For everything, there is a season.
For many years, people asked me why I did not write a book. My answer was simple: the time had not yet come. I have learned that what endures is born not of urgency, but of patience and right timing.
This writing followed the same path. It grew quietly over years of lived experience, translation, and reflection across continents and languages, gathering words like seed, waiting for the right soil.
Oh, voyageur, où vas-tu?Tu pars fatiguè et tu reviendras le même. Combien sont revenus de l´exil? Combien de larmes ont coulé?
Ya rayah win msafar trouh taaya w twalli Ch’hal nadmou lghorba, ch’hal dhmaou sabouli Ya rayah win msafar trouh taaya w twalli Ch’hal nadmou lghorba, ch’hal dhmaou sabouli
Roh w’khalli bladi, roh w’khalli ahbabi El ghorba tes’hil aalik, walakin el gharam ma yensak Roh w’khalli bladi, roh w’khalli ahbabi El ghorba tes’hil aalik, walakin el gharam ma yensak
Pars, laisse ta terre, laisse tes amours, L’exil paraît facile, mais il brise toujours. Constantine dans mon cœur, je t’entends encore, Le pont suspendu, et le vent sur les bords.
Mais à la fin du chemin, le Rhumel m´appelle Ses flots coulent comme la nostalgie dans mon coeur. Entre rives et courants, je rencontre mon foyer Dans la rivière de mon enfance, je te retrouve dans mes rêves..
Dans la rivière de mon enfance, je te retrouve dans mes rêves. Rhumel, Rhumel…”
Words on a clothesline, hanging in the wind Words and notes on a threshold across Connections of the heart Flying on wings unfolding Collections lulled by melodies hanging Between trees grounded in the earth Priming emotions to feel moved Hoping for one more encounter
As a sail that fades sadly In the dawn of her destiny As a train in a station As a train in late motion As a train that crawls away The witness of our tears clouds The sound of the falling night
Marking the beats of your heart Metronome just on time In your dreams weaving hope Between silence and sotto voce Your noble silk chords vibrate In mine, the echo chambers resonate
The quiet of your soul Fans the flame That softly reveals The grace of the Lord
The enticing desert mirage Cradles this flower blooming In my dazzled heart At the dawn of night Shadowing its light image Through the windows of your being
The past as a preface With our torn, missing pages In the present interlace Between you and me… spaces The gaps are filled and sealed
And a bridge, a ladder Built against adversity Teaches us to walk closer Together on the right side On the bright side
Behold, the mystery Revealed, embraced As you see, this time Between you, between me It´s the end of turmoil The distance between us Cannot grow wider than the soil Love will allow it to go
For love is the shortest of distances Between our gazing eyes, accomplices lost In the vastness of wonderment Revealed in the deep silence Of growing intermingling roots Covering each other With ineffable sighs In the hope of one more encounter
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Author´s Note
Brazilians have a delightfully creative tradition that I have come to appreciate and enjoy. In the photo above, you can see pages of paper hanging from a clothesline, in Portuguese called "varal de roupas". Because of the prevailing warm weather, one can see clothes dancing in the wind in all the backyards. Tradition from the old European and African countries such as Italy, Southern France, Portugal, Spain and my home country of Algeria. Everywhere in cities and village for school poetry contests, at a country fair or a cultural presentation, works of art or poems are on display for all to enjoy. I hope that you enjoy this poem and that you too will dream of what can happen when you let the wind of the Spirit take you where He wills.
Enquanto estava ainda sonhando Contemplando a alvorada tímida Meu Pai Celestial, O Mestre jardineiro Estava a despertar-me do meu sonho Me convidou a pisar além Da soleira e a mergulhar No profundo lugar Com uma Palavra de sua boca E um brilho no olhar
“Vamos ao meu jardim, Contemplar a bela criação Do meu filho amado Jesus. Lá, no ar resplandecente Exalando um perfume sublime Passearemos nas sendas Chapinhadas de luz, Cobertas por tons diáfanos.
Juntos numa doce comunhão Cheia de deleite andaremos Sobre esta terra, seu lar temporário Minha boa e maravilhosa criação.
Eis, cresce a flor da esperança, Lá, cresce a flor mais formosa, Sempre voltada para o sol De um amor sem igual.
O calor brando dos raios Sempre brilhando em Seus olhos Cheios de compaixão e misericórdia Chama o humilde e contrito coração Levantando os espíritos Mesmo os mais feridos e abalados.
A frágil beleza de sua essência, Nunca murchará no esquecimento Mas morrendo a si mesma Transformará-se em fruto doradouro Porque o manancial de agua viva Que alimentá-la nunca se apagará”.
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Original em Inglês composto em 2017, publicado em 2023. Tradução portuguesa revisada em 2026. Arte visual por ChatGPT. Arranjo musical por SUNO music AI.
Imagine que le passé enfante le présent Que la voix et le sourire au fond du coeur Demeurent une source inépuisable de tendresse, Que le poème n’a pas rendu son âme À la bifurcation du doute Ou qu’il s'échappe dans les ruines de l’incertitude.
Imagine que la carte n’est pas déchirée, Que le plaisir du partage est pendu À des moulures de songes Et ne gît pas dans des tombes sans écho, Que la douleur s’exprime dans la musique oubliée Et que le temps écoulé est un brouillard évaporé, Que les battements du coeur restent constants Et que l’enfance persiste pourtant Même plongée sous le linceul des responsabilités.
Imagine que le rire et les larmes ne se connaissent pas, Que la transparence n’est pas un miroir Aux reflets de mots obscurs, Que le sentiment est un voyage d’aller sans retour Que la logique ne consiste pas en lettres ponctuées.
Imagine que les billets sont encore intacts Et que les notes de musique continuent à s’égrener, Que cette pensée non-conformiste et ingénue Se nourrit de plénitude. Que le silence devient métaphore et mot de passe Pour tisser une nouvelle trame.
Imagine, mais sans feindre Que nous serons heureux avec le peu familier Et non avec le superflu hors-de-portée, Que nous n’abandonnerons pas la chasse aux réponses Que nos pieds fouleront à nouveau les lieux oubliés De terre et de sable fin, Que nous n’abriterons pas une indifférence pour les présages Et que nous refuserons d’accepter la défaite.
Imagine que je ne tremblerai pas Quand la porte s’ouvrira Et que je verrai une main nommée Espérance Faire un geste m’invitant à entrer.
Imagine …. un voyage sans fin.
Poème composé par Ester Marques, traduit du portugais par Jean-Louis Mondon en 2014. Art visuel par ChatGPT. Arrangement musical par AI SUNO music.2026.
Ariane, ma chère amie Sois gentille Tends moi un fil Dans ce fichu dédale Je perds les pédales Ce labyrinthe interminable Me fait passer pour un minable Moi le grand aventurier Guidé par l’étoile polaire Mon monde est renversé Je vois tout à l’envers Les empreintes de tes pas Ne me suffisent pas Car ton vol est si léger Qu’à peine sur le sol Je les vois s’effacer Et moi, je crains Que ce minautore, Ce monstre électronique Me mette au chomage et sème la panique Dans mon entreprise Bien humble, je l’avoue De moulins à vent Et de rapes à fromage Témoins de l’obsolescence Enemis de renaissance Et de l’artisanat Qui ne se rendra pas Sans garder le combat Je compte sur l’aide inespérée Si précieuse, je confesse Et tellement appréciée De ma chère maitresse La Marquise de Tremblaie.
Lucien, Votre bouffon taquin, Et chasseur de moulins
Composé et publié par Jean Louis Mondon en 12 /2009 Edité 10/2022; 2026 Art visuel ChatGPT. Musical Arrangement SUNO IA music
Up until now, we had individual grains of wheat from individual stalks that require still a further process before there can be any bread making as such. Verse 28 of Isaiah 28 tells us that: “grain must be ground to make bread”. It is impossible to make bread that stays in one piece with individual kernels. The gluten, sticky substance that holds the loaf together is inherent to the wheat, but the individual grains of wheat have to be ground in order to provide the right consistency and the (glue-like), binding quality that causes the bread to hold together. The flour, ground product, still has everything that was contained in the individual separate grains of wheat, now unrecognizable as kernels because of the transformation process into a workable substance.
In the same way, the loaf of bread baked from the flour contains every grain of wheat (minus the chaff) that has been submitted to the processes of grinding, mixing, kneading, rising and finally baking.
Another insight from Oswald Chambers is that “Personality is the characteristic of the spiritual man as individuality is the characteristic of the natural man. Our Lord can never be defined in terms of individuality and independence, but only in terms of personality. “I and my Father are one”. Personality merges and you only reach your identity when you are merged with another person”. (See Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest. Dec. 12th. On Personality.)
Paul in I Corinthians 10:16 speaks of the loaf of bread as a symbol for the body of Christ that was broken for us, but also of the Church, His body on earth in these terms, “the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread”.
Putting on the New Self The following verse uses an allegorical image of the spiritual, supernatural Love of God and brings it down to the physical expression of the binding quality of the gluten in the bread that was mentioned above. Bear with each other and forgive any complaint you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Andoverallthese virtuesput on love,whichisthe bondof perfect unity.Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful.… Colossians 3:14-15
Notice the way Paul illustrates the nature of love as the bond of perfect unity when he describes in a practical way what we can do in order to promote peace, forgiveness and bearing with one another´s burden.This is far from the word “Love” that is constantly used ad nauseam until it becomes devoid of real meaning, a love that is insipid, because it lacks the spiritual substance that the Lord Jesus ascribes to it. Love in its essence expresses the sum of the virtues found in the person of the Lord Jesus-Christ who defines it thus: No greater love has a man than he gives up his life for a friend.(John 15:13)
How far are we willing to go as His disciples in living sacrificial lives for the benefit of others? Because of His love for the multitude, Jesus multiplied the loaves of bread and that´s what Christians are commanded to do: multiply and bear good and lasting fruit, feeding the multitude with the Word of God for "man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God."
Now we have reached a point of extreme unsatisfied hunger as God has sent a famine of the hearing of the Word of God. "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. The contrast is so evident to me; Could it be that there a famine because the church has substituted its spiritual mandate for a false gospel of social work and social justice and left a willing and consenting people hungry and thirsty for real food?
As Christians we are called to deny ourselves, pick up our cross daily and follow our Lord Jesus and be the servant of all. As out of His great love for us, He laid down His life we, in turn lay our lives down as an expression of love for the benefit of the body of Christ, so that individually and corporately, we will reflect the life and the glory of Christ for the praise of the Father.
In all three examples of breaking, plowing the ground, threshing the wheat and grinding the flour, the farmer doing the breaking is using the help of an implement like the sharp edge of the plowshare, or an instrument such as a rod or a grinding wheel. In like manner God will allow into our lives a specific tool of His own choosing, a particular circumstance or person fit for the job.
When it happens we have a tendency to look at the instrument and not beyond at our Master-Teacher who is using the instrument for our benefit. Are we able to say at this point, “ not my will, but thine be done”?
Check what Peter says in I Peter 1:7; I Peter 2:21; and what James says in James 1:2 about trials and testing as they relate to faith, perseverance and maturity.
V. CONCLUSION: Acceptance, willingness and obedience
What is most important is the spirit with which we receive the trials the Lord gives us, and our reaction to the suffering they bring. Let us have the same attitude as David who said in Psalm 16:5,6 “The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage”. We want to live in the blessed presence of our Lord, don’t we? David poses a pertinent question when he asks in Psalm 15:
“LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? (v.1), He who keeps his oath even when it hurts”(v.4b).
We, as disciples, have promised to follow Jesus no matter what happens, no matter where He takes us. Well, in John 12:26 Jesus says: “Whoever serves me must follow me and wherever I am, my servant will be also”.
Is our Lord grieving over the condition of His church and that of the lost people in the world He so dearly loves and died for? If so, we will be grieving with Him and be moved to obedient action directed by the Holy Spirit.
However, my brothers and sisters rejoice, for He also said to His disciples: “I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve but your grief will turn to joy”. And then, we can say like David: “You turned my wailing into dancing, you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever”. (Psalm 30:11,12).
Remember also that Psalm 126: 3 declares: “The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him”. Amen
“All this also comes from the LORD Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom”. (Isaiah 28:29).
Written and published by. Brother Jean-Louis. Thanksgiving day 1998.Revised and corrected June 2007.Revised January 2013 and March 2o26. Edited March 2926. AI Visual ChatGPT 2026.
