I hear of folly and fowl play.
I look to You,
And remember Your Cross.
The psalmist sang of the Dark Valley.
Yet knew Your Presence and Your shield.
Here in my world,
Reign and sup with me.
Hope surrounds me.
As I am Yours,
Beloved child in sweet surrender.
Even Pharaoh served Your purpose.
His obstinacy but a tool in Your Hand.
The Red Sea became a bridge.
Joining heaven to a People.
Times change.
Passover continues.
Your Will,
My Land of Milk and Honey.
©2016 Joann Nelander
Your Face
You sought solitude and prayer.
In silence, I seek You.
You sought communion with Your Father
I long to see His Face.
You, my Jesus, are that Holy Face.
I set You before the eyes of my heart.
Copyright 2015 Joann Nelander
Wisdom, come sit beside me.
Come, quiet my soul with Your whisper of peace.
Come, with heavenly companionship.
Come and remain, all my life long.
Wisdom, come here beside me.
Copyright 2015 Joann Nelander
What is meant by the modern term referred to as ‘POLITICAL CORRECTNESS.’ The definition is found in four telegrams at the Truman Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri. Here are copies of those telegrams between President Harry Truman and Gen. Douglas MacArthur on the day before the actual signing of the WWII Surrender Agreement in September 1945. The contents of those four telegrams below are exactly as received at the end of the war–not a word has been added or deleted!
(1) Tokyo, Japan
0800-September 1,1945
To: President Harry S Truman
From: General D A MacArthur
Tomorrow we meet with those yellow-bellied bastards and sign the Surrender
Documents; any last minute instructions?
(2) Washington, DC
1300-September 1, 1945
To: D A MacArthur
From: H S Truman
Congratulations, job well done, but you must tone down your obvious dislike
of the Japanese when discussing the terms of the surrender with the press, because some of your remarks are fundamentally not politically correct!
(3) Tokyo, Japan
1630-September 1, 1945
To: H S Truman
From: D A MacArthur and C H Nimitz
Wilco, Sir, but both Chester and I are somewhat confused; exactly what does
the term politically correct mean?
(4) Washington, D C
2120-September 1, 1945
To: D A MacArthur/C H Nimitz
From: H S Truman
Political Correctness is a doctrine, recently fostered by a delusional, illogical
minority and promoted by a sick mainstream media, which holds forth the
proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end!
Now, with special thanks to the Truman Museum and Harry himself, you and I finally have a full
understanding of what ‘POLITICAL CORRECTNESS’ really means….
Adam, the one man,
In his being and becoming,
Created, a creature among creatures,
Progenitor of our race,
Chosen and destined to be
For the Son,
By the Son,
In the Son,
Of the Son.
Grace, all grace,
Count it all grace.
The work of Salvation,
Raising the dust of the earth,
To the stuff of heaven and eternity.
One Word,
Outside of Time,
Spoken and containing all,
One Thought,
Outside of Space,
Formed in the Heart of God,
Without matter,
Brought forth matter,
Flung by limitless power,
To obey a law of Love.
With the simplicity of nothing,
He wrote the stuff of galaxies and dimension,
And in time, entered Time, Himself,
To lead us to our end,
Our rest.
Adam, in his being and becoming,
Broke the rule of Love,
Served self,
That had not created itself,
Nor could sustain itself,
But chose to choose itself.
Ultimate folly,
Calling forth endless Mercy.
Adam, progenitor of a race,
A race,
Born to the folly of its father,
Snatched from the choice of death.
Adam and his seed,
Given again a choice,
The Law broken;
“Choose life that you may live”,
A grace of Spirit to recognize the Son,
Adam, the one man,
Containing in his loins a race,
Given, one by one,
Each a mystery of Grace,
Each in his time,
In the expansion of space,
Free to choose.
Gift of the Son,
Redemption conquering Death,
A choice for each one,
Folly forever wrapped in the self,
Or Life to be lived,
In the Creator Father,
In the Savior Son,
In the Spirit One.
True Freedom, Redemption.
Free choice to choose to be redeemed,
For the Son,
By the Son,
In the Son,
By the Death,
Of the Son.
Copyright 2016 Joann Nelander
Jesus, Son of God,
Human and divine,
Reign at the core of my being.
In Eucharist,
You supply all.
You are cause and sustenance.
My Lord, my Lover, my holy Meal,
Giver of Gifts,
I place my all at Your service.
As rays of the Sun,
Shining and emitted for Your glory,
Unite my heart with Your Church.
Send forth Your Spirit,
Purifying as purgative flame,
Church Militant and Church Suffering.
You, Savior, Victor, King,
Regard and guard “the least of these”,
Going forth from Your Most Sacred Heart.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
Jesus, write the symphony of my life.
In Your Mystery of becoming,
Blend every note,
And sing the harmony
That embraces the sinner
To create the saint.
You are here
With the Father and Holy Spirit,
Supping and residing,
I receive You in Holy Communion,
Grant that I might never neglect You,
My Holy Guests.
I place You on the music stand of my life.
You are the Score,
And Conductor.
All I receive, I give
On the wind of the Spirit,
To be rightly arranged.
You be the music playing in my soul.
In chorus, Seraphim and Saints intercede,
And I and all creation dance with Miriam
As Jesus mediates the Victory
In His Song of Salvation.
© 2015 Joann Nelander
All My Hope
All my hope is in You.
All my hope is in Your great Love.
All my hope is in Your great Mercy.
Seeing but darkly,
You are my Light.
Clouds conceal Your brilliance,
But Faith lifts the veil,
And I behold You.
Hidden in my very being.
Despite my smallness,
You dignify my every breath and heart beat,
Giving me Your holy inspiration,
Hiding me in Your Heart,
Cleansing me by Your Blood.
How could I but hope?
You spend Yourself on me.
You are my treasure,
Mercy purer than gold,
Love greater than diamonds,
And I know, without doubt,
You treasure me.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
Just think about it, the conception of our Savior!
Mary had a choice, and chose the Will of God.
Fiat! “Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum,”
“Be it done to me according to Your Word.”
Mary, the Women, the New Eve, welcomed her Son,
The Son of God, into her womb,
Into our world.
From this moment until His Death,
Jesus, Emmanuel, God with Us,
Dwelt on earth.
He lived as one cell,
An egg, a fertilized egg,
Fertilized by the action of the Holy Spirit.
He lived and grew,
Soon a tiny cluster of cells,
Then embryo,
Then fetus,
And at all times,
And stages,
Was human,
And was God with Us.
He dwelt on Earth,
Not somewhere ethereal,
Outside of our reality,
Outside Time and Space.
He was wholly human and divine.
He was here in a womb,
Living, and growing,
As God deemed Man do.
Why do we not cherish
Each and every human life,
That God choses to come into this world?
He deemed humanity worth and worthy
Of His Life, Death and Presence,
Copyright 2016 Joann Nelander
In praise and thanksgiving for the first beat
Of the Sacred Heart of Him
Who was born,
Savior and King.
As today, new life is conceived,
And secreted away in a woman’s womb,
Known only to God in darkness,
As it’s rhythms begin a song of praise
Ever so silent.
Then the moment of joyous awakening,
A singular throb sends a resounding shiver
Through amniotic waters,
Alerting angels of one more heart
Ready to join their chorus of hosannas.
Sounds full of thankfulness,
A Eucharist of being, and becoming,
Ever so sacred,
To the glory of God.
Immaculata-Patroness
Joann Nelander Studio 