Ebb And Flow

Ebb and flow, ebb and flow!

Can I be sure of what I know?

Memories through the mists of time

So easy when you’re in your prime!

Now they seem to come and go.

Ebb and flow, ebb and flow!

Will my hesitations grow?

My confidence so high in youth

Now is not so great, in truth!

How it seems to come and go.

Ebb and flow, ebb and flow!

What way will the wild winds blow?

First pushed that way, then pushed this.

Sometimes disaster, sometimes bliss!

Where it’s ending, who could know?

Ebb and flow, ebb and flow!

But above all else I know

That through all life’s ups and downs,

With all its victories and frowns,

I will praise God even so!

Forgiveness

There’s much about forgiveness that I don’t understand

It is not a thing that’s easy to do upon command.

But yet if we cannot forgive it festers in our heart

A burning sense of grievance can pull our lives apart.

Of course there is resentment, sorrow, angst and pain

We have to come to terms with before we grow again.

God knows of the suffering that lives within our mind

He understands how hard it is to put the past behind.

I know of some parents who lived their lives in guilt

About the deep resentment their parenting had built.

They were not forgiven and they lived with that regret

But they were not the only ones to suffer I would bet!

Forgiveness is the balm that helps the guilty to repent

But it is not for them, alone, the benefit is meant!

The person who forgives may really not have even guessed

That in forgiving others they have put their hurt to rest.

They can now move on ahead with their hearts at peace

By forgiving others they will find their pain’s release

As for me I will not feel so guilty all along

Even though I must regret the things that I’ve done wrong.

My whip for flagellation can remain upon the shelf

For with my Saviours help I find I can forgive myself. 

Time to Go!

I’ve been at St Mary’s now for almost thirty years.

Never did I think that it might all end in tears!

When they changed the seating round I never even moaned!

At sharing Peace with others I hardly ever groaned!

Ok, I have been known to moan at music I don’t like

But none of this has made me want to get upon my bike.

Now I think the time has come when I should say goodbye

Though I will admit it, I’ll do it with a sigh!

Lex and Tim have started it by losing so much weight

And this has made some others nibble at the bait.

Many people moving from the couch to many K.

They’re looking at my figure and I don’t know what to say!

Then only this last Sunday they had to go too far

Heather Giles went running and became an instant star,

The Reverend Butt completed The Great North Run in style

And Lex did the triathlon and still could raise a smile!

Before such sapping exercise becomes part of the creed

I think that I must find a church that better meets my need.

Who knows of a church in town where I can vegetate,

Where only favourite songs are sung and I can sneak in late?

Where chairs are really comfortable and sermons are quite short

And most of all where I avoid all energetic sport!