As the flickering flame does burn
In the darkness of the night
So I seek now to discern
God’s most precious inward light;
As the shadows deeply lay
Upon the face of my dear Lord
So I kneel and try to pray
As God knocks upon my door.

To truly listen for God’s knock
To truly hear God’s quiet voice
We must listen as God’s flock
We must make that certain choice;
To truly hear God’s Holy Word
To truly see Christ on the cross
We must turn to heavenward
And count earth’s gain as loss.

In Lent God calls us to reflect
To peer within our inward soul
And come to see as we inspect
Our sinful heart, so dark and cold;
In Lent God calls us now to see
With insight bright and clear
That God did die for you and me
And yet is truly present here.

Gregory S. Neal +
Lent, 1996

Quietly now I sit and wait
As the flame does flicker bright
Casting shadows long and straight
Within my lonely, troubled sight;
Burns again God’s inward flame
As the candle light does burn
To purify my inward frame
And so from deadly sins I turn.

Sometimes it seems as though we wait
Alone here in these Lenten Days
For the lifting of the weights
Of sin, which sadly seem to stay;
But the Lenten Flame does burn
Upon the altar to remind
The sin-sick soul that we do yearn
Yet not alone, for God to find.

And still the flame does flicker yet
In the darkness of the night
Upon the page before me set
Illuminating God’s own might;
The Lenten flame does truly stay
To cast it’s light upon the Word
When in darkened rooms we pray
And listen for God’s voice once heard.

Gregory S. Neal +
Lent 1996