WHERE THE LEAVES DANCE

For Mom

A soft breeze, a gentle sigh,

I’ll be where the leaves dance.

I’ll look up through at skies of blue

and fall within a trance.

In relaxed state, I’ll contemplate

and hear the wood thrush echoing.

His gorgeous tune releases me,

a distant place is beckoning.

How could God make these woods so fine?

All worries are asunder.

I’ll close my eyes and take it in,

this quiet place of wonder.

The LORD will give strength unto his people;
the LORD will bless his people with peace.
Psalm 29:11


WHERE THE LEAVES DANCE
…and where the wind lists,
                      where the Spirit resides,
                                            and where the tree yields.

Therefore, since we have been made right

in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God

because of what Jesus Christ our Lord

has done for us.

Romans 5:1

I remember when I wrote today’s featured poem. We were sitting around our campfire place made of a circle of stones on a picture-perfect day in the woods. There was no fire now, only the beauty of a clear summer day at high noon. Leaning my head back against the chair, I looked up through the heavy-leafed maple trees to the blue sky and occasional white puffy cloud passing by. But I didn’t see much of the sky. All the many leaves of the trees around me gave me a kaleidoscope view of varying green shapes. And they were dancing.

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
John 3:8

We can’t see the wind or where it comes from. Yet, we see its effects. There is peace in knowing God is in control. The Bible states that only someone born of water and of the Spirit can enter the kingdom of God (verse 5). He sends the wind where He will. When our senses are awakened by that Holy Spirit wind, we maintain our faith in the sixteenth verse further down in the third chapter of John:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

Look what faith can do! Many people have memorized John 3:16. It’s a verse that I think sums up the whole Bible. The leaves dancing in the wind remind us of the peace Jesus Christ gives to those who believe in Him. It’s the peace of knowing God’s Spirit residing in your heart. Belief equals being born of the Spirit because we live by faith. And this present life turns into everlasting life.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27

That peace given only by Jesus helps us lean back and trust our loving Creator. When we know tragedy, we can pray. Through difficulties that God allows, prayer becomes sustenance. In pain and peace, we continue to pray. It’s not about what we can’t do in life’s hardships. It’s about what we can do. Abraham, Elijah, Hannah and Esther all pleaded in prayer with God. Can you think of other people in the Bible who pleaded with God our Friend in prayer? Or, maybe you know of people who do around you today. It’s true that prayer warriors lived before us and among us today.

That peace caused me to briskly walk up to the house, grab paper and pen and jot down a poem. It would become a favorite poem of my mother’s and the one I read at her funeral ten years ago. It’s the peace that assures a beautiful place and time, like the new Heaven and Earth described in Isaiah 65. It’s the peace that offers another opportunity in the morning to live a victorious life. It’s the peace described in Revelation 22 around the Tree of Life where the leaves are for the healing of the nations.

A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
Proverbs 15:13

By prayer, may you continue to rely on God’s Word to keep your heart merry and your spirit at peace.