Time.
Comes to us all.
One breathe, rising
Within us, a life.
Beauty
Blooms in patient corners
Of the heart. Until,
It draws upon itself
Moving rhythmically
To His Time.
Within Nature
Lies the mark of time
That sends her seasons
Acting an obedient part
In His play
Of miniature worlds.
Within me.
Lies a piece of eternity
That sends me roles of light,
And glimpses of an eternal round
Playing to my direction
On a stage of my choice.
We bloom beauty
In His time.
We ply purpose
Under His heaven.
We live His hope and design.
We find eternity
In His time.
Linda Conkey Shaw July 4, 2010Copyright
Ecclesiastes 4
Under the Sun
Hot and long are my days under the sun.
Oppressed without hope of comfort, I cry out.
He who holds power over my labor, casts us into
A demonic cycle where we,
My oppressor and I, face a hopeless struggle.
He replaces his fear of right with an impotent offer of solace.
I replace my comfort lost with the celebration of my dead
And a grievance for my unborn.
Under the sun,
A mirage of escape looms, Untouchable,
Masked in the pretense of a “right work”.
Success lends itself to envious strife and
Broken promises of rewards
That causes my contentment to fly away
With both hands full of emptiness.
Under the sun,
A fool, I languish so that I might fold my hands
And eat my own flesh.
Under the sun,
Learned, I strive for the envy of my neighbor
And the vanity of my success.
Under the sun
Alone I must trudge
with neither eye satisfied,
Always wondering
“For whom do I serve?”
Under the sun
Alone I face a sore travail
and taste not of the “good reward”
Reserved for the two
That lift one another,
Warm one another,
And offer a threefold cord.
Under the sun
I serve an old and foolish king
That turns away from humble counsel and
Fills his kingdom with desolate spirits
Who are unable to comprehend,
The quiet freedom, comfort and contentment
A poor and wise child could bring.
Under the Sun
Did Solomon sing,
A mournful yet beautiful hymn
To the lonely, the oppressed and even the fool
God's love wants only to comfort, quiet, befriend.
Linda Conkey Shaw July 4, 2010 Copyright
Ecclesiastes 5
A Fool's Prayer
Keep my feet
Within thine house, Lord;
Make mine ears
More ready to hear.
Help my mouth
to be less rash, Lord;
Train mine heart
To stay more near.
Give my dreams
Unto thy company, Lord;
Make mine vows
Defer not their pay.
Keep my word
Ever true Lord;
Give me strength
To do all I say.
Suffer not my mouth
To sin, Lord;
Let me not
Before angels make,
Excuses that would
Anger thee, Lord;
Or from thee
Divine pleasure take.
Cometh down unto
My earth Lord;
Destroy not mine
Works of hand.
Let not my words
of multitude
Cause my sorrow
To expand.
Thou, my God
In heaven lives Lord;
Thou my God
Make my words few.
Help me know
Thy wisdom true Lord;
Help me keep
My vows to you.
Linda Conkey Shaw copyright July 6 2010
Ecclesiastes 6
Where is my Goodness?
Is it in the common-hood of man?
Does it dwell in my treasures?
Or in the honor of my name?
Where is my goodness?
Does it lie hidden in my wealth?
Or in the family of my hundred children?
If I live one hundred years will
I find my goodness?
Where is my goodness?
Does it come with my birth?
Does it leave me at death?
How will my name be remembered?
Where is my goodness?
If I look to the Sun
Will it be there?
Will it bring me rest?
Where is my goodness?
If I live one thousand years
And find myself with you
At that one place
Will I have found goodness?
Where is my goodness?
If I work all my days to feed my mouth
How do I fill my appetite, for goodness?
Where is my goodness?
Am I a fool if I know it not?
Am I a poorer man for not knowing,
The walk of the living?
Where is my goodness?
Will my eyes see all that I have
And be content?
What will my desire seek?
Will it wander?
Where is my goodness?
Has it been named?
Has it been in man?
Or does my goodness come
From him that is mightier?
Where is my goodness?
For am I not but a shadow
If I cannot know from
Whence my goodness comes?
Am I not but a shadow
If I cannot discern
Goodness from vanity?
Where is my goodness?
With all my wealth?
With all my honor, and riches?
How will I give goodness
To whom shall be after me
If I have not goodness
Under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 7
A Good Name:
Layeth not his heart
In the house of feasting.
But seeks to mourn
With those who mourn
And comfort those
In need of comfort.
Strengthens his heart in sorrow
And considers a sad countenance.
Seeketh the heart of the wise
In the house of mourning
And leaves the fools to their mirth.
Hears the songs that upbraid,
With an excellency of wisdom
That is meant to make better the heart.
Waits with a patient spirit;
For a thing's end brings more
Satisfaction than its beginning.
Resteth his anger,
Not in the hasty
Bosom of fools,
But rather in
He that giveth life.
Sees wisdom in he
Who can see the sun
And knows from whence
An inheritance finds profit
Knows that both wisdom
And money bring protection,
But wisdom alone giveth life.
Rejoiceth in his prosperity
But considers God
In his day of adversity.
Balances his righteousness
So that he perisheth not.
And considers his foolishness
So that he lives a long life.
Fears God
With the strength of wisdom
That brings the sadness of truth
That he is a sinner.
Judgeth not others
For their cursing.
But knows of his
Own cursing.
Asks, how do I truly know
The wisdom that elusively
Stretches before me
And dives exceedingly
deep within me?
Will yet apply his heart to know,
to search, to seek the reason of things.
Realizing that a good name
May be found in
Only one man
Amongst a thousand.
Is a precious ointment
on the day of death.
Linda Conkey Shaw copyright July 9 2010
Ecclesiastes 8
Who is Wise?
Who is as the wise man?
Me. I am as the wise man.
When I practice my turn to
figure out a problem, interpret a solution,
and to know the root of all wisdom.
There is wisdom that flows through me
as I break down my piece of life
one section at a time, trial upon trial.
I find a great boldness that causes
me to begin to shine forth.
It changes my countenance.
God placed on this earth a government
That brings peace and prosperity
To my daily commune.
Who is wise? I am. In my obeying
My king's command as he obeys
The oath of our God.
I can practice wisdom when I choose to
forgo my hastiness and stay close
to my king. My king's wisdom
and power of word gives him cause to do
whatsoever thing he pleases.
But he, like me, must face the
same time and judgment
when spirit retains spirit
For no matter my loyalty,
This war will claim all.
But my king with power over me
I have wisdom to know that he is
no better than I. Yet his vexation
increases and my freedom decreases.
And I have wisdom to know that
yet I seek it
I cannot find it.
Yet I know it.
I cannot have it.
Who is wise?
Anyone who thinks he is
Must consider how he became such and
Realize that to consider this shows
That he is not.
Yet we all can impart bits of wisdom
We all can feel the joy of touching wisdom
And know the change that comes upon us
When but for a brief moment we feel
the power of wisdom surge through us.
Who is wise?
He who seeketh to interpret.
Ecclesiastes 9
HopeLike the fishes caught in an evil net
Or the birds caught in a snare
I know not my time
That falleth suddenly upon me.
As the hand of God that
Comes alike unto all
In that one event, I have
Considered in my heart:
The hand that falls both upon the
Wicked and righteous,
The clean and unclean,
Swearer and the faithful
Will fall upon me.
But to the living
There is Hope
Who wears a white dress
And recognizes death,
Not as a foe but rather as a reward
For remembrance.
Hope walks amongst the living
Who join together banding their love
Knowing God who accepts their works
And anoints their head with his oil
Hope liveth joyfully with her spouse
Whom she loveth all the days of her life.
Hope accepts her portion in this life.
Hope accepts her portion in her labor.
Hope findeth living work
and doest it with all her might,
knowing that in death there is no work,
nor knowledge, nor wisdom.
The grave taketh it all.
Hope knoweth the race of life
goes not to the swift
nor to the strong
but finds balance
in life's time and chance.
Hope teaches that quiet words
fights her battle with wisdom,
and forges works of righteousness
Hope eats bread with joy
drinks wine with a merry heart
and goeth his way in peace.
Knowing that when he is snared
even as a bird is caught by an evil net
God's providence will carry
him forward into the living light.
Copyright Linda Conkey Shaw July 10, 2010.
Ecclesiastes 10
A Little Folly
A little folly finds me, like King David
Whose heart, that was said to be like unto God's,
A little folly destroys one's standing.
What if David had considered his honor?
A little folly, sets me to no particular direction.
I am lost, like King David,
From justices right hand.
What if David had turned away
And let wisdom steer his way?
A little folly walketh by my way.
I walk, like King David
Drunken with my lust so that
Everyone who sees me
Knows my shame.
What if David had walked
Wisdom’s path?
A little folly causes me to flee.
I flee, like King David,
Before the wrath of my God,
Pacifying my great offense.
What if David had stood his ground
When his heart screamed
Out its reprimand?
What if he had held to his wisdom
That said stand strong?
Accept your weakness.
Ask God?
But alas a little folly
Does not allow for error.
It brings only blind anger,
Like what King David, saw
When he turned himself
inward to discover
His mischievous madness.
A little folly sets in motion a
Revolution that finds itself set
in the dignity of evil and sets
the rich into lowly stations.
It unravels a noble's tapestry.
A little folly comes to us all,
To rulers as King David,
in its own time,
By its own chance
Like that of a serpents bite
Or a stone fall midst a quarry.
A little folly, unchecked
By wisdom's weight
Will unsettle the grandest ruler.
A little folly, unchecked by honor
Will unravel the stature
Of the wisest of men.
Help me not, oh Lord
To play the fool's part,
To choose the left side,
of my fool's heart.
Keep my wise man's heart
On God's protective right hand
Keep my wisdom strong
And with God's courage let me stand.
Linda Conkey Shaw copyright July 11, 2010
Ecclesiastes 11
"God's Portion"
God giveth
To all men who
Sow upon the earth
Bread and sustenance
That they may rejoice
In all their years
And walk this way or that.
To the investor
Who regards the evil
Upon the land
God says: "Give a portion,"
To seven, and eight,
Protect your returns
With diversity.
To the pessimist
Who says "the clouds be full of rain,
They will empty themselves
Upon the earth,"
God says: "Give a portion,"
That you might protect yourself
From chance.
To the fearful
Who observes the wind
That howls fiercely
Or dark clouds that loom,
God says: "Give a portion, "
That ye may sow your seed
And reap a harvest.
To the builder amongst men who wonders
How an embryo's bones do grow, or
To the leader of men who wonders
How the way of the spirit doest lead,
God says: "Give a portion,"
That you knoweth the works
Of God who maketh all.
To the faithful believers
Who share the bread of life,
God says, "Give a portion,"
Both morning and night that ye
might prosper in either.
To he whom has lived many years
And doth rejoice in them all,
God says, " Give a portion,"
That ye may remember
Your many days of
Darkness and vanity.
To the young man who doth
Walk in the ways of his heart
And in the sight of his eyes
God says: "Give a portion,"
That ye may be warned
Of God's judgment.
To the sorrowful
Who have known
Only the evil of childhood vanity
God says, "Give a portion,"
That thy sorrow might
Be removed from thine heart.
To those who give of
The bread they receive,
God says, Man does not live
by bread alone.
Taste the sweetness
Of his bread lightened by His spirit.
Let thine eyes behold
The pleasantness of his sun.
Now when I receive of my daily bread
I am quick to tithe and portion God's part.
For I know that in giving a portion away
I will find his love sketched upon my heart.
Linda Conkey Shaw copyright July 12, 2010
Ecclesiastes 12
Vanity of Vanities
I am in my youth
Aware of the sun that shines brightly, the wind that caresses my skin,
The taste of golden fruit, and the strength that surges through my limbs.
I am aware of my gifts that God has given for me to see
How his love has sustained and guided, lifted me.
But in the day when I have wearied from my years that draw nigh,
Will I say that I have lived for wisdom, and given God my best try?
If I find myself alone when my silver cord shall be loosed,
Will my vanity of vanities shadow me from truth?
As my days grow long and my pleasures grow dim,
Will I have learned that my purpose
Was to grow closer to Him?
As the keepers of my house begin to tremble,
And my strong men bow themselves low,
Will I look upon my hands and stand upon my legs
And realize too late, what I don't know?
As my grinders grow few and cease,
And my window shades darken,
Will my teeth and mine eyes
Finally find courage to hearken?
As my doors shall shut up
And the sound of my grinders is low,
Will I remember what mine ears heard,
Or forget the taste of what his love did grow?
When standing on all that is high
Brings a fear of all that shall be in my way,
When my almond tree shall shed strands of grey,
And my grasshoppers shall bring a burden that stays,
Will the desire within me that once
Thought of God, fail to understand,
That the desire of youth see stars that are bright
And knows not of returning clouds rain?
Fear God, in thy youth, He alone can bring truth.
Fear God, keep his commandments true,
Fear God, in thy youth, and live a life
Fear God, Fear God, in thy youth.
Experience will tell you only what is wrong
It will never help you find right.
Experience will tell you what does not work
God's love will give you a joyous light.
Experience is limited to the earth bound life
It will never lead you to higher ground
Experience will only expose your small size
It will never show you to where God's love does abound.
God loved us so he sent us to earth
To see if we could but understand
How his plan is for us to draw nigh to him
and leave the vanity of vanities to man.
Solomon taught his conclusion on the matter
Fear God and keep his ways, find his plan.
Fear God in they youth, learn of his ways.
For this is the whole duty of man.
Linda Conkey Shaw July 13, 2010 copyright
1 Nephi 20
Out of His Waters
Out of his waters,
Come I.
I know, by the
Name of the Lord.
I swear, by the
truth within me.
A transgressor from the womb
I didst not know,
My brass brow,
My iron neck,
My molten image.
Suddenly, I saw.
The Lord of Hosts,
whose right hand spanned the heavens,
And causes us to stand up together,
He has cut me,
He has refined me,
And chosen me, to
utter and tell
with a voice of singing.
New,
and hidden things,
that flow
from the rock,
He clave.
Out of his mouth,
have his words gushed.
Not in secret,
But for the glory
of His name.
For He is the first.
He is the last.
He is the river of peace.
His righteousness is
As the waves of the sea.
Through the desert he leads me,
Staying my soul upon His name.
Multiplying my seed as the sand,
Teaching me profit,
Making my waters flow.
I have seen.
I have heard, and
That his anger might be deferred
I will declare.
The Lord hath loved us. Beware for
The arm of his pleasure shall
fall upon Babylon.
Out
of his waters
Come I.
Redeemed
His servant
Quenched
of my
thirst.
Linda Conkey Shaw C June 28 2010
________________________________________
A Letter From Mother Eve
While I watched in Eden’s garden,
There came, of every creation,
“of their kind”.
_______________________________________
Linda Conkey Shaw copyright Dec 15 2010
_________________________________________________
I rest
____________________________________________________
A Letter From Mother Eve
My daughter do you know me?
Your first mother come from Eden’s garden?
Born of Adam’s dream
A “help meet” to reach beyond
the realm of senses and
the realm of senses and
explain what reasoning cannot.
I am taken not from “the dust”
But rather from a rib. Called woman
I was created to marrow bone
To flesh two lives into one.
While I watched in Eden’s garden,
There came, of every creation,
“of their kind”.
I waited for the experience
That promised you.
My son, do you know me?
I am caught somewhere between
the first lie that twisted
faith into reason.
the first lie that twisted
faith into reason.
Yet I heard in Eden an echo
of Heaven’s perfect truth.
And I knew I was meant for more
than the garden’s perfect play.
Eden gave all I could ever need.
But from wisdom’s choice
and from The God’s experience
Comes all that I shall ever love.
Some will blame me for the first fear.
For as we heard God walk within the garden,
Our conscience awakened and
We felt his feet tread upon our hearts.
For as we heard God walk within the garden,
Our conscience awakened and
We felt his feet tread upon our hearts.
But as I stood tall before God’s love,
As I accepted my first error
My love for you became real.
You became real and
As I accepted my first error
My love for you became real.
You became real and
I showed, the “first faith.”
For though from the garden we were cast
Your eternal spirit might never have known
The joy from the "God's experience"
that was meant to forever last.
that was meant to forever last.
My daughter do you know me?
Do you understand that within you
lies the promise of each new day?
Hope, anticipation, curiosity, and childlike faith
You, my daughter, are the Eve of every promised tomorrow.
Linda Conkey Shaw April 8 2011 Copyright
______________________________________________________
Drawn from the Dust
Oh, Naked man drawn from the dust,
What purpose in Eden's garden did God to you entrust?
Who is your help mete that should ease your loneliness?
And from whence did God draw her life to give you loves caress?
Oh, Naked man drawn from the dust,
What purpose in Eden's garden did God to you entrust?To dress it? To keep it? To feed upon the nector of God's pure seed?
How then did the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil fulfill your every need?
Was the spiritual death that the children of your children have come to know,
The opposition you needed to help your garden grow?
And who told you the call of beasts that came up from God's ground?
If your help mete that came from within you had called
Would you have heard her sound?
As you sat alone and called each of God's earthly beasts by name,
From what tongue was it that your family of language came?
Why did God wait for you to claim power of their name,
Before your help mete was taken out of you? Was it to tame?
And why do you believe that woman, who is of your bone and of your flesh
Has come to distract you from God's holiness?
Who is this help mete that should plead for your loneliness?
And from whence did God draw her life to give you loves caress?
Oh, naked man drawn from the dust,
What purpose in Eden's Garden did God to you entrust?
copyright March 12, 2011 Linda Conkey Shaw
_______________________________________
The Creation of Me
When I was void
and darkness fell
upon the face
of my deep
God moved
His spirit
upon
my waters.
When my darkness
blinded me
God said,
"Be light."
And I knew both
day and night.
When my waters flowed
without form,
And my spirit
drowned in the chemistry
of my existence,
God came into the midst
of my waters,
dividing them with His heaven.
When my seas swarmed within me,
God called my waters to one place
that I might bring forth
my earth seed.
When my earth seed knew no direction
God put lights into my heaven
to give sign and season
that they, that I
might follow
His greater light.
When my waters whaled and
my earth beasted,
God blessed them
to bring forth
that they, that I
might soar in flight
and swim with delight.
And God blessed me with life
that rose from within me
creations to call my own
beasts and creeping things
after my own kind.
And when God saw
that I needed subduing
God said, "I will give
you...... My own likeness
in Mine own image that
My life, My choice,
My creations
might give
you life.
And at last
I knew
God's
love.
Linda Conkey Shaw copyright Dec 15 2010
_________________________________________________
A Vessel For Honor
May I Lord
In my own faith
fill my vessel with
words that will cause me to
Stand sanctified
Useful
Prepared for your
every good word.
May I Lord
through word
consider
What is right, and
through the power
of word unto action
find faith
learn Love
practice Peace
all with a
pureness of heart,
That entreats
A gentle teaching
of patience and
correctness of word
to those who would
unknowingly fill
me with
opposition.
May my
vessel
stand cleansed
of dishonor
through
words
spoken unto
the will of God.
Copyright Linda Conkey Shaw October 2010
_________________________________________________
In the Shadow of His Grace
I sit
alone
in dark corners
crying,
despair
darkening my soul.
Shadows stir
and I feel
His grace
touch my being
like the warm breath
of a whispered wind.
in the shadow
of His grace
until my faith
remembers.
His
grace
defines
wisdom.
In the Shadow
of His grace
I remain,
with His love
wrapped around
Me
always chasing
always chasing
my darkness into
His light.
C Linda Conkey Shaw Oct 25 2010
Eve's Prayer
Paul says pray.
To Eve's daughter
and man "not deceived" he instructs,
pray for a quiet and peaceful life.
Pray for all men.
Give thanks.
Give supplication.
Pray for intercession.
Paul says,
to Eve's daughters
adorn not yourselves
in costly array,
rather dress yourselves in modesty
and good works.
Paul says,
to Eve's sons,
Pray everywhere,
with holy hands
lifted up.
Paul says,
daughters should
take lesson from Mother Eve
and exist
in silence
in subjection
in teaching
in the rank of being "deceived."
As a woman I pray
with my handmaiden hands, holy and pure.
I leave my wrath and doubt
in Eden's Garden
For Paul to consider.
For my faith is not shamefaced.
But doth profess godliness.
And my face doest reflect Mother Eve's choice of life.
I learn with quiet sobriety
not for my deception,
but for the joy of God's plan for me,
a woman, a daughter of Eve.
In charity,
in holiness,
do I bear the children of the world.
Knowing that in the birthing of
God's children God hast saved me,
a woman,
to steady the faith,
to silent the subjection,
and to teach the authority
all as I rock..... the cradle.
Most assuredly God knew and set to intercede for us when
from the womb of Eve's daughter Mary,
came the Lord Jesus Christ
born to mediate,
between the "one God" and man,
even the sons of Eve.
___________________________________
So Do"
To my own son,
a man
in the faith
of God our Father
and Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Of faith, make
not a shipwreck.
Have "no other doctrine"
steer your course.
Let not "what they say"
hold wind
to your sail.
To the fable's teacher,
question a destination.
To the endless genealogies,
turn from the power of their tale.
Know that these teachers'
vain janglings
hold no power of place,
And bend from the law
that bestows a course
of both mercy and grace.
From their
fruitless jabberings,
turn aside.
Remember
that charity,
from a pure heart
doth unfeigned faith abide.
Turn your hearts course,
back to faith's pattern,
let it tack across God's
open ocean.
Ministry with
a good conscience
play upon the wave of His law
with the steadiest of
emotion.
Set your sextant
upon the light
of God's brightest star.
Charge all who would
sail with you
to defend the truth
and war a good war.
Teach them that the law is not
meant to set fear to mutiny's race,
but to serve them
with edification's
of God's mercy and grace.
Hold strong to your pattern of faith,
let its course set you,
upon a steady current
of long suffering hope.
Keep,
my own son,
my own son,
the King Eternal,
the only true and wise God
for ever and ever
within your scope.
Copyright Linda Conkey Shaw Sept 23 2010
The Mighty One of Jacob
Oh the mighty one of Jacob
God hast called thee from my womb
From my bowels have I listened
As he made mention of your name.
As a suckling child I have nursed thee
In the shadows of his hand
From my womb hath he formed thee
To bring Jacob home again.
As a polished shaft he hast made thee
To gather Jacob's tribe,
In his quiver hast he hid thee
By springs of water doth he guide.
From your mouth comes words of sharpness
Like a powerful sword of worth
Use your sword to restore Israel
Spread salvation throughout the earth.
Labor not my son in vainness
Spend your judgement with the Lord
Be a light unto the Gentiles
Set God's standard through his word.
It matters not that men will hate thee
Nor that nation's will abhor
King's shall see thee and applaud thee
Royalty, bow their faces towards the floor
Thou art a gift unto the isles
They that dwellest upon the seas
A servant for a covenant
To his people that you lead.
To the prisoners that sit in darkness
Feed their hunger, quench their thirst
Show them passage through the mountains
From their children lift their curse.
Then, my mighty one of Jacob
Shall God's people come from far
Their daughters riding upon thy shoulders
Their sons resting in thine arms.
Israel shall be gathered
With the power of thy name.
I am the woman that has born thee
To bring Jacob home again.
Out of His Waters
Out of his waters,
Come I.
I know, by the
Name of the Lord.
I swear, by the
truth within me.
A transgressor from the womb
I didst not know,
My brass brow,
My iron neck,
My molten image.
Suddenly, I saw.
The Lord of Hosts,
whose right hand spanned the heavens,
And causes us to stand up together,
He has cut me,
He has refined me,
And chosen me, to
utter and tell
with a voice of singing.
New,
and hidden things,
that flow
from the rock,
He clave.
Out of his mouth,
have his words gushed.
Not in secret,
But for the glory
of His name.
For He is the first.
He is the last.
He is the river of peace.
His righteousness is
As the waves of the sea.
Through the desert he leads me,
Staying my soul upon His name.
Multiplying my seed as the sand,
Teaching me profit,
Making my waters flow.
I have seen.
I have heard, and
That his anger might be deferred
I will declare.
The Lord hath loved us. Beware for
The arm of his pleasure shall
fall upon Babylon.
Out
of his waters
Come I.
Redeemed
His servant
Quenched
of my
thirst.
Linda Conkey Shaw C June 28 2010
