Category: Creative writing

Threads

Who has known us since the beginning of time?

God has known us while we were in the womb and while we were conceived, the thread of our parents’ DNA and their two bodies as one made into an unknown cord with God

Family ties us in shared relationships. We can choose our friends, but not our family so how do we love them and support them and most importantly help them to know God as he has children but no grandchildren.

What do we love doing?

Singing, sewing, writing, working, praying, looking at creation, with friends, threads of shared experience.

Marriage: the thread of a shared love and life lived together through ups and downs, joys and sorrows.

Old age. Hanging on to old memories of once new experiences and friendships, long gone relationships and the loneliness of being alone and yet who is there with us?

Death: are we finally reeled in by God by the thread that has always held us together.

With the warp and weft of all our threads suddenly we can see the big picture.

Is it good?

© Julia Holdsworth         Kingdom Arts March 2025

---

Pieces of me

Threads…

The shuttle of my life rattles its way back and forth…
Spelling out threads of colour – squares, pieces of me…
A bottle of sorrow tears shed. Raining down upon the stitching.
My fabric of Present life –
Pulled taut – stretching too far –
Splitting – fraying at the edges…
The shuttle of life never stops.

Sadness .. Joy.. Ashes .. beauty.. tears.. laughter.. Disappointment .. Anger .. Faith ..

The Pictures of the Pieces of me woven on the loom of life ..
Crimson, Red, Black, Purple.. threads spelling out the truth that hold my stories together.
Until the shuttles stop, and threads tied up-

Pieces of me.

© Shefali             Kingdom Arts March 2025

---

Colour

Colour all around us.
Do we feel it see it, bear it?
Is it there for us all?
Help us to be alive to
Vibrations, feelings, tones.
A sun that fills our soul
Scents wafting through the air
Whispering, swirling winds.
Dreams and echoes through life
To move us onwards
Clasping moments of every emotion.
Transmitted into dots, swirls and lines.
Colours beyond description
Souls moved to touch and love
And be nearer to God.

© Helen McNicholl          Kingdom Arts March 2023

---

His Hand Guides the Thread

There is a thread that weaves through our lives.

How we use it is within His gift.

Rivers of creativity flowing from a wellspring of ideas.

Evolving into a sort of creation; ever evolving through images and experiences.

Always involving God somewhere in our thinking about where to move on.

Developing faith throughout, learning from others all the while until

Stillness shapes the final scene.

© Barbara Rolison          Kingdom Arts March 2025

---

(Not so much doing as being)

Cast on 3 stitches
——-Father
————–Son
———————Holy spirit

I am the beginning.
Running the stitches through history ‘His song’
Through creation a happy thought, brooding over the chaos.

‘I am the word’
Spoken release
Let these be…

A freedom of will, handed over to created order, to people, your choice.

‘I am the truth’
A redemptive act of being with us entering our realm, being torn to reconcile the irreconcilable.
Being broken

To identify with the broken hearted.

‘I am the way’
A liberty from failure, frustration and a fudge. Words that should shield from accusation…

‘I am the truth’
I realise I am seen and known through and through
A vision of all that has been, is, and could be;
Inspiration, revelation, restoration.

Breath of life to resuscitate, to bring strength, to identify.
Standing in such grace, I plant my feet upon the earth and dare my eyes to seek heaven.
Heavens throne,
A throne of grace,
A mercy seat;
Where judgement is infinitely compassionate and knowing.
So I dare to face myself and ask the question
‘Who shall I say sent me?’
As I wonder how to express the inexpressible, with a heart choked with gratitude.
The answer comes;
‘I am who I am, say I am sent me.’

The alpha, the omega, beginning and end and the never ending one.

© Chris Graham               Kingdom Arts March 2025

---

 

Sacrifice

Would you give your life for someone else?
Who do soldiers give their life for: country, family, community or for their deeply held cause?
Why do lifeboat men put to sea? Is it their desire to save a human life or because they see it as their duty?
Why does a man jump into a river to save a boy and yet they both drown?
Only God knows our hearts and why we are motivated to do things sometimes without thinking.
Courage comes into play when we look death in the eye, and do it anyway because it is right and we look to God for our life.
Jesus took all our sins upon him and with his scourge, double agony was His.
Yet may we never forget the resurrection and the eternal life that we are born into.
May love be the victor and not hate. Is this an act of will? Do we choose life or death?
What is your sacrifice?

© Julia Holdsworth          Kingdom Arts, 11th February 2025

 

Introduction

Shefali feels strongly that Kingdom Arts reaches out and is an inspiration even when you are not there!

The following piece was written after the February meeting; when Shefali, who was not able to come, was inspired by a conversation with someone who had been there, and told her the story of Maximillian Kolbe. This inspired her thoughtful and reflective creative writing.

Take me

I am but one, and yet I am 1000,
one million, one billion, one trillion.
Take me.

I am but four.
Three who depend on me.
Please, please don’t take me.
Please spare me.

I am.
Do not take me.
I give myself.
Take me.

And therein lies the answer to our deepest hearts cry.
Do we not all have hidden ways and live in dark as well as light?
Do we not have the blood of the innocent on our hearts, minds and tongues?

I am, but four.
Children…
Spare me.

I am.
Do not take me.
I give myself.
Take me.
And with that with arms outstretched
For the million, billion and trillion,
He hung his head and died.

© Shefali        Kingdom Arts February 2025

Christmas Angel

Mary was afraid
Angel appeared suddenly
Messenger from God

Joseph was dreaming
Angel appeared silently
Be Mary’s husband

Jesus was sleeping
Lying in a trough of hay
Angel watching them

Image of a child
Christmas Spirit promises
Angels everywhere.

© Barbara Rolison Kingdom Arts December 2024

---

Mary and Elisabeth

Elisabeth waits…Looking heavenward…
Silence deafens, it’s piercing, unsettling.
She is in God’s waiting room.
Silence echoes in her home; hubby cannot speak!

Mary enters into keeping a silence
She has had a message, an angel, it’s piercing her dreams her life, her hopes;
It’s unsettling yet it offers hope.
A baby, two babies; conceived in the heart of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
One born to prepare the way out of darkness,
One to be born in the darkness of a stable.
A box for a bed straw for warmth.

The world waits
I need hope…I lie in my own crib, one of many cribs, nameless, a pregnancy unwanted.
No future, no identity, no belonging, no light.
Are you really a king, Jesus?
Who am I?
Can you tell?
Nobody’s child.
Can I lie with you in your crib for a while?
We see the star, we hear the angels,
All is calm and all is bright, baby Jesus, Son of God’s light,
You radiate pure light.
You give me peace and love, unspoken acceptance
And your presence changes everything!

No longer waiting,
I hold onto you;
You enlighten my darkness
And silence is pierced with the cry of my heart.
Come Emmanuel!

© Shefali Kingdom Arts December 2024

---

 

Remove the Carpet

[AKA Old Ways Be Gone**]

“Resign” they cry
Just one alone?
Stand up in solidarity
All who share the shame.

Purge
Reconcile
Refresh
Renew

To all be fair from
Decades past to times ahead
The lens has changed
But the crime no less

Purge
Reconcile
Refresh
Renew

[** For all of us]

© Stephanie Moyes        Kingdom Arts 12.11.24

---

Africa

The sun beat down
The work was endless
But food grew well
Unequal sharing

The land cries out with beauty
Babies on backs
Will they stay
And grow old together?

Garments abound with colour
Reflecting sky, flowers, and birds.
Let our pallets
Mix every colour.

© Helen McNicholl     Kingdom Arts December 2024

---

Freedom?

Oh! my father, where are you?
Children of the earth hear the beat of the drum
Rivers of Africa turn red stained by blood of the innocent
Deep calls to deep
From the very roots and dry earth was I born.
And the red earth cries out to be released.

This country is woven into my bones.
My heritage.
Freedom is never free. It comes with a price.
Oh! my brothers and sisters of many lands
Africa welcomed you, fed you on goats’ milk and corn
And now you are being spewed out
By the very mouth of he who instils fear, rules by fear,
Will die through fear.

See beyond and dream on my people
May the soil from which we were formed remember!
Stand strong
A bruised reed will not remain broken
Freedom is not free, it has to come with a price
They do not take it, I give it
Stand free.

© Shefali              Kingdom Arts December 2024

---

 

Have you ever seen a blind man dance?

Watching the blind comedian Chris work with Diane on Strictly this year, has been fascinating.

I have listened to their back story, he has said that he has had to go down on his hands and knees to feel her feet, to work out how he should place his own.

He is free from all the glitz and glamour, as his focus is on what he needs to do to be a partner.

One day he blindfolded Diane and asked her to enter his world to understand what it was like for him to experience learning to dance.

What an eye opener for her!

“Light of the world you stepped down into darkness” What a feat of trust!

Experienced completely by Christ, mirrored in their journey.

“I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross”

 © Chris Graham    Kingdom Arts October 2024

---

Light

 He stood by my door and knocked.
I was intrigued at age 8 or 9.
Opening a chink to let in whoever.
A voice said “Come follow me Jennifer”

Time passes but always the presence
Of light and hope were and are with me.
They draw me on and open my eyes
In dark times, quiet moments
There is a touch, a shaft of light
A voice, a sense of peace and I know.

Christ knocks at our door
And when the door opens, light appears.
Slowly all is revealed.
Insight into dark places, within oneself,
In a life being lived.
In the world in which we live
All places needing healing, touch and love.

© Jenny English  Kingdom Arts October 2024

---

The Door

What is this chink of light through the door.
Is it a gateway to another world? How do I open the door?
Jesus said: “Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened unto you”.
The door is wooden, plain, ordinary, no gold or decoration here, but that intriguing shaft of light shining through the door frame.
Where does our ordinary life with all its stresses and strains meet eternity?
Are we brave enough to knock and have the door opened?

As a young person a closed door seems like somewhere you should not go: but as an older person it is a challenge, a gateway to new possibilities, vista and experiences. We have no experience of heaven, but we do know that God has us in the palm of his hand, and will protect us like a hen with chicks. So, what do we have to fear?

Nothing.

© Julia Holdsworth       Kingdom Arts October 2024

---

Opening the door

When a door is ajar, do you dare glance inside?
Who knocks on your door, dare you open it wide?
Are you thrilled to be greeting whoever’s outside?

Will your welcome be warm and is your smile bright?
But who is that someone who calls you tonight?
May Jesus enter; blessings in His voice?
Then let your heart open and your soul Rejoice!

© Barbara Rolison        Kingdom Arts October 2024

---

 

Heavenly Growth

God created the world
And saw that it was good.
The seeds to flourish and grow
Large and small alike.
Despite floods and drought
Still nourished in God’s folding earth
Feeding the hungry
And the yearning soul
Healing pains and minds
Bringing comfort and peace
Restoring the air we breathe,
To praise him once again
Delighting the eye
And the artists brush
Filling the air with scent
God’s breath to stir our souls
Help us Lord to protect and love
Your heavenly God-sent gift.

© Helen McNicoll Kingdom Arts June 2024

---

A Prayer

Oh Lord of grace and love
How you have sustained me through the darkest of times,
I was bereft until
Your tender compassion surrounded me.
You listened to my heartfelt prayers,
Your Holy Spirit touched me bringing peace.
Always my Lord and my Saviour.

Amen

© Barbara Rolison Kingdom Arts June 2024

---

Alpha and Omega, circle of life, eternal joy let us live with you forever.
Despite our shortcomings, may we share your love, compassion, and liberty in heavenly peace with angelic voices singing to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Heaven on earth, bright flowers, birds singing, roaring oceans, sunlit mountains, loving relationships, family unity, no violence or hate, but pure grace as we look to you, our defender and sustainer.

Your world is full of your glory from the mustard seed to mighty cedars, may we treat them with the respect they deserve and sustain rather than destroy their environments.
Lord may we be your ambassadors on earth, of it but not living in it. We need to be heaven’s citizens, God’s hands and feet on earth, his mouthpiece to issues of the day, head above the parapet, advocating Your way, not the ways of war, compassion for the have-nots and wisdom in meditation.

We have a short time here but Eternity with you. Let us make it count, every day dedicated to you, conversations had with those you choose and situations encountered so that we can give glory to you in all that we do.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are our joy, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love, cultivate these in our hearts.

© Julia Holdsworth Kingdom Arts June 2024

---

Enslaved, Free, Follow God

I have been enslaved for many years by what I call my “Stinking thinking”.

During the last few years, I have been given, by the grace of God, the opportunity to learn about what has been blocking me from experiencing peace in my mind and soul. I believe that I am being set free.

I have taken the opportunity which was presented to me, to seek professional help, which allowed me to realise that I had an addiction to being miserable. This realisation has enabled me to accept that I needed to seek help to move away from my addiction.

I was introduced to a spiritual course some time ago. This has helped to set me free from a misunderstanding of what spirituality is, and it has given me a new understanding of how to have a spiritual relationship with God and to follow God’s guidance.

I learnt that I needed to accept that we are powerless and that our lives can sometimes become unmanageable. I also realised that God can restore us to and to “make a decision to turn on our will and our lives over to the care of God”. This illustrated the need to follow God’s will in my life and NOT my own.

I have been privileged to see how God has restored people who have been enslaved in the prisons of alcoholism and more especially co-dependency. I have been helped to find some freedom from my “stinking thinking”, and my addictions. It has shown me, beyond doubt, that only God can set me free.

I have learnt many things about myself in recent years. It has been challenging and painful. The process has enabled me to get an awareness of being enslaved to addiction; of having God set me free, and to be able to follow God’s will instead of my own.

One of the most valuable lessons I have learnt is a new definition of the virtue of humility. This is having the openness and willingness to seek to know God’s will for me, and to humbly seek the power to carry it out.

I have begun to realise that God is not vindictive, critical or judgemental, but accepts me as I am. He accepts me with my personality defects and shortcomings.

© Paul Ingram, Kingdom Arts, June 2024

---

 

So many memories come from the songs we sing,
When we walk with the Lord, as those did on the Emmaus road.
We start with uncomprehending wonder and gain
So much by walking with Him,
As He draws near.
Songs so often pin the memory as do
Actions that catch us unaware and remind us.
They just know that in that moment of
Bewilderment, things started to make sense.
Drawing from their hearts the invitation
“Abide with us”
We want that connection. But then He left for Heaven
Bereft again homesick for His abiding presence
They waited / we wait
Until a promise that He made draws near,
Very near and becomes fulfilled
They were given the promised Holy Spirit
And we are too.
We can sing with certainty
“Holy Spirit we welcome you”

© Chris Graham, Kingdom Arts Worcester May 2024

---

A Mighty Fire

The first spark begins
Within the welcoming, comforting
God filled womb.
Nurtured for the world
As birth overtakes us.
Lord help us build a mighty fire
From that holy spark.
With flames rising to heaven
Full of Godly love
Ready to spread world-wide.
Feeling breezes spurring us on
Seeing the passing seasons
In all their beauty
Spreading and receiving love
In all its different shapes
Burning away unrest and pain.
May the colours and warmth
Fill the world.

© Helen McNichol, Kingdom Arts Worcester May 2024

---

Holy, Sacred, Eternal Spirit.

Holy Spirit
Sent from God: made of God
Entering the world like a storm-force wind
To fill us and fulfil us alway.

Sacred Spirit
Gift from God: part of God
Igniting my heart like a fiery flame
Enfold me, protect me I pray

Eternal Spirit
Gift from God: made of God
Come like a fateful messenger
Speak to my soul and stay.

© Barbara Rolison, Kingdom Arts Worcester May 2024

---

 

Take it to the Lord in prayer

See from His head, His hands, His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Carried then carried now
Jesus you died alone.
Deep the wounds of love punishment in my place
Ugliness, brutality, violence, intransigence, pain, death
Jesus you knew it all then
You know it all now
Trouble, sorrow, weakness, loneliness, our rubbish!
Take it to the lord in prayer
He is there always
From His tears comes our joy
From His death our life shall be forever.

© Lesley Brown Kingdom Arts April 2024

---

Bead prayer

Lord Jesus draw near and hear my prayer
My prayer for mankind – Hear my prayer
A new baby born free into the unknown – Hear my prayer
A child loved from birth – Hear my prayer
A child unloved and used – Hear my prayer
Grows into adulthood stepping into freedom – Hear my prayer
Grows into adulthood seeking sanctuary – Hear my prayer
Risen Christ re make us all in your image – Hear my prayer
That we may be filled with your Holy Spirit
And be free spirits walking in your kingdom – Hear my prayer
Be alongside each one of us – Hear my prayer
The beloved son or daughter – Hear my prayer
The slave, the killer, the soldier – Hear my prayer
The homeless, the lonely – Hear my prayer
Risen Christ draw us into your embrace – Hear my prayer

© Jenny English Kingdom Arts April 2024

---

 

He is risen Alleluia
His light will shine forever
He is risen Alleluia
Eternal King we praise you

He is risen Alleluia
Peace to all your children

He is risen Alleluia
We give you glory and praise

He is risen Alleluia
It is finished, and God reigns!

© Julie H Kingdom Arts March 2024

---

Peace.

Can we capture the essence of our paradoxical Lord?
Our leader of soul and body,
Touching humankind and heaven through light and darkness,
Who spreads the scent of heaven across all human endeavour.
Sending cleansing breezes to heal deep wounds
Releasing blocked entrances for joyful song and dance.
Wiping visible and hidden tears with outstretched hands.
But most of all
Let us absorb God’s overwhelming peace.
Simply love Him with all our hearts
As He loves us.

© Helen McNicholl Kingdom Arts March 2024

---

 

Steal away

When I was a teenager I used to sing this spiritual so much, to encourage my heart to confide in Jesus… “Steal Away to Jesus”

Today I wrote this Poem…

Is my heart oppressed and low?
Steal away to Jesus
Confused about which way to go?
Steal away to Jesus

Am I pressed into a mould?
Steal away to Jesus
Feeling robbed of all my gold?
Steal away to Jesus

Would I dare to slip my chain?
Steal away to Jesus
Is it worth what I would gain?
Steal away to Jesus

Does my trouble cloud my way?
Steal away to Jesus
Will the darkness yield to day?
Steal away to Jesus

I will trust the call to rest
Steal away to Jesus
Following with trembling steps
Steal away to Jesus

I will come out on your arm
Steal away to Jesus
Covered in your healing balm
Steal away to Jesus

© Chris Graham Kingdom Arts 2024

---

What is freedom?

Everywhere I look, people are shackled by something: internet shopping; drink; drugs; sex; Netflix; fashion.
Where are we free in nature, by the sea, up a mountain, wild swimming.
What is it for you?

Jesus made us free, whatever our circumstances, do we need a new mindset?

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, do we look after our vulnerable ones?
Do restrictions mean slavery or is it a means to a new and free life?
Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote “Man is born free but everywhere is in chains”.

Is this what Jesus came for, to be tied, scourged and die for us all?
To rise again in glory and save us all from sin and suffering until we are truly free to join him in eternal glory.

© Julia Holdsworth

---

A spiritual

They chained me down,
In sorrow I cry,
Carry my trouble away.

My load is heavy,
Have mercy Lord!
Carry my trouble away.

CHORUS
Carry me away, Lord,
Carry me away, Lord,
Carry me away, my Lord,
Carry me away.

The journey’s long,
The river is wide,
Carry my trouble away.

And in the darkness
You’re by my side,
Carry my trouble away.

CHORUS
Carry me away, Lord,
Carry me away, Lord,
Carry me away, my Lord,
Carry me away.

© Barbara Rolison, Kingdom Arts February 2024

---

Release from the Chains of Despair

I was trapped, I felt unsafe,
Had no control, no way of escape.
Bound by rules, no place for thoughts
Of what I like, just what I ought.

Do, be, serve, and don’t complain,
Keep the peace, the same refrain
In my mind, the whole day long.
No chance of love or joy or song.

Then came the night. The darkness hides
All vestige of hope, just fear resides.
Fear dictates and tells me lies,
“You can’t break free from life’s demise.

This is all you will ever be,
Trapped in your chains, and never free.”
Yet deep inside a spark of hope
Drew me onwards, helped me to cope.

I’d heard of a Saviour, one who loved
To set people free, the Son of God.
I cried to Him, He heard my prayer,
Let me know that He’s always there.

“You are loved,” He said. “Trust in Me,
I will your Deliverer be.”
And deep inside I knew that He
Could heal the pain and set me free.

New life awaits, now peace inside,
Freedom from fear, now joy resides.
No more despair nor hiding away
Just freed to be, to work to play.

Myself at last. Now I can breathe
And worship Him, old patterns leave.
He brings such peace and now fulfils
My hopes, my dreams- not further ills.

My life is changed forever more
Free like the eagle I will soar.

Ruth Campsall, February 2024.

---