poetric responses

Romans 6:12–13,16; John 19:1–2,14b; Revelations 4; Isaiah 6:1–4; Daniel 2:44; John 19:17–19; Luke 23:38; Philippians 2:10–11

reign in me
©5-23-09 hannah muonio

dethrone my flesh that
You might take Your rightful place
as King forever of my life

broken shackles
released from required service
no longer enslaved by sin
let me live as one set free

dethrone my flesh that
You might radiate from the throne
You’re meant to shine upon
let me submit my crown
with an unburdening heave to the
ground at Your feet

and let my knees with joy
bow to You
and my face with humility
meet the ground before You

King forever
You are
and I desire You to be

so, dejected i plead with You
dethrone my flesh that
You might take Your rightful place
high and lifted up
--

Your “crime”
©5-23-09 hannah muonio

beneath a sign
that boldly declares Your kingship a crime
Your royal blood flows
until the pools of red slow
and not a drop remains
poured out until the very last
for sin: future, present, past
a finished work of the Father’s will
restoration
through grace gleaned
forgiveness
sinners stand redeemed

upon the throne
heaven’s light radiates from You alone
waves of worship
grow and echo
in increasing ebb and flow
as You are beheld
--

purpose
©5-23-09 hannah muonio

joy will overflow
if You would use me, Lord
big or small
quiet or loud
seen or hidden
matters not
but that You are known
and loved
and heard
and honored

The comfort of an unchanging God

Always
©5-18-09 Hannah Muonio

Attributes in perfect measure
no need to change, there is no “better”
You are always:
Yesterday, today and forever

When life shows the impossible
has multiplied
When burdens crush my shoulders
till I slow my stride
When failures meet with equal number
the times I’ve tried
I remember You

Attributes in perfect measure
no need to change, there is no “better”
You are always:
Yesterday, today and forever

There is aching in the moments of my waking
but there is resting in the testing
There is sighing as my sinful flesh is dying
but there is living in the giving
Because of You

Attributes in perfect measure
no need to change, there is no “better”
You are always:
Yesterday, today and forever

Lord, I understand Your ways are higher
Help me understand Your ways
I understand Your wisdom’s wiser
Help me hear the words You say
With all of creation, space and time
I bow to You

Attributes in perfect measure
no need to change, there is no “better”
You are always:
Yesterday, today and forever

Natural change

Faulty Walls
©5-5-09 Hannah Muonio

You can build a wall
stone upon stone
to keep the water from flowing
through the scene laid out before you
But it is inevitable
that the natural current
will not be contained
and one day it will spill over
onto the picture
that has been carefully preserved
and what it does not wash away
will be forever changed

A dream

Last night I had a dream. I was in a home; the home was indistinct, I don’t even remember what it looked like, but I do know that it was distinctly a home. The home had many windows; there were windows in the outside of the home and also windows in the walls inside. In every window frame there was a pane of crystal clear glass. And as I stood in this home in the middle of my dream, there was a man. This man was nondescript, and in my dream, this man’s presence shattered the windows both on the outside and on the inside of the home. In my dream, I would wait near a room, hoping that perhaps this glass would withstand him, but it never did. Around and around the home we went, waiting and watching the glass shatter as he passed by. The man never harmed me, I only felt the pain of the shattering of each pane of glass. And I saw that the man wasn’t malicious, his stance was that of one in distress, almost as though he too wished the windows would not break.

I didn’t wake up feeling confused by this dream. It is rare that I would ever remember a dream, much less understand it. But this dream I understood. The night before I had grieved the loss of a hope I had carried with me; the hope involved a specific man, a home and a clear vision of life with him. The night before I had once again sat in the presence of this man and saw that it was different this time; this time I knew that there would never be a home or a life with him and this time I didn’t try to hold onto the hope of one. I simply enjoyed his presence apart from the windows, and let them shatter as I walked away. And later that night, as I considered the man and the hope of life with him that was no more, I cried.