Scarlet Robe Creations

Do you see the beauty in the deciduous tree, stripped of its garments, branches bracing the chill, ready to embrace the spirit of new birth?   Do you see the beauty of emptiness, the earthen vessel, the clay pot, emptied of all it once contained, to be filled to the brim with grace?   Do you see the cross members, rough-hewn beams, bound for humiliation, tools of Roman execution, planted on a hillside, overlooking the Holy City without a trace of indignity? copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Return of the Prodigal Son - Pompeo Batoni - 1773 Thank you for standing in the field with arms opened wide, when I return from my rebellion.   Thank you for the embrace I do not deserve and Your willingness to see beyond my protests.   I tend to think, at times, that I can walk this path alone. So, I take a few steps closer to the edge before realizing my trail leads to folly.   Thank you for loving me with a love I cannot comprehend. Thank you for calling me Your son, or Your daughter, when I am no more than a slave. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Embattled denominations, tearing apart the precious body of our savior. Laws of man, apart from God's word, twisted by politics and the quest for filled pews. One phrase, one word, and one religion is saved, while another is doomed. Jesus taught to seek Him, not the laws of men, the glory of modern Pharisees, or the virtue of politics. copyright 2025 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

I’m waiting for You. It would take a miracle, I know. But You are prone to such things, even though I am not deserving.   Know that I ask this, not for myself, but for those who might not know to ask.   I’m waiting for You, knowing it will all be in Your time, not mine. Still, You know of my impatience.   Consider the little ones, those who matter most. But in suggesting that You don’t hear them, have I myself become deaf?   I’m waiting for You, counting the moments of each day and taking note of lilies in the field. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Spirit, I wander. A portion of my soul is left where I last encountered you.   He told us He would send you to dwell in the hearts of men, but so many deny you access.   I am no innocent bystander. I see the faltering of all who chose sin and I join their slander.   Spirit, I wander. The abyss longs for my embrace, but your touch, your influence, keeps me from falling. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Sometimes it is simply a single step, a stride that keeps me in His shadow when the sun is before us.   Sometimes there is silence, as if He is waiting for my thoughts, words I might speak despite His knowing.   Sometimes there are gentle whispers, sounds barely slicing through the world’s noise. I have to listen closely. He wants me to be attentive.   Sometimes it is unmistakable, He has spoken and I have heard. In these moments the Spirit has come upon me and peace embraces my soul. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

A single breath, a wind song through pine branches and fields of ragweed.   I have taken another step into the day with desire to keep my path straight.   I seek to find peace even when it surrounds me, for I don’t always recognize my home.   Lead me on a sojourn without conclusion, until I am standing before You.   Lead me on a sojourn to seek what is given, not what is wanted.   Lead me on a sojourn hearing clearly the melody of the single breath on the wind. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Saint Augustine and Two Angels Adoring the Crucifix - Guiseppe Passeri This I am, the one who sees your distress and offers you a place of peace.   This I am, the one who hears your cry from the wilderness and stands ready to embrace you when you turn back.  Come to me. Take my burden, it is lighter than what the world offers. Come to me. My yoke will teach you, for I am good, I am holy.   This I am, the one who loves you without fail. I am the one you can cling to when all other doors are closed.  copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Where is there ever quiet? If God’s voice was silent, still, I would hear the praise of the saints before the throne. I pause to pray, without words, but with an open heart and a mind that seeks nothing but to listen.   A single bird in a distant tree offers a song for my soul. The wind rustles through the hay in the field, bringing wildflowers to dance. There are no voices to dispel the grace. There’s simply my emptiness waiting to be filled with silence.   Where is there ever quiet? The wind will never completely cease, moving from one place to another, praise will never languish and a song of one note, sung from the branch of an evergreen will never be made silent. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

He mentioned them, flowers, just as he did sparrows and ravens, and I have read these words a hundred times and never gave my life to the truth.   He cares for things which lack importance in my daily quest to establish myself in the world He has promised.   Still, He cares. And He tells me to take note. He instructs me to listen to every lesson He’s taught.   If He cares for Lilies, dresses them in more beauty than any king, if He cares for the sparrow, or the raven, and gives them plenty to eat, will He not care for me, will He not divide bread and fish for me? copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Wherever you go, Ruth sang to Naomi. It is what we sing to each other, given and received through the fount of holiness.   Dedicated on the day we promised God and each other, unity. Renewed whenever your hand is within mine.   Wherever you go I shall go. My tears and my laughter will be there beside you. My embrace will be about you.   Whenever we are distant, along the road, we draw each other close, always waiting around the bend for the one we promised to walk beside. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Temptation in the Wilderness - Briton Riviere (1840-1920) Hear the silence. Is it a breeze with a voice heard only when all else is quiet.   Hear the song. A sequence of notes sung in praise, heard without the chaos of the world’s concussions.   Hear what can only be heard, when hearts seek to pray and souls seek to worship. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Inspired by Our Daily Bread Ministries 'Wounded in Worship' by Tim Gustafson Isn't this basically what He said? "It doesn't matter." He responds to the woman at the well, Who says, "You Jews say we should worship in Jerusalem. Yet my ancestors said we should worship on this mountain." Does it matter? Jesus opens that gate. His sheep follow And we praise Him wherever we stand. Pretty simple. Lord, remind me that You are not bound to a structure Or the rituals of Denomination. Lord, remind me that You love all, But not all will love You. Lord, remind me that Your Spirit envelops  Each mountain top  and every valley. copyright 2023 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Lift me up from the hole I have dug for myself. Give me your hand that I might cling and keep a firm grip. Hold me back when I lunge toward the fire. Keep me  where the ground is stable. Walk beside me  when storms encroach on my sandy beach. You gave when I didn't deserve. You offered what I had no right to expect. You were broken that I might be healed, spat upon that I might dine at Your table. copyright 2023 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

The path makes you wonder, have I been down this one, or is it yet to be revealed. So many crossroads, each day, or routes that wander through different valleys. How many paths have you walked? Have we me? If we have, I hope we left with a smile and maybe a hug. If our last impression was of sadness, I hope we meet again. copyright 2023 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

There is less to my self that is of flesh than spirit. That which I touch, which I bruise and scar, will be turned to dust and ashes. That which makes me what I truly am will never lessen. copyright 2022 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Return to me that I might wash you in the blood of my wounds. Stand free of your guilt, that you might stand before me. There is love that you comprehend, love with boundaries, love unlike my Father's. For He is love. Return to me that I might lead you to pastures, plentiful. Allow my arms to embrace you and my grace to heal you. copyright 2022 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

They try to define You as their own, but none have that right. They color You in every shade but that which You really are. They give You human morals when ours are so flawed. And they hang You in buildings which speak more to their achievements than Yours. The shepherds have gone to sleep and left the sheep alone in the wilderness.   copyright 2021 Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Are we at peace when we get what we’ve asked for, or do we continue to see life for what we want and not what we have? ~ Are we ever content, one day to the next, to bask simply in the gaze of He who gives good things? ~ We want yesterday when today should suffice and long for tomorrow so we might yearn for the day wasted. copyright 2019 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

I take a single step onto the path, grass and weed underfoot, stones marking the way. I came expecting the complex and received simplicity. For what shall I pray and what canonized words should I use? ‘Our Father in heaven,’ but this discourse points toward my needs. My prayers have already been heard. I surrender to the world around me, untouched by the progress of today and yesterday. I surrender to the silence where the Spirit’s voice is amplified and I am left without petition. My final step, reached after meditation well spent, listening to the voice of my creator, He who has counted the hairs on my head, He who has said come and in the quiet has given me rest. copyright 2019 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author