memory

I Was Irish Once

Posted by Be Holy on March 17, 2016

Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: audio, Ethnicity, Ireland, Irish, memory, poem, poetry, Saint Patrick's Day, St Patrick's Day. Leave a comment

I was Irish once:

I was Irish for brief moments,
As they danced on makeshift stage.
Three sisters donned in green and white,
With ribbons in curled hair.

I was Irish for brief moments,
As locks bounced to rhythms tapped,
By jigging, flying feet,
Flitting blithely through the air.

I was Irish for brief moments,
Of merriment sublime,
Happy, joyful leaping,
Knees high, and lifted, kicking.

I was Irish for brief moments
Minstrels played their magic tunes,
And young girls moved in rocking fashion
Erin’s reveries impassioned.

I was Irish for brief moments.
Sweetly skirted colleens,
Poised on pointed toes.
Sent hearts a-skipping, happy legs a-lifting,

I was Irish for brief moments,
As fairies with green ribbons
In coiffed and flaming hair,
Spun a golden space in memory’s place.

I was Irish for brief moments,
And see again in dreaming,
Gladsome spinning, hopping, prancing,
Three sisters on stage dancing.

Yes, I was Irish once.

Move the Hands of God by Prayer

Posted by Be Holy on December 3, 2015

Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: Catholic, Christ, Christian, eternity, Grace, healing, memory, minister, My Journal, prayer, reflections, Religion, silence, time. Leave a comment

In the silence God invites without words.
My prayers are often noisy affairs
Filled with faces, memories, love
And feelings of sorrow.

I am often overwhelmed
And moved to tears
By the poignancy of a fleeting thought.

My heart tells me
That what seems insignificant
Holds a treasure.

God’s gifts often come in disguise
Like the beggar at the door
Who is Christ.

The Spirit says minister
Here in this place, at this time;
Reach back through the years
To move the hand of God
By prayer.

I am with God,
The Lord of All,
Including Time.
I may have missed or misused
Moments to do good,
But God reigns in Eternity,
As present in the Past
As He is in my heartbeat.

God’s hands are not tied
By the flow of Time.
He is there
And here
And Eternal Now.

My lowly prayer,
Clothed in The Name,
Breaks down the wall that stands
Between my need or regret, and blessing.
Like the little donkey that carried the King of Kings,
My humble prayer
Sets in motion
The flow of grace to love,
To heal, to mend,
To restore and bless anew.

Joann Nelander

I Was Irish Once

Posted by Be Holy on March 17, 2015

Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: Ethnicity, Ireland, Irish, memory, poem, poetry, Saint Patrick's Day, St Patrick's Day. Leave a comment

I was Irish once:

I was Irish for brief moments,
As they danced on makeshift stage.
Three sisters donned in green and white,
With ribbons in curled hair.

I was Irish for brief moments,
As locks bounced to rhythms tapped,
By jigging, flying feet,
Flitting blithely through the air.

I was Irish for brief moments,
Of merriment sublime,
Happy, joyful leaping,
Knees high, and lifted, kicking.

I was Irish for brief moments
Minstrels played their magic tunes,
And young girls moved in rocking fashion
Erin’s reveries impassioned.

I was Irish for brief moments.
Sweetly skirted colleens,
Poised on pointed toes.
Sent hearts a-skipping, happy legs a-lifting,

I was Irish for brief moments,
As fairies with green ribbons
In coiffed and flaming hair,
Spun a golden space in memory’s place.

I was Irish for brief moments,
And see again in dreaming,
Gladsome spinning, hopping, prancing,
Three sisters on stage dancing.

Yes, I was Irish once.

Remembering the Seasons of My Soul

Posted by Be Holy on December 30, 2014

Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: blessings, Christian, faith, graceCatholic, grief, joy, memories, memory, New Year, Prayer & Prose, rejoicing, Religion, remember, remembering, remembrance, seasons, sorrow, time. Leave a comment

Old year passes,
Becoming yet another ghost,
Withered as leaves,
Crumbled, and carried aloft
By winter winds,
Too soon scattered
By the breezes of Time.

Is it truly spent,
Dead and long forgotten,
Living but in memory?
May not reflection
Call it from the grave,
Uncover the gain
Hold it fast
To live again?

How has its many waters
Blessed thee and me,
As sacred signs?
Will it, as muse, retain a power
For its having been,
And then no more?

What saints and angels
Sent my way,
Colored its day?
In sorrow,
Who came to hold my hand?
In joy,
Who shared my hearth?

Were there hugs, and smiles,
And laughter to tilt the scale of grief?
Can kisses and embraces be resurrected,
That fires of love be stoked
To warm and blaze anew?

Has my thanksgivings
Been recorded in the pyre,
Written in the embers now glowing
As tiger eyes flashing from the ash.

Years come, doomed , too soon to go,
But let them not hurry
To a crypt without a wake.
Drink the happy wine of memory,
Sip, as the seasons turn.
Contemplate and savor
The seasons of your soul.

I Was Irish Once

Posted by Be Holy on March 19, 2014

Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: All Things Catholic, American, Celtic, Christian, Culture of Ireland, Ethnicity, Ireland, Irish, memory, Music of Ireland, Online Writing, poem, poetry, Prose & Prayer, Saint Patrick's Day, Shopping, St Patrick's Day, St. Patrick.. Leave a comment

I was Irish once:

I was Irish for brief moments,
As they danced on makeshift stage.
Three sisters donned in green and white,
With ribbons in curled hair.

I was Irish for brief moments,
As locks bounced to rhythms tapped,
By jigging, flying feet,
Flitting blithely through the air.

I was Irish for brief moments,
Of merriment sublime,
Happy, joyful leaping,
Knees high, and lifted, kicking.

I was Irish for brief moments
Minstrels played their magic tunes,
And young girls moved in rocking fashion
Erin’s reveries impassioned.

I was Irish for brief moments.
Sweetly skirted colleens,
Poised on pointed toes.
Sent hearts a-skipping, happy legs a-lifting,

I was Irish for brief moments,
As fairies with green ribbons
In coiffed and flaming hair,
Spun a golden space in memory’s place.

I was Irish for brief moments,
And see again in dreaming,
Gladsome spinning, hopping, prancing,
Three sisters on stage dancing.

Yes, I was Irish once.

I Was Irish Once

Posted by Be Holy on March 19, 2014

Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: All Things Catholic, American, Celtic, Christian, Culture of Ireland, Ethnicity, Ireland, Irish, memory, Music of Ireland, Online Writing, poem, poetry, Prose & Prayer, Saint Patrick's Day, Shopping, St Patrick's Day, St. Patrick.. Leave a comment

I was Irish once:

I was Irish for brief moments,
As they danced on makeshift stage.
Three sisters donned in green and white,
With ribbons in curled hair.

I was Irish for brief moments,
As locks bounced to rhythms tapped,
By jigging, flying feet,
Flitting blithely through the air.

I was Irish for brief moments,
Of merriment sublime,
Happy, joyful leaping,
Knees high, and lifted, kicking.

I was Irish for brief moments
Minstrels played their magic tunes,
And young girls moved in rocking fashion
Erin’s reveries impassioned.

I was Irish for brief moments.
Sweetly skirted colleens,
Poised on pointed toes.
Sent hearts a-skipping, happy legs a-lifting,

I was Irish for brief moments,
As fairies with green ribbons
In coiffed and flaming hair,
Spun a golden space in memory’s place.

I was Irish for brief moments,
And see again in dreaming,
Gladsome spinning, hopping, prancing,
Three sisters on stage dancing.

Yes, I was Irish once.

Healing in the Heart of Jesus

Posted by Be Holy on January 17, 2013

Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: Catholic, Christian, Fear not, friends, God, healing, Jesus, Love, memory, prayer, Spirit. Leave a comment

Praying for my loved ones and remembering friends of youth and later life, I began to see how feelings of love welled up within me. God’s love drew me close to Himself and bade me come away with Him. I feared to leave off praying for friend after friend as they came to mind that I leave someone untouched by His Mercy and Grace. Then He came closer still, and filled me now with peace and knowledge. His Spirit whispered to my heart, “Fear not!” He gave me to understand that all these, that I recalled and cherished, all these, I held in my heart and rediscovered with each rising memory, all these were enclosed within my very being, held fast by my love. As His arms embraced me in my prayer to draw me closer, the prayer of my heart for all of these sounded in His ears. For love of me, wretched sinner though I be, He enfolded all within His bosom, loving purely and eternally the image of His Son emblazoned upon my soul. He drew all to Himself, knowing, gracing and blessing. He knew them as I knew them of old and also as He finds them now, in the flesh or in the spirit. His grace is fresh and waters the ground of their present. He opens a loving wound in them that invites His love and healing.

Remembering the Seasons of My Soul

Posted by Be Holy on December 27, 2012

Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: blessings, Christian, faith, graceCatholic, grief, joy, memories, memory, New Year, Prayer & Prose, rejoicing, Religion, remember, remembering, remembrance, seasons, sorrow, time. Leave a comment

Old year passes,
Becoming yet another ghost,
Withered as leaves,
Crumbled, and carried aloft
By winter winds,
Too soon scattered
By the breezes of Time.

Is it truly spent,
Dead and long forgotten,
Living but in memory?
May not reflection
Call it from the grave,
Uncover the gain
Hold it fast
To live again?

How has its many waters
Blessed thee and me,
As sacred signs?
Will it, as muse, retain a power
For its having been,
And then no more?

What saints and angels
Sent my way,
Colored its day?
In sorrow,
Who came to hold my hand?
In joy,
Who shared my hearth?

Were there hugs, and smiles,
And laughter to tilt the scale of grief?
Can kisses and embraces be resurrected,
That fires of love be stoked
To warm and blaze anew?

Has my thanksgivings
Been recorded in the pyre,
Written in the embers now glowing
As tiger eyes flashing from the ash.

Years come, doomed , too soon to go,
But let them not hurry
To a crypt without a wake.
Drink the happy wine of memory,
Sip, as the seasons turn.
Contemplate and savor
The seasons of your soul.