Bride Song (Poem)

In time for Valentine's Day, I'm re-posting a poem I wrote a few years ago that expresses my Love for Yeshua/Jesus the Christ.

Happy Valentine's Day!

~ ESA
________________________________________________________________

 

You gaze upon me, such Love in your eyes

Calling me “Beloved,” but what have I done?

I am hated, a loser, a thing people despise

Do I deserve such Love from someone?

~Let me look through your eyes, my beloved

~Let me look through your eyes and know

~What's within me, that you discovered

~Let me seek the Love that you sow

 What do you see with your vision so wise?

I feel lifted; my poor sight undone

A Light deep inside as I look through your eyes

A new journey has now begun

 

~Let me look through your eyes, my beloved

~Let me look through your eyes and know

~What's within me, that you discovered

~Let me seek the Love that you sow

I look through your eyes at the others

Before they were sinful, adrift and just wrong

Now I see the same Light within them

They’ve been the same as me all along

 ~Let us look through your eyes, my beloved

~Let us look through your eyes and know

~What's within us, that you discovered

~Let us seek the Love that you sow

 I share your Love for all others

I reach out my hand without shame

I’ve learned they are sisters and brothers

And God loves each of us the same

 ~Let us look through your eyes, my beloved

~Let us look through your eyes and know

~What's within us, that you discovered

~Let us seek the Love that you sow

  

I sing this Song to the whole world

His Love extends far beyond me

Hate or anger need not be hurled

A better life there can certainly be

 

~Let us look through your eyes, my beloved

~Let us look through your eyes and know

~What's within us, that you discovered

~Let us seek the Love that you sow

  

For the Feast, guests are excited

The Spirit’s mission is done

Bride and Groom at last united

Now they are truly one

 

~Let us look through your eyes, my beloved

~Let us look through your eyes and know

~What's within us, that you discovered

~Let us seek the Love that you sow

  

Brother / Sister no more divided

Basking in the eyes of the Son

Heaven sings; all are delighted

The Promised Kingdom has come

 

~Let us look through your eyes, my beloved

~Let us look through your eyes and know

~What's within us, that you discovered

~Let us seek the Love that you sow

Weeds and Wheat (Parable)

There once was a field planted with the finest seeds of grain.

The sun shown down gentle and warm. The ground, freshly tilled, remained moist with the gentle washings of the rain.

Soon the spouts began to grow, bright and green, as they stretched toward the sun.

As the spouts grew, the weeds snaked their roots under the tilled soil and sprouted their own kind in the field.

Concerned for the grain, the field hands took action.

They heated the plants hoping to scorch the weeds. Many wheat stalks withered. The ground became dry and bitter; roots were pulled up when the wind buffeted the field.

The field hands spread poisons hoping to kill the weeds that way. The wheat itself also sickened, many stalks never gaining the head that grain reaches in its maturity.

As a last resort in their vendetta to kill the weeds, the field hands viciously attacked the field, cutting down stalks of wheat as well as weeds, leaving both to wither and die rootless on the side.

At last the weeds were gone. A fraction of the wheat remained in the field, ready to be harvested.

When the landowner arrived, he looked dismayed at the remaining wheat.

His eyes tearfully moved to the piles of wheat cut and cast with the weeds on the side, the lines of wheat that had sickened and never matured, and the remnants of the wheat that were scorched so badly, they never had the chance to grow.

"What became of the crops I planted?" he inquired of his field hands.

"The weeds had gotten into the field, Master. But don't worry," they added proudly. "We got rid of them."

The landowner wept bitterly...

______________________________________________________

Let those who have ears, hear.

~ESA

Kingdom Visitor (Story)

Once upon a time, in a not too distant land there was a king that loved all the people. Because he had such love for the people, he wanted them to be happy and to love each other as he loved them. One day, he called before him all the magistrates in the land and commanded of them to design a way that would best enable all the people to love one another.

The magistrates gathered and spent much time in council determining the best methods to govern the people that would make them love each other so the king would be happy. They decided on a long list of rules that the people would have to memorize and adhere. They decided on celebration days that would, by their annual repetition, reinforce the rules they established. Further, they set up a system where there would be rewards for those who obeyed the rules and punishment for those who did not.
 
This, they surmised, was the best way to make the people love each other.
 
Over the years, the magistrates instructed the people in the rules, meted out the rewards and punishments, and watched the people carefully so they knew who to reward and who to punish. In response, some of the people would either vie with each other to do the most loving acts to gain the best of the rewards, or they followed the rules minimally when they knew they were being watched, lest they face the dreaded punishments.
 
Then one day, a stranger arrived and set up a temporary home among the people of this kingdom. Within a few days, one of the magistrates presented to her a thick bound volume of the rules. But the stranger handed the book back unopened and, instead, took out her visa which indicated she was not a subject of the king, and thus she was not subject to those rules. The magistrate tried to harass her, but she knew that was the law of all the lands and magistrate could not force their ways on her.
 
At that time, the king wondered how well the system his magistrates established was working. Were the people truly loving one another as he loved them? Was the system enabling their love for each other to flourish? Or were the people merely following the established set of rules because they sought individually to gain a reward or avoid a punishment? So the king decided to find out for himself. He disguised himself and went out among the people.
 
Where the magistrates were to be found, people performed all kinds of loving acts, helping one another and more. But where there were no magistrates watching, the poor were left hungry, the cold were left outside alone to fend for themselves, the sick were shoved apart from the healthy, and the outcasts were friendless. There was very little love here.
 
Then the king spied a young woman, a stranger in this land, and she was doing what the people were not, even when the magistrates were not watching. She shared her supper with someone that had none, she helped carry someone's heavy load, and she welcomed the homeless into the rooms she rented so they would not have to suffer the freezing rain and falling snow. Who was this woman?
 
The king called court the next day and called this woman before him. "I am king of this realm," he told her, "and I have seen what you have done."
 
"I know of your rules may be different here, your majesty, but as I am not one of your subjects, so your rules do not apply to me."
 
"So you do not act as you do fearing punishment?"
 
"No, sir."
 
"So you do not act as you do expecting reward?"
 
"No, sir."
 
The king's cheeks started to glisten with tears and he stepped down from his throne and faced the woman eye-to-eye. "Then why do you do the things you do?"
 
The woman shrugged, "It's just the right thing to do. We're all part of this world, we should help each other."
 
The king stepped forward and embraced the woman fiercely!
 
When he stepped back he announced, "Let this be known across the land, this woman has acted with Love for her neighbor, not because of reward, not out of fear of punishment - for she clearly does not expect either. She acted simply out of the Love found in her heart. THIS! This is what I sought for my people. All I simply ask is that they love one another."
 
Love
thy
neighbor
 
-ESA

Kingdom of God

As a counter-note to my last post, I wanted to share a response I posted on another blog. The Afterthought had shared a post titled The Big Picture, where he speaks of the steps humanity is taking to get to the Kingdom of God.

I suggest you read it, if you are so inclined, but here I want to share my understanding of the Kingdom of God will be, to the best of my ability.

- Not only is there a connection/partnership with Christ, there is one with all of humanity, past, present and future. We are reaching the end of time, per se, in that we understand that God / Christ actually exist beyond time and space, and that we (our spirits) do as well.

- We see Christ in others, as well as feel Christ within ourselves. When another is hurt or hindered, we seek not to direct our attention to the darkness of another (also within ourselves) but seek the Light and help it to shine instead.

 - We understand that all we see in others exists within ourselves. When we focus on darkness in others, we are often projecting something within ourselves that we are trying to hide. We are also not Forgiving another, as Christ has asked that we do. If we are still bearing a grudge, we are still playing the Judge. That is not our role. When we see goodness, Light, God working in and through others, our own eyes are opening too. When we reach the true Kingdom, we will see only Light and Love in others.

- We understand that we achieve far more than the sum of our individual efforts. We work together in joint harmony for the good of all. We no longer divide, segregate, list, label, or pigeon-hole. There is no yours/mine. There is no "I" but "we." We are one -- humanity.

- We understand that we are all children of God. We do not place restrictions on our brothers and sisters, that they have to do as we do, believe as we believe. We accept them as brothers and sisters, erasing the dividing lines, even when they do not yet do the same.

- We understand we can accept Christ for others. In doing so, we learn to see the Light of Christ in them, even when they do not accept it there themselves. We help that which is of God to shine in them. Positive reinforcement, rather than focus on the negative.

- We understand that God is still beyond our understanding, even within the Kingdom of God. The lines that humanity often divides itself do not apply to God, as God is outside/beyond these lines as well as outside/beyond space and time. Such lines include male/female, among many others...

- We understand that God is beyond/outside all of Creation (even far-flung universes), and at the same time exists within every breath we take, and dwells within the space between electrons in every atom. Thus, God is, indeed, within every fiber of our being.

- As we come to understand that both God and ourselves are beyond time, our perception will begin to change. The past is truly no more, as is the future. All that exists - as has always existed - is the present moment ("now"). We understand that God exists in the "now" and that is where we truly meet. To hold on to the past, we fail to Forgive. To hold on to the future (including our plans) we fail to have Trust/Faith.

And the biggest and most profound component of the Kingdom of God... 

- We no longer see the past nor the future in the person before us. There is nothing to forgive, as there is no past. There is nothing to push them toward, as there is no future. There is "now" only, as there has always been. We cannot change the past. We cannot directly affect the future except by our actions in the "now". God is in the "now," and guides us toward what we will be through the present moment in our hands. So we take our sibling's hand and join with God's thoughts and intentions, trusting our joint future to God's Will.

That is what I see as the Kingdom of God. 

What are your thoughts?

~ ESA

Kingdom Visitor (Story)

There was a king that loved all the people. Because he had such love for the people, he wanted them to be happy and to love each other as he loved them. One day, he called before him all the magistrates in the land and decreed that there be a way that best enabled all the people to love one another.

The magistrates gathered and spent much time in council determining the best methods to govern the people that would make them love each other so the king would be happy. They decided on a long list of rules that the people would have to memorize and adhere. They decided on celebration days that would, by their annual repetition, reinforce the rules they established. Further, they set up a system where there would be rewards for those who obeyed the rules and punishment for those who did not.

This, they surmised, was the best way to make the people love each other.

Over the years, the magistrates instructed the people in the rules, meted out the rewards and punishments, and watched the people carefully so they knew who to reward and who to punish. In response, some of the people would either vie with each other to do the most loving acts to gain the best of the rewards, or they followed the rules minimally when they knew they were being watched, lest they face the dreaded punishments. 

Then one day, a stranger arrived and set up a temporary home among the people of this kingdom. Within a few days, one of the magistrates presented to her a thick bound volume of the rules. But the stranger handed the book back unopened and, instead, took out her visa which indicated that because she was not a subject of the king, she had diplomatic immunity and thus was not subject to those rules. The magistrate tried to harass her, but she knew that the magistrate could not force their ways on her.

At that time, the king wondered how well the system his magistrates established was working. Were the people truly loving one another as he loved them? Was the system enabling their love for each other to flourish? Or were the people merely following the established set of rules because they sought individually to gain a reward or avoid a punishment? So the king decided to find out for himself. He disguised himself and went out among the people.

Where the magistrates were to be found, people performed all kinds of loving acts, helping one another and more. But where there were no magistrates watching, the poor were left hungry, the cold were left outside alone to fend for themselves, the sick were shoved apart from the healthy, and the outcasts were friendless. There was very little love here.

Then the king spied a young woman, a stranger in this land, and she was doing what the people were not, when the magistrates were not watching. She shared her supper with someone that had none, she helped carry someone's heavy load, and she welcomed the homeless into the rooms she rented so they would not have to suffer the freezing rain and falling snow. Who was this woman?
 

The king called court the next day and called this woman before him. "I am king of this realm," he told her, "and I have seen what you have done."

"I know of your rules may be different here, your majesty, but as I am not one of your subjects, so your rules do not apply to me."

"You do not act as you do fearing punishment?"

"No, sir."

"You do not act as you do expecting reward?"

"No, sir."

The king's cheeks started to glisten with tears and he stepped down from his throne and faced the woman eye-to-eye. "Then why do you do the things you do?"

The woman shrugged, "It's just the right thing to do. We're all part of this world, we should help each other."
 

The king stepped forward and embraced the woman fiercely!

When he stepped back he announced, "Let this be known across the land, this woman has acted with Love for her neighbor, not because of reward, not out of fear of punishment - for she clearly does not expect either. She acted simply out of the Love found in her heart. THIS! This is what I sought for my people. All I simply ask is that they love one another."

Love
thy
neighbor

~ESA

Weeds & Wheat (Parable)

There once was a field planted with the finest seeds of grain. The sun shown down gentle and warm. The ground, freshly tilled, remained moist with the gentle washings of the rain.

Soon the spouts began to grow, bright and green, as they stretched themselves toward the sun.

As the spouts grew, the weeds snaked their roots under the tilled soil and sprouted their own kind in the field.

Concerned for the grain, the field hands took action. They heated the plants hoping to scorch the weeds. Many wheat stalks withered. The ground became dry and bitter; roots were pulled up when the wind buffeted the field.

The field hands spread poisons hoping to kill the weeds that way. The wheat itself also sickened, many stalks never gaining the head that grain reaches in its maturity.

As a last resort in their vendetta to kill the weeds, the field hands viciously attacked the field, cutting down stalks of wheat as well as weeds, leaving both to wither and die rootless on the side.

At last the weeds were gone. A fraction of the wheat remained in the field, ready to be harvested.

When the landowner arrived, he looked dismayed at the remaining wheat. He cast his eyes to the piles of wheat cut and cast with the weeds on the side, the lines of wheat that had sickened and never matured, and the remnants of the wheat that were scorched so badly, they never had the chance to grow.

"What became of the crops I planted?" he inquired of his field hands.

"The weeds had gotten into the field, Master. But don't worry," they added proudly. "We got rid of them."

The landowner wept bitterly...
______________________________________________________

Let those who have ears, hear.

~ESA 

Kingdom Visitor (Story)

Once upon a time, in a not too distant land there was a king that loved all the people. Because he had such love for the people, he wanted them to be happy and to love each other as he loved them. One day, he called before him all the magistrates in the land and commanded of them to design a way that would best enable all the people to love one another.

The magistrates gathered and spent much time in council determining the best methods to govern the people that would make them love each other so the king would be happy. They decided on a long list of rules that the people would have to memorize and adhere. They decided on celebration days that would, by their annual repetition, reinforce the rules they established. Further, they set up a system where there would be rewards for those who obeyed the rules and punishment for those who did not.

This, they surmised, was the best way to make the people love each other.

Over the years, the magistrates instructed the people in the rules, meted out the rewards and punishments, and watched the people carefully so they knew who to reward and who to punish. In response, some of the people would either vie with each other to do the most loving acts to gain the best of the rewards, or they followed the rules minimally when they knew they were being watched, lest they face the dreaded punishments.

Then one day, a stranger arrived and set up a temporary home among the people of this kingdom. Within a few days, one of the magistrates presented to her a thick bound volume of the rules. But the stranger handed the book back unopened and, instead, took out her visa which indicated that because she was not a subject of the king, she had diplomatic immunity and thus was not subject to those rules. The magistrate tried to harass her, but she knew that the magistrate could not force their ways on her.

At that time, the king wondered how well the system his magistrates established was working. Were the people truly loving one another as he loved them? Was the system enabling their love for each other to flourish? Or were the people merely following the established set of rules because they sought individually to gain a reward or avoid a punishment? So the king decided to find out for himself. He disguised himself and went out among the people.

Where the magistrates were to be found, people performed all kinds of loving acts, helping one another and more. But where there were no magistrates watching, the poor were left hungry, the cold were left outside alone to fend for themselves, the sick were shoved apart from the healthy, and the outcasts were friendless. There was very little love here.

Then the king spied a young woman, a stranger in this land, and she was doing what the people were not, when the magistrates were not watching. She shared her supper with someone that had none, she helped carry someone's heavy load, and she welcomed the homeless into the rooms she rented so they would not have to suffer the freezing rain and falling snow. Who was this woman?

The king called court the next day and called this woman before him. "I am king of this realm," he told her, "and I have seen what you have done."

"I know of your rules may be different here, your majesty, but as I am not one of your subjects, so your rules do not apply to me."

"So you do not act as you do fearing punishment?"

"No, sir."

"So you do not act as you do expecting reward?"

"No, sir."

The king's cheeks started to glisten with tears and he stepped down from his throne and faced the woman eye-to-eye. "Then why do you do the things you do?"

The woman shrugged, "It's just the right thing to do. We're all part of this world, we should help each other."

The king stepped forward and embraced the woman fiercely!

When he stepped back he announced, "Let this be known across the land, this woman has acted with Love for her neighbor, not because of reward, not out of fear of punishment - for she clearly does not expect either. She acted simply out of the Love found in her heart. THIS! This is what I sought for my people. All I simply ask is that they love one another."

Love
thy
neighbor

Bride Song (Poem)

You gaze upon me, such Love in your eyes
Calling me “Beloved,” but what have I done
I am hated, a loser, a thing people despise
Do I deserve such Love from someone

~Let me look through your eyes, my beloved
~Let me look through your eyes and know
~What's within me, that you discovered
~Let me share Love your heart does sow

What do you see with your vision so wise
I feel lifted; my poor sight undone
A Light deep inside as I look through your eyes
A new journey has now begun

~Let me look through your eyes, my beloved
~Let me look through your eyes and know
~What's within me, that you discovered
~Let me share Love your heart does sow

I look through your eyes at the others
Before they were sinful, adrift and just wrong
Now I see the same Light within them
They’ve been the same as me all along

~Let me look through your eyes, my beloved
~Let me look through your eyes and know
~What's within us, that you discovered
~Let me share Love your heart does sow

I share your Love for all others
I reach out my hand without shame
I’ve learned they are sisters and brothers
And God Loves each of us the same

~Let me look through your eyes, my beloved
~Let me look through your eyes and know
~What's within us, that you discovered
~Let me share Love your heart does sow

I sing this Song to the whole world
His Love extends far beyond me
Hate or anger need not be hurled
A better life there can certainly be

~Let me look through your eyes, my beloved
~Let me look through your eyes and know
~What's within us, that you discovered
~Let me share Love your heart does sow

For the Feast, guests are excited
The Spirit’s mission is done
Bride and Groom at last united
Now they are truly One

~Let me look through your eyes, my beloved
~Let me look through your eyes and know
~What's within us, that you discovered
~Let me share Love your heart does sow

Brother / Sister no more divided
Basking in the eyes of the Son
Heaven sings; all are delighted
The Promised Kingdom has come

~Let me look through your eyes, my beloved
~Let me look through your eyes and know
~What's within us, that you discovered
~Let me share Love your heart does sow

__________________________________________________________________

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: As the author, I release these lyrics for free use. If any musician wants to use or publish this, please feel free to do so.

- ESA

Kingdom Visitor (Story)

Once upon a time, in a not too distant land there was a king that loved all the people. Because he had such love for the people, he wanted them to be happy and to love each other as he loved them. One day, he called before him all the magistrates in the land and commanded of them to design a way that would best enable all the people to love one another.

The magistrates gathered and spent much time in council determining the best methods to govern the people that would make them love each other so the king would be happy. They decided on a long list of rules that the people would have to memorize and adhere. They decided on celebration days that would, by their annual repetition, reinforce the rules they established. Further, they set up a system where there would be rewards for those who obeyed the rules and punishment for those who did not.

This, they surmised, was the best way to make the people love each other.

Over the years, the magistrates instructed the people in the rules, meted out the rewards and punishments, and watched the people carefully so they knew who to reward and who to punish. In response, some of the people would either vie with each other to do the most loving acts to gain the best of the rewards, or they followed the rules minimally when they knew they were being watched, lest they face the dreaded punishments.

Then one day, a stranger arrived and set up a temporary home among the people of this kingdom. Within a few days, one of the magistrates presented to her a thick bound volume of the rules. But the stranger handed the book back unopened and, instead, took out her visa which indicated she was not a subject of the king, and thus she was not subject to those rules. The magistrate tried to harass her, but she knew that was the law of all the lands and magistrate could not force their ways on her.

At that time, the king wondered how well the system his magistrates established was working. Were the people truly loving one another as he loved them? Was the system enabling their love for each other to flourish? Or were the people merely following the established set of rules because they sought individually to gain a reward or avoid a punishment? So the king decided to find out for himself. He disguised himself and went out among the people.

Where the magistrates were to be found, people performed all kinds of loving acts, helping one another and more. But where there were no magistrates watching, the poor were left hungry, the cold were left outside alone to fend for themselves, the sick were shoved apart from the healthy, and the outcasts were friendless. There was very little love here.

Then the king spied a young woman, a stranger in this land, and she was doing what the people were not, even when the magistrates were not watching. She shared her supper with someone that had none, she helped carry someone's heavy load, and she welcomed the homeless into the rooms she rented so they would not have to suffer the freezing rain and falling snow. Who was this woman?

The king called court the next day and called this woman before him. "I am king of this realm," he told her, "and I have seen what you have done."

"I know of your rules may be different here, your majesty, but as I am not one of your subjects, so your rules do not apply to me."

"So you do not act as you do fearing punishment?"

"No, sir."

"So you do not act as you do expecting reward?"

"No, sir."

The king's cheeks started to glisten with tears and he stepped down from his throne and faced the woman eye-to-eye. "Then why do you do the things you do?"

The woman shrugged, "It's just the right thing to do. We're all part of this world, we should help each other."

The king stepped forward and embraced the woman fiercely!

When he stepped back he announced, "Let this be known across the land, this woman has acted with Love for her neighbor, not because of reward, not out of fear of punishment - for she clearly does not expect either. She acted simply out of the Love found in her heart. THIS! This is what I sought for my people. All I simply ask is that they love one another."

Love
thy
neighbor

-ESA