Blog Archives

THE BEST BIRD IN THE FOREST

12/28/2018

THE BEST BIRD IN THE FOREST

                        "Use what talents you have,"
                        Wrote Henry Van Dyke.
                      "The woods would be very silent,
                        If no birds sang there."

                        Maybe you aren't the best bird in the forest right now
                       Maybe your warble is a little weak
                        Maybe you are a little too long or too short in the beak
                        Maybe your fine feathered friends call you a freak
                        Maybe, just maybe, they don’t understand
                        The heights that you seek

                        Fly higher, sing better, go on, go on
                       Give it your best
                        Develop your talents
                        Lead all the rest
                        Don’t settle for worms
                        Or corn on the ground
                        But soar to the top
                        Where the eagles are found

WINTERTIME (2012)

12/28/2018

WINTERTIME (2012)

   Winter is a time...
Of homecomings and parades
Of gentle embraces and tender caresses
Of sugar cookies and candy canes
Of silver 'cycles frost-pasted on pastel skies
Of pleasant fires, hot chocolate and
buttered pop-corn
Of soft sentiment and serenity sublime
Of bounteous harvests from prior plantings
Of walking softly as in shoes of snow
Of cold noses and warm hearts

Winter is a time...for pondering the past in
preparation for the future

(First written on 11.15.2012 with revisions
on 1.28.2018)

ISAIAH 49:8,9,10

12/28/2018

ISAIAH 49:8,9,10

Thus saith the Lord,
In an acceptable time
have I heard thee

And in a day of salvation
have I helped thee
I will preserve thee
and give thee for a covenant
of the people, to establish the earth
to cause to inherit
the desolate heritages

That thou mayest say to the prisoners
Go forth
To them that are in darkness
Shew yourselves

They shall feed in the ways
and their pastures shall be
in all high places

   They shall not hunger or thirst
Neither shall the heat nor sun
smite them
for he that hath mercy on them
shall lead them
Even by the springs of water
shall he guide them

NOW WE SIT QUIETLY

12/25/2018

   NOW WE SIT QUIETLY

Now we sit quietly
around the dining table
and around the countertop
remembering an amalgamation
of family and friends conversing
    one with another, each enjoying
all

Putting aside all barriers
we enjoyed the Christmas
day enabling one another
to commune as best we
could while welcoming
the stranger home

Jesus sat with the worst
of the worst and also
the best of the best
He sat with the uncommitted
too

He drew them in toward holiness
alone while grouped together
Hoping to see them all in his home
Eventually, where they belong

(Written December 25, 2018)

THE COMING NEW YEAR (2013)

12/23/2018

THE COMING NEW YEAR (2013)

In the coming new year, I wish you...

                                            Freedom from want
                                            Freedom to struggle
                                            Freedom to prosper
                                            Freedom to think
                                            Freedom to ponder
                                            Freedom from fear
                                            Freedom to worship
                                            Freedom to care
                                            Freedom to experience
                                            Freedom to dream
                                            Freedom to share
                                            Freedom to enjoy
                                            Freedom of leisure
                                            Freedom to dare
                                            Freedom to achieve
                                            Freedom to live
                                            Freedom to laugh
                                            Freedom to love

(WRITTEN ON DECEMBER 31, 2012)

DIVINE DISCONTENT

12/23/2018

    DIVINE DISCONTENT

In speaking of the wealth of America,
William Allen White said, "The most precious
gift God has given to this land is not its
great riches of soil and forest and mind, but
the divine discontent planted in the hearts of
the American people."

In the past 200 years, divine discontent
in our country has produced more inventions,
medicines, and luxuries for the benefit and
comfort of mankind than in any other historical
era.

  We ride in plush-cushioned automobiles
because our forebearers became discontented
with the harder backs and slower pace of the
horse and mule.

We are no longer overly concerned about
diseases like diphtheria, polio or typhoid
because scientifically-minded men and women
were tired of seeing their loved ones die needlessly.

God gave us the command to be perfect and
then permitted us to sojourn this earth in imperfect
tabernacles. He knew that through our failures
would come searching, striving and finding.

Yes, even in our discontent, there may be a wise,
benevolent and divine purpose.

(Published in 1978)

TIME FLIES 188

12/23/2018

      TIME FLIES 188

On a sundial at the University
of Virginia, Charlottesville,
There is an inscription that
reads as follows...

"Time is...
                                     Too slow for those who wait
                                     Too swift for those who fear
                                     Too long for those who grieve
                                     Too short for those who rejoice
But for those who love
Time is eternity
Hours fly, Flowers die
                                     New days, New ways pass by
                                     Love stays
                                     Time counts the minutes
                                     Love makes the days.
                                     Time rushes boldly on
                                     Love has its gentle ways"

(First published on July 6,1978)

OUR FRIEND 547

12/23/2018

OUR FRIEND 547

Proverbs 18:24
Tell us there's a friend
That sticketh closer
Than a brother
His name is Jesus
His name is Lord

Down gloomy halls
Of dark despair
The Spirit whispers
He is there
His name is Jesus
His name is Lord

He travelled places
Where we've never been
Upon the cross
He bore our sin
We'd like for you
To meet our friend

His name is Jesus
His name is Lord

(First published on November 3, 1978)

MERRY BE YOUR CHRISTMAS! 2019

12/16/2018

   MERRY BE YOUR CHRISTMAS! 2019

The other day while Christmas
   shopping at Gardner Village in
West Jordan, Utah, we purchased
a Christmas kitchen towel ("Primitives
by Kelly") with the following inscription:

Merry be your Christmas
Peaceful be your home
Joyful be your family
Blessed be each one

May this Christmas be a most joyful one,
for you and your loved ones, filled with
the peace, love and Spirit
of the loving Christ.

Our very best wishes be to you all,
in Jesus' name. Amen

ISAIAH 49:3,4,6

12/8/2018

ISAIAH 49:3,4,6

And he said unto me,
thou art my servant, O Israel,
In whom I will be glorified

Then I said, I have labored
in vain
I have spent my labor for naught,
and in vain
Yet surely my judgment is with
the Lord
and my work with my God

And he said, It is a light thing
that thou shouldest be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the preserved
of Israel

I will also give thee
for a light to the Gentiles
that mayest be my salvation
unto the end of the earth