Seasons
Of Spirit, Relationships, &Nature
Poetry & A Lakeside Nature Journal
by Eleanor Niemela Beachy Photography by Perry J. Beachy
Acknowledgements: “a prayer,” “Faith Is Strong,” “We see You Now,” “To Remember,” “The Question,” “Communion at a Country Church,” and “On a Sunday Morning” appeared in Purpose Magazine; “A Star” in Gospel Herald; “Faith Is Strong” and “Now the Children Will Sing” in in touch; “Skin” in The Instructor.
2015 © SEED PUBLISHING Eleanor Niemela Beachy 353 West Cedar Street Hesston, Kansas 67062 No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or by any information storage without permission in writing from the copyright owner. Library of Congress Control Number: 2014960272 Cover design, book design and layout by Jim L. Friesen Printed in the United States of America by Mennonite Press, Inc., Newton, KS, www.mennonitepress.com
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Dedicated to the memory of Perry who makes his appearance in this book more than once
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Contents Introduction | vii
Seasons of Spirit
a prayer | 1 Small Acts of Worship | 2 Faith Is Strong | 3 God of the Universe | 4 Night Cries | 6 A Star | 7 Breaking News | 8 Welcome, Jesus | 10 We See You Now | 11 Communion at a Country Church | 12 To Remember | 13 Mary, Mary | 14 God Round Us | 15 Round World | 16 We Hesitate to Leave | 17 The Question | 18 Now the Children Will Sing | 19
Seasons of Relationships I Loved It More | 23 The Sweater | 24 It Was a Day Like This | 25 My Sister, Lorraine | 26 When I Think of a Rose | 27 On a Sunday Morning | 29 Wedding Song | 30 To Perry: You Are the One | 31
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Riding Mountains | 32 Soon, Very Soon | 33 Skin | 34 This Monster Pill | 35 Tea at 3:00 | 36 Chibi Chan: The Cosmopolitan Cat | 38 To Jonathan: You Keep Singing | 40 Interpreter | 43 Killing Buffalo | 46 Pursue Peace | 49 I Walk Down the Corridors | 50 My Small Apartment | 51 My Companion | 52 Cycle | 53 Memories | 54 Timeline | 55 Journey’s End | 56
Seasons of Nature
A Celebration of Seasons | 59 Sing Spring | 61 Summer Soliloquy | 62 November in Kansas | 64 Windsong’s Refrain | 65
A Lakeside Nature Journal A Pocket of Wilderness | 69 Spring | 71 Summer | 77 Autumn | 83 Winter | 89 About the Author | 92
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Introduction All life passes through seasons. We think of seasons in nature. We also experience growth and change in relationships and in spirit. These areas of life are, of course, not separate; nevertheless, I have used these divisions to give the book a structure. I often had difficulty deciding where to put a certain poem. The opening section, seasons of spirit, is of first importance as one’s relationship to God is connected to every other sphere of life. The section, seasons of relationships, relates to one’s connections to others. The final section, seasons of nature, includes a journal with lakeside observations of the natural world. Some poems were written especially for children. Though I have been writing poetry throughout my lifetime, many of these poems were written after I retired from pastoral ministry and so reflect later seasons of life.
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Seasons of Spirit
seasons of spirit
a prayer . . . take the winter of my heart, warm it gently till i bear fruit of the Spirit . . .
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seasons of spirit
Small Acts of Worship Small acts of worship— I smell a flower. I kiss a baby. I hum a tune. I talk with a friend. I plant a seed. I watch a hummingbird. I eat a strawberry. I clean a church. I pet a kitten. I pick a tomato. I feel the rain. I say, “Thank you.”
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seasons of spirit
Faith Is S trong Faith is strong that prays for deliverance, receives a miracle, and so loves God. Faith is strong that prays for deliverance, receives no miracle, and still loves God. Faith is strong that prays for deliverance, believing that with or without a miracle, God ever loves.
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seasons of spirit
God of the Universe God of the Universe, do you work night and day to keep everything in motion—
Sun speeding light 186,000 miles a second to far-flung, circling Planets following their orbital paths, some bringing along satellite Moons revolving around them; simultaneously all—Sun, Planets, Moons— rotating on their axes, Earth wobbling a little (they say)— thousands of Asteroids in their home belt between Mars and Jupiter, tumbling end-overend, rock and metal bodies crashing, hurling Meteoroids through space to appear in Earth’s sky as luminous streaks before disintegrating; others on long stretched-out orbits, Earth-grazers, passing close to our own Planet— millions of Comets enclosing, like a giant balloon, the whole Solar System; some pulled out of the swarm, beginning hundreds of years’ journeys toward the Sun, their dust-covered icy snowballs melting into gases blown by solar wind, forming long tails trailing behind, sweep around the Sun to continue their travels, now led by their tails—
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seasons of spirit
billions of Stars—red dwarf, yellow, white, hot blue, double, double double, pulsar, giant red, orange, black, being born or dying, exploding nova—making up the Milky Way Galaxy, our Solar System suspended in one of its spiral arms, among— innumerable other Galaxies, all pushing out into dark space— God of the Universe, do you work night and day to keep everything in motion, or is it all to you just child’s play?
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seasons of spirit
Night Cries Here in the wilds of the north, loons’ cries pierce the night air; haunting calls of longing reverberate over lakes.
From the heart’s wilderness, echoing cries through the mist of existence rise, calling for an answering voice. Filled with morning sun, kitchen clatter and chatter, an ordinary day assures; even so, I ask, “Did you hear the loons last night?” No one had. They were asleep. Will I hear the tremolo cries again tonight? Will they again, at first light, take flight?
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seasons of spirit
A S tar Look there— a star so bright, the moon seems dim. And brighter still it shines! Do you? Do you think? think it leads to him?
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seasons of spirit
Breaking News
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The night is still. Shepherds sit upon a hill to watch their sheep. Some shepherds are asleep.
Wake up! Wake up! Look there! Huh? What? What’s happening here? Is it a lion? Is it a bear? No, no, look, look there! Where? I cannot see. The light— it is too bright. There an angel stands so still before the shepherds on a hill. The shepherds now are all awake. With fear, they shake. I have good news for you— news of great joy for everyone! To you, this day, the Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ, the Lord. You will know him by this sign: you will find him lying in a manger, a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. Glory to God on high, Peace to those on earth. Let’s go! Let’s go! Don’t be so slow! This night is like no other. We must find the child and mother. 8
seasons of spirit
What about the sheep? They are asleep. We will leave them in God’s care. We have no time to spare! They hurry to the town where the child is found, lying in a manger. Now they fear no danger. There they kneel and say, “Thank you, God, for this day. Now we can go to let everyone know what we have heard and seen— that Christ has come to redeem the world and show us how to live, how receive, how give, how forgive, that wars may cease and all may live in peace.” Tell me, tell me, friend, tell me how this poem will end. *may be presented as Readers Theater
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seasons of spirit
Welcome, Jesus
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We welcome you, Jesus, please come to our home. We’re ready and waiting, come make us your own. Let love, joy, and kindness in our hearts abound to share with our neighbors and friends world around.
*may be sung to tune of “Away in a Manger.”
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