Lent 2020

palms-for-lent-2020-poem

This season has a pattern

A rhythm, a message, it’s a parable

It’s a cautionary tale

A spiritual manifestation

This 40-day time is a time for releasing and renewing

A time to reconnect with God

A time to feast and to fast

And a time of reviewing.

The earth is crying

The small voice is knocking at our door

And the almighty is entering in

Stronger than before.

 

I hear it!

“Be still and know that I am God”

After Pharaoh persecuted the Jews

And the ten plagues arrived

And the final one

Death to the first son…

Made him let go of the Jews and set them free.

There is a message for the Dictators in this century

And this global pandemic will affect everyone.

 

I feel it

My soul cries for the pain to our planet

The earth it’s too hot

And she calls to us with fire and water, and hurricanes

But we won’t change our habits,

We think it won’t matter.

Humankind is full of false Gods and idols

Our political leaders, athletes, and actors

They get statues and tributes,

Golden accolades, and parades.

Did we forget what the almighty said?

 

Humans… Listen it’s the cry of the creator

The plea of our planet

And we go on with more trash

More consumption

More greed

All the messages are here, and we will not take heed.

 

So, in this 2020 40 days of lent

Have you given up a thing?

To remember the gift of the Son.

The crucifixion and resurrection of the holy one?

His message of healing and the power of truth

Is forgotten in the daily media,

We worship our phones

We kill people using drones.

 

The final message is hear

It is loud and it’s clear

A modern plague, it’s called a Pandemic

No one is safe.

It is not nation against nation

It is a global virus

A deadly situation.

The universe is sending us a cosmic two by four

Let go of your current ego driven life!

Stay home, stay safe, stop driving, talk to your neighbor

Use your device to connect with music and song,

Celebrate the gift of your freedom, your family and look at what’s wrong.

Have we forgotten, the message?

The gift from above?

It is time to breathe into your spirit

And find a new way to be love.

Transition Poem – Andrea Cecilia Rendon

I wrote a poem in honor of Andrea Cecelia Rendon’s family at the time of her passing that became a part of the funeral service program and served as a higher level of support for family and friends.

Andrea Cecilia Rendon

Transition Poem (Eulogy)

The lunar eclipse called you

And you answered — take me home

Eighty-three years young

The next step of your journey has begun

You leave behind five children,

nine grandchildren

and five great grands

They will keep the story of your life

safe in their nineteen hands

They will celebrate and remember

those moments cherished and true

They have photos and gifts and memories

of the love they shared with you

Andrea Cecilia Rendon

This prayer we say for you

Is a prayer of love and gratitude

For the work that’s no longer yours to do

Dear Mother Father God,

Great and Holy Spirit, Jesus the special son

You sent us an angel one day

And on October 27, you called her back

home to stay

We are grateful for her presence

Her ability to stand up and try

Her many little habits

That we will hold onto as time goes by

So take Andrea and keep her

In the place where there is no pain

And shine the light of love into the family

To let only the joy remain.

For death is not the ending

It is the beginning of something

we are clear

Some day we will all be with her

When that time for us draws near 

© Leah Goodwin | October 27, 2004

Tom & May Fagan Wedding Poem

For Tom and May Fagan’s wedding, I wrote and performed a poem that was then given out as a unique and personal party favor for all who attended.

Love

We are surrounded by love

If we but open our eyes

Love is above us

in the clear blue skies.

We can hear love whisper

To the dreams inside our hearts

In the motion of each wave

We are never truly apart

Love is around us in so many ways

However we get a chance today

To celebrate the most sought after kind of love

This love, shared by Tom and May.

Did you know, more than five years ago

they met at a business meeting

And while the speaker was speaking

Tom was talking to May

Not interested in what the speaker had to say

He was taken with this woman who was sitting to his right

He thought, I would like to take her out dancing some night.

She really came to hear the speaker,

But Tom seemed nice,

and he had good advice

So as the meeting ended

Tom left with seven numbers he worked hard to get

They were attached to the phone of this lovely brunette.

He called right away and the dating began

From dancing to eating out

To movies and fun

They were happy together, one woman – one man

Things were easier hand in hand

After two years of dating, May sat Tom down

She asked him, are you just fooling around?

Tom was taking up all of her time

And May wanted him to get off the dime.

She said, “Do we want the same things?

Is there a future for us?

If not we can just part as friends,

No need to fuss.”

Well Tom, took a moment.

He sat up all night

For any other girl he would just say okay

But there was something, something in his heart about May

A little voice told him he needed to stay.

May talked to Mariel, who told her that it was all right

That they were a true family ready to unite.

Happy Together

Opposites attract

An artist – a numbers person

They learned how to laugh

Seems like a lifetime

since destiny placed them right next to each other

A chance meeting that became a special journey

They find the joy of

A heart to heart love

A true happiness together

Of course there have been some hard turns along the way

But Happy Together has brought them here this day

To stand in front of us, family and friends

And say yes to a love,

A happiness that never ends.

© Leah Goodwin | October 11, 2009

The Winds of Change

Here is the poem I wrote when my father died.

James C. Goodwin

The Winds of Change



The winds of change were blowing

Caught up in the balance of life and death

I claimed Fierce Grace

to send my Father home

The winds of change were blowing

Creating order out of Chaos

Providing divine intervention

The right people, words, songs and prayers

The winds of change were blowing

Moment by moment

Time moved fast

Time stood still

The winds of change were blowing

Scents of sage

Coffee, tears helped life staying

And supported life leaving

The winds of change sent the sun in

And in one swift last breath

They picked up my father

And blew him in to heaven

Swoosh

The winds of change rested

They felt like

Butterfly kisses on our cheeks

We cried

Because we knew

That Dad was in that wind

The winds of change rested

With a freedom song

And a million love beads

Providing energy

To send him upward

And the pure light within him

Carried him home

In the wind of change

© Leah Goodwin | April 14, 2013