Tinney Chapel Today

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“Alone,” (c) Copyright by Angela Newton Wylie, a poem written & delivered especially for this event

Alone
When the world is closing in
And I am not certain even who I am
What I am
Where I am going
Pulled here and pushed there
Not belonging anywhere

Alone
Is the place to be
Outside in the open
Walking eyes shut and face lifted into the gentle wind
Whirling around in circles like the thoughts in my head
Arms outstretched to snatch dreams from the air
And breathing in the moment of sheer, exhilarating
Peace

Alone
Out beneath the achingly breathless blue of the sky
Watched only by the sentinel trees,
Sharing whispers and stories or imaginary worlds
With the grass and the lush weeds that trail though my fingers
As I ponder time and life and self and seek my soul,
Finding the quiet path to the way
To reach the Eternal

Alone
I am not a stranger in the breeze-swept pasture
I am a friend that I can trust
I am comfortable within myself, confident for a moment
Away from the world and its strife and trials.
Alone with nature and alone with God
I can be true to who I am
I can find who I am
A child of God

Alone
I walk the dusty cow paths
Alone I climb up the steep leaf-strewn bank
And watch the water flow, rippling and thrilling
Over small waterfalls, flowing like my thoughts
And my dreams, away into the some other world
Washing away my worries and my fears
I can find myself here in the quiet of Nature

Alone
I am older, my childhood not so long ago
Old enough to work, I steer a tractor
Through sun-drenched fields
The drone of the engine shuts our all other sound
And I have only my thoughts for companionship
Older, I have more things to escape from
Responsibilities, the future, these can all wait -
While I am within my seal of contentment
Alone

Alone
Sun-heated, soured rank cow manure sticks to my tires
Resin weeds give up their cloying pungent odor,
Crushed beneath the shredder blades
My skin is damp with sweat and covered with dust
And the powdery itch of goat-weed dust cloaks me like fine mist
My body is fatigued, but not my mind
I am never bored, I am mentally refreshed
When out in the field.

Alone
I know what Elijah discovered
Hiding in his cave
“Be still and know that I am God”,
The voice came in the quietness.
Away from the world I can be still.
In my mind I can listen
For the voice of the Creator
That in His infinite wisdom, created
A place to be alone.

Alone
I can find that I am really never truly alone
I can feel a connection to the world
To the ground dusty and pungent beneath my feet
To the sky and the clouds that drift, swept on unfelt wind
I am a child of God and I am surrounded by His glory,
I am filled to overflowing with his blessings,
And comforted by His
Peace