Volume > Issue > Respect (Rev. 3:20)

Respect (Rev. 3:20)

A POEM

By Lorraine Bochler Eshleman | November 1986

Gentle Lord, I love You.

You tiptoe ‘cross my heart.

You sit beside me quietly and wait.

For years I lost track of You,

But in some quiet hours

I heard Your gentle tiptoe at my gate.

And even when I opened

The gate to let You in

You tiptoed in with absolute respect

Hoping not to scare me

Or make me see too soon

The wondrous, awesome grandeur of my Guest.

How do I know You love me?

It is the quiet peace,

The patient way that You will work with me —

A Sovereign Who tiptoes

And treats with full respect

The one who could be simply property.

And Are We Still to Know?

And are we still to know that thou art God?

The…

Compassion

Ice in the spirit

Is but frozen tears

And bitterness

Is expectation killed.

To Phoebe*

Phoebe,

Gentle handmaid

Of us all,

Who assisted Paul

And others

Of the early church,

…