Saturday, March 19, 2011

Who's Knocking?!




The Door of My Heart
                                                                                    (by Lorraine Brown, copyright 2011)

It was gentle
As if no-one was there,
Subtle…
Yet I heard it…
Tap, tap, tap,
And then
Again…
Another gentle tap on my front door ~
Quickly
I ran to capture it before it escaped,
Hoping to see something there…
Someone standing at my threshold…
But it was gone…
Whatever it was…
As quickly as it came.
I felt the wind rushing underneath the door -
I saw leaves whirling four feet high,
A broken tree limb on the stoop…
It was just the March wind blowing in.
I returned to my chair, raised my book again…
And then once more…
Tap, tap, tap –
This time more quickly than before.
I rushed to the window,
To see…
Inside my wreath…
Three hearts being tossed to and fro,
Colliding against one another and then against the windowpane,
As if to say…
Please let us in!

Relieved that I discovered the source,
I returned to my book…
I smiled when I turned to page eight...
which began with...

“The centrality of the heart”! 
“ Come to me, Lord. Reveal yourself to my heart”!

 

Then the Lord said,

 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
I will come in and dine with him and he with me."
(Revelation 3:20) 



I scrambled to find a poem I had read long ago…
It is a powerful representation of
 The Gentleman who is knocking on the door of our hearts…
His longing for admission…
Calling to us and waiting for our answer :


"'Friend, open to Me.'
--Who is this that calls?
Nay, I am deaf as are my walls;
Cease crying, for I will not hear
Thy cry of hope or fear.

'Others were dear,
Others forsook me':

What art thou indeed
That I should heed
Thy lamentable need?
Hungry should feed,
Or stranger lodge thee here?

'Friend, My Feet bleed.
Open thy door to Me and comfort Me.'

I will not open, trouble me no more.
Go on thy way footsore,
I will not rise and open unto thee.

'Then is it nothing to thee? Open, see
Who stands to plead with thee.
Open, lest I should pass thee by, and thou
One day entreat My Face
And howl for grace,
And I be deaf as thou art now.
Open to Me.'

Then I cried out upon him: Cease,
Leave me in peace:
Fear not that I should crave
Aught thou mayst have.
Leave me in peace, yea trouble me no more,
Lest I arise and chase thee from my door.
What, shall I not be let
Alone, that thou dost vex me yet?

But all night long that voice spake urgently:
'Open to Me.'

Still harping in mine ears:
'Rise, let Me in.'

Pleading with tears:
'Open to Me that I may come to thee.'

While the dew dropped, while the dark hours were cold:
'My Feet bleed, see My Face,
See My Hands bleed that bring thee grace,
My Heart doth bleed for thee,
Open to Me.'

So till the break of day:
Then died away
That voice, in silence as of sorrow;
Then footsteps echoing like a sigh
Passed me by,
Lingering footsteps slow to pass.
On the morrow
I saw upon the grass
Each footprint marked in blood, and on my door
The mark of blood forevermore."
(Christina Georgina Rossetti's poem: Despised And Rejected)
~


He's at the door now…the door of our hearts…


tap, tap, tap…















13 comments:

Teresa said...

Mmmmmmmm...wow!!! Sigh...so beautiful and powerful. Our awesome God so gentle and yet so powerful, patiently awaits for us to answer the door...He is persitent in His pursuit of us. Thank you for this beautiful post! You are so lovely!

Anonymous said...

Hi Lorraine

What a wonderful poem. The Lord knocked on the door of my sinful heart back in 1980 and by His loving grace I said, come on in. And guess what? He did! :-)

Take care and have a great week :-)

~Ron
******

Warren Baldwin said...

Neat post. At first I thought of Edgar Allen Poe (Whose that rapping at my door). But I soon saw it was more. Great poem and spiritual message. wb

Warren Baldwin said...

And Thanks for the nice comments about my book on Family Fountain.

Unknown said...

Oh i loved that post..and that poem.
How often we just dont listen to the tap tap tap of our heart..
Great reminder to listen closely and respond when we hear it..
Thanks friend..

mangiabella said...

what sheer pleasure this post brought me this afternoon....the powerful message behind these poems...yes, there is indeed One who knocks at the door of our hearts, how I pray that all would quiet themselves to hear, and not just to hear, but to respond....xoxo, j

Janettessage.blogspot.com said...

Great post as I prepare my heart for Easter! Oh that I continue to answer His call and not let my heart grow cold to His voice. May this season bring even more into the kingdom as they hear his knocking. Thanks for this truth.

Simple Home said...

What a powerful poem and post. When you were writing about the tap, tap, tapping you were hearing, I immediately thought of that verse too.

Have a wonderful week!
Blessings,
Marcia

Summer said...

What powerful and beautiful words yet so truthful that they are at times paralyzing to our soul....There is no denying that once the LORD begins to call upon us and draw us near to HIM the pursuit by HIM for us is relentless
....Ignoring the call (tap,tap,tap) is next to near impossible , that is unless we would like to remain miserable and chase after the wind , instead of submitting to HIM ....Rest well you are in good hands.

Deborah Ann said...

I had Holy Spirit goosebumps as I read this. I love how you are sensitive to the Lord's call...even listening for Him in the wind. He knocked on your door and you quickly opened it. How sad for the people who refuse to answer that knock....who don't hear those hearts clanging in the wind...His Heart. How long-suffering He is with us...

Debby@Just Breathe said...

Beautiful, thank you for sharing.

Hen Jen said...

beautiful, I specially liked the first poem, did you write it?

thanks for sharing :)

A multi-dimensional life said...

Thanks Jen! Yes, I wrote the first one which is a bit different from my usual rhyming stlye.
I'm glad you liked it! Thanks, as usual, for your kind comments! :)

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