lovely and true

August 13, 2016 by Rick Stassi you

grove of trees Renoir

peace comes in drops of rain
light piercing in prismatic plane
with hopeful glances far above
He is near and cradles in love

when do we fill the gap of vanity
and overflow like tourmaline sea?
i ponder inward and see my flaw
knowing God’s restoration in awe

renewal waxes in unfurling leaf
soft green waves silent absence brief
my Creator will not leave my aching heart
He is watchful and shall never part

I hope someday I will see
into myself amber lens free
to see the possibilty of finding anew
what God has always seen lovely and true.

treatise 2

August 1, 2016 by Rick Stassi you

Pablo Picasso

For now
we see through a glass, darkly;
but then face to face:
now I know in part;
but then shall I know
even as also I am known.

1 Corinthians 13:12 KJV

How I long to
See deeper into
My soul
To understand
How God sees me
And you.

Would I then
Learn to love
Even more
As I see
the depth of
His love?

rickjstassi

treatise

July 31, 2016 by Rick Stassi you

Peasants beneath Trees at Moret by Camille Pissarro

For God
so loved the world
that He gave
His only begotten
Son,
that whoever believes
in Him
should not perish
but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

conceding petals

January 27, 2014 by Rick Stassi you

“Bend in the Epte”
Claude Monet

in my continued progress,
time is relentless.
opting temporarily cessation,
to extend roots
and grow a bit.
i’ll be like a flower with
petals lithe, color-bright,
for another small season.
but O my soul soon writhing –
the struggle and bleating
of this one lost, wandering…
Would green grass illude?
How fast the slope entraps.
Spellbound in temptation
The darkness flows overhead
like a cool, fast river.
i have seen respite
yet still I will cool my feet
in those rushing waters
and end up
with a heart in quandary.
pleading for simplicity
and getting a string-pull
like a marionette
straightening up –
conceding petals will dry
and so my feet as well
and on i go.

rick

a prayer for a thistle

September 17, 2013 by Rick Stassi you

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. Revelations 21:5 (KJV)

Your guardian eyes so warm, removing harm and protecting my way each day. Watched over, I feel safe, secure and steeped in Love. It is Your eyes, Lord, that see me through each abrasion and each incident, turning mismatched moments into seeds of goodness planted deep into my soul. O blissful thought. Watchful eyes turning a bitter and acrid outlook into welcoming warmth. Yes, this is how I hope to be: drawing those into my warmth You provided rather than exuding the bitter glare of the past things in me still half hidden. It is Your guardian eyes that envelope me.

In Your goodness, I forge through paths of nettles and thistle. A thorny weed with a pretty flower is still a thorny weed. Discern appearances, lest be deceived. You tell me this in my heart – answering my prayer, knowing I am mismatched with the surroundings I am in. Separated into goodness. So many scratches on my legs. I was drawn in by the thistle and her pretty purples and blues. Captivated, my eyes deceptively were drawn in. However, I listen to You and know even weeds deserve love. I see their way, misled perspective – short and shallow. They are the remnants of seeds planted on soil not quite prepared enough. Nutrients escape and the hardened clay offers a bed where adaptation is required to survive. Even then, the purples lure. The best you can do poor thistle. Compassion burns within me. God’s goodness brings hope.

Your unmistakable voice, O Lord, thunder and lightning, across valleys scorching mountain tops. Righteousness and truth ought be remembered: “I am God and I am with you”. For the ages. I hear You Father. You will shout and you will whisper. A shout is necessary for me wading ever deeper into the river ready to carry all things to nowhere. I turn back to the water’s edge. Then at night with gentle moon and quiet stars you whisper sweet psalms of joy and wisdom into my heart. It is Your love, both ways. You saved me from the sweeping river to nowhere to bless me with whispers of love. So warm, so loved.

Your guardian eyes, Lord. Steel gaze on all things around. No less me with my eyes looking back. A single tear, a prayer for a thistle. You see her Father. I do too, praying I do through Your eyes. For what You have done for me is ever engraved in my soul and I must break ground and harrow clay to loam. Nutrients are in Your Word and water from Your Spirit. Plant seeds anew and where the thistle once only adapted and survived. Now a blanket of jonquils, daisies, and tulips color the land with yellows and reds. Figs and pears come from trunks stout and firm – roots well watered. Wheat grows for bread. Daily bread.

Oh how I love You. Can I love You more? These days pass and ahead is the horizon – sun waning and moon waxing. All the splendor of Your harmonious way. Help me Lord forge through. To see good. To forgive those adapted to bad. To see guardian eyes looking down upon my upward gaze, Warm, I am, and Loved too. It is wonderful in this way Father. Your path under Your gaze and guided by Your voice. All is bliss, heaven and earth.

Listening, waiting…

July 22, 2013 by Rick Stassi you

Artist: Rick Stassi

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.
Philemon 1:7

What do I hear, O Lord?
The voices of many and the ways they afford.
But it brings me strength and movement toward
Growing in Your family in one accord

What do others do, O God?
With a staff and a rod
Within Your kingdom
To those I laud.

What do others see, Father of all?
Obediently forward in their call.
With their eyes ever seeking truth and love.
Joining together, the enemy’s appall

What do others say, Father of Life?
Promoting joy amongst your children rife.
With their hearts in deepening love,
This their weapon – double-edged knife

So, I beg, give me Your word, Father of mine
That direction is heard toward the will of Thine!
That I would be blessed to share your work
As with my loving brethren, You give me that sign.

rick

home

July 11, 2013 by Rick Stassi you

home is a
Light well lit.
There in my heart
discarding my wit.
placing dreams of gold
and arms of love –
pierced then healed,
my guardian shield
subduing fear I feebly wield.
eyes upon my soul now pure
tis my home i reason, so sure
to where He beckons –
to where dew shant dry
and roots shall pry
deep to Living water.
Beacon of hope.
It is home I go
for He is there
His heart shall provoke
my glowing soul upon this night
Dark bird of prey shall now take flight!
For I shall stay home,
and will surely scare
and rebuke the preying dark bird away
for home with God protected I stay.

Now reborn

July 4, 2013 by Rick Stassi you

I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.
Psalm 77:6 (KJV)

So, what is this song haunting so deep?
Passed melodies I once did reap.
I call upon darkened past
To view a journey, shadow cast.

In this shadow, I see my face,
Sullen eyes, somber pace.
Never enough to fill my soul!
Downtrodden heart, sorrowful role.

Remembrance of obedience lost.
Try to find! I must, I must at all cost.
For what I knew and what I now know,
Shows me why my pace was so slow.

Happiness is kindled straw ablaze,
Resting on time I shall only raze.
“But soon, but soon,” my Lord did say,
Your somber steps shall come my way.

Summer songs, haunting heart
To search and toss so as to part.
Only to find songs will stay
In caverns deep attempt hold sway.

Darkness, light, converge to a point
where He is, the One who God did Anoint.
Now all caverns deep inside,
Searched each day, time to bide.

So, search me Lord, I wait for You
Your diligence mine, O mine so true
A song is heard in echo at morn
A new soul is now reborn.

embraced

June 25, 2013 by Rick Stassi you

Artist: Sean Seal

Embers glowing, fire bright
Warmth protrudes from what is light
From afar we view, you take my hand
Such distance to travel to this venerated land
Through freezing field I traipse a pilgrim’s journey
But I worry not because you’re with me
And tarry not, the gait is swift
A lightened load gives me a lift
Our teardrop joins, hearts both break
For broken, disheartened, souls yet to wake
How I love this walk – time with you
In this moment virtues ne’er misconstrue
My feet are cold, the hoarfrost stings
I shall endure these trifling things
I waver once and look at you
Eyes of brown, hazel and blue
All of the colors, spectrum bright
The warmth afar yet still in sight.
You and I alone in this space
Time to thank, sing, embrace
For your hand I hold on dear
Removes all doubt, removes all fear
I love you now with all my heart
You love me too right from the start
And frosted path is stinging feet
Endure it now until Maker meet
I shall endure as life meanders well
Ever with you gives so much to tell
Closer now, face dark to light
’twas not me, ’twas your might
Rapping now upon the door
Peaceful…feet they sting no more
And bright inside shines ember glow
I look outside to see the snow
Another comes, soon even more
An ever rapping to narrow door
Love is bright and frost is cold
Time to realize young to old
But only in this earthly place
For by the fire, age disgrace
And I am calm, ’tis peacefulness
All I have seen gone to rest
But surprisingly joy is at hand
My presence embraced, His demand.

flailing at darkness, uncertainty lost

June 2, 2013 by Rick Stassi you

Artist Credit: Sean Seal

“And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.
Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.”
1 Corinthians 9:25,26 (NKJV)

so where is it that one should strive?
to win a race that we contrive?
to rush about is foolish still
to win a crown, not of God’s will

yet we try alone
under the strength of sinew and bone
to pull ahead of the slower one
and be satisfied for a fruitless race well run

all for naught in this season’s light
for alone is Sorrow’s, fruitless plight
perishable is the crown for which we compete
bypassing the Lord Who will complete

so awaken thus with determined heart
the race has begun, His good work’s start
my mood is level with steady gait
imperishable crown at end awaits

so i take on this godly feat
uncertain once, at emptiness my flailing fists beat
dark uncertainty shant admit defeat
against dark shadows I shall no longer compete

light falls upon victorious dawn
a hand of strength helps us along
and each day a new certainty
that God will increase, His eyes we see.