Love Is

I Corinthians 13:4-8

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails."


Is Love

Love is patient. Love is patient
Love is patient!
Out of all the wonders love is from these
All its marvels that bring us to our knees
Why patient?
Is it the patience that we project when we are cross?
Is it the patience we speak of when we are at a loss?
For words, for reasons
During times that were seasoned
With trials, discomfort, the icks and ticks we go through when we're with each other
Our brother, sister, or lover?
Yes, that too.

But since we're talking about love
Let's look to the one above

God is love. Love is patient
Patience is waiting
God is patient. Love is waiting
For God's timing

Perfect love casts out all fear. It's clear
That to love like so requires more waiting than you know
For God's time, which is neither fast or slow
But it is a letting go
And letting God move through us, and thus
Love is patient

Love is patient
It's the first thing mentioned
Unexpected, but fitting
Because letting
God's love unceasing
Fill us to overflowing
Leads us to finding
What is
How to
Who to
And when to
Love


-Neil Abellanosa

Dracula's Ranunculus

Dracula's affinity for ranunculus bordered ridiculous
To the point of using calculus and parabolas to predict the bloom of the flower fabulous

Then Dracula's time came to give the ranunculus
To the lovely Ursulas who had his heart rapturous

But alas! The ranunculus were not in season crushing Dracula's reason

"So sorry. Indeed I am." were the words of Dracula as was his weird vernacular
Nonetheless Ursulas says, "Don't be ridiculous!"

And her smile was enough for Dracula to reason
That it needn't matter the season
Nor what the calculus and parabolas said when the flower fabulous would bloom

For Ursulas herself was the flower fabulous, the rapturous ranunculus that's forever in bloom.

But God

This was a piece created for C3SF Easter 2008. It was written in the month of March 2008.

The choreography was done by Patricia Diaz, and Visual Effects were by Sam Crayne. I am so blessed to have worked with such amazing people who are even better friends.

But God

God, my God
Why have You forsaken me
I am buried in defeat
I can't sleep
I can't find peace
I can't smile
I can't love

Everyone loathes me
They laugh and point
And my back bleeds from the stabs
They mock You in front of me
And they sneer at my helplessness

Every part of my body is aching
Inside and out, it throbs
I've failed too much
A sinner, a failure
I am caged within myself
A sideshow attraction

I'm done
God, come rescue me
Don't let them finish me
Find me now
This is it, my rock bottom
I give it all up to You
Come save me
I put my life in Your hands
I am completely Yours
I'll die to my old self
I release control
I admit
I believe
I confess

I take a leap of faith
Yet brewing revelations
Emit glimmers of light

I am born again
Out of the ashes of my past God breathes new life
And I am renewed

Fully conscious and aware
I attempt to comprehend how my sins are as far as the East is from the West
But I am dumbfounded

I attempt to understand the fullness of God's grace that encircles me soothing old bruises
But I am speechless

I offer Him my broken heart
With secure and gentle hands
He accepts
And like a sudden spring rain I receive living water
Quenching my spirit

Now I walk with my Saviour
Eyes anew seeing the world like never before

My past comes to taunt me
But God has made me a new creation
The old is gone, the new has come
My flesh fights for indulgence
But God's Spirit gives life and the flesh
Counts for nothing
The enemy launches darts of lies
But God has given me the belt of truth, the shield of faith
And the authority to overcome the power of the enemy
Nothing will harm me

A haunting past
A sinful nature
And a deceitful enemy
Allowed for hell on earth
But God You have given us Your only Son
That whoever believes in Him will not die but have eternal life

Now I run the race in communion with You God
As my steps are guided by the Holy Spirit
I live a God-given abundant life
The joy of the Lord becomes my strength
As we go to make disciples of all nations
Teaching and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
I live a life in utmost adventure
Knowing I have submitted my will to Your perfect one

And when I look back at the death of my flesh
At the lowest point of my existence
I see
That my God, my God has not forsaken me
But You have answered me
And I will declare Your name and praise You
For You have not hidden Your face

I thought You didn't hear
But God You listened
I thought You didn't see
But God You witnessed
I thought You didn't care
But God You cried

God
Oh God, Your love freed the world
In Your love You gave me choice
And when I chose to turn away from You
You saved me through love
In Your Son, Jesus

When He hung on the cross bloodied and betrayed
The devil rejoiced for He thought the war was his
But God on the third day
But God on that glorious day
All this was possible for Jesus rose

He is risen
He is risen

-Neil Abellanosa

To Be Loved

To be loved like that
In that magical way
So special in its place
It demands better word play

I want

Another word not so simple
Not so used
Something indescribable
Inspired by a muse

Whatever that love word is
I want it
I want it so I can give it
And live it
So I can say it
And believe it

To tell her
To whisper
But still I wonder

If I'll get it

I get livid
With the thought of my heart
Going frigid

However

My heart is kept warm
By the welcomed swarm
Of another love platonic
Keeping my life going
At supersonic
Yes
Past the sound of doubt
The yells of lies
And cries
Of hopelessness, of defeat
That may knock me
Off my feet
But I won't retreat

Yes, it's not from her
But it's from them
Fruits of my requiem
Gifts from God

She's coming

But until then
Love is love
Friends are friends
And God is love

-Neil Abellanosa

Love is patient...

Love waits... for God's timing
God's timing is Him moving through us
This requires a relinquishing of control on our part
This takes time
Thus, love is patient

Lord You are patient
You wait for us... without ceasing

"Love is patient", the first characteristic mentioned
Unexpected yet fitting
By waiting, we are letting God work
Waiting is not stagnant
Waiting is serving


penned 09.29.08

O God, comfort our souls
This life without is met with rejection
We seek love in every corner, in every form of expression
Only to miss its very source, its genesis, originator, creator, designer, You

We have an inkling it's you all along and it never leaves
But testimonies, accounts, and experiences from others sometimes prevent us from exploring more
We are the expression of His love, which is culminated by giving us choice and His only Son.



penned on 8.09.08

... is patient

It's natural, unnatural
Yet altogether real

The science of attraction
Has advanced in our days,
Yet the chemistry of compatibility
Is still writing in caves

The elements may join seamlessly
Yet the spark is absent
The charges may fire repeatedly
Yet in union, resentment

We trust it like it's solid
Building, pounding
Yet it's only a shell
Without its core resounding

It creaks, hurts, and shatters
But with its core
It heals, mends, and flatters

Cryptic yet obvious
All guiding yet underestimated
Essential yet a choice

It's often blind, deaf, and even mute
Always it is, if there's nothing to fill it
For it is only a shell
But the core is the Spirit


-Neil Abellanosa
Spring - Summer 2007

Letter

I am here
Scrutinizing, analyzing
The order of my words
As if their placement or displacement
Will create a potent combination
Of a spell that will tell
Of the tale and confession
Of my heart that will set me apart
From the rest of the spell casters

But my spells aren't spells
But an overflowing river, going over,
Escaping its banks
And I try to direct it, reflect it
The right way
To irrigate, facilitate
The growth of our crop

So though I wear the robes of a mystic,
It's only because I am mystified
So though these words seem conjured,
It's only because I've been captured
So though I seem like I am floating,
It's only because I've been lifted

By your beauty
Your words
Your touch
Your grace
Your soul
Your spirit

And I am a farmer
Early rising in the dawn
Building aqueducts and banks
For the river was meant to grow.


-Neil Abellanosa
Spring - Summer 2007