Missed Messages

I came home this morning to find I’d missed the post

The parcel taken back to base. An irritant at most!

If I want my parcel the onus is on me

To go and get the thing myself, that’s how it has to be!

Is it the same with Jesus? If we miss the boat.

Is it up to everyone to keep themselves afloat?

If we miss the message is there another chance?

Is it on this basis that the kingdom will advance?

God has endless patience. He’ll try and try again

He is not despondent at the frailties of men.

He’ll knock our heads together if that’s what He needs to do!

He’ll try every way He can to get His message through.

Thank you God for giving us your own beloved son

As a perfect sacrifice for each and everyone.

And even though rejection is often what we do.

It’s good to know that everyone is still beloved by You

Celebrity

I’m glad that I will never be

Some megastar celebrity!

Adulation going to my head

And women dragging me to bed!

My life could never be my own

Plagued by the wild oats I’d sown.

Money grabbing birds pursue

A plague I’d have my whole life through!

People judging all the time

Accusing me of every crime!

I’m glad that I will never be

Some megastar celebrity!

We all have things we’d rather hide

Amid the things we do with pride.

But superstars can never find

An ever peaceful state of mind.

Some will always want to strip

Their egos down and make them trip!

If the truth is not enough

They’ll just invent the nasty stuff!

I’m glad that I will never be

Some megastar celebrity!

I know some stars with gaudy rings

Did horrible and sordid things.

We judge them very harshly, yet

The good they did we will forget!

The work they did for charity

Still exists for all to see.

Despite the eclipsing of the sun

There’s good and bad in everyone!

I’m glad that I will never be

Some megastar celebrity!

When one is seen to have a fall

The tar is seen to stick to all.

Then people see an easy buck

Which can be theirs with any luck!

Accusing stars they state they know

Of crimes committed long ago.

Does it not seem very strange

They now remember at such range?

I’m glad that I will never be

Some megastar celebrity!

Love at First Sight

I can still remember the first time that I met

A certain little lady, who I never can forget.

It was in a hospital with nurses all around

And a crying baby was the only sound.

Her hair was dark, her eyes were blue

And in an instant my heart knew.

She was a gift from God above to make my spirit soar

No man could ever want to have a gift worth any more

I cried so much with happiness for all the world to see

That tiny, perfect, little girl was really part of me!

It was such a privilege to be there at her birth

A daughter to convince me that my life has been of worth.

I’ve had this magic feeling not just once, but twice

And no other thrill I’ve had has been half as nice!

I’ve had two little daughters and they’ve filled my life with joy

So much I could not envy any other boy.

Façade

The face I like to show the world, is it really me?

Brash and full of confidence, filled with bonhomie!

Am I really like that, hid behind my face?

And if people knew me, would I be in disgrace?

Do I really fool myself with this brave façade?

Am I really hiding from something that is bad?

Can I not be honest and show the world I’m weak

And that I’m just a bunch of nerves, when I get up to speak?

Luckily God knows me just the way I am.

A frightened little baby throwing toys out of his pram!

And yet I know He loves me despite my doubts and fears

And He’s always with me throughout all my years.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who hides behind their mask

Appearing whom they need to be, to carry out their task!

Let me not make judgements on the people that I see

They’ll have their inner struggles an awful lot like me!

If you really loved me

“If you really loved me, you’ld do what I say”

Is just the sort of blackmail that never should hold sway!

Love is based on selflessness and thinking of the other

Not crying like a baby and running home to mother.

 “If you really loved me you’ld let me have my way,

and if we are not lovers what would our friends all say?”

Just the sort of pressure that should not be applied

Especially to one that you might want to be your bride.

When I see on Facebook people testing friends

I wonder what has driven them to stooping to such ends?

“If you really like me you’ll leave a post today.”

That is just a silly game that people should not play! 

It’s just the sort of testing that people try with God

Even though to Christians this will seem quite odd.

“If you are a God of love, you’ll do all that I ask

Or I won’t believe in you. You’re not up to the task!”

Look for loving actions from the people you adore

Why ask them to jump through hoops doing something more?

Wanting your own way can only lead to loneliness

Spoiling good relationships and making them a mess.

You can trust in God above to give you what you need

Not just what you crave for in your selfishness and greed.

Listen for His prompting to guide you in your plight

He is always with you in making all things right!

Un-troubled Sleep

I have tossed and turned in bed

For the last few nights

Thoughts have tumbled round my head

And none were sweet delights!

The bed was most uncomfortable

And very hard as well

My thoughts were uncontrollable

The torture was pure hell!

Then I’d think of my Messiah

And all that he went through.

And then my thoughts went higher

I’m no longer feeling blue!

I know my Saviour cared for me

And died so I might live

Now I can feel my heart’s set free

By all he can forgive!

There is no solution

To a night with scanty sleep

But I have absolution

In that promise that He’ll keep!

I’ll sing his praise for ever

Though my voice is weak

For He will leave me never

And I can hear Him speak!

Family

Families can be awkward cos we aren’t all the same

We have our different foibles so no one is to blame.

We cause each other anguish and sometimes we cause pain

But because we are a family we make it up again!

Even between siblings tensions can exist

And sometimes, in a family, arguments persist.

But once a year we gather and have a lot of fun

The spirit of the family pervades in everyone.

So thank the Lord for families a blessing to us all

For we know if we need them we only have to call!

Family Weekend

I’m on a family weekend with all the Corbett clan

Time to let our hair down and drink all that we can!

We have come from Birmingham, London and Cornwall

Lancaster and Milton Keynes and that land by Hadrian’s Wall.

We’ll play a lot of silly games and eat more than we should

The merriment is unrestrained and we’re all feeling good.

Pictionary on a flip chart and the Name Game with fifteen

Pass the Bomb with laughter like you have never seen.

To make this weekend happen takes lots and lots of work

Which, if I’m truly honest, I do my best to shirk!

But in the end it’s all worthwhile, we have a lot of fun

And find out what’s been happening to each and everyone.

By the time we finish partying we’ll all need a rest

And recognise that abstinence would really suit us best!

Thank God for our families with all their faults and quirks

We’re here to help each other and on the whole it works!

Fortunate

While strolling round a golf course on a bright and sunny day

I thank my God in heaven that I’m fit enough to play!

I have my minor ailments, like others of my years

And true the pain can sometimes incline my eyes to tears.

I know I’m sometimes moaning about how my heel is sore

And that my back is aching enough to make me roar.

But when I look around me at others as they suffer

I can but conclude I am a fortunate old duffer!

I have to stick to half a round for a little while

But still I get to play enough to make me want to smile.

With badminton and the tennis, which we play with softer ball,

If I do not play too much it hardly hurts at all!

I’ve got enough for all my needs and even some to spare

I can never say, for me, that life has been unfair.

I’ve had my love beside me for two thirds of my life

I could not have had a better woman as my wife!

All in all, I’m fortunate and in the main I know

I should kneel in gratitude to the God who made it so!

Dawn Breaks

Don’t you love the beauty on a freezing winter’s morn

When the sky is pinkened by the approaching dawn?

Snuggling in your duvet, so you won’t feel the chill,

You see the first invading rays and feel a wondrous thrill.

The pink becomes a deeper red and then a flaming ball

Slowly fills the heavens with an orange tint overall.

You see the brick red houses take on a warmer hue,

As the great celestial orb comes further into view.

The camera lens can never catch the glory of the scene

The glistening frosted beauty of grass that once was green

The stark impressive outlines of trees without their leaves

And shadows disappearing like some furtive night-time thieves!

I just can’t give justice to the feelings I profess

I feel so inadequate with the words that I possess!

Suffice to say that dawn just breaks with a beauty all it’s own,

Which brings to mind the majesty of God upon His throne.

Atrocities

My mind is sorely troubled by atrocities I see

And I wonder how my Saviour can let such horrors be!

My heart goes out in pity to the families of the dead

And yet conflicting messages are rumbling in my head.

Of course there’s condemnation rising to the fore,

For these are acts of murder, that I must deplore.

But then I look in history at Christians in the past

Crusades, which, in their horror, have legacies that last.

In the minds of Moslems, an example they just follow.

It must make our condemnation sound a little hollow!

Then I think of Jesus and the standards that He set

His example is the one that we should not forget.

He forgave His enemies while He was being killed

And it was in loving that His mission was fulfilled.

He told us we should share His love, not just with our friends

But with our enemies as well. That’s what God intends.

Pray for the souls of Martyrs who have gone to their rest

But also for the killers that they might too be blessed!

Pray that they may see the light that love brings to the world

And that satan’s war flags may never be unfurled!

Love alone can conquer hate. Revenge is never right!

To view the world in love and peace would be a wondrous sight!

Ode to The Pancake

My wife made me a pancake,

It was a pure delight.

She did it just for my sake

It was a wondrous sight!

With lemon juice and sugar,

Which I like a lot,

I lapped it up with fervour

While it was piping hot!

It’s only on Shrove Tuesday,

That I get such a treat.

There must be another way

To get enough to eat!

Hypocrisy

I’ve had to test my motives when I’m writing all this verse

Is it to help me meditate or really something worse?

If it’s purely for my benefit why do I publish it?

Am I only showing off  -and not just a little bit!

Why do I look so avidly to see who follows me?

Am I merely curious to find who might agree?

I admit that I do like it when people say, “well done”

Maybe I’m a glory freak, not just doing it for fun?

Sure I started writing as my way to meditate

And forsaking eating chocolate was a pretty horrid fate!

Perhaps my explanation that it made me think in Lent

Of other things than chocolate was not really meant?

That having to forgo it would be a dreadful blow?
Am I just that shallow? – perhaps I’ll never know!

Am I just an addict for other people’s praise?

When people like my poetry do I gloat for days?

Am I just a hypocrite pretending to be pure,

When all the time I’m really, smelling like manure?

Of course I am a mixture of all that’s good and bad

And sure I’m not regretting the pleasure that I’ve had.

Lord, just search my conscience and keep me on the way

Ensure that my hypocrisy can never have it’s day!