Stuff!

garbagegirlpoem

Materialism has its up and downs. It’s not always as great as it’s cracked up to be. It can be corrupting for more than one thing(earth, human body and soul).

Stuff
Plastic, metal, glass
Concrete poured
On a valuable earth
Struggling to survive.

Fast cars, faster planes,
Light-speed computers,
Stuff
Up to our necks.

Or maybe
Up to our hearts,
Lusting, lusting
More, more, more

We’re told we need
NEED
Stuff, stuff, stuff
To survive.

Garbage piles heaped,
All our stuff
Discarded, thrown away,
Destroyed forever
So we can have
More Stuff.

Physical we are for
Now
But more spirit
For the later

Stuff, stuff, stuff
Helps not with
The later of a
Different place

Another world which
Does not care
Endlessly about all our
Stuff.

Awake!!!

amchurch

Awake
(For the American Church)

Awake, arise
Oh, Great one of the west
Can’t you see?!
Born in blood’s struggle
Birthed for the sake
Of freedom &
To throw off a yoke
Of tyranny!!

Step out of your darkness
Renew your strength
From the blood of martyrs
Birthed
And a savior’s sacrifice.

Give up your pursuit
Of ease and comfort.
Face the battle once again
As you did of long ago.
Raise up a fist toward heaven!

Proclaim His name
Over a land lost
In self-indulgence and
Satan’s lust for power.

Release your sleeping stupor
And surround yourself
With your lost, but still
Available Heavenly Power!

Shake off the dust on your shoulders
Proclaim His Name,
this His battle cry,
Become a world’s changer
change this game below
from that of Satan’s hate
to a Salvation found only
in Christ’s deep love.

First in Line!!

KODAK Digital Still Camera

I guess everybody wants to be first in line for almost everything, even plants I guess. These are the first of the plants that are just starting to show some of the fall colors of yellow and red. For those of you unable to get out in the beautiful sunshine today, I took some more photos. This time I got a natural bog or wetlands in the city I live in. It is behind a Discovery Center or science center for children. It has a natural spring that comes out of a cave. The water is covered in plant life especially algae so thick in spots the water looks like green pea soup. I can’t believe I was actually able to get a dragonfly sitting still long enough to get its picture along with Mr. Turtle who is always obliging. It’s so nice they have this for the children of the city I live in.

KODAK Digital Still Camera

We live in a smaller town that has done an excellent job of preserving its downtown courthouse square. The building was used during the civil war by soldiers who would climb to the top of it and use it as a lookout post. I hope everyone has a blessed day and Praise God, Praise God, Praise God!!! I’m always so grateful after all the cancer treatments to be able to get out and enjoy His world!

Wow 2!!

pillars-of-creation (2)

Hubble Goes High Def to Revisit the Iconic 'Pillars of Creation'

Here is an updated version of a poem I wrote after seeing pictures of the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle nebula released by NASA. They are trillions of miles in height and are the birthplace of stars. Stars form within their gases. God wrote the last stanza and a half of this poem for me.

On Viewing the Pillars of Creation
(Wow!)

Your fingers reach into a Universe
Created just for You
birthing stars, galaxies
as on the water-washed face
of a beach,
children move grains of
sand.

These pillars of gas and
Dust
We view, only in sly glances,
Across an unfathomable distance,
an unreachable birthplace of glorious stars
Put into place
As gleaming, glistening reflections of
Your Face.
Effortlessly, unendingly you create
In love
Moons, stars, galaxies
and
This small grain of an earth.

We its lessor inhabitants, mere pieces of earth-dust,
this rock,
we spin on and on,
breathing only because
You wish it.

Gently caressing at times, your touch
Brings Cloud dust into existence.
At others, with a single finger snap,
super nova explode
from within the ethers of dark nothingness.

Releasing raw elements,
Light, rock, chemicals,
Your gentle breath moves past your lips,
In its wake
our world spins,
Into a celestial dance,
Yielding our night and day

You have said this
Level of life,
Hearts beating, thumping,
Blood coursing through veins,
Will cease
Only to be made More perfect

If we join with you now,
Merging our two into one,
Willing to sacrifice, suffer
Love for the present
No matter the price.

A glory will be revealed
In the second realm of creation,
A Perfecting, complete Rebirth,
for each living, feeling
Being we see now.

Into endless infinity,
Every star will sing a new song.
Unending Praise will resound
To the Praise of Your Glorious
Face and
Heart.

A Universe reborn!!
What an Overwhelming joy
Will fly, sing past our heads
As we enter into the
Wonder
Of that new World.

gloryofgod#2

Dignity

KODAK Digital Still Camera

Along the river walk they have preserved as much of the nature as they can. They’ve left the trees and undergrowth at the river’s edge. I love the old trees, especially the larger, oldest ones. It’s always amazed me that they were here before me and will probably be here after me remaining after I’m gone. That just seems amazing to me. Here is a poem about my few thoughts on that subject. Hope you enjoy it and Praise God!!

Dignity
(Of Trees)
Ancient, unmoving
Imprisoned into a primordial
Earth, sustaining your
Existence.

Your bones lie locked
Deeply beneath a surface
flowing life to your limbs
dancing above in free-air.

At times, you lean
To dip your fingers into
An icy stream or wave lacy limbs
Of colored leaves into
sometimes gentle, sometimes violent winds.

I move past, wondering,
Wondering a why.
You were here before I
Had become a thought.

Whether naked or clothed
In your royal dress of
Green for a season,
or Gold, or red

You drip with, exude
Your form of wisdom,
Dignity, if you wish,
Reminding of an eternity
Existing before us.

You were here before I,
Will probably be here
After I
Living on to tell and testify

Of a beginning of life
Unknown and an unending
Of life foretold,
Teaching without speaking,
saying without words.

Displaying a Power beyond us,
Unseen but felt, glory beyond
my weak physical Senses
Yet proven in your existence.

The Last Hurrah!!

KODAK Digital Still Camera

Well, it’s the last hurrah of what felt like a very short summer. I can’t believe it’s already September. As I have said before we have the most beautiful greenway system in our city as it runs right at the edge of a river. I like to try and take photographs, and the greenway gives me a chance to catch some of nature. The butterflies are here I guess moving from north to south for the winter, and although it was hard, I did manage to catch a few sitting still for two or three short seconds.

A few wildflowers are still out, but some of the tree leaves are starting to turn yellow for fall. It makes me think of pumpkins and bonfires. We had some friends that every year for Halloween would invite us over for roasting hotdogs and marshmellows over an open fire. Fun, fun, fun!! Only problem is I will miss my pink mandevillas and white blooms on the crepe myrtle bush. Oh well, they’ll be back next summer. Praise God for the beauty of His world that He made for us!! I hope you have a peaceful and blessed day.

Senseless!!

8754701_stock-vector-tv-news-anchors-illustration

Everywhere we go today we cannot get away from the media hype(even in my gym) which surrounds us on all sides, slicing soundlessly through the air unseen. Please be careful what you expose yourself and your children to. Here’s a poem I could not stop myself from writing.

Senseless

Senseless Speech,
Buss, whir,
Chew out words.
Out in weightless air
Dead words drop lifeless
to cold, hard ground.

Careful, careful
Do not listen.
Everything is not good
In senseless speech.
Hide, do not cause your
pale ears to bleed!

Media, hype, lustful
For all money.
Beware the wrathful
Fierce fingers that search,
Dig deeply into pockets
Thinly stretched.

Guard your mind,
Here it comes.
Sensation seekers,
Senseless speech
Gets spoken to
Keep fat paychecks.

Everywhere we turn
On display on screens
Small and large.
Beware the fools, charlatans
Of senseless speech,
Guard, protect yourselves &
Run, cover the little ones.

Spit Out Into Hell

impoverished-child-on-streets

Screenshot from Dante's Inferno video game — Screenshot from Dante’s Inferno video game

I came into the world as an orphan from birth with nothing, no mother, no father, no love. I was traumatized and abused both. They said I was a highly sensitive child so maybe it impacted me more than someone else. I remember only fear and terror. I was suicidal a few times, but God stays close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit Psalm 34:18. Here is a poem I wrote about my experiences. Hope you enjoy. Praise God!!!

Spit Out Into Hell

Alone, wet, cold
Shivering into the wall,
I try to fade, pushing
Into the emptiness inside,
This, an unending terror.

I crouch, attempting to avoid
The inevitable. Knowing it
Will come. Survive, survive,
Gritting the teeth
Hanging on, hoping
reprieve will come
Someday.

Despair, hopelessness
dragging. So worthless,
I deserve only
this joyless existence?

Looking up I scream
someone explain this
Why?

Until a light breaks in,
A gentle presence
Fear brought no longer
a feather-soft presence
ever over my head
hidden, between us only
a thin veil of sky.

Feelings stir
Leaving Hope.
Do Not Give Up.
I AM here.

A Wind lifts
Releasing, removing pain.
Strong, a glowing light
Shines down into
my interior.

A living God, a living
Son.
Wonder of wonders
He wants Me!
Joy begins, grows
Becomes stronger
Passion and Praise flow.
New Life Is Created.

So if I can endure
So can You.
His life can exist
Inside of you.

Remember, loving He spread out
His arms
On a wooden beam.
Death juxtaposed on top of
LIFE!

Strange but I believe
Eternally True.
an answer to the
WHY.
HE can use anything, pain
sorrow
To bring you closer to
joy.
and in the darkness give you
Himself.

Passion but not in Black and White

christoncross jesus#3 art-1703880__340

Jesus loves us so profoundly, deeply and passionately that he left a place so wonderful we can’t even begin to imagine its beauty, and He did it solely for us. He allowed himself to be tortured to death overnight and into the next day for our sakes. He was beaten almost to death, flogged and then spiked to a piece of wood. He loves us totally and completely. The poem below I wrote about the depth of His love for us. Hope you enjoy and may God bless your day. Praise God!!

In Black and White

Small minds reduce
our Lord’s Glory
to mere words on a page.

Life is not lived in
Black and White!

All life contains
A struggle.
Sad, happy,
Pain, Joy,
Misery and Glory.
Passion.

Our Lord knew this
And for this
He died.

But not in
Black and White!

A New Dawn

gloryofgod#2

Here is a repeat of a blog I wrote in October of 2018. I will never forget this experience and hope that it helps your faith in some way. Praise God!!

For years now, I guess about 7 or 8, I have been wanting to talk about something that happened to me one night. I have only told family members about it since I’m not very good at standing up and talking in front of people. I guess I was afraid they wouldn’t believe me.

I have sleep apnea. I don’t know if you know what that is, but that is where when you lay down on your back to sleep the muscles that hold up your soft palette at the back of your throat relax so much that the palette itself collapses downward and blocks your airway. In other words, you stop breathing. It is dangerous and can kill you. I did consult a doctor about this. I do not think I could sleep with one of the breathing machines they use so I sleep with the head of my bed raised. As long as my head is raised and I’m on my sides I am okay.

However, one night before I realized what was going on with me, I went to sleep one night and somehow must have gotten off my side and into a position that was not safe. I woke up suddenly and was in a different place.

I remember feeling a slight tinge of fear but was mostly confused, thinking where am I?? All around me was nothing but deep blackness until suddenly I could see this spiral of beautiful, puffy white clouds spiraling off into the distance. I did not want to look at the far distant end of the spiral because I had this sudden knowledge that if I looked at it, there would be no going back. Somehow I just knew that. Don’t know how, but I just did. However, I was not given a choice. I had to look at the end of the spiral, and so I did.

Next, let me say that I had no physical sensation at all. I was fully awake, fully conscious, but there were no physical sensations. I had no awareness of a body. To get back to where I was, as soon as I looked at the end of the spiral of clouds, I was in the other place, but this one was different!

This beautiful, beautiful, light was everywhere. It glistened and shone like nothing I have ever seen, but the light was alive. There was an intelligence or presence inside the light. Like nothing I have ever experienced.

It was so bright it almost hurt to look at it and the colors of the rainbow were moving through it constantly. It was so bright that I turned to look away, but again, I was not given a choice. I had to look at the light so I did.

When I turned to look at it again, suddenly it felt like somebody had taken me and thrown me as hard as they could up against a brick wall. There was this really hard boom, and I was back inside my body. Totally awake but back inside of my body going “What just happened to me.”

I laid there for a few minutes, thinking about what I had just seen and experienced. I moved around a little trying to get my bearings back and then decided the only thing it could have been was for a few minutes or less, because it happened so quickly, so very quickly, is I think I died!! It is the only explanation I can think of.

I believe for a very few brief seconds, I was allowed to see some of the glory of the Living God. The light was beautiful beyond words. I wish everyone could have seen it. Unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

The only reason I wanted to tell this is I hope it will reassure everyone that there really is life after death, and that God is more beautiful than any of my weak human words could ever express. I pray that the living God Himself will bless your day and your whole life and that you can get to know Him better. He really does love you very, very much. God Bless You.