Memories of Paradise

A common desire
Of God and His love
A yearning for truth
That all souls share of

We know beyond this life
That there is something more
How else can we taste it
If it’s not known before

It seems that all humans
Have inner memories
Of a paradise
That’s been lost to me

Before we felt guilty
Lost and alone
Searching for purpose
We long for our true home

We’ve found through our choices
The price that sin cost
Who can restore
Our innocence lost

Deep in the recesses
In our hearts and mind
Lies the hidden treasure
That we seek to find

We know it’s preciousness
A gift in every breath
Desiring a life
That’s stronger than death

I know that the fact that I am always searching for God, always struggling to discover the fullness of Love, always yearning for the complete truth, tells me that I have already been given a taste of God, of Love, and of Truth.
I can only look for something that I have, to some degree, already found. How can I search for beauty and truth unless that beauty and truth are already known to me in the depth of my heart? It seems that all of us human beings have deep inner memories of the paradise that we have lost. Maybe the word innocence is better than the word paradise. We were innocent before we started feeling guilty; we were in the light before we entered into the darkness; we were at home before we started to search for a home. Deep in the recesses of our minds and hearts there lies hidden the treasure we seek. We know its preciousness, and we know that it holds the gift we most desire: a life stronger than death.

Henri Nouwen

His Voice

What if we spent our day
Here to make the choice
To be in God’s Presence
And listen to His voice

When we brush our hair
In the mirror to see
God says to us
You’re beautiful to me

We look out our window
To a beautiful view
To hear in God’s silence
I made this for you

Our first bite of food
To pause in the flavor
The taste of daily bread
A blessing to savor

When we are hurting
Beloved come to see
Reminding you of
Your identity

When we find the outcast
To see with souls eyes
To come bind within
My Son in disguise

When we hear nothing
What would God say?
He listens to us
Let’s turn now to pray

As stars shining brightly
In reflection above
We count our blessings
Of a day spent in love

Worry and Thankfulness

They performed a study
We can’t hold in our mind
Worry and thankfulness
Both at the same time

When we’re in the presence
Of our God divine
It’s only one word
Of love that we find

In dwelling in him
He cast out all fear
Left with a heart full
Of gratitude here

In both joys and sorrows
Of life that we share
Let our mind be transformed
By a soulful of prayer

Pilgrim

The definition of
A pilgrim to embrace
A person who journeys
To a sacred place

On this Thanksgiving Day
Of one heart let us be
Defined as a pilgrim
On a path that’s holy

From where we have been
Without hope and lost
This sinner was saved
By His Son on a cross

With a grateful heart
For our rescue
And all we can say
To our God, is thank you

As a child of God
In His love, we share it
Born from above
With the Holy Spirit

Showered in gifts
As blessings pour through
And all we can say
To our God, is thank you

With each step of faith
Of pride letting go
The joy of the Lord
And His goodness we know

And when we fall
We’re blessed mercies anew
And all we can say
To our God, is thank you

As His beloved
Our purpose, impart
In building His kingdom
With blessed to take part

He speaks who we are
And our calling to be
My beloved, come build
My kingdom with Me

As one in Christ’s body
With a greater view
And all we can say
To our God, is thank you

His Presence in our soul
Is our Holy place
Where all that is known
Is His love and grace

Our eternal God
Of His Word true
And all we can say
To God is, I love you

And our sacred space
Is faith of the living
Our journey each day
Is one of Thanksgiving

Night Before Thanksgiving

The night before Thanksgiving
To offer up this prayer
To refocus our soul
To help us prepare

With all on our plate
One more thing to do
To turn to our Lord
And let Him love you

Let our focus be
Not on getting fatter
But truly what does
And does not matter

Starting with grace
To let it be okay
If we forget something
To cook or serve this day

Like Mary not Martha
A prayer for our heart
In serving our Lord
Let’s choose the best part

Remember as Christians
How we’re called to live
With each broken soul
Let’s choose to forgive

To make our meal better
No thoughts of “we should”
All we need to taste
Is that our God is good

Our commitment this day
On how we will live
Nourished by the bread
That our Lord does give

No longer bound
By the judgment of man
We have been set free
By love in the Lord’s hands

For a little dessert
So much to enjoy
From gifts of the Spirit
Let us choose joy

From all expectations
Let them release
Let our first thanks be
To receive the Lord’s peace

Now let us begin
In our Lord to rest
Let our thoughts dwell upon
The many ways, we’re blest

So when we awake
I first thought to raise
With a grateful heart
And a soul of true praise

https://suno.com/s/iGmBYEKgIt86j9v0

Psalm 16:11

Our Lord gives to us
This offer daily
Beloved will you
Come and follow me?

Our faith of the living
For us to believe
In response to the blessings
Each day we receive

To open our eyes
Intently aware
In silence and Word
With ears to hear

Through the sense of the soul
Let the Spirit reveal
The love of our God
In our heart, truly feel

And our God awaits
In our response here
Let us be grateful
In His love to share

For You show us the way
Of our soul to pursue
Abounding in joy
In the Presence of you

Fight or Flight

Encountering fear
We share this insight
Engrained in our being
Is to fight or to flight

And if we choose
To respond with a fight
For some situations
It’s wrong and it’s right

And standing our ground
It’s better to stay
When we face danger
We should run away

Let our response be
To pause in a prayer
To escape into being
In Your Presence here

Value

Although it’s part of me
This truth to comprehend
The realization that
My egos not my friend

To know if I am rich
Money’s not the measure
And what I desire
My stuff’s not my treasure

Of who I am
And want to be
That works not my
My identify

My eternal life
And security
Does not depend
All upon me

For everything
Of true value
To know my Lord
Is blessed by you

Prayer of One Body

The Father in His Son
And the Son in He
Their Spirit of love dwells
In the Trinity

That we dwell in Christ
And Christ dwells in me
Each moment of life
And eternally

All that we have
Is given for free
This time and my will
I give back to Thee

Come open our soul
With this great gift to see
A prayer of One body
A miracle to be

Open the Door

Awakening into this
Morning light outpour
To the unknown together
We open the door

Into great silence
One creation, belong
To our own inner voice
With our own unique song

One breath of drawing
Of Spirit above
Bound in one body
In one Word of love

Each step before us
Our Lord intercedes
We’re grateful for blessings
Of planting joy’s seeds

Inviting each other
To God’s view of seeing
To experience the
Miracle of being

We open the door of the unknown together.
We invite each other to experience the miracle of being.

Guillermo Cuéllar