John 4/5/35-12/15/16

May Your Joy Be Complete

John Calvin Spoelhof
April 5, 1935  -  December 15, 2016

 “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, 

just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that 

your joy may be complete.”    John 15:10-11

Two Faces

                 

TWO FACES

Which one will be our leader? 

DonaldReel whose caustic videos 

We watched each night on the

Endless evening news?

Or DonTheActor, 

Presidential at the White House

Or while accepting his win with

Some grace. But truth?

Will we come to see the Actor

Without the shadow of the Reel?

How often will the original emerge

To bully the defenseless?

Can the trumper change his spots?

Or are they tattooed forever on his being.

Can bullying, bigotry and abuse be

Hidden with an actor’s mask?

All Presidents take office with

Hidden handicaps.

This person’s sores are not so hidden

And I fear will soon erupt as to infect us all.

                                                      JoMae
                                                      11/11/16

                                       

Celebrating Shadows

CELEBRATING SHADOWS

Shadows

 play a glorious role in

 the beauty of a sunny day

yet even when there is no bright light to cast them

(either in nature or in the depths of one's concern or grief) 
let the grey remind us that joy is there

though hidden for a time

bright sun, unseen behind the clouds

will break through again
turning shadows into beauty with its

Light

Same Tree. Beauty even in Grey Clouds and Storm 

                                                          -JoMae

                                                                 10/29/16

Shadow Treasure

SHADOW TREASURE

I settle in my chair to write a bit 

And notice a small painting playing on the floor

Leaves dancing back and forth

Seeping through the window pane

The sun is trying hard to cheer today

It comes and goes and drops its 

Treasures at my feet

Only to disappear again

CAPTURED

                     -JoMae
                        10/25/16

      

New Every Morning

New Every Morning

Another bright crisp autumn day has broken on my world. 

As always, over my first cup of coffee 

I check the neighbor’s garage at the back of our yard

 To see what amazing design is playing there.  

It is new every sunny morning.
Each day unique.  

Always it is beautiful.  

This morning, the silhouette is intricate.

 Vivid from brilliant light pouring through branches

Capturing their shadows for a little while.

  Another reminder of the blessings 

Poured out daily by the

 Light of the World. 

 Often filtered by shadows

 Yet never overcome by them.  

      

                                                -JoMae

                                                                9/28/16

                                    

Mom at 93

Mom at 27

 MOM at 93

Sitting in her wheelchair in her small half of the room

Lovely in her soft trim blouse and fresh hair do

Thanks to daughter Angie’s care

Looking out her window at the feeder Ange keeps filled

And at the small garden space with benches buried in snow

And of course the hungry birds

A booklover, she can't read much anymore

Even large print

Yet reads her tiny watch with ease!

Do the lines dance together?

Is it that she can't put meaning to the words?

She can when we talk it seems

Mom has difficulty remembering her children's names

She thanks me for explaining them

From photos in her room

One afternoon I returned after being with her in the morning

Mom asked, "Did you just get in? Is John with you?"

I flew alone this time and had explained

Later I looked at some photos on her desk

Mom asked what they said

I told her I wasn’t talking to anyone.

“I know,” she said

“I thought the girls in the picture

Were talking to you.”

Mom reads the snow covered shrubs, benches and other garden

Mounds the way she showed us animals in clouds

When we were small

"Looks just like a deer

Turning its head to glance at me," she smiles

She knows it's not a deer.

-JoMae
Written in 2003

Quiet Room

Quiet

The room where I sit is a quiet room

Not even the radio plays

But the sun streams in
Flooding the floor
Pouring branches all over the place

Where the light, sprouting shadows 

That silently dance in the  

Early Spring breeze

Sprinkles joy on a cool sunny morning
All over the carpet

A Soothing Intrusion

JoMae

5/9/16 

Dear Heart

DEAR HEART

Another candle on the years

Another wish come true

The sweetest gift I've ever known

Is the love wrapped up in you

                                               -JoMae

                                                2/15/16

On Valentine’s Day that year, he had given her a sweet valentine. She did not have one to give. They were like that. They exchanged gifts or cards sometimes, but not by expectation.  They’d always been casual about gifts. So when that perfect choice was made and given it was special. Even after almost 60 years together it was special.  

The next day was her birthday. Waking up together, cozy, warm entangled, he felt bad not to have a gift for her.  She said, ‘Hon, the sweetest gift I’ve ever known is the love wrapped up in you.’  And so a little poem was born. His gift and hers to celebrate. 

Jesus and his Mom

Marriage at Cana by Giotto (1266-1337)

~ A MOTHER KNOWS HER CHILD ~ 

Recently our small study group focused on the second chapter of John.  There is a moment that I love in this account. It happens during an interaction between Jesus and his Mom at the wedding in Cana.  Mary has just told Jesus that the party is out of wine when Jesus responds,  “Woman, why do you involve me? My hour has not yet come.” (Jn 2:4)  To our western ears, this sounds a bit curt to say the least, but an NIV footnote explains that in the Greek the comment does not denote any disrespect. What delights me, is Mary's response. Most any Mother with grown sons can identify the special relationship glimpsed here.  She knows her son.  She doesn't argue or cajole or insist that he help.  She doesn't need to.  This man is her boy. The one she taught to walk and talk and modeled how to live. What wonderful parent child familiarity here!

Out of a deep well of knowing her son, Mary responded in a manner echoed timelessly over the centuries.  She ignored his protests and simply turned to the servants, confidently instructing them to "do whatever he tells you." (Jn 2:5)  She may not have known just what Jesus would tell them, but she was aware he could do something and trusted him to do it. 

I love how Jesus did not ignore her words.  His initial response may seem dismissive to us, but his actions show respect.  He did tell the servants what to do.  And the water they fetched was turned into excellent wine.  Mary must have marveled!  And tucked this into her heart along with all the rest she had to ponder.

Can any mother look at her grown child and not be aware, even if subconsciously, of the gifts she watched emerge?  The hopes and fears and promise as she watched her child develop?  Even in a world where a woman is not deemed to match the intellect of men - is not highly regarded other than to bear sons for her husband's lineage, mothers know their sons. 

Mary knew.  Embedded in her being was the reality of the message that she carried within her even before she carried this child.  "You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Lk1:31-33)  Jesus' very name means savior, deliverer.  Mary knew her son was the promised Messiah, the Heir of God.  We learn that from her encounter and response to Gabriel. We see it confirmed in Elizabeth's welcome greeting.  And we hear her voicing the wonder of it all in her song of rejoicing.  “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.  From now on all generations will call me blessed…" (Lk1:46-55)

John's story offers an exquisite peek at these two sharing the moment when Jesus launched the first of many signs pointing to God's truth. The water to wine miracle which began Christ’s ministry is rich in symbolism and carries many overtones - and will appear again at its end when "one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water." (Jn 19:34)* 

And Mary will again be watching.

JoMae
10/3/15

Blood, Wine and Water

*At the final supper before his death, Jesus took the cup and explained, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins." (Mt 26:28) See also Ex 24:3-8  where shortly after leaving Egypt the covenant between God and the Israelites is confirmed.  At the foot of Mount Sinai Moses taught the people God's instructions and wrote them all down  Then with the blood of sacrificed young bulls, "Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.” (Ex 24:8)