Over the past several years I have written a series of poems and prayers that have been very meaningful to me. The genres of prayer and poetry are universal, and in my life they are often intertwined.

This Easter I am set to fully enter the Catholic Church. Advent has taken on a special meaning to me this year. My prayer life is something I hold dear to my heart, and it is deeply personal. It is with the prompting of my closest friends and spiritual mentors that I have decided to share some of the poems that I have written. Many are written in the margins of my Bible, across empty pages in the back, or even the notes section of my cell phone.

As we approach the season of Advent, I pray that my words provide a nice spiritual boost, a sense of divine peace, and a Holy sense of joy in the lives of all who read them. This is the first of several to come, one per week, from Thanksgiving until Christmas. To my brothers and sisters of all faiths and beliefs: may this holiday season be full of joy and blessings; God Bless!

-Thomas C Bowles

The Court

We are all guilty,

We have become a broken Race,

But God loved us too much to see us perish,

So He sent Amazing Grace,

I dreamt one night I stood in court,

I was being charged with sin,

Damning charges in a case I surely could not win,

I stood alone in silence,

As the charges were read,

In knew that in my sin my soul,

Was just as good as dead,

The cuffs felt tight,

My mind was not well,

I had just been sentenced,

To death and eternity in hell,

All looked bleak,

And my body grew weak,

But from the back the court doors flew open with a creak,

A man in white walked to the stand,

He said He was here for me,

His name was Jesus Christ,

The Son of God would be my attorney,

He carried no brief case,

He simply showed the judge His hands,

And instantly the cuffs,

Burst directly off of my hands,

The Judge addressed the court,

He said the charges had been paid,

By another who in sin had never Himself laid,

He bore the wrath of God,

To bring Forgiveness to us all,

Christ did my sentence for me,

On the cross He paid it all.