Experience Making a Difference

Experience Making a Difference

Retreat Poems

by | Jul 12, 2016

For this week’s reflection, we share a collection of poetry written by IVC Volunteers and Core Community Members during an IVC Retreat of the DC-Metro Maryland and Northern Virginia communities.

There Is Nothing I Shall Want

The world is my refuge

And all creation nurtures me.

My mind sees danger

But my heart feels love.

I ponder the blue of the robin‘s egg

And truth and beauty stand with me.

Together we listen and then we

Hear the song of joy, the voice of love.

Tony Albrecht

 

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The news today was awful:

Terrifying poverty,

Illness out of proportion

Wars and hatred

My soul is in turmoil and filled with angst.

I feel helpless.

Off to the woods to drink in Nature

See the birds still chirp in their nests

The brook rambles over its rocky bottom

A deer peeks out between two trees

The cicadas come out on their 13 year cycle

I am comforted

No matter what choices we make

All is right with the world.

Pequitte Schwerin

 

Life’s Refuge

When my life is in a nit

Where can I find a fit?

That opens doors

To Heaven‘s floor,

And sooths my soul a bit.

It isn‘t in my daily bin

Of e-mails stacks so high

I find it in my companion‘s

Sense of being bye and bye.

Richard Urban

 

 

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I stand and in the depths

Of a green wood

And I cannot see a future

For my despair.

But then, a flashing bit

Of red lands on a bough

And I know that Someone

Sees my grief — and cares.

Pat Dunigan

 

Be Not Afraid

I find this world a scary place

And am overwhelmed by

Its burdens.

Yet I am not afraid.

I rest awhile in God‘s

Creation and see

That it is good

I embrace the gift of

His peace

With grateful heart

Anon

 

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When despair for the world grows in me

Often blind and unseeing

I feel your presence

In another, a word, a touch.

Your graces push me forward

Like a gentle hand on my back

Grace Rissetto

 

Water is life

Powerful and fearful when stirred

Refreshing and filling when consumed

Deep and mysterious and peaceful

When still and standing

Deeply rich in symbolism and

Eternal meaning

Coming into the presence of still water

Is a privilege, a joy and a grace.

Stillness and peace be with you

And with your Spirit.

Coralee Hoffman