Poems, Personal Stories, and Observations

This Ship I Travel

June 22, 2013

This ship I travel, on treach’rous sea
I often wished that I could flee

I did not choose this ship of life —
Of sin, of sorrow; sadness, strife

I felt alone, though many traveled;
In darkest ignorance my life unraveled

But now and then a Light would shine
And slowly came the gift divine

I am not here for self alone
My purpose through the darkness shone

And as this ship sails on or stalls
With others do I meet life’s squalls

And I have met an Unseen Friend;
His Presence here do not contend

And if I may but save one soul
From falling, jumping in the sea

My soul will thrill, my heart will sing
‘Tis purpose done; ’tis destiny

Category:

Christian, Hope, Poems

Leave a comment

Tagged with:

Gift of Silence

June 12, 2013

The tawny hills with golden flecks
The summer’s air, the wilderness
The lazy buzzing of the bees
The grass that tickles calloused knees
The welcomeness of gentle breeze

All these and more my heart do swell
And then my soul says, “It is well”

The wilderness a sacrament
The vibrant stillness infinite
The wind that rustles in the trees
It seems that time will never cease

A window opens to a place
Which weary soul can now embrace
The gift of silence like to gold
My heart will ever, always hold

Category:

Creation, Nature, Poems, Spiritual

Leave a comment

Tagged with:

Missing Men

May 29, 2013

Missing men and absent abbas,
Deadbeat dads and passive papas,
Men who have gone off to fight,
Men who seem to be off site,
Men who sit and read the news,
While their kids are so confused.

Men who don’t know how to be men,
‘Cause their dad was missing when …
As they grew up, there was an absence
In body, spirit, or emotional lapses.

God, our Father, we pray to thee:
Fill the gaps we cannot see.
Help the men who never learned
For family, wife, to be concerned.

Who might not know to show respect
To women — sometimes they in fact reject
The ones who dare to have a mind;
Some men have not learned to be kind.

Don’t get me wrong, the ones who fight —
The rough guys, tough guys, they’re all right.
I only hope they will include
Some kindness in the interlude.

Yes, dear men, you have a role
To care for wife and children’s soul.
And like us women who too have flaws,
To see God’s plan we must give pause.

Category:

Christian, Commentary, family, Poems

Leave a comment

Tagged with:

Cruisin’ the Interstate

May 14, 2013

Lemons, tomatoes
Brimming over in trucks.
Big 16-wheelers
Between which we’re stuck.

Windmill propellers
Sixty feet long.
Convoy of army trucks;
Young men looking strong.

Low-riding race cars
Police were escorting.
Garlic aromas
And cattle all lowing.

Tall tandem bicycles
Built for a scream.
Cruisin’ on the highway
Was it a dream?

(2011)

Category:

Humor, Personal story, Poems

Leave a comment

Tagged with:

The Twelve Steps Of Idiots Anonymous

May 8, 2013

Just in case people are not aware of the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, (for example, see
http://www.silkworth.net/aa/12steps.html ), this is a parody of that. I recently “joined” Idiots Anonymous, due to my mistakes regarding God’s love for me.

1) We admitted we were powerless over our blindness to God’s love — that our lives had become unmanageable.
2) Came to believe that His love could restore our sight.
3) Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4) Made a searching and fearless inventory of our blind spots.
5) Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our unbelief.
6) Were entirely ready to have God remove all the aspects of our blindness.
7) Humbly asked Him to remove our blindness.
8) Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9) Made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10) Continued to take inventory, and when we were blind or myopic, asked God for the grace to confess it.
11) Sought, through prayer and meditating on God’s word, to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12) Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to everyone we know, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Category:

Christian, Commentary, Hope, Spiritual

Leave a comment

Tagged with:

The Proud One

May 4, 2013

My life is perfect;
I have no fears.
No qualms or worries,
No sighs, no tears.

While others fret
And have their crises,
I do not care;
I do my own thing.

I did it all
With my own sweat.
No help from others,
With no regret.

I don’t need God;
He’s for the weak.
My own glory
Do I seek.

But there’s one thing
I must admit.
It’s kind of lonely
Where I sit.

Category:

Poems

Leave a comment

Tagged with:

The Redwood

May 3, 2013

The redwood took
Two hundred years
To get so tall.

It took so long,
No one could tell
That it was strong.

Meanwhile,
The flowers around,
They were so proud.

But, their beauty great
Was quick to fade:
It was too late.

And still the redwood,
It did grow,
Though it was slow.

And now, the flowers,
They are gone,
But the redwood lives.

Category:

Poems

Leave a comment

Tagged with:

A Different Road

So happy for you
That you’ve found your way,
But while I’m still waiting,
I hope that you can say,
“Take courage, be strong.
It may be short, it may be long.
Don’t lose heart, make a new start
Every day.”

While you smile in triumph
Don’t forget the ones
Who still have a long way to go.
They got late to the show;
They didn’t know the things you knew
When you were young.

For some, one step
Takes tremendous strength,
While you have already run the race,
Or you’re near the end.
Of course, it takes grace.

Don’t let me wallow in self-pity.
My gifts may be different than yours,
But still God-given.
Please just recognize
That to win the prize
It’s a different road for each person.

But I must thank you
For who you are.
Although it’s painful to see
Someone who’s always ahead of me,
How else could I grow?
Thanks for taking the time
To share your wisdom sublime.

Category:

Christian, Hope, Poems

Leave a comment

Tagged with:

The Nail

April 24, 2013

No one is insignificant …

morningstoryanddilbert's avatarMorning Story and Dilbert

As the story goes, they built a new church building and people came from far and wide to see it. They admired its beauty! Up on the roof, a little nail heard the people praising everything about the lovely structure-except the nail! No one even knew he was there, and he became angry and jealous.

“If I am that insignificant, nobody will miss me if I quit!” So the nail then released its hold, slid down the roof, and fell in the mud.

That night it rained and rained. Soon, the shingle that had no nail blew away, and the roof began to leak. The water streaked the walls and the beautiful murals. The plaster began to fall, the carpet was stained, and the pulpit Bible was ruined by water. All this because a little nail decided to quit!

But what of the nail? While holding the shingle, it was…

View original post 42 more words

Category:

Uncategorized

Leave a comment

Life Goes On

April 23, 2013

Life goes on, life goes on
Even when you thought it gone,
Even when you tried so hard
To shut it out and want it done.

It has a way of oozing out,
To make you cry,
To make you shout —
Life goes on.

I wonder if I really tried
To fully live and not to hide —
I wonder if I laughed and cried,
Would life go on?

If people knew my inner thoughts,
Would life go on?
If sometimes I would just express
Some tenderness,
Would it embarrass?

If honestly I said my piece,
And calmly thoughts I did release
With love, respect,
But would it still
Cause some regrets?

Does anybody want the truth?
Or would they rather have deceit?
Would they want to sugar coat
And keep our friendship on remote?

And even I
Might tell a lie
When fear is crouching
At my door.

But while there’s life there’s hope;
It’s not a joke.

Category:

Hope, Poems

Leave a comment

Tagged with: