Faith at Forty-One

God, my God, my grandmother’s God,

You have blessed me beyond the skies.

You have uprooted me,

            unmoored me.

You have dashed my dreams

            into the dust.

You let my eyes pour tears—

            enough to water the earth,

            enough to fill the lakes,

            enough to flow like rivers.

And You have let me see

            Your own dreams dashed,

            Your tears poured out—

            for an earth ignoring skies,

            for dust ignoring Spirit.

And as I floundered, uprooted and unmoored,

            in the currents of Your tears,

            You showed Yourself to be the One

            who held me up,

            who breathed in me,

            so I was more than dust and dreams . . . .

And now, content as dust, and dreamless,

            I watch my roots grow deep in You—

            a tree of righteousness growing up

            from dust and tears,

            from breath and broken heart,

            reaching upward to Your sky,

            hoping to make Your dreams come true.

The featured image is courtesy of Aaron Burden. 

We are grateful for Aaron’s keen eye, his skill, his faithful service to the Lord, and his generosity to all.

Sheila Vamplin

Sheila Vamplin learned early to love God through words, music, and people. Her English degree, piano study, and choral singing somehow led her to Italy and then to Croatia. Landing back in the U.S. after three years of war, she earned a counseling degree. Now a licensed marriage and family therapist with a DMin in spiritual formation, she has concurrently taught piano students and has sung with the Memphis Chamber Choir and the Rhodes Mastersingers Chorale. Her current focus is translating the Italian memoir of beloved friend Tosca Barucci Chesi. As a counselor and spiritual director, Sheila has a heart for artists and those in professional ministry. She loves Gerard Manley Hopkins. With her husband she plans to return to Croatia, anticipating more surprises and trusting that the Holy Ghost will continue brooding over the bent world, even and perhaps especially there.

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