It is an early morning rain
blue crystals falling from the sky
Oh all the words won’t come my way
the search for them makes me high
I saw you sleeping in the candle light
coming round to that place where we bleed
Oh all your thoughts won’t come my way
each idea planted like a row of seeds
It is an early morning rain
a symphony falling from the sky
Oh all the dance steps are ours
or at least to give a try.
These children in my heart take my breath away.
So warm and wild in joyful play.
So strong yet gentle, with cheeks the color of the rose.
They only hear the pretty notes.
These days together are short and tender
I just smile up to heaven and surrender,
Then breathlessly, I hear all the pretty notes…
Four days ago I turned sixty-five. I always think and ponder life at this time of a new year. My sixth-five years of attempting to be a student of my human nature and yours have been interesting to say the least.
TRUTH: Humans are scared of what we don’t know, especially if it changes life as we know it.
Godly Wisdom: Change and failure MUST occur so that humans will grow. Most of us stop growing in our early twenties. Can you believe it? Ephesians 4:15-16 – But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, [even] Christ.
TRUTH: Parents desire things for their children that perhaps they missed or lost when they were children. Or worse, parents have the illusion of controlling their child’s happiness when it is simply a lie.
Godly Wisdom: Children are a gift and parents have a responsibility to raise them without resentment. Children are ours for a season in which we are to do our best to pour Truth into them. This can only be done in faithfulness to God’s Word and Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:13 “and you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit… “
TRUTH: Grown humans often still “desire” something we did not get in childhood.
Godly Wisdom: Childhood is filled with wonder but just as well it is full of disappointment trauma, abuse and hurt. These must be recognized, named, worked on but according to God’s Word the do NOT define us. John 3:16. ” For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will have everlasting life. ”
TRUTH: Fear about what might happen is completely useless to us humans. 2 Timothy 1:7 ” for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and a sound mind. “
Conclusion: I am a feeble student at best. I have more questions than answers the longer I sojurn. I have seen the evil and the good. I have embraced God’s Holy Spirit pursuing me, and pointing me to Jesus Christ always! I have rebelled, stumbled, disobeyed, fallen, and I have been hated and have hated. I have seen the Transformation from dark was to light. I stand on the I infallible foundation that God is absolutely Good and their is no evil in Him whatsoever. I know this because humans are well acquainted with evil and there is none Good but God.
1 John 5:20 “We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
Carrying on. ..
Photo by Bruno Pires
Sometimes as I scroll my Facebook and Instagram I see what seems to be a fabulous and profound quote…but then…but wait…I saw one that said, “rise above the storm and you will find the sunshine.” Another one I saw said, “Nothing is worth it if you aren’t happy.” Well, while this might sound like accurate loquaciousness in the emotional sense, it is not accurate in the journey of life, at least not in my experience of 64 years on the planet. A storm is defined in the dictionary this way, “a violent disturbance of the atmosphere with strong winds and usually rain, thunder, lightning, or snow OR a tumultuous reaction; an uproar or controversy.”
And happiness has nothing to do with some situation or someone’s worth…there are limitless relationships, and situations that are totally worth it and totally hard!
The Truth is that you are born into a storm, into a world of tumultuous reaction, uproar, and controversy. It is called a “Fallen World of Sin and therefore broken.” I see no way that a human being can “rise” above any storm on their own. See Romans 6:23.
Some might see my outlook as discouraging which is not my goal. However, if you believe God’s Word and you read and understand what occurred in Genesis chapter 3 then you will also understand that if you read the whole Bible there is good news and a solution to “THE STORM”…and He, Jesus, is the provider of Joy.
That is because happiness is an emotion in which we “experience feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to bliss and intense pleasure,” whereas joy “is a stronger, less common feeling than happiness.” (Dr, Hud McWilliams). We experience joy when we achieve selflessness to the point of personal sacrifice.”
In the storm of an abusive childhood, or a miscarriage, a broken marriage, a health battle, an addiction, a mental illness, financial destitution, a death of your most beloved, and on the list goes…there is not a way around this storm! This storm touches everything and everyone from sunrise to sunset…There is no place in scripture where it says that we, in and of ourselves, will rise above anything. “Jesus said, without me, you can do nothing.” John 15:5
Many places in scripture we are promised, by God, that he will go with us through the storm, the suffering, and His Spirit will not leave nor forsake us. It does not tell us that we will be relieved from the lonely unlit path of the storm or that we will not get hurt by the storm. Again, the promise is that God will be with us through the pain.
In a time when Bible illiteracy in and outside of the Church is evident, I believe words of encouragement need to be accurate more than ever.
2 Corinthians 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.“
The boy, now an ancient man in his nineties with speckled skin of ages in the sun and wind
his body, now incompatible with life was once so strong with the life blood of resilience
All of the Love games have been played and the illusions faded away
He said, ” Evil is a hunter and only the bow of the Cross and the blood of Christ upon that Cross can shoot the arrow of the abyss into that hunter’s heart. “
Then he closed his eyes and was The Boy again.
I want to be in Paris in the thirties
in a coffee house with painters and poets
Like Laurel Canyon sixties songs
the music echoes all day and night
The morning rain showers, the afternoon sun
Warm canvases of yellows and melons horizons
The evening light of the Eiffel Tower glitters
The night is showered with city sights
I want to be in Paris in the thirties
And write the poetry that rattles in my head
Like a song on an old phonograph
I am dancing in the shadows until morning takes flight
Photo by Bruno Pires on
She is standing in a room full of mirrors.
She is all the people she was taught to be.
A good little girl who prays and is kind.
A pretty girl as much as she can be.
A smart girl but not too smart for men.
She is all the people she was taught to be.
Yet somehow, she is none of these.
Mirrors are liars.
Mirrors crack and shatter.
She is a woman of humility and wisdom.
She is a reflection of her Maker.
She does not need mirrors anymore.
Photo by Rodolfo Clix
It is a misfit’s address
An island of genius
A mystery of progress
The glitter of astrocytes between us
The mundane to the brilliant
From the axon to infinity
Never to be explained away
The music of the genius plays
I’ve never seen a mountain like this
No way around so I gotta climb over I guess
I’ve got no strategies for something so immense
But I’m still gonna take this one step
I’ve never seen a desert storm like this
The sun is burning my body like a furnace
I’ve don’t have enough water to quench this fire
But I’m still gonna take this one step
I’ve never seen a river run so deep as this
If I wade out of these shallows I can’t catch my breath
I’ve got no strength for this current
But I’m still gonna take this one step
If I don’t climb Lord you will be my wings!
If I don’t see Lord you will be the vision I need!
If I don’t swim Lord your arms will carry me!
When you have done all according to the word of God and it seems like nothing is happening, then stand. Ephesians 6:13
