Jesus,
Everyday, everyday, everyday,
Fall upon my tongue
As dew upon the obedient grass,
Which yields to Your Wind,
To be proclaimed anew.
Holy One,
Forever, forever, forever,
Go forth from my mouth,
As spring rains
To water the parched earth,
Thirsty for You.
©2013 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved
God can make it from nothing.
No Time, no Space, no place!
With a Word, Time,Space, place
All suns are born in His Light.
Beauty of the One Supreme Being,
Arrayed in all that is,
Himself, ethereal, everywhere and near,
Is, itself.
Living, thinking, Eternal Being,
Unseen, untouchable,
Existing forever and always,
Limitless, within and without.
Ocean of omnipotence,
Alive in Your Living,
Living in minuscule, and mighty,
Nothing without you.
Existence,
Beyond all that is.
Worlds exists without me,
But not without You.
I am called,
As You called Creation into being.
The sticks and stones of creation,
Obey Your every whim and command.
Man, alone, can say “NO”.
Place “YES” in my heart,
That I may not thwart,
But with creation play my part.
All that is,
Is of Thee,
Infinite in all Your Perfections.
My Loving Mystery.
God, You can make it from nothing,
Make of me a Son,
A light after the long Night,
Knowing in loving eternal delight.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
Give to me of Yourself
That which pleases You.
Unite my emptiness
With Your fullness,
To satisfy and delight
Our Father in heaven.
Here You are,
In me, my Eucharist,
Given for me,
Exulted, above the world,
And yet, Emmanuel,
“God with Us”.
Give grace to all
Children of the Light.
Bestow to Your own,
The Life that is Yours.
In the Light of Your Presence and Revelatjion,
Reveal the wonder of our Communion.
Shining forth from all Your little ones,
Light a world in darkness.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
New day, the world awakens.
Blue Earth still hung
Among the stars,
Spinning and orbiting.
We rise once more,
Unfazed by planetary whirl.
Sunshine at my window,
Here we go, again.
Out of the bed,
Onto a floor,
Solid ‘neath my feet,
Oh, what a grand illusion.
Without qualm,
In phase with the heavens
The world of men
Slept in surrender
To the slumber
Of the night.
Peace, born of Faith,
Anticipating the morn,
Believing dawn would again.
As done before.
Life, a celebration
Risking response.
All creation rising,
What will you
In your doings?
Your mark, your glory!
Waste not a quark!
O, Miracle of Days!
By Joann Nelander
Here we are again,
You, Holy God,
Blessed Trinity,
And me,
Meeting in prayer.
I will to thank,
To praise,
To love,
And extol Your Name,
The One, the Only,
The True,
My God.
Desiring so to open
Wide Your Heart,
As a gate yielding
To thanksgiving,
And receiving me,
Alive with praise and worship
Into the throne room
Of Your Love.
Bathed in the Spirit,
Receiving,
Head to heart,
Heart to head,
Head to heart,
Ebb and flow,
Water of Life.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
I am such a mess.
The rain falls on my soil,
And for a while I am mud.
No hint of fertility.
No hint of growth.
No hint of flowers.
Mud is self-forgetful,
A confusion of gift,
A profusion of promise.
The day will seed to my substance,
Serendipity and surprise,
Plantings for the morrow.
I shall lie here,
Loving my mud,
Waiting for the Sun.
© 2016 Joann Nelander
copyright 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.
Copyright Joann Nelander © 2011 All rights reserved
“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
Immaculata-Patroness
Joann Nelander Studio 