Rain. . .

peaceful rain,

pittering, pattering,

spit, spat,

drop after drop,

filling up empty spaces.

Rain is like the spirit of  the Lord,

he comes gradually at first.

in spits and spats,

pittering, pattering,

filling the potholes of my soul

with love and peace.

Then coming in a deluge,

coursing through the rain gutters

of my burning bosom, overflowing.

Rain- a gift from God.

The Holy Ghost- a gift from God.

We never truly appreciate either,

until there's a drought.

My spiritual drought is almost over.

The rain has been coming in spits and spats,

with an occasional deluge.

So I'm cleaning my rain gutters,

preparing for the next heavenly cloud burst.

Thank you, Lord,

for raining upon me in my hour of need,

raining down on me thy spirit, thy comforter,

thy relentless comforting rain.

My spiritual desert

is just starting to bloom. . .

no longer a desert,

but a sprouting garden.

                                      Derry, April 5, 1993

Am I Listening?

Am I listening? 

Do I HEAR the Holy Ghost

trying to speak to me?

Do I recognize that the Holy Ghost

is trying to reach me?

Do I HEAR the voice of the Lord?

My ability to HEAR the Holy Ghost

is directly related to my desire

to communicate with him.

Do I hunger & thirst after righteousness?

Am I filled with the Holy Ghost?

Do I seek the touch of his spirit in my life?

Do I turn my face heavenward,feeling the caress

of his spirit touching my soul?

With my face turned heavenward

soaking in his living water

I CAN be filled with the Holy Ghost!

I CAN be a woman who listens, who HEARS,

who gives heed to the voice of the Lord!

I CAN open my ears to hear his voice.

I CAN learn the language of prayer!

As the Holy Ghost enlarges my mind,

my heart, my understanding,

he gives me gifts

of wisdom, courage & hope.

Through these gifts

I CAN achieve peace of mind.

The more I read the scriptures

and sincerely pray,

the more I hunger and thirst

after righteousness. The more I desire good,

the more my desire for righteousness grows,

I CAN recognize the  promptings of the spirit,

I CAN hear the voice of Lord!

Do I HEAR him talking to me?

WILL I listen to him?

WILL I desire good?

WILL I change spiritually and

WILL I become a woman

who radiates the light of Christ in her life?

WILL I listen?

I CAN HEAR his voice,

and I WILL become more like him.

Listen. . . .

Do I HEAR?

                        Derry Bresee

Poetically Endowed

I write poetry to express the feelings of my heart,

when I am in the attitude of prayer. 

My faith grows when I'm praising Him. 

My heart enlarges as I write.

Writing poetry is my stress release valve.

The more I strive to live a Christ-like life,

the more I find spiritual safety during perilous times.

I can feel Him sending help as I write!

My talent of expression

 enables me to share with others my love for Him.

I write to communicate with the heavens.

My poetic prose is a gift from Him.

I find my life blessed as I share my thoughts on paper.

As I write of Him, I seek others of like mind,

what a beautiful friendship we have with the Lord,

guided by His spirit as we write!

                                    Derry Bresee

                                    written for the ladies of ANWA

[a group of LDS women writers who critique each other’s work]

Derry's Near Death Experience

There was a bright mist permeating everything.  The light was everywhere, it even passed through me! I can remember looking at my hand and the light passed through it.  I could see my hand was transparent, but this did not surprise me.  As I walked with this heavenly personage his countenance shone forth with such a brightness that I can't describe.  I knew this heavenly personage was Jesus because I recognized him as a familiar friend.  He didn't announce who he was because this wasn't necessary.

I remember walking with Jesus, but we weren't walking in the physical sense, the best way I can describe our walking was that we were walking in mid-air, floating a bar spare above the ground of this beautiful garden we were walking in.  Everything in this garden had an  overall whiteness and brightness about it. I was seeing the bright green of the plants.  I could see the water, and a bright glow surrounded it!  The water was so sparkling clear!  I remember wanting to bend over and take a drink from the stream that was running through this garden we were walking thru.  When I tried to scoop up water with my hands the water ran through my hands, literally, and it wasn't wet!  Jesus stopped walking  and looked at me while I was bent over trying to drink this water.  I could feel his eyes on me.  My thirst for this water even though I wasn't able to put to my lips and drink it was gone at that moment!  I can't describe the sensation I felt when the water was running through my hands, but I did feel something.  I felt this overwhelming desire to experience everything about this garden.  When I and the heavenly being talked it wasn't with our mouths, but I knew we were communicating, his countenance fairly shone, and how he felt about me shone forth about him.  He simply exuded love and concern and caring for me just by standing there.  The feeling of peace I felt was undescribeable!  I was given the choice that I could either come back to this earth and live more life or stay with him there in Heaven.  We both knew that returning to this earth would be a struggle because I'd told him that I wanted to return to this earth if I could help myself and others.  He knew that I didn't want to live more life on this earth if life meant being trapped in unresponsive body, unable to communicate.  The look of love in his eyes filled me with joy then, and as I remember that feeling of joy I felt then I'm filled me with joy anew.

I don't know how I did this, but then I remember that I was in a hospital room looking at my husband holding my hand and talking to me.  Only I wasn't seeing from the vantage point thru my own eyes.  I recognized that was my body, but I was outside of it, looking at my body.  As I viewed this scene I felt a strong desire that I wanted to return to this earth and live more life with my husband, if I could communicate with him and help him.  I was understood and the desires of my heart were heard.

The next thing I remember was being trapped in my body while others cared for my physical needs.  I can remember that I could tell what the nurses were thinking about me by how they touched me.  I knew if they thought I was going to live or not thru their touch.  I knew if they thought they were caring for a basically dead person whose spirit wasn't there.  I remember trying to scream out, "Look! I'm alive!  I'm in here!  I'm going to live!"  I relaxed and trusted that person much more if I knew that they knew they were caring for a living person.  I obviously could read their thoughts!

While in my spirit body I remember communicating telepathically, this is how I and Jesus communicated in that heavenly garden.  It was so easy, it required no effort, you thought the thoughts and they were communicated.  Speaking through my physical mouth is so difficult, and frustrating, and sometimes you're misunderstood, and they get the wrong meaning of  what you're trying to say.  The phrase the world uses of being soul mates is referring to the communication between two souls,  spirit to spirit communication. To communicate on a spiritual level is a very profound.   I believe I've had this spirtual gift ever since my near death experience, and it has profoundly blesses my life as I use it.  I feel this great need to communicate on a spiritual level with others, and one of the only ways I'm able to communicate in  this way is through writing.  I have to prepare myself mentally to be able communicate on a spiritual level. You have the time to do this as you are writing in your home, without distractions. We are what we think.  I find trivial thoughts distracting, I rarely watch TV and then only if it stimulates good thoughts.  I listen to different music now, and gravitate towards the ethereal.  My near death experience has changed me, I desire righteousness and I abhor evil.  I'm actually quite thankful for my accident, even though it has changed my physical abilities adversely, at the same time my spiritual abilities have blossomed enormously.  Ever since I woke up from my coma I've had an attitude of peaceful hopefulness.  This attitude affects every facet of my life, and my desire to communicate to others is why I am here today speaking to you.

Angel Thoughts

1. ANGEL THOUGHTS
   
   
   Angels are near,
   They are guarding us,
   comforting us.
   
   
   When we pray,
   our hearts are thankful
   for angels hovering near.
   
   
   They tell us
   that if we speak kind words
   we'll hear their kind echoes,
   echoing, echoing
   in our minds.
   
   
   When angels are near,
   we feel spiritual.
   We want to be in good places
   doing good things.
   
   
   When the Holy Ghost is with us
    we have the leader of the angels with us.
   We abhor evil,
   we won't tread there!
   
   
   As our souls rejoice
   in Jesus,
   we are inviting angels
   into our lives.
   
   
   We see the angels
   rejoice in the beauty of nature.
   When they are with us
   we appreciate nature too!
   Look at the clouds in the sky!
   Do we see angels
   looking down on us?
   
   
   If our spirits listen,
   we can hear choirs of angels
   singing praises to God.
   We can prepare ourselves
   for these messengers
   to come be with us.
   
   
   We remember the heavenly realms
   when we hear angel voices.
   We feel the air around us
   become more heavenly,
   As angels hover near
   we find their thoughts
   within our hearts and minds.
   We have kind ideas and acts
   because angel thougths
   are echoing in our minds,
   kind thoughts,
            kind thoughts,
                        kind thoughts.
   
   
                    Derry Bresee
                    Oct 14, 1998