During one of the Germinate learning community’s weekend sessions, there was an
opportunity to take time to listen to God and draw, write, pray etc. Reader in Teme
Valley South, Pete Thorp, composed this poem:
I sit and contemplate my life debating highs and lows
And calling to my God for help in writing out these prose
He takes me though a valley deep and down a twisty walk
then too a quiet forest glade where we can sit and talk …
He listens to my problems and how I’m feeling down
He doesn’t get impatient when I scowl and yell and frown
I poor out all my troubles until I’ve nothing else to say
Then he lifts my head to heaven and wipes my tears away
He shows me the high mountains where I feel I’d like to be
standing up a top the world, His creation I can see
then he brings me back to earth and points to where I stand
And looking all around me, I can see His works at hand.
He shows me all the troubles that are faced throughout the world
Like a toilet tissue advert, that’s more clear as it’s unfurled,
I know of all the troubles in Syria and Iraq
And God says “not to worry Pete – you know I’ve got your back”
I can see his starving people and why they need His aid
I see the greed and fiddling that history has made
I see victims of disease and the widows of the men
Dragged off to join a war not theirs, every now and then
It’s quite easy to assume that life is always bleak
when you’re visiting the job centre 5 days every week
But remember we’re the lucky ones – we have our health and homes
And a God in Heaven that loves us and helps us write these poems!
Kidderminster Deanery – Rural Dean: Hugh Burton; Lay Chair: June Thomas
Diocese of Derby: Bishop Alastair Redfern with Bishop Jan McFarlane (Repton)
Diocese of Clogher (Ireland): Bishop John McDowell
Diocese of Aalborg (Denmark): Bishop Henning Toft Bro
