To a church whilst they’re in prayer.
Perhaps He’ll send you one of His angels
Out of the blue, to love and care.
I hope that you can find a fellowship
Which meets your needs in every way.
Filled with loving, gentle people
To comfort your grief, dry your tears away.
I feel so helpless standing here
When I’ve support but you have none.
I pray that God will find an answer;
Because when He does, then you’ll be gone.
It’s easy making such bland statements,
When we’re the ones who aren’t in need.
Why not demonstrate through our actions?
Not use empty words to mask our greed.
We may try to hide our insecurities behind different masks or personas, but be assured; the truth will come out in the end. It is much better to deal with insecurity rather than try to hide it. Fermentation leads to explosions if not handled correctly.
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Camouflage
Into the background you blend so effortlessly!
Unseen. Unheard. Unnoticed.
Afraid to stand out from the crowd, yet
Desperate to be seen;
Desperate to be appreciated;
Desperate to be loved;
Desperate to be admired;
Desperate!
How quickly your colors change!
One minute black, the next white;
Then black again; but never grey,
Unless it’s how you want to be treated.
So many contrasts, so many changes
That you can’t keep up with yourself.
One moment agreeing with a point-of-view
You trashed,
Less than a minute ago!
Your coat of many colors fits well!
So does the veneer of composure that you wear;
Camouflage to hide that deep, inner driving.
How sad and how dangerous,
That a chameleon, perfectly hidden,
Becomes naked and exposed
When concealed anger burns so fiercely!
Changing color, from green to red.
Revealing its true position and identity.
Court Jester
Yo! Ho! Ho! Life is good;
I’m happy when I’m sad.
My painted smile hides the pain.
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Which is really not that bad.
How great to do things my way,
It helps me to be free.
No need to worry about others;
My life revolves around me.
I love to be so popular,
The center of what goes on.
As long as I get what I need,
I’ll milk it ‘til I’m done.
I’m so much of a natural;
No effort is involved.
I simply wear my jester’s smile
And that’s the problem solved.
My actions are pernicious;
My words convince and sway
My audience, who are unaware
Of the dangerous games I play.
Today I’ll play the jester;
Tomorrow I’ll play the fool.
Perhaps next week I’ll play the victim,
No problem when I’m so cool.
It’s easy when those around me
Are taken on board my ride.
And thankfully, so few know me,
Or see the ‘me’ inside.
So I’ll play my game of roulette,
Until I fall from grace.
Then I’ll pack my bags and move out,
To find some other place.
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Crashing Cymbal
More composed than a photograph,
You stand there.
A synthetic smile hiding the real, heart-torn you,
Who cowers like a frightened child in the corner.
Behind the closed doors of pride
And the bar-clad prison cell of your mind.
Denying the truth can only have
A finite span.
Then, the carefully papered cracks tear,
Exposing the frailty of flesh and blood.
Arrogance will give way to brokenness,
Confidence crumble to vulnerability.
You speak with man-made authority,
Raising your hands,
Stained with the foul stench of hypocrisy.
Playing to a gallery of fools.
Lying with empty words from an empty heart
Cloaked in the marble of denial.
So, play you crashing cymbal.
Reverberate resounding gong!
A unilateral display of deceit.
Empty of love or compassion; shout your empty praises,
Whilst you poison those closest to you,
Drawing them into your black hole.
You may speak with the tongues of men,
And of angels.
But without love, you are only a noise!
A sad reflection of the person you once were.
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The image of God, marred by bitterness,
And failure to acknowledge how you really feel.
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Friendship
‘An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory’ (Friedrich Engels)
‘I am only one, but I am still one; I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do the something I can do’ (Helen Keller)
Friendship Is A Verb In A Hurting World
If only life was as simple
As you’d like it to be.
Simple actions; simple answers.
The Bible, a recipe book;
An almanac to cure all ills.
Black and white; right and wrong.
Applying words out of context
So they say what you want them to say.
If only friendship and love
Were as simple and cheap
As you show them to be.
Disposable; use once then throw away
When they become tarnished
With the failings of others.
Nouns; objects, with no cost.
An outward show with an inner vacuum.
If only Jesus hadn’t said
What he really said!
Challenging simple solutions;
Turning our natural inclinations
Upside down.
Encouraging us to swim against the flow.
Dirty words; commitment; trust; pain;
Dirty hands with a healing balm; for others.
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If only you’d understand
How much you meant to me.
A rock; a hiding place.
If only you’d realize
The desolation you brought.
The raping of my trust.
If only you could see
That friendship is a verb, in a hurting world.
Above And Beyond
Is life all about
Taking the easy way out?
What about sweat and toil and cost,
Loving against the odds when all seems lost?
Is life all about
Taking the easy way out?
Should I trade wrong with wrong,
And make them pay, rather than get along?
Is life all about
Taking the easy way out?
Is it wrong to fight
For what others think wrong, when you know it’s right?
Is life all about
Taking the easy way out?
Where’s the cost and where’s the pain,
If I don’t forgive others, again and again?
Is life all about
Taking the easy way out?
Off-pat answers and easy solutions,
Rather than love, commitment and resolutions?
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Life is all about
Not taking the easy way out!
Not running and hiding and lying low,
But facing-up and learning to grow.
Life is all about
Not taking the easy way out!
But loving the hating and seeing their beauty.
Forgiving at all times, it’s our God given duty!
Friend@Alltimes.Com
Our times together haven’t always been easy.
Do you remember the day of the big misunderstanding?
We fought like infantrymen with fixed bayonets!
And in the end we didn’t kill each other,
We were friends
So many times we made a mess of things!
You defending your corner; me defending mine.
Both afraid to give ground in case the other won.
And in the end, we still didn’t hate each other, because
We were friends.
Then came the time for you to leave.
Out of the blue! No warning or time for me to prepare.
No hurt; only a sadness that our intimacy would be lost
As the miles separated us. But still we didn’t fail;
We remained friends.
Then I broke the news to you
Of how I’d fallen from grace.
I felt you’d never forgive me and be like so many others, melt away.
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But you didn’t! You stood firm, holding my hand.
And we remain friends.
How deep my love for you,
That in life’s hardest hours
You remained faithful to your promise, to stand...
To stand with me. How privileged I am
That you’re still my friend.
And as time rolls slowly on, bringing new fears,
Re-opening old wounds which have yet to heal.
What a comfort to have you by my side,
In body, or in spirit. What a blessing to know
That you’re my friend...
At all times!
Telephone Lifeline
We hardly knew each other.
A few words shared over coffee.
A meal shared with mutual friends,
And a short musical interlude.
So why, do you extend a hand of friendship
When those I expected to stay,
Have deserted me, leaving this island in stormy seas?
Why, are you one of a minority who care for me
When life crumbles, the tempests break,
And days turn to weeks, turn to months?
Why, do you continue to visit
When there are so many miles between us?
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Not offering your advice,
But a listening ear and an empathetic heart.
And when your life becomes too hectic
To make a visit in person,
You visit me on the telephone; leaving
Messages of hope;
Messages of comfort;
Messages of concern;
Messages of love.
When walls close in around me,
When snares trap me,
When poison arrows pierce my heart and soul,
The balm of your voice and your love
Is ever ready to greet me
On my mobile lifeline.
The difference is that you have lived!
Experienced deep joy and deep pain;
Rejection; uncertainty; fear; forgiveness.
Your love honed and kindled through knowing
What it is to be in the dust,
Then picked up and given a new start.
You offer no hollow words of superficial spirituality.
You don’t eat away at the fibre of my being with guilt trips.
You don’t take the moral high ground, justifying it with scriptures Taken out of context!
Yes, you’ve known true forgiveness first-hand,
Even in the confusion of a hurting world.
And because of that, I can thank you,
For being my telephone lifeline.
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When All Else Fails
As lifelines are slowly cut
And certainty disappears.
When Rock crumbles to dust;
You are there.
As those outside, stare in
With disapproving looks,
But offer no helping hand;
You are there.
When friends give their advice,
And judge and jury sit
To condemn me for my crime.
You are there.
As my spirit melts like butter
Cut by a red-hot knife.
When my heart cracks in the heat;
You are there.
When I’m left all alone
Outside the city wall.
No strength to carry on;
You are there.
I cannot understand;
The cost to you’s so great.
But life can carry on, because
You’re still there.
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God sends us the most unexpected help and yet we miss it simply because it does not fit into our preconceived ideas of how it will or should happen.
Heaven Sent
You have been where I am,
Deserted and alone.
Escape routes blocked by fear,
Support from friends long gone.
No reason on this earth
Should cause our paths to cross.
But I’m so glad they did,
As you help me in my loss.
When those I hoped would be there
Have fled to higher ground.
Untainted by my failings;
Vanishing without a sound;
You, my friend, are here,
Our faiths so far apart.
God bless you, for you have
A special place in my heart.
Your arms enfold around me,
Your heart is filled with love.
Your lips, they speak compassion,
As if from heaven above.
I hope my ‘friends’ can hear,
And I hope my ‘friends’ can see,
God’s love at work through you,
An angel sent to me.
Isla
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You are my constant companion,
Faithful to the last.
Close by my side at all times,
Guarding me until trouble’s passed.
You give me hope and courage,
If silence shouts too loud.
I feel you warm against me,
Protecting me from the crowd.
When absent, how I miss you.
When present, how I care.
When hurting, what a comfort
To know that you are there.
My Isla how I love you,
My words cannot express
The joy you bring me each new day,
The many ways you bless.
And now we’re re-united,
No longer kept apart.
My eyes, my love, my guide dog;
Let’s make a brand new start!
Friendships can be a delicate balance between commitment and abuse.
Snakes And Ladders
Climbing up the ladder,
Life is looking good.
I’d love to make things different,
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If only I could.
Arising from the ashes
Has been no easy way.
It’s been like snakes and ladders,
Up and down each day.
I’ve climbed so many ladders,
Then fallen down again.
So r