Juxtaposition of Grace
The glory of God, the weakness of man
God’s weighty, radiant, holy glory
Try to imagine the two if you can.
The glory of God, the weakness of man
Finite, simple, sinful, but for the plan
The two united in Redemption’s Story
The glory of God, the weakness of man
God’s weighty, radiant, holy glory
Energizing
Never underestimate the power
of walking hand in hand
with someone you love
through swaying, singing pines,
twittering birds
and fragrant breezes.
I Do, I Did, and I Am
My voice has always been soft and low.
As a child, adults would often tell me,
“If you don’t speak up at your wedding
the preacher won’t be able to hear you
when you say I do and you’ll stay single.”
I don’t know why they thought of that.
But there have been many times
in forty-six years of marriage
that I wished that on that October day
I would have kept my voice low.
No Enthusiasm
No zip, no pep, no verve,
Today, I will observe.
No perkiness, no zeal,
Lethargy is real.
No vim and vigor,
No spice or vinegar,
No ambition, no drive,
I scarcely feel alive.
I’m like Uncle Joe
Amovin’ kind of slow
at the junction.
I can barely function.
My get up and go got up and went.
My energy is fully spent.
My to-do list? I won’t do it.
My goal today: to get through it.
On Second Thought, Maybe Not
I made my lengthy to-do list,
All on the night before.
I got up and had my breakfast,
But feeling rather sore.
My head feels like it’s pounced upon.
My throat is itchy, too.
It feels like swallowing a ball.
My nose is full of goo.
I think about the things need done,
And feel a bit of dread.
So I will reconsider it,
And go right back to bed.
Us
The poems of poets vigorous
Can sometimes be most rigorous
And what makes us contiguous
Is that we can be ambiguous,
but creativity is not exiguous
New Chapter
One more time
of leaving in the dark,
driving thirty minutes uphill,
greeting twenty rambunctious kids,
having morning circle,
classes or crafts, hiking,
watching as they go wild
like the animals they study
playing in the oak brush.
And then new chapter.
So many chapters
in this novel of mine,
lots of twists and turns
highs and lows.
I don’t know what’s ahead,
but I’m happy to know
that every end precedes
a new beginning.
Underwhelmed
Unimpressed by the hoopla
Not enthusiastic of the reel
Dispassionate at it all
Emotionless, no zeal
Really apathetic
Wonderless indeed
Hopelessly incurious
Empty, full of need
Lacking inspiration
Marked indifference
Exceptionally bored
Desiring suspense
A Shadorma
Good morning
In stillness, I write
Breathing in
Breathing out
Inviting inspiration
I think I need tea
I was Dumber Then
In the morning when I wake up
Regrets bombard my head
I think of the dumb things I’ve done
While I lay there in bed
Despite my knowing all mankind
In God’s eyes must have worth
I think of a billion blunders
Since the day of my birth
I am wiser now
Despite my
goofs
I survived
somehow
If we all
didn’t make mistakes
There’d be no key
for delete
So many
mess-ups
I know I won’t
repeat
I was dumber
then
In all my
childhood and teen years
I just bumbled
along
And finding out
all of the ways
Something can go
so wrong
I searched to
find myself and path
With bruises
on the way
So many failures,
trips and falls
You will hear
me say
I am wiser now
Despite my goofs
I survived somehow
If we all didn’t make mistakes
There’d be no key for delete
So many mess-ups
I know I won’t repeat
I was dumber then
In marriage
and parenting years
The decisions
I made
They all did
not turn out quite right
And dreams
began to fade
I wanted my son
and daughter
To have
success and thrive
But thanks to
the dumb things I’ve done
It’s a wonder,
they’re alive
I was dumber then
I am wiser now
Despite my goofs
I survived somehow
If we all didn’t make mistakes
There’d be no key for delete
So many mess-ups
I know I won’t repeat
I was dumber then
Yesterday I spent much money
To improve my own health
But the only thing it achieved
Was to increase their wealth
I believed a long commercial
That they offered online
Now, I am thoroughly convinced
I will say no next time.
I was dumber then
I am wiser now
Despite my goofs
I survived somehow
If we all didn’t make mistakes
There’d be no key for delete
So many mess-ups
I know I won’t repeat
I am wiser now
Giving God Our Problems
(2 Kings 1:16, I Peter 5:7)
At times, we may think,
big or small,
we don’t want to bother God
with our problems.
Maybe He’s so busy
with the entire world
that He doesn’t care
about little ‘ol us.
But we don’t realize
that it bothers Him more
when we don’t commit
our problems to Him.
It shows our lack of faith,
not trusting that He loves us,
which He had proved
by sending His Son
To bridge the gap
between us and Him,
paying sin’s penalty
on the torturous cross.
So I aim to lay my problems
at His nail-scarred feet
and trust that He will help me
work them out in His time.
Jitters
I’m getting all set to read a poem at church.
Fighting feelings similar to what I had in high school giving an oral report, when
I prayed that my constitution would fail me and I’d pass out in front of
everyone, but no, I was too healthy. No, it’s not that bad, as a senior citizen,
standing in front of a loving congregation. I just need to convince myself that
my words are worthy to read as an act of worship to a wonderful God, that they’re
not just a bunch of fluff, and that God is in them and able to speak to the listeners.
After all, He did use a donkey to convince Balaam not to curse Israel, He can
surely use my poem.
Fighting the jitters
Setting my mind on the Lord
Ahhh, He brings sweet peace!
The Irony of My Home
Some may wonder
if my home is so special
why I want to leave it
and wander the world.
Funny thing.
Home is more home to me
featuring ornaments, paintings
and photos from faraway places.
Adventurous But Cautions
I approach adventures thinking
the guides don’t want me to die
any more than I do.
I need to be relatively assured
that though I may be testing my limits
that it won’t be my last hurrah.
I depend on someone
who knows what they’re doing,
rather than my own skills.
And with a prayer
I take the leap,
brave the waves,
explore the depths
climb the heights
hike the trails
and be thankful
when things go well,
and I have a blast,
stretch and grow
and am ready
for another challenge.
Askew
So many things on which to stew.
There’s much today to misconstrue.
Perspectives tilt slightly askew.
I often feel a bit annoyed
With folks that are so paranoid.
I guess it’s how they fill the void.
They need someone like Dr. Freud.
By fearmongers they are employed.
They’re sounding like a bad tabloid.
Looks like they’re ones I should avoid,
But that may show their fears are true.
I’ll pray for them, that’s what I’ll do.
And leave them to their point of view.
