to be liked, whatever it takes.”

 

Another example of this which is affecting the church today is pastors and leaders who will not preach on certain subjects because they want to please the congregation and not step on any toes.   They want everyone to like them, so they won’t challenge the people on issues like heaven and hell, or tithing or complete surrender to Jesus.  They will stay away from social issues of the day.  These pastors are vain, and pride is hurting the church.

 

Self-Protection –  This person is extremely defensive and easily offended.  You have to be really careful taking on any subject with them because they will always be on the defensive and before you know it they will get offended by something you say or do, and they will either be quiet or storm off.  They are protecting themselves, and won’t let anybody get too close to them.  Their protection comes first at any cost.  “My needs first and I will defend them!”

 

Another manifestation of self-protection pride is sarcasm.  People who constantly use sarcasm as a method of defense are all around us.  I think of the TV show M.A.S.H.  Hawkeye (Alan Alda) is a prime example of this kind of pride.  Almost every word out of his mouth is sarcasm. I don’t know many people who are that bad, but I’d bet we all know people who use sarcasm to deflect difficult questions.

 

The way I used self-protection was as a defense mechanism.  Whenever someone would try to correct me, or tell me I was doing wrong, I would put up a defense as good as any attorney.  I rarely got offended, but often would offend the other people when this type of argument came up.  And I was really good at sarcasm, still am today.  I have to be very careful when I get into discussions that might get a little controversial, because my sarcasm often comes out faster than can catch it

 

Next Saturday, I’ll cover unapproachable pride, know-it-all pride, rebellion and spiritual pride, and talk about how know-it-all pride and spiritual pride manifested itself in me. I hope you’ll come back and visit for Part 4 in the Pride series. And thanks for reading and commenting.

 

 

1   Irresistible to God.  Steve Gallagher.  Copyright 2003 Pure Life Ministries

Filed under: Poetry

Precious – #Sonnet 39 – #Poetry of #Love

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Before the waking hour of morning Sighs,

Before the Moonspun night undoes her hair,

Between the shades of Winsome darkness lies

The blushing rose of Passion’s Touch, so Fair;

Upon Your cheek as youth’s most Handsome Glow;

Within Your gaze Aflame with Tender Hue;

Upon Your lips where honeyed words Enthroned

Spin magic, Oh So Sweetly to Undo!

Unspoken, this True Sentiment is Treasure;

Untouched, this Yearning waits with brazen sighs;

No exclamation loud could closely Measure

The Longing of this heart that softly cries!

Apart from Thee All breaths are hollow Splendor;

Yet In Your Arms each gasp Precious Surrender!

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~Morgan~

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Exquisite Original Music ‘Remember Me’ by Thomas Bergersen

Filed under: Music and Muse, Poetry, Sonnets Tagged: BnV, BooknVolume, Longing, Love, Poem, poetry, Poetry Blog, relationships, Romance, Sonnets, Soul Mates, ~Morgan~