Friday, July 22, 2011

you matter




well my dear ones,


The next time you feel down on yourself,
feel like beating yourself up,
recall that the One who spoke
and the universe leapt into existence
knows your name, and further,
Deep Heaven was made for you.

It's hard to have low self esteem
if you bear these things in mind!

I started to write something else entirely,
but the more I tried to write it
the more it would not be written.
Instead, it was laid on my heart
to repeat this little piece
from over 5 years ago.

Perhaps you were on my journal back then,
perhaps not;
even if you were,
try to see this little interlude
between my mentor and muse and I
with a fresh set of eyes
because you matter
and the One who spoke
made sure it was written down for you.

(btw, for those of you who are wondering,
 "what's up with the 48 point lines?"
 I've been using lately
 that is the standard length of a blog line;
 hence, all my e-mail and journal entries
 are adjusted to also fit into my blog)

So here is "Xanthe,"
from back in 16 April 2006:

...following the faint rustle of wings,
dave finds the Faerie Queen
sitting in a small glade;

her right foot is half-buried in the earth,
but in a shameless display
of her mastery of earthpower,
when she moves her foot
the earth ripples in waves
as if it were water...

she is staring directly at the sun,
has been for hours,
yet her faerie eyes are unharmed.

dave: "Hail, O Queen."

Titania: "Hail yourself, sleepyhead;
      have you forgotten the day?
      I have awaited you
      since the hour before dawn."

dave: "huh?  oops, I forgot. 
      Happy Easter to you."

Titania: "In the name of
      He-Who-Rose-with-the-Dawn,
      I bid you likewise."

dave: "Hey, that reminds me, my friend, Xanthe,
      kind of wigged me out the other day."

Titania: "In what manner?"

dave: "Don't get me wrong;
      she's great, and I love her to death,
      but she kind of freaked me out one day
      when she implied that I had a religion.

      "I walk the same path as you,
      so I don't have a religion...do I?"

Titania: *thoughtful & bemused*
"Pure and undefiled religion
consists of this:
      to do justice, to love mercy,
      and to walk humbly with God.

      "However, as your world uses the term,
no, you do not have one,
      not anymore than do I.

      "Since the beginning of time,
      by my own choice,
I have related to God directly;
and for the past two millennia,
by grace,
the same choice is accorded you.

"Whosoever accepts that done by
He-Who-Rose-with-the-Dawn
on their behalf,
gets the gift of Deep Heaven."

dave: "For free?"

Titania: "Of course.
      If heaven could be earned
      then grace would not be grace.
      And by grace God gives you
      that which you could never earn."

dave: "...heaven for free..."

Titania:
  "And wonders beyond your imagination as well."

dave: "And God truly loves each one of us?"

Titania: "Yes, more than, in this lifetime,
      you can ever possibly believe."

*as the sun rises higher,
Titania weaves a shelter of moonbeams about them
to shade the sun a bit
as she painstakingly tries to explain to dave
the things that were, the things that are,
and the things that shall yet come to be...*

Monday, July 18, 2011

safe

well my dear ones,

I woke up this morning
and felt something fuzzy on my arm.

Usually, we put the three small kittens
we are raising
in my wife's office for the night.

But when it was time to put them in,
only two were around,
so one got left out somewhere,
likely sleeping in some hidey spot.

Then, sometime in the night,
he must have awoken alone
and realized he couldn't get inside
the office with his sis and bro.

So instead,
he looked around to find me...

http://theeverencouragingword.blogspot.com/2011/07/neely-on-my-arm.html

The more I observe our small furry friends,
the more I'm convinced that everything
wants to feel safe, wants to feel loved.

Knowing that his daddy would keep him safe,
Neely snuggled himself into the crook of my arm.

And in doing so, a 10-week-old kitten
displayed more common sense
than I often do myself.

When times get tough,
why don't I just snuggle up
into the arms
of the ever-living ever-loving God
who made us all?
Where I could cast all my cares
and rest nice and safe?

Hence, I observe our little friends,
and strive to develop
the same child-like faith in God
that our little friends have in us.

Have a great week!

grace, peace, and love to you,
dave

"Until one has loved an animal, 
a part of one's soul remains un-awakened."
--- Anatole France

Neely on my arm

Neely sleeping on my arm and power-purring


Thursday, July 07, 2011

"The Tornado"

well my dear ones,


Just the other day
I was reading through some notes
for a college class I'm taking
(I like to always keep a hand in
and learn some new things)
when I came across one of our inserts.

The instructor likes to occasionally slip in
some uplifting stories to help anyone
who might be struggling with the material,
anyone who might need a boost of confidence.
This particular piece was about a woman
named Wilma Rudolph,
the first woman in history to earn
three Olympic gold medals in track and field
back in the 1960 Olympic Games.

Now to win just one gold medal is big stuff,
to win three is huge,
even for an athlete in top shape.
But this woman did it against incredible odds.

She was born prematurely,
weighing only 4.5 pounds.
She suffered from pneumonia and scarlet fever,
not to even mention that
her left leg was crippled by polio.

Advised by her doctor to "exercise only a little,"
she decided that more was better
and took off her braces for the agonizing ordeal
of just walking around the house.

Hardly an auspicious start for the one
who would emerge from the 1960 Olympics in Rome
as "The Tornado," the fastest woman on earth!

Through tenacity and hard work
she overcame her obstacles
to rise to greatness.
She also left behind a legacy,
a foundation that helps others get ahead
who started out with odds not in their favor.

The next time you feel
like you need a bit of inspiration
you might want to Google Wilma Rudolph;
it will lift you up, for sure!




Have a great week!


grace, peace, and love to you,

dave


"Until one has loved an animal,
a part of one's soul remains un-awakened."

--- Anatole France