Blog Archives

ISAIAH 58:9,10,1,12

7/28/2019

ISAIAH 58:9,10,1,12

Then shalt thou call
and the Lord shall answer
Thou shalt cry
and he shall say
Here I am

If thou take away
from the midst of thee,
the yoke, the putting forth
of the finger of scorn,
[while] speaking
vanity

And if thou draw out thy soul
to the hungry and satisfy
the afflicted soul
Then shalt thy light
rise in obscurity
and thy darkness
be as the noonday

And the Lord shall guide thee
continually
and satisfy thou soul in drought
and make fat thy bones

And thou shalt be like a watered garden
and like a spring of water
whose waters fail not

And they that shall be of thee
shall build [again]the old waste places
Thou shalt raise up the foundations
of many generations

And thou shalt be called
The repairer of the breach
The restorer of paths
to dwell in

THE BREEZE, THE BREEZE

7/28/2019

THE BREEZE, THE BREEZE

The breeze, the breeze
rustles through the trees
Making soft harpish sounds
as it moves around the leaves,
turned green
So cool, so calm, so neat,
bringing solace
through the days,
into the night
The breeze, the breeze
oh, what a delight

(Written on Sunday morning,
July 28, 2019)

HELLO, I'M HOME 591

7/25/2019

HELLO, I'M HOME 591

Did you read where President Carter
recently attended the National Prayer
Breakfast, and all but one person,
Miss Lillian, his mother, rose to their
feet as he entered the banquet hall?

We can certainly sympathize with
Mr. Carter in this situation, for we
often encounter similar circumstances.
Here's how it goes at the end of our
workday...

"Hello, everybody, I'm home."
(Silence)
"Hey, anybody home?"
(More silence...The passages of the
first century catacombs were never
quieter than the halls of my home.)

I enter the living room...all eyes are
glued to the TV. Then it hits me...
All the kids are stone deaf when a
good television receiver is placed
within six inches of their eyeballs
and the volume is turned up extra
loud.

Then I go into the kitchen...
"Honey, I'm home."
"Shhhh! I'll be with you in minute."
Can't you see I'm on the phone?"

"You wouldn't treat me this way,
If I were the President of the United
States."

"O really...Come on now, be serious."

"Now, I ask you, Jimmy, whatever happened
to the good old days...There's just no respect
any more."

(Written on February 22, 1979)

ISAIAH 58:5,6,7,8

7/20/2019

ISAIAH 58:5,6,7,8

Is it such a fast
that I have chosen?
A day for a man
to afflict his soul?

Is it to bow down
his head like a bulrush
and to spread sackcloth
and ashes under him?
Wilt thou call this a fast,
and an acceptable day
to the Lord?

    Is not this the fast that I
have chosen?
To loose the bands
of wickedness
To undo the heavy burdens
and to let the oppressed
go free
And that ye break every yoke?

    Is it not to deal thy bread
to the hungry,
and that thou bring the poor
that are cast out
to thy house?
When thou seest the naked,
that thou cover him
and that thou hidest not thyself
from thy own flesh?

   Then shall the light break forth
as the morning, and thy health
shall spring forth speedily,
And thy righteousness shall
go before thee
The glory of the Lord shall be
thy rear guard

SWALLOWS FLEW BY

7/20/2019

SWALLOWS FLEW BY

Swallows flew by
Low in the sky
The sun was warm
But, O the breeze
So soft and cool
As the silence spoke
And quiet was the rule

And I was in heaven
Here on the earth
As the day arose
And the gods gave birth
To tree limbs swaying
For all they were worth

While sitting on the porch
Just you and I
With a couple of cats
As we let out a sigh
Together

(Written early on the morning
of July 14, 2019 on the occasion
of Donna's and my 53rd wedding
anniversary)

INSIDE JOB 116

7/8/2019

    INSIDE JOB 116

    To change the face of a person,
or nation, we first have to change
the character of the inner man.

To apply new economic programs
or social reforms as a balm to our
national ills is merely treating surface
symptoms.

To solely blame industry, business,
education or politics for our country's
woes is to simply skirt around the real
culprits...you and me.

Everyone has the responsibility to
continually re-examine themselves and
their motives...to ask, "What is my
moral direction, where am I going?"

Walt Kelley was right, you know,
when he had his possum, Pogo, exclaim
"We has met the enemy and he is us."

   (First written on January 6,1976)

THE SPECTATOR

7/8/2019

   THE SPECTATOR

Spring arrived quietly
Barely noticed this year
Almost like a spectator
In this game called life
Hurrying past us to her seat
Without a word or whisper
Just quickly passed us by
And sat unobtrusively
Close by our side
And nudged us
Gently on the arm
While intimating promises
Of pleasant times in store
For those willing to wait
Patiently on the Lord
With confidence knowing
That the seeds they've planted
Will blossom once again
As they've often done before

ISAIAH 57:15,18,19,20,21

7/8/2019

ISAIAH 57:15,18,19,20,21

   For thus saith the high and lofty One
that inhabiteth eternity, whose name
is Holy:
I dwell in the high and holy place
with him that is of a contrite and
humble spirit
to revive the spirit of the humble
and to revive the heart of the
contrite ones

   I have seen his ways and will
heal him also, and restore comforts
unto him and to his mourners

I create the fruit of his lips
Peace, peace to him that is far off
and to him that is near
saith the Lord, and I will heal him

But, the wicked are like the troubled sea,
when it cannot rest, waters cast up
mire and dirt

There is no peace, saith my God,
to the wicked