Spiritual Journeys Today

I woke up in my hotel in Boston at 3:30 AM this morning. I found myself thinking about what’s happened in my life over the last four months concerning the possibility of building a hospital in Guatemala. Life has been so incredibly busy over the last few weeks, and I haven’t taken the time to really connect with God. I reached out to God… and God was there. I found myself thinking about the wonder of that simple statement, ‘God was there’.
The song was the result. Why is it so hard to just find the time to spend with God?

May you feel and recognize God’s hand moving in your life, today and always!

‘Finding Time for God’

When I, think ’bout, what God has done for me
I feel a smile spread through my being as big as it can be
Just the, thought that, God loves me, takes the time
To nurture me and guide me, a miracle, sublime

I feel, secure, at home where e’re I’m at
Nothing, on earth, feels quite the same as that
How great, Thou art, words so very true
My life, so changed, special and brand-new

You keep changing me and molding me
In ways I can’t describe
When I take time to seek You out, I find You by my side
I feel your presence filling me, electric now, recharging me
It feels so wonderful, and yet I find that I

Let the busyness of life each day,
Consume my time, pull me away
Why’s it so hard, to stay focused on You?
I wander and I slowly plod,
When I should run straight to You, God
I’m Yours, and always will be, God, it’s true
I belong to You

When I, think ’bout, what God has done for me
I feel a smile spread through my being as big as it can be
Just the, thought that, God loves me, takes the time
To nurture me and guide me, a miracle, sublime

I feel, secure, at home where e’re I’m at
Nothing, on earth, feels quite the same as that
How great, Thou art, words so very true
My life, so changed, special and brand-new

Copyright 2012. John Lage, Jr. All rights reserved.

Sent from my iPhone

May you feel and recognize God’s hand moving in your life, today and always!

John

‘Metamorphosis’

Feed my soul, O God, with Your amazing love
Quench the hunger that’s my need to feel You near
Be the purpose of each moment that I live
Be my song, the words that fill my ears

Without You, I am empty, a tool that can’t be used
Filled with Your presence, anything is possible
I long to feel each day, that thrilling moment when I find I’m one with you,
My cup of joy is overflowing, my heart is truly full
Can’t find the words to help describe how much my life has changed
Since I found my new self, waiting there, on the pathway back to You

Feed my soul, O God, with Your amazing love
Quench the hunger that’s my need to feel You near
Be the purpose of each moment that I live
Be my song, the words that fill my ears

With the knowledge of Your love for me
Came complete metamorphosis
In a moment, my whole life had changed, altered nothing less
A lonely caterpillar, now an instant butterfly
Forever changed, transformed, in the blinking of an eye

Feed my soul, O God, with Your amazing love
Quench the hunger that’s my need to feel You near
Be the purpose of each moment that I live
Be my song, the words that fill my ears

Written on or about March 9, 2012.

Earlier this year, during Lent, I led a spiritual writing workshop weekly at my church. I used the book

40 Days of Praying with My Pen

by Rachel G Hackenberg.
Following is a quote from the reading for day five. “There are days, years, and seasons sometimes, when our humanity is evident and tangible in very painful ways. Let your written prayer give voice to the aches of your body, whether are your issues are of physical health or spiritual fatigue.”. I wrote what you read below, as the response to that call.

May you feel and recognize God’s hand moving in your life, today and always!

John

‘Job Prayer’
My job remains an ongoing ache,
Many of the days when I don’t think I can take
Another second, knowing all the other ways, I could be spending my time
Serving You, maybe making rhymes
That the world may never hear

My company works hard to be, the best at what they do
Healing people of disease, broken bodies, broken dreams
That they may not live to fulfill

At times, it’s hard to comprehend
The chains of meetings without end
Do make a difference, lead to change
Slowly alter, rearrange
The processes and procedures that we use

To heal with miracles, the ones
The mothers, daughters, husbands, sons
Who visit with hopes of being saved
Does my work really make
A difference? And what would it take
For me to know, deep in my heart
That all these hours are truly a part
Of the work that you want me to do

How do I find you, God, in each long weary day?
How can I change the empty way,
I feel as I take the path to work each morning

You ask us to pray unceasingly
But I forget continually
If I’d only stop for a word with You
When I am about to have to do
A task that seems so meaningless

Is it time for a change? I do not know
What would I do, where would I go?
Is my faith strong enough, are you asking me
To make a change, for my whole family?
Is now the time, is this the place?
I hear your call, I could never erase
The feelings, sensations of those times when
I can feel with my body, your presence again

I’m asking you, Lord, which road I should take?
Guide me Lord through every decision I make
Why faith is strong, I trust in You
Please show me your path, I know you’ll help me through
Every day. Amen.

Copyright 2012. John Lage, Jr. All rights reserved.
Written on or about March 5, 2012.

May you feel and recognize God’s hand moving in your life today and always!

John

‘Our God’

Our God won’t fit in a box, though we humans do certainly try
As soon as we start, to put bounds around God, our reasoning fails, and then we wonder why
Something happens that challenges, all we think we know,
The foundation crumbles, and cracks start to show
In our churches, our faith, and our lives

God is love, God’s greater than,
Our wildest dreams, our biggest plans
Far beyond the breadth of our imaginations
God is love, God works through us
If we’ll just follow, if we’ll just trust
God will fill the world with peace and hope, God will mend our warring nations
In God, we ‘re one, why can’t we see,
God gave us life, then set us free
But we can’t picture, working altogether,
But God can, and will forever

Our God can be hard to explain, words don’t exist, to truly describe
Our God belongs to all people, all nations, not one village, one town, or one tribe
God commands us to love one another each day
Just as we are to love God in every way
Love your enemies too, God will work through you
In our churches, our faith, and our lives.

Copyright 2012. John Lage, Jr. All rights reserved.
Written on or around March 4, 2012.

Yesterday was another of those days, where very early in the morning, I realize once again, to whom I belong. I belong to God, maker of all creation. My heart, my soul and every piece of my fabric, are God’s and God’s alone. What things can I do today to show the world that fact? This song is one of those ways for me.

May you feel and recognize God’s hand moving in your life, today and always!

John

‘Yours’

Yours is the path, I’ll walk today
Yours are the words I will say
Yours are the actions, that I will do
While they’re yours by default, I will freely choose to
Deliberately and consciously, live out these words
In a way that will show I am Yours
Today and tomorrow, always and forever
God, to serve You, is what I’m living for

When I tell the world, that I follow You
What does that really mean?
I’ve no mark, no degree, no tattoo up on me
Nothing at all that can clearly be seen
How can I show the world
That I love you, God, and would
Gladly give all that I am
In Your service, I want to live
All I have, joyfully give
Everything, my God, is Yours

Yours is the path, I’ll walk today
Yours are the words I will say
Yours are the actions that I will do
While they’re yours by default, I will freely choose to
Deliberately and consciously, live out these words
In a way that will show I am Yours
Today and tomorrow, always and forever
God, to serve You, is what I’m living for

When they ask me how, I know you exist
How can I ever explain?
You saved me, made me whole, patched up my hurting soul
Taking away, my fiercest pain
Having been through all that
Can’t imagine where I’d be at
If God, isn’t, wasn’t, won’t be
You exist, I’ll testify
I’m proof, look me in the eye
Every thing, my God, is Yours!

Yours is the path, I’ll walk today
Yours are the words I will say
Yours are the actions that I will do
While they’re yours by default, I will freely choose to
Deliberately and consciously, live out these words
In a way that will show I am Yours Today and tomorrow, always and forever
God, to serve You, is what I’m living for

Copyright 2012. John Lage, Jr. All rights reserved.

June 28, 2012

Last Sunday my family and I had the pleasure of attending the outdoor service of Bethlehem Lanesboro Lutheran Church at the home of Kim and Jim Wagner of Lanesboro, MN. We were there for the commissioning of a mission team that John Edmund, my son, left with shortly after the service.
That team, composed of 13 mid-high youth and their chaperones, is going to Minneapolis, to provide service urban homeless shelter for the first five days of this week. The service was awesome, the message clear and powerful. The setting was beautiful, highlighted by watching an eastern bluebird fly back and forth from the top of the house to the antenna and then out over the yard. The bulletin was impressive, containing a great deal of interesting and pertinent background information as well as all the necessary content to make a first time visitor such as myself, feel as if I were a full participant in the service. Pastor Kerry Eversole included lots of music, always a bright spot for me. As he was speaking, the words ‘turn around’ came into my brain and stuck there. This song is the result.
Appropriately, as I was writing it, Pastor Kerry began to speak about Charles Albert Tindley, a famous East Coast preacher who is credited with being one of the creators of gospel music. You can read more about him here..

May you feel and recognize God’s hand moving in your life, today and always!

John

‘Turn Around’

Turn Around
How many times did you call?
Turn Around
How many places did you follow me to?
Turn Around
Places I never should’ve found
Turn Around
Myself in at all

Turn Around
You called with so many voices
Turn Around
In failure, I ignored every one
Turn Around
I depended on me, and I just couldn’t see
Turn Around
That when all was finished, said and done

Turn Around
That only you could help me
Turn Around
That only you could heal
Turn Around
The pain that burned deep down inside
Turn Around
The depths of my very soul

Turn Around
Only you could help me
Turn Around
Only you could heal
Turn Around
Only you could fix my broken spirit
Turn Around
Only you could make me whole

Copyright 2012. John Lage, Jr. All rights reserved.
Written 6/24/2012

Jan and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary on Monday. Altogether we’ve spent 18 1/2 years in each others company. I know it sounds cliché but our marriage really is getting stronger with the years. Together we’re growing in faith and attempting to listen to God and do God’s will as we see it. Jan is my partner, my friend, my love, and I could do none of the things I do without her and her support. I love you, Jan, the first lines of this song were prompted by thoughts of you.

May you feel and recognize God’s hand moving in your life, today and always!

John

‘Questions?’
What if angels don’t have wings?
And they look like you and me?
I think some of them do
And have throughout eternity
I think we call them other names
I think yours will not likely be
The same as mine, God sends them
To each person specially

What if heaven’s not a place we go
When our time on earth is through?
What if it is knowing God exists
And that God loves us too?
What if working for God anytime
Is as good as it’s going to get?
What course of action would you take
What would you do next?

What if God’s not up in heaven
But spends each moment with us?
Each day God’s ever present
On the ocean, mountain, bus
What if heaven is being with God
No matter where we’re at?
What if we are living there right now?
Could we handle that?

What if Jesus came to save us
With his life and not his death?
That living his Commandments
During each and every breath
What if loving one another,
And loving ourselves too
Was the reason God created us
And is all that we’re to do?

Copyright 2012. John Lage, Jr. All rights reserved.

February 24, 2012 and June 22, 2012

The United Methodist Church is conducting a campaign to end preventable malaria deaths. For a 10 dollar donation, you can purchase a mosquito net to help save someone’s life. Find out more here.

This song is dedicated to that effort.

May you feel and recognize God’s hand moving in your life, today and always!

‘Imagine No Malaria’

What if I told you, you could save a life
With just 10 dollars, what would that feel like
Would you call me a fool or think it could be true
Would you be moved to give, what would you do?

Imagine no malaria, imagine all that means
The gift of life for millions
All those lives and dreams
The genius, love and possibilities
How many opportunities do you receive
to change the world? Yes, it’s hard to believe

God’s given each of us the chance
To give more than a passing glance
At our fellow man today
Will you give now or turn away
(spoken)
The United Methodist Church is asking for your help in our ‘Imagine No Malaria’ program. Donate today. 10 dollars can save a life and help God change this world!!!

February 26, 2012

Copyright 2012. John Lage, Jr. All rights reserved.