Surrender

"He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, 'Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? What could one give in exchange for his life?" (1)


Embracing Emptiness

The sov'reign rulers of the heart --
The self and senses -- will not stand
Before her Lord, who will impart,
His law of love at His command.

Surrender is a letting go:
The heart concedes all that it clings;
This detachment, painful and slow,
Will free her heart from all its strings.

Surrender must be absolute;
An idol clutched or strength reserved,
Show her will is not resolute --
She'll fall the first time she's unnerved.

The Lord provides her with the storm,
To help her embrace emptiness;
An open space for Him will form --
He is her All in nothingness.

She struggles to fulfill His call:
"Surrender all for love of all".

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May His Spirit grant us the grace to surrender all and enter into our nothingness so that He may infuse His Charity within us.

(c) Paul Buis, 2003