Category Archives: My poems

Embraced By an Encounter with the Living God: A Testimony

When I first came to God with a very heavy heart and a empty soul, my life was in total despair. I went to a chapel in the mountains in the early morning hours and cried to a God I did not know. This poem I wrote the as the sun came up based on what happened on in the mountain chapel.

Encountering the Living God

I called upon the Lord to lift me up,
For I had sinned against Him.
I called to the Lord to accept me
For I had grieved Him also.
I wept before the Lord again
And cried in anguish
for I was truly a sinful man.

I waited for the Man to come
and He never showed.
I waited for the Dove and
It never was to be seen.
I waited for the Flame to grow
and it was not lit anew.

Where was the Spirit to save me?
Why was I alone?
Where was the one to walk with me,
To take my hand?
Where was the saving grace to
Release me? I couldn’t see.

There! A dark shape appearing
In the sky with a golden glow.
A looming figure with grace and style
An Eagle! An Eagle?
A bird of prey? to me?

Closer it swooped to land before me
It stands as a man.
With eyes of piercing Truth
Its head a golden brown with
A shinning trust about it.
Its wings reaching around me
Shielding me from my fears.

With its eyes it reached into
My soul and I felt; Its Peace,
The strength of the Father,
The Loyalty of the Son,
The truth of the Spirit.
The Eagle of the LORD

I didn’t need the man or the
Dove, nor the Flame.
I needed the Eagle because
I was weak and afraid.
I needed the Eagle because
I was untrusting and disloyal.
I needed the Eagle because
I was alone and at war within.

Now I have the Strength of the Lord
And His Peace!
Now I have the loyalty of the Spirit
Within my soul!
Now I have the Trust in the Father
And am no longer afraid.
Thanks to the Eagle,
The Holy Spirit of the LORD!

Written and experienced Aug 13, 1981, by Paul R. Shiras at Sierra Christian Ashram. The day of my Reconciliation and Salvation. The beginning of my Sanctification and Spiritual journey with God and His Wonderful Word.
In His Everlasting Loving-kindness,
Paul Shiras

Joseph’s Song

What joy I did receive
When my child I first did see,
This Son of mine so Divine
The Grace of the Heaven’s Shine.

The Father of all that’s above
Sends to me, a son like a dove,
He who will bless all Earth
Sleeps quietly in His birth.

Oh what Blessings I know
This son of mine will show.
His words will shine like gold
When the Word of God is told.

O come to me Emmanuel.
Let the Child of God tell
Of God’s Mercy and Grace.
Salvation has taken place.

This son of mine is here
To bring good men cheer,
To replace the dread of Old
As the Good News is Told.

Paul Shiras 12/2007

The Traveler’s Lament

I met the carpenter and his bride
as I journeyed from Trye.
Because they were from lowly Nazareth
I scoffed them with a sneer

Little did I know of the burden
of her womb care,
Little could I know of the Love
she held there.

Hardly a word was spoken when
in Bethelhem we arrivied,
So heavy was the sorrow that
she carried inside.

While I and my party slept
in the open court of the inn,
She and her husband sought room
in the outer cave there in.

I was among the throng that
was to be tallied that year.
Yet the child that she birthed
created the first angel’s cheer.

I met the carpenter from
Nazareth at the Jordan flow
When John washed Him and the
Heavens sounded the glory roll

I did not know then that this
was the one whose mother
Was the tired bride on donkey’s
back some thirty years sunder.

I was there when he was put
on the cross last week
Still, I did not know him or
did I yearn to seek.

My journey now at a close
and I look at an empty grave.
I see now that the road to Bethlehem
was the Salvation’s way to pave.

Never to sneer again, the Nazareth Child
Nor to doubt His Awesome Power,
For in His forgiving Grace,
GOD’S LOVE HE DOES SHOWER!

Paul Shiras 12/83

I Met a Man Today

I met a man on the way to Bethlehem
The road was dusty and crowded.
We walked awhile and talked a lot
He spoke of his wife, heavy with child.

I did not know this man, yet he seemed
As a friend of long standing.
He spoke of strangers and of promise
And he talked of his unborn son.

I met a man from Nazareth on the road.
We passed the time of day.
We spoke of the prophets of old,
And he said, “Any day now, any day.”

I walked with a man today on the road.
I liked this son of Nazareth and
I felt concern for his shy wife.
I hope they find a room tonight.

Paul R. Shiras, Dec. 1983