“She was baptized, with her household” (Acts 16:15). The Philippian jailer whom Paul and Silas had converted to the faith was baptized that night along with his household. We are told that “the same hour of the night . . . he was baptized, with all his family” (Acts 16:33). And in his greetings to the Corinthians, Paul recalled that, “I did baptize also the household of Stephanas” (1 Cor. 1:16).
No one would argue
That I exist
And live this day
On Earth.
Yet, I know
That I am with You.
Here in this place
At this Time,
I breathe Heaven’s air
As I pray
“Come Holy Spirit”
And You come,
Bringing Heaven with You
To dwell in the land
You make Your own
And, by grace, call holy.
Here, love and truth meet,
Justice and peace kiss.
Am I not caught
In this embrace?
©2012 Joann Nelander
A sigh of longing
A sigh of love
A sigh bidding to my side
The Lord above.
Breathe in the Spirit.
Breathe in that Holy Ghost.
Breathe deeply in the morning
The God of hosts.
Copyright 2013 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved
Who can fathom the intimacy of prayer?
Your eyes never leave me.
Your Heart is ever open to my sighs.
You wait, watching to catch my eye.
You watch, waiting for a return of love ,
And suffer my distraction.
You listen for my footsteps.
You long to hear my voice,
And Your Heart leaps,
When I whisper Your Name.
Who can penetrate
The devotion of Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
To this poor work of Your Hand,
Waiting, waiting, waiting,
For the final touches of Your Love?
©2013 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved
A sigh of longing
A sigh of love
A sigh bidding to my side
The Lord above.
Breathe in the Spirit.
Breathe in that Holy Ghost.
Breathe deeply in the morning
The God of hosts.
Copyright 2013 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved
Who can fathom the intimacy of prayer?
Your eyes never leave me.
Your Heart is ever open to my sighs.
You wait, watching to catch my eye.
You watch, waiting for a return of love ,
And suffer my distraction.
You listen for my footsteps.
You long to hear my voice,
And Your Heart leaps,
When I whisper Your Name.
Who can penetrate
The devotion of Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
To this poor work of Your Hand,
Waiting, waiting, waiting,
For the final touches of Your Love?
©2013 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved
Come Wind of the Spirit.
O Holiness, fill my sails
That we may traverse the oceans,
And laugh at the power of the seas.
Set my course
According to the plan of the Father,
Brought to fruition in the Son,
Who purifies the many waters.
©2013 Joann Nelander All rights reserved
If the past has a portal,
I take up the Gift,
The blood of the Lamb,
And apply it to the door-posts,
And lintels,
That it may cry out for this sinner,
And my heritage,
That the Angel of Death
May pass me by.
Cry for me, My Beloved,
In my night,
That the past,
Now cleansed,
Open in Your Heart
A door to heavenly Eternity.
Cry, my Beloved,
Plead mercy on my history,
And newness of Life,
In this cleansed space of being,
New Creation,
A heart and soul after Your Own.
Henceforth and forever one.
© 2014 Joann Nelander
How great is the distance between us?
Some would say
The span from East to West,
Or measure in miles the chasm
Stretching from Heaven to Hell.
Others count the centuries
Since Your earthly Presence
In hallowed flesh.
There is no numbering
Eternity or Divinity.
You are closer than my breath.
Your Heart beats within my breast.
Day by day,
Nay, moment by moment,
I pick up Your rhythm.
Traversing the breech,
You make me Your own.
Small, but beloved,
I repose in willful abandonment.
Grace-filled faith,
A movement,
Not a measure,
Soars to the heavens,
In flights of trust in You.
Jesus, henceforth,
Live my life
In blessed union with me,
And accept my every breathe and exertion,
As Your own witness to the Father.
Pour, through me, the graces,
That change the world,
In the power of the Holy Spirit,
So that I be a portal
In Creation’s web,
As gateway,
That Heaven may flow,
Entering Matter and Time,
As on Your Altar,
That I may say with Paul,
“I live, no longer I,
But Christ lives in me,”
To the glory of God, the Father,
God, the Son,
And God, the Holy Spirit.
Command angels fly to the aid
Of this fallen land,
As ever fresh Redemption,
Fighting Your battles in the air,
And announcing Truth,
To renew in You,
Those who You have not left orphans.
The lowly exalt You,In the garden of Earth.
As we sing Your praise,
Turn up the volume of Your Word,
That even the deaf may hear.
Issue edicts of Love,
That, at Your command,
We be Holy,
As The Father is Holy,
And You are Holy.
Holy, holy, holy.
You dedicate Yourself, eternally,
To our sanctification,
That by Faith and “Fiat”
All creation blossom forth,
A New Heaven
And New Earth,
And Your rein recognized,
And the Lie undone,
Triumphantly in the Son.
© 2013 Joann Nelander
Immaculata-Patroness
Joann Nelander Studio 