Love refuses...

Love refuses to change its course,

though it finds no path to travel on.
Love holds fast to all its hopes,
though all its cause for hope is gone.

Love sits beside an empty chair,
though endless hours pass, alone it waits.
Love seeks a train that never comes,
though past the time they close the gates.

Love checks the post day after day,
though emptiness is all it finds.
Love finally seals the lover's fate.
It locks her doors and shuts her blinds.

Joseph Weilenbeck 05/05/2018

Limousine moments...

The moments stretched
Like limousines
In funeral procession.
Each long and dark,
Appearing the same.
But, riding in each one,
A different memory.
Some familiar and often seen.
Some seen but once,
Then never again.
Like family gathered
To say good-bye,
Some better known than others,
But all present out of love.

They passed one after another,
Carrying their flowers
For his resting place.
Each pausing briefly
To be certain
I took notice.
Then, in tears,
Each departed—
Leaving a flower.
To dry, but remain.
To be treasured
As its color fades.
And kept
Forever.

Joseph Weilenbeck 2001
Written in 2001, remembering the night I sat with my father while he gently passed away.

Love is not love...

Love is not love
that turns away
when storms and darkness
claim the day...
Or, that covers its eyes
when faced with pain,
or that turns and runs
when comes the rain.

For love does not count
its gain or loss
when its object is found
in the tempest tossed...
Nor build up walls
to behind them hide,
leaving its object
on the other side.

No, love is not love
that sits and waits
when its object is passing
through trouble's gates...
For love must run swift
to its object's side
and, by nothing on earth
let its path be denied.

Joseph Weilenbeck 2018

Love's last seasons...

Of love, what remains when time has removed...
   What the body desired
      and Spring once inspired?
   When days yet to find
      lag days left behind?
   Of love, what will last
      once its Summer has passed?
Will love then deny what love once had proved?

If love was then love, that love time will save.
   Love that Fall cannot steal,
     nor Winter repeal.
   For the true lover's heart
     will not let it depart.
   It will not be removed
     but then even more proved...
Till the lover's tears fall on a snow-covered grave.

Joseph Weilenbeck 2018

I Will Be With You

Author's note: I wrote this several years ago after speaking with a friend who was facing the imminent death of her husband. As we spoke and prayed, I wanted so much to find words that would ease her pain, and offer her hope in the midst of her grief. I went home, and stayed up all night struggling with the same question: what could I say that would help? In fact, I ended up spending several nights doing just the same. As I read from Scripture on the last of those long nights, I was reminded of the obvious.  My words don't hold the answer.  My words have no power to help.  When our needs are deep and profound, only God's words can offer true hope, consolation, and comfort.  As that fact reclaimed its rightful place in my mind, I was reading from the book of Isaiah.  When I finished reading, I put my Bible aside, and wrote this song. What I could not conceive over several days, God gave me in a matter of minutes. 

The song is inspired by Isaiah, Chapter 43, Verses 2 and 3, and draws upon many other verses from throughout Scripture.

I now offer this song, and my prayers, for those grieving and suffering 
in Santa Fe, Texas as a result of today's shooting. May God be with you
and comfort you.

* * * 

        I Will Be With You
            by Joseph Weilenbeck

When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you.
When the rivers overflow,
I will bring you through.
When you walk through the fire,
You will not be harmed.
I will keep you
Sure and safe
In My arms.

For I am your God
And My word is true.
I will guard your heart
When troubles come to you.

Be at peace and know
You can trust in My plan.
And always,
I will hold you in My hand.

When all your strength is gone,
I will carry you.
When you’re alone, afraid, and numb,
I will be there too.
When each tear leaves your eye,
I will hear it fall.
I love you.
I’ll be with you
Through it all.

For I am your God.
I will be with you.
Whatever trials you face,
I will see you through.

Though darkness may come,
By Me, you shall stand.
And always,
I will hold you in My hand.

Even now,
      I am holding you
                   In My hand.


Joseph Weilenbeck 2005

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God,  the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.        ~Isaiah 43:2, 3 (ESV)

Be a balm that soothes...

Look around you
and open your eyes

Allow yourself
to see the pain
to feel the sorrow
to know the suffering

Be a balm that soothes
the broken hearts
the troubled minds
the tortured souls

Look around you
and open your heart

Joseph Weilenbeck 5/17/2018

If you possess these...

Just something to think about...

If you possess these,
in your heart and in your life,
you have what no riches can buy.

If you give these to others,
you contribute far more
to the good of humankind
than the richest of persons
could ever give.

Joseph Weilenbeck 5/15/2018

Let the kindness of others touch you...

Just something to think about...

Let the kindness of others touch you,

   no matter how small the act or gesture.
Learn to notice it.
Recognize it.
Think about it.
Let yourself feel it.
Appreciate it.
Acknowledge it.
Repay it,
   to that person and to others.
Allow the kindness of others
   to touch you
   and change you.

Joseph Weilenbeck 5/15/2018

Where my family rests...

On a peaceful hill

in the bright sun

under a clear blue sky

in hallowed ground
among the brave

they rest

Father
Mother
Brother

One day
I will
join them

Where My Family Rests  © 2018 Joseph Weilenbeck

Santa Fe National Cemetery

This Morning’s Sun Need Ne’er Have Shown

Why do you lie beside me still

    And stir not least upon my touch?
Do you lack strength, or maybe will,
    My trembling hand to even clutch?

Does morning hold no promise bright
    To coax your sleeping eyes awake?
Will they not lift but ever slight,
    In pity, my worst fears to take?

Why do your lips now grow so cold,
    Though bathing in the sun’s warm glow?
Is there not another kiss they hold?
    Nor one more smile for them to show?

Does your heart not have another beat,
    That I could feel upon my own?
If not, ‘tis all of my defeat.
    This morning’s sun need ne’er have shown.

Joseph Weilenbeck December, 1998 
Written in sympathy for a friend - whose husband unexpectedly passed away in their bed one morning

A Blessed Assurance

A Blessed Assurance

by Joseph Weilenbeck

2009

The first hint of daybreak began to show at the window. The lights of the monitor next to Dad’s bed had been the dominant source of light for the past eight hours.  A dim light over the sink had provided barely enough light to read.  And muffled sounds of the hospital staff at work had occasionally penetrated the stillness of the room.  It would be one of the longest nights of my life. But, far too quickly, it came to an end.  As the light outside the window slowly began to grow brighter, the sounds of life-sustaining breath I had been intently listening to throughout the night grew noticeably weaker.