SeasonsOf Spirit,Relationships,&Nature

Poetry &A Lakeside

Nature Journal

by Eleanor Niemela BeachyPhotography by Perry J. Beachy

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Acknowledgements: “a prayer,” “Faith Is Strong,” “We see You Now,” “To Remember,” “The Question,” “Communion at a Country Church,” and “On a Sunday Morning” appeared in Purpose Magazine; “A Star” in Gospel Herald; “Faith Is Strong” and “Now the Children Will Sing” in in touch; “Skin” in The Instructor.

2015 © SEED PUBLISHINGEleanor Niemela Beachy353 West Cedar StreetHesston, Kansas 67062

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or by any information storage without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014960272

Cover design, book design and layout by Jim L. Friesen

Printed in the United States of America by Mennonite Press, Inc., Newton, KS, www.mennonitepress.com

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Dedicatedto the memory of

Perrywho makes his appearance

in this bookmore than once

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ContentsIntroduction | vii

Seasons of Spirita prayer | 1

Small Acts of Worship | 2Faith Is Strong | 3

God of the Universe | 4Night Cries | 6

A Star | 7Breaking News | 8

Welcome, Jesus | 10We See You Now | 11

Communion at a Country Church | 12To Remember | 13Mary, Mary | 14

God Round Us | 15Round World | 16

We Hesitate to Leave | 17The Question | 18

Now the Children Will Sing | 19

Seasons of RelationshipsI Loved It More | 23The Sweater | 24

It Was a Day Like This | 25My Sister, Lorraine | 26

When I Think of a Rose | 27On a Sunday Morning | 29

Wedding Song | 30To Perry: You Are the One | 31

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Riding Mountains | 32Soon, Very Soon | 33

Skin | 34This Monster Pill | 35

Tea at 3:00 | 36Chibi Chan: The Cosmopolitan Cat | 38

To Jonathan: You Keep Singing | 40Interpreter | 43

Killing Buffalo | 46Pursue Peace | 49

I Walk Down the Corridors | 50My Small Apartment | 51

My Companion | 52Cycle | 53

Memories | 54Timeline | 55

Journey’s End | 56

Seasons of NatureA Celebration of Seasons | 59

Sing Spring | 61Summer Soliloquy | 62

November in Kansas | 64Windsong’s Refrain | 65

A Lakeside Nature JournalA Pocket of Wilderness | 69

Spring | 71Summer | 77Autumn | 83Winter | 89

About the Author | 92

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IntroductionAll life passes through seasons. We think of seasons in

nature. We also experience growth and change in relationships and in spirit. These areas of life are, of course, not separate; nevertheless, I have used these divisions to give the book a structure. I often had difficulty deciding where to put a certain poem.

The opening section, seasons of spirit, is of first importance as one’s relationship to God is connected to every other sphere of life. The section, seasons of relationships, relates to one’s connections to others. The final section, seasons of nature, includes a journal with lakeside observations of the natural world.

Some poems were written especially for children. Though I have been writing poetry throughout my lifetime, many of these poems were written after I retired from pastoral ministry and so reflect later seasons of life.

Seasons ofSpirit

s e a s o n s o f s p i r i t

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a prayer . . .

take the winter of my heart,warm it gently tilli bear fruit of the Spirit . . .

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Small Actsof Worship

Small acts of worship—I smell a flower.I kiss a baby.I hum a tune.I talk with a friend.I plant a seed.I watch a hummingbird.I eat a strawberry.I clean a church.I pet a kitten.I pick a tomato.I feel the rain.I say, “Thank you.”

s e a s o n s o f s p i r i t

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Faith Is S trongFaith is strongthat prays for deliverance,receives a miracle,and so loves God.

Faith is strongthat prays for deliverance,receives no miracle,and still loves God.

Faith is strongthat prays for deliverance,believing that withor without a miracle,God ever loves.

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God of the UniverseGod of the Universe,do you work night and dayto keep everything in motion—

Sun speeding light 186,000 miles a secondto far-flung, circling Planets followingtheir orbital paths, some bringing alongsatellite Moons revolving around them;simultaneously all—Sun, Planets, Moons—rotating on their axes,Earth wobbling a little (they say)—

thousands of Asteroids in their home beltbetween Mars and Jupiter, tumbling end-over-end, rock and metal bodies crashing,hurling Meteoroids through space to appearin Earth’s sky as luminous streaks beforedisintegrating; others on long stretched-out orbits, Earth-grazers, passing closeto our own Planet—

millions of Comets enclosing, like a giantballoon, the whole Solar System; some pulled out of the swarm, beginning hundredsof years’ journeys toward the Sun, theirdust-covered icy snowballs melting intogases blown by solar wind, forming long tailstrailing behind, sweep around the Sun tocontinue their travels, now led by their tails—

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billions of Stars—red dwarf, yellow, white,hot blue, double, double double, pulsar,giant red, orange, black, being born or dying,exploding nova—making up the Milky WayGalaxy, our Solar System suspended in one ofits spiral arms, among—

innumerable other Galaxies, all pushingout into dark space—

God of the Universe,do you work night and dayto keep everything in motion, or is it all to you just child’s play?

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Night CriesHere in the wilds of the north,loons’ cries pierce the night air;haunting calls of longingreverberate over lakes.

From the heart’s wilderness,echoing criesthrough the mist of existence rise,calling for an answering voice.

Filled with morning sun,kitchen clatter and chatter,an ordinary day assures; even so, I ask,“Did you hear the loons last night?”No one had. They were asleep.

Will I hear the tremolo cries again tonight?Will they again, at first light, take flight?

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A S tarLook there—a star so bright,the moon seems dim.And brighter still it shines!Do you? Do you think? think it leads to him?

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Breaking News*

The night is still.Shepherds sit upon a hillto watch their sheep.Some shepherds are asleep.

Wake up! Wake up! Look there!Huh? What? What’s happening here?Is it a lion? Is it a bear?No, no, look, look there!Where? I cannot see. The light—it is too bright.

There an angel stands so stillbefore the shepherds on a hill.The shepherds now are all awake.With fear, they shake.

I have good news for you—news of great joy for everyone! To you, this day, the Savior is bornin the city of David.He is Christ, the Lord.You will know him by this sign:you will find him lying in a manger,a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Glory to God on high,Peace to those on earth.

Let’s go! Let’s go!Don’t be so slow!This night is like no other.We must find the child and mother.

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What about the sheep?They are asleep.We will leave them in God’s care. We have no time to spare!

They hurry to the townwhere the child is found,lying in a manger.Now they fear no danger.

There they kneel and say,“Thank you, God, for this day.Now we can goto let everyone knowwhat we have heard and seen—that Christ has come to redeemthe world and show us how to live,how receive, how give, how forgive,that wars may ceaseand all may live in peace.”

Tell me, tell me, friend,tell me how this poem will end.

*may be presented as Readers Theater

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Welcome, Jesus*

We welcome you, Jesus,please come to our home.We’re ready and waiting,come make us your own.Let love, joy, and kindnessin our hearts aboundto share with our neighborsand friends world around.

*may be sung to tune of “Away in a Manger.”