nitalinb's Xanga

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:51:40 GMT

For those who have enjoyed my poetry, it can now be read at prayerclub.com. Click on poetry>poets>Nita Brainard. There are many new poems from the last year, including "The Will of God," "The Roaring Lion," "Gossip," and others.

Everything worth publishing (and perhaps some that's not) gets put up there, so I won't often post anything here anymore.

Two passions that cannot agree

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 23:55:59 GMT

Worry and Quietness

In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. Isa 30:15

Two passions that cannot agree
Both try to be a friend to me.
The one more forward often gains
An entrance to my heart and reins.
In her I have no confidence;
I find in her no real defense,
Yet Worry often would pretend
That she's my only faithful friend.

She seems to think she has the power
To save me from each dreaded hour.
She chatters to her heart's delight
And often makes her cause seem right,
But when I've heard her speak at length,
I can't discover any strength
To fight my real or fancied foes,
Nor any balm to soothe my woes.

But Quietness, though very meek,
Has strength while seeming to be weak;
The strength of faith that doesn't talk,
But firmly grips the solid Rock.
In her I have a faithful friend
On whom I really can depend.
She doesn't clamor to be heard,
But points me to the living Word.

Nita Brainard, Feb. 2209

Another day, another poem.

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:45:27 GMT

My rhyming fits don't produce the sublime poetry of William Cowper, but such as I have, I post. I wrote this today, which means it may still be subject to change, but since it went through many revisions, I am hoping it is done.

God Remains the Same

Life’s changing scenes make their appeal

To my poor, fickle frame,

And often change the way I feel,

But God remains the same.

When circumstances fluctuate,

My hopes may rise or fall,

But God, unhindered by my state,

Is always over all.

Though hopes and fears by turns arise

To steal my heart away,

The truth, without such lows and highs,

Abides from day to day.

Though prayer may change a lot of things,

If God in mercy grant,

Despite their fancy reasonings,

My fickle feelings can’t.

Unaltered by what I may sense,

All things are in His hands,

And by unflinching providence

The final outcome stands.

Cowper on Fashion

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 02:29:56 GMT

If you love both poetry and godliness, you should read William Cowper. He is an absolute delight. This piece of prose is from a letter to Mrs. John Newton, written in August 1781:

While the world lasts, fashion will continue to lead it by the nose. And, after all, what can fashion do for its most obsequious followers? It can ring the changes upon he same things, and it can do no more. Whether our hats be white or black, our caps high or low,—whether we wear two watches or one—is of little consequence. There is indeed an appearance of variety; but the folly and vanity that dictate and adopt the change are invariably the same. When the fashions of a particular period appear more reasonable than those of the preceding, it is not because the world is grown more reasonable than it was; but because, in a course of perpetual changes, some of them must sometimes happen to be for the better. Neither do I suppose the preposterous customs that prevail at present a proof of its greater folly. In a few years, perhaps next year, the fine gentleman will shut up his umbrella, and give it to his sister, filling his hand with a crab-tree cudgel instead of it: and when he has done so, will he be wiser than now? By no means. The love of change will have betrayed him into a propriety, which, in reality, he has no taste for, all his merit on the occasion amounting to no ore than this—that, being weary of one plaything, he has taken up another

Power belongeth unto God, Psalm 62:11

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:10:06 GMT

A little meditation on Psalm 62 resulted in the following two poems:

Once Has God Spoken

Once has God spoken

Yeah, twice have I heard,

That His is the power—

It’ writ in God’s word:

Trust not in oppression,

Trust not in the sword,

For power, all power

Belongs to the Lord.

Unto Him power,

Yea, power belongs,

And unto Him mercy,

And judgement of wrongs.

My God is my refuge

In Him will I trust.

I know He’ll defend me;

His judgement is just.

I can do nothing.

My God is the one;

Christ Jesus is able;

He speaks, and it’s done.

I'll trust Him forever,

And trust Him alone.

His strength is made perfect;

My weaknesss I own.

He is not weary,

Creator of all,

Though man at his strongest

Will utterly fall.

His strength He will give me,

Whose blessing I seek,

For it is His glory

To strengthen the weak.

A Refuge

That a refuge we need

Is quite certain indeed

In this age of such sorrow and strife.

Every man has his way

His own pain to allay,

And to bury the hurts in his life.

There is nowhere to hide,

Where my soul would abide,

But in Christ, who gives comfort and rest.

Though men other ways try,

Yet they cannot deny

That their efforts are vain at the best.

Every other defence

Is a tottering fence,

But the rock of my refuge is sure.

A safe harbor He forms

In the wildest of storms,

And I’m lodged where my soul is secure.

They’ll be slain one and all

Who would lean on the wall

That the world would provide for support,

But my soul won’t be moved,

For my Savior I’ve proved,

And to Him as my stay I resort.

Though I’m frailer tha frail,

My God never will fail,

For His power will never grow dim,

And His mercy is great

To the ones who will wait,

And who anchor for refuge in Him.

How to Know the Will of God

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:05:48 GMT

How to Know the Will of God is a sermon Timothy preached last year at the youth meetings. It is excellent. Definitely worth hearing more than once. I just uploaded it to my audio files for your convenience!

Give and Take

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:38:21 GMT

I've heard it said that friendship involves give and take. But truly in friendship giving is taking and taking is giving. I take a piece of your time to give you a piece of myself. You give me your confidence when you ask me to give you something, and you take my confidence when you give me your secret. When you give me your ear, you are taking my heart. And when I give you mine, I am taking in who you are. In short, we both take pleasure in giving to one another.
If you won't take what I give you, you aren't very giving after all. If you don't need anything from me, whatever good thing you give me, whether charity or sympathy, it is not friendship. It's not until you take my love that you truly give me yours.

Quote on Faith and Feeling

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:11:25 GMT

For I take it for granted that the want of strong light and joy no more argues want of faith than the absence of unclouded day argues no sun in the firmament.

~Thomas Walsh (one of Wesley's preachers)

Answers to Prayer

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:57:09 GMT

They may seem like small things, but to me they are big:
1. We made it to the airport in time for the girls to catch their flight to Mexico (just barely) despite traffic delays outside of Chicago.
2. It was NOT raining when I dropped the girls off. I'm scared of driving in Chicago, and scared of driving in the dark. I asked not to have rain besides. I got more than I asked for. It was after midnight, the traffic was light and the night was also lighter than when I was their at 5:00 a.m. in February.

In a way the following poem which I wrote recently is an answer to prayer, too. The experience of being able to see Christ definitely is an answer to an ongoing prayer, and one that I hope you all pray for yourselves.

The Face of My Saviour

In the heat of affliction,
    When bowed down with care,
In my troubles and worries,
    I pour out my prayer.
Thus I cast on my Saviour
    My burden of grief,
And I find in His presence
    The sweetest relief

Oh, the face of my Saviour
Is shining and bright,
And the light of His favor
Is joy in the night.

Though I’m burdened with sorrow,
    And pain grips my heart,
And the world all around me
    Is falling apart,
I can trust in God’s goodness,
     And hope in His grace;
I can walk in the shining
     Of light from His face.

Oh, the face of my Saviour
Is shining and bright,
And the light of His favor
Is joy in the night.

Though the tempter assails me,
    And terrors pursue;
Though my family forsake me,
     And friends prove untrue,
With my God there is mercy,
    And love without end.
He is faithful forever,
    And more than a friend.

Oh, the face of my Saviour
Is shining and bright,
And the light of His favor
Is joy in the night.

Americans Give Presents

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 15:04:41 GMT

I am 46. After the shower of love poured out on me at my last birthday, I have finally learned something that my mom tried to teach me when I was a teenager, I suppose about 30 years ago.

It's not that I didn't' believe her when she told me that though other cultures might do it in other ways, in our modern American culture we show our love for one another by giving presents. I just didn't like it. It seemed materialistic to me. All my adult life I've tried to fight against the current. I never gave my kids birthday presents, (still probably won't). We don't celebrate Christmas, so naturally I don't give presents at Christmas time either. I have tried to be loving and to show love to family and friends in other ways, but rarely by giving gifts. Despite this, when people want to show me their love and support, what do they do? They shower me with gifts.
On my 46th birthday (May 25, 2008), my daughter Lydia, who has rarely if ever gotten a birthday present from me, arranged for a group of friends to surprise me. They brought food, flowers, and a mountain of presents. I was overwhelmed, but the material things did not take precedence in my heart or mind. It was the love behind them, moving my friends to bring them, that warms my heart and brings tears to my eyes.

Could they have convinced me of their love in another way? Probably --- and especially if I didn't have any needs. But they didn't choose to do so. The method they did choose certainly worked --- and I have tangible tokens of the love showed to me that day that will remind me whenever I work in my kitchen, curl up in one of my blankets, or sleep on my new sheets that I am not alone on the earth. I have friends who care about me. They are Americans. And they give presents.

Many people give gifts out of bondage to custom, but my friends are not thus bound, praise be to God, who opened their hearts in love towards me. And thanks to all of you!