"Sunflowers Along Emmaus Road"

Photo by Maude

SUNFLOWERS ALONG EMMAUS ROAD

Israel Pilgrimage—1986

Big, bodacious sunflowers

live up to their name

sun-shining a million

dazzling petal spires at us

along Emmaus Road

It is fitting

because I am ablaze

with Jesus-joy

to be here

as I think about my newly

Resurrected Lord, vanishing

at the very breaking

of the bread

astonishing the disciples

who sat with Him

at table

Those utterly bewildered disciples

whose hearts thumped

and blazed

with glory fire

as He walked with them

as He explained to them

the Holy Scriptures

2000 years ago

somewhere

along this very road

Maude Carolan Pych

It's Sunflower Season!

I never have much luck with sunflowers. This summer, I must have planted 200 seeds in my backyard, and some in my daughter's backyard in Ringwood, and I also gave my sister a handful of seeds. One plant survived the birds, the little creatures, and the elements. Here is a photo of my splendid sole surviving sunflower and a poem about someone I do not know who had much greater success than I, a few years ago.

Photo by Maude
of this year's sole surviving sunflower

FREE GIFTS

For weeks now

I’ve been driving by a house

on Totowa Road

that holds no distinction

except for a vibrant flower garden

in front and around the side

What catches my glance

and causes me to smile

are perhaps thirty or forty

big golden sunflowers

shouting for attention

Today I printed

eight sunflower poems

folded them neatly

and placed them in an envelope

decorated with a scribbled sketch

of a solitary sunflower

and a note saying

“I love them, too!”

and left the envelope

by the front door

of the house on Totowa Road

Sometimes I leave bereavement poems

on a table at a neighborhood mausoleum

or give copies of The Widow’s Song

to newly widowed friends

Sometimes I mail poems

about butterflies

to people who love them

and regularly post poems on my blog

about God’s love and His mercy

with the hope

of reaching those

who need encouragement

When the one who gifted me

with a garden of sunbursts

opens the door today

I hope my simple poems

generate a smile

Maude Carolan Pych

At the Mount of Beatitudes

Photo credit: amite.photoshelter.com

BLESSED AT THE MOUNT OF BEATITUDES

Israel Pilgrimage—1986

At the Mount of Beatitudes

Wayne^[1] suggests we each find

a quiet spot to spend

time alone with God

so I stroll along a pathway

surrounding the church

built in the name of

the Lord’s great message

to the multitudes

In a few moments I hear baa baaing

and follow the sound to the top of a hill

with sheep and a shepherd in view below

I sit on a low wall

to watch and carefully listen

for the voice of my Shepherd

amid plaintive bleating

I, too, am one of His sheep

I, too, have things to tell him

and don’t want to miss

anything He might have to say

This is communion—

a lamb with her Shepherd

I bask awhile in sweet serenity

aware of a holy presence

as the sheep graze

and the shepherd, like Jesus

carefully tends his flock

Afterward, we pilgrims come together—

No one else heard the sheep

No one else saw the shepherd

The interlude was for me alone

a gift from my God—

a simple blessing

to one little lamb He loves

Maude Carolan Pych

---

[1] Wayne Monbleau—Pilgrimage leader and host of “Let’s Talk About Jesus” radio program.

The Metamorphosis of a Butterfly

Photo credit: walldevil.com

METAMORPHOSIS

Once I was a caterpillar, dwelling upon the earth,

Crawling along day by day, adept at feigning mirth.

I only knew the earthy life, I thought that that was it;

I took what terra firma gave, the pleasures and the grit.

There was no beauty in me.  No one ever looked here twice,

Few cared if I were evil, no one knew if I were nice.

I was only concerned with myself, what the earth could give,

Yet, inside I was sensing a far better way to live.

Instinct led me to spin a thread and weave a neat cocoon;

I became a living mummy, wrapped tight within my tomb.

What was happening to me?  I tried to kick and shout,

“Help me!  Open up this thing!  I want to get right out!”

No one heard and I was powerless, so I went to sleep,

Not knowing what was ahead of me, feeling something deep.

I don’t know how much time went by within my tiny tomb,

But sensed that I was being changed, as one inside a womb.

Finally, instinct worked in me.  There was a sudden urge

To break out of my chrysalis and from the dark emerge.

Somehow, I then received the strength to burst my being free;

Alas, the golden Light broke through and there was a new me!

I took some time to understand, some time to wonder why,

Then I just shook myself a bit and I began to fly!

And `lo, I was so beautiful, and `lo, I saw the sun...

Oh, after living on the earth, soaring was great fun!

A wretched worm was I no more, I knew that that was true,

I was reborn and I became a creation wholly new!

A butterfly!  A butterfly!  I received my wings,

Glorious splendors of the Heavens, all the higher things.

All old things have passed away, they’ll never come again;

I’ve set my mind on things above, on these I will attend.

Now, even when I swoop to earth and walk upon the ground,

I’ll never be a worm again...I’m Butterfly...glory bound!

Praise God for metamorphosis, it’s by His loving grace

That I’m a new creation now, and I shall see His Face.

Maude Carolan