Beyond The Rim…

The Good Shepherd

From fear of the wolf and the lion
The Good Shepherd frees.
Into pastures of joy and plenty
The Good Shepherd leads.

From wandering and the pain of loneliness
The Good Shepherd consoles.
Into everlasting love and joy
The Good Shepherd enrolls.

You call us friend
Though Creator God.
You call us brethren
Though Lord of All.

We bow,
We bend our knees,
We worship You:
The Good Shepherd of all.

by William Meisheid ©2008

Member of The Church of the Good Shepherd
Ellicott City/Columbia, Maryland

One of the blogs I visit, Rebecca Writes, had a post on children’s poetry and I left a quick little poem in the comments. I decided to edit it a bit and post it here.

Girls and Boys

Girls are soft, with rounded edges
Boys are hard, and burst through hedges

Girls will cry, and it ruins their day
Boys will sniffle, and be on their way

Girls all giggle, but then hold it in
Boys all guffah, with sidesplitting grin

Girls be girls, and who can define?
Boys be boys, and mellow like wine

©William Meisheid 2007

Life is composed of choices. As a Christian, I make every attempt to submit any choics of consequence to prayerful consideration (e.g. not things like which sandwich to have for lunch). This poem came out of a time of many choices and I guess the thing we all strive for is after having made our choice we will have no regrets, knowing it was the best we could do.

Choices
©2002, 2005 William Meisheid

God, grant my prayerful plea
look deep into the heart of me
help me to choose as you direct
the right and true path to select
and when the moment passes on
with no regrets I carry on

Grace and peace to your day and may God be with you in all the choices you have to make today. May you go to your rest with no regrets.

Update: George posted this response, which I think is wonderful and I did not want it to get lost in the comments.

With this regret I carry on:
That I had swerved when called to serve.
The path I chose seemed good to me,
Though where it led brought ought to Thee.

Yet this regret is not my end.
You lead me on Your Way to live.
The path you show is good for me,
And where it leads is home with Thee.

I get regular hits on several of my poems, with many of those people going to the poetry category and looking at my other efforts. I just realized that one of my efforts was not included within my poetry category because it was part of my post hosting the XXX Christian Carnival. So in an effort to include that little bit of verse with all the rest, I have decided to post it separately. I think the poem is self-explanatory, but it might help to know that the impetus for writing it was the radical change going on in my life at the time, which in many ways was being turned up side down.

The Question
©2001 William Meisheid

There are many things that I could have been
Many things that I could yet be
Yet one thing lies beyond my keen
God, what would you have of me?

I stumbled across a potty training discourse (thank you, I think, Rebecca) and discovered they even have potty training poetry. That inspired me, sorta.

Emancipation Proclamation
©2005 William Meisheid

Potty, potty
my little child.
Away from me
have you guiled
yourself into freedom.

Have a good day in Christ Jesus our Lord and remember all the little steps to self reliance and freedom that you have taken in the ongoing journey of life.

This is an anonymous poem that speaks to the sovereignty of God. Offered for your Sunday meditation.

When God wants to drill a man,
and thrill a man,
and skill a man;
When God wants to mold a man,
to play the noblest part,
When He yearns with all His heart
to create so great and bold a man,
…that all the world will be amazed;
WATCH His methods! - WATCH His ways!

How He ruthlessly perfects
whom He Royally Elects!
How He hammers him,
and hurts him,
…and with mighty blows,
converts him
…into trial shapes of clay
which only God understands.

While his tortured heart is crying,
and he lifts beseeching hands,
How he bends but never breaks,
when His good He undertakes.
How He uses whom He chooses,
and with every purpose fuses him,
…by every act induces him,
to try His splender out;
God knows what he’s about.

Sometimes, while reading something I get inspired and if I seize the moment a poem appears, for the well touched by an a sudden insight can run deep and long and should not be untested. I was looking at the search words used to get to this site and a person had entered poem bereavement “missing you”. It took them to a poem I had written to my wife about missing her while away and from that well came this image of how I would grieve at her passing.

Love and Death
©2005 William Meisheid

Weary eyes from flushing out
The pain of death
The pain of doubt

Weary hands from putting aside
Memories of you
What will abide?

I scream and rant and rail away
Draining my heart
Passing the day

Alone I touch the empty place
Where once you laid
Touching my face

Please O God who holds all things dear
Keep my love safe
Banish the fear

It is not the end I say with hope
I trust in him
In him I cope

Remember me as I remember you
Through love and death
My heart is true

I borrowed the title from an article at such small hands on the death of Hunter S. Tompson, a man who did it his way to the very end. Her article title is just one magnificent tag line. It inspired me to write the following poem. Be kind. Please.

A Life in the Key of Lost

We strain and strive to find our place
Within the span of time and space
Some choosing to live the examined life
Others seeking to avoid the strife
Yet all appraised by someone, somewhere

Our lives play out on a public stage
Some quiet, and some with rage
Some seeking to break the ties that bind
Others wanting only to find
Someone who stays long enough to care

The questions intrude even unasked
Leaving the souls of all unmasked
We run and hide or bluster and bully
Yet still the inexorable pulley
Lifts the hidden into the light to wait

Who’s the fool and who’s the victor?
Those loose or those stricter?
The key lies beyond the curtain
When arrives the moment certain
Of nothing or something, but yet too late

For as a tree falls so shall it lie
For good use or just to die
Too late our souls reach the final door
With key to open or nevermore
No locksmith left to pay the cost

And then the moment of moments arrives
Out the shade, out the lies
When all is laid out for all to see
Who it is that found the victory
Or was left with a life in the key of lost?

This is a poem inspired by the many faces we seem to posses, depending on who and how is looking at us.

What Do We See?

Looking in the mirror
what do I see?
The best, the noblest,
the good part of me.

Walking in the world
what do they see?
The faults, the failures,
the worst bit of me.

Looking at the Savior
what do I see?
The author, the finisher,
of all that will be.

Looking in the mirror
what do I see?
The change, the struggle
of the Christ in me.

Looking at the person
what do you see?
The new man, the old man,
the pain to be free?

I once thought of trying to write for Hallmark. You know, the verses on the inside of the cards you buy. Much of what I have written as poetry over the years has been informal and in direct response to a need at hand, such as a bereavement card, the card we put on a wedding present, or in letters or emails to friends and family. I wrote this one for my wife when I was away on a job.

Missing You
Copyright 1995 William Meisheid

Weary eyes, guide weary hands
To write the lines that cross the lands
To send to you and you alone
A wish of love, a wish of home.

Update: A lot of people come to this posting from search engines using the phrase “missing you poem” or something similar. Welcome. You are invited to view my other poetry (click here) or maybe you would prefer just looking at a poem I wrote to my wife expressing the grief that I would feel if she died (click here). For whatever reason you are here, I pray that God would touch the purpose that brought you here, since it appears that there is someone you are missing in your life. May the love of Jesus Christ bring grace and peace to your day. If you are looking for someone to talk to, email me.