POWER of PRAISE
Poetry of Spiritual Christianity
by Branch Isole
Copyright © 2010
Smashwords Edition
eBook ISBN 978-0983574477
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the publisher.
Manao Publishing
Hampton, VA 23666
Order copies of this eBook at
www.branchisole.com
“Many write of things known or experienced, I comment on those seen and heard.”
for Christopher John Gentile
1961-2008
“Everyone who knew Chris
genuinely liked him.”
“And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly
and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”
~Luke 22:44
*******************************************************
Contents
Ainokea
Birthing Partner
Blessings
Brothers in Arms
Clouds
Comedian
Coming Out
Conflict
Cruel and Usual
Deadly Sins
Differentials
Electrical Orchestration
Fellowship of Believers Prayer
First Rule of Correction
Gentle Breeze
God’s Many Ways
Grave Situation
He Is . . . ?
He Whom He Sent
Held
Hook
In Peace
In The Wake
Influences
Lahaina Town Crier
Last Ride
O Lord
On My Knees
Overweight
Parousia Timetable
Passion Soliloquy
Patrician Prayer
Penance
Pilot
Poison
Printed in Red
Reclamation
Requiem Nails
Rewards
See Saw
State of Being
Stewardship
Stream of Consciousness
Tempered Temptations
The Box
The Way
The Word
Up In Smoke
Waiting Game
Within, Without
Worlds
Worship Questions
Introduction
1God’s Love.
One of the great struggles for the Christian is the double edge sword of discipleship. With the eventual realization and therefore necessary acceptance to follow Jesus Christ, belief slowly becomes a prerequisite response of everyday action and not merely a one-time conversion of understanding.
Having surrendered with enlightened intentions to faithfully emulate Christ, many believers may discover the trials and tribulations in their lives increasing with exacerbated intensity and/or frequency.
Two reasons this may occur are: First, the forces of evil in the world do not wish to lose even one soul to the discipleship of Jesus Christ. If you are familiar with the Bible then you’re aware that Satan already knows how the story ends. The devil knows the will of God better than any man or woman alive and he is cognizant of his destiny. With this knowledge, his sole mission is to take with him into the depths of the abyss and to separate from God as many souls as possible.
The second reason is as much a part of God’s plan for each of us, as is His allowance of the force of evil itself. It is found in His providential granting of our ‘free will’ to choose and decide our own spiritual fate. God waits patiently to discover if our behavioral responses of repentance will finally take root in our hearts with each revised penitent commitment we make.
Will we exhibit our decision to come closer to Him through obedience to His word by ‘staying the course’ on a path of faithful belief? Or do we continue to ask for a momentary reprieve from the perils of our immediate troubles and then silently slip back into our daily existence of self?
Life is full of struggle and we each experience trouble and heartbreak. Jesus advised of this reality in His sermons and parable teachings while giving guidance and instruction as to our human condition. In the Gospels he proclaims “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.” It is here we find the answer which many Christians miss, others search for, and most grapple with. True Christian belief and discipleship is grounded in the principle of daily denying of self and daily living in obedience to God’s Word; through the examples, thoughts, words and deeds of Jesus the Christ.
A co-existence between the spiritual and the pragmatic is essential. Not only does God know and love each of us as we are, but more importantly He is waiting for each of us to
know and accept Him for who He is.
This acknowledgment of God coupled with a new found understanding of His love and compassion encourages us to accept ourselves and discover His Son’s examples of how we should live and treat each other. Jesus described this treatise on life in the biblical account of Matthew 22:37 when He instructs us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. . . and Love your neighbor as yourself.”
There are none who are better in God’s eyes, for each transgression against His holy instruction is unacceptable in his sight. When we come to realize and understand this, it frees us to look for and learn a different way to live; in obedience to Him and at peace with each other.
Branch Isole
“If we get too moral we may forget we are sinners.”
~Henry David Thoreau
************************************************************************
1Ainokea
God’s spoken words
in declaration of His universal sovereignty
for all to hear and understand
were contained in His statement
“I am who I am”
Satan,
that fallen angel
unable to take
God’s Holy place
was cast to earth
to plague and lead astray
this whole human race
With temptations, deceit, lies
and sin
his job each day
souls to win
Gathering to his side
all who might into the abyss ride
that they may with him abide
Interesting isn’t it
after all these years
the one who has caused
so many tears
Satan, that old deceiver
has a stronghold grasp
on so many believers
Satan has tried
to be as God from the start
and his success is in
playing man’s heart
Twisting God’s own sovereign words
“I am”
That’s not however
what Satan declares
as he watches and waits
on man’s despair
The devil is no fool
inviting many
to be drawn to him
and his evil ways
By planting seeds
within the common
woman or man
who truly think
it’s all about them
You see it
over and over again
in our behavior
our actions
our irresponsibility
Multitudes worldwide
openly declare
“It’s all about me”
How has Satan
circumvented his place
and condemned those of us
in this human race
who state daily a plethora
of our self purposed Ainokea?
God exclaimed
“I am, I am”
Satan has taught us
to proudly proclaim
“It’s about me”
“It’s about me”
(I am I am)
(Ainokea [pronounced Eye No Key Ah]
Hawaiian connotation for
‘It’s all about me’
literal meaning; “I do what I like”
“I do what I want”)
1Birthing Partner
Visiting his birthing partner
one last time today
Dressed in her finest
she’s finally gone away
Going home
he was told
Prepared for travel
brave and bold
Or was she?
He stared and wondered
Had she planned at all
for this day,
the day she’d be put
down and under
She never talked of it
Not to his knowledge,
not through grade school
high school or even college
Exclaimed she ‘believed’
That was to be
her last word
on the ‘Son of Man’
Now she’ll be
finding out first hand
Bidding farewell
to his birthing partner
of oh so long ago
Until he too arrives postmortem
he will never know
1Blessings
Learning early the fear
of discipline
Not from love
but from falling tears
Cowering back from possibilities
Afraid to go forward
stricken for years.
Again and again
opportunity knocked
Still doubt reigned
over actions and talk.
Sacrificed, on the front
Thrown to lions
and bullies in alleys
Young lives strapped and bound
shackled beneath
down in the galleys
To row ever bow-ward
while facing astern
Left to starve,
to rot and to burn.
Where is the grace
the saving face?
Where is the finish of this race?
Living vicariously
through his own seed
Remembering his longings
his failures
his need.
Waiting and waiting
day by day
As time slips slowly
then faster away
Frightened by his future
Running to,
or from his past
Caught between anticipation and regret
Surely, not the last.
Missing the moment
beating himself up
One more time
not nearly enough.
To be led astray
by those loved and trusted
To attempt one’s own flight
from being used,
abused
scourged
and busted.
Broken bones, broken home
History repeating itself
Realizing finally
We each are alone.
Alone on our journey
from there to here
and perhaps,
even back again
Regaining our souls
Released from our sin.
Sins of the world
Sins of mankind
Actions of evil
continue to bind.
To bind us, to threaten us and finally for death
To be released once again for the ultimate test
Living vicariously
through her own seed
Sensing her longings
her failures
her need.
Waiting and waiting
day by day
As time slips slowly
then faster away
Frightened by her future,
Torn by her past
Caught between anticipation and regret
Surely not the last.
Missing the moment
beating herself up