Happy Easter! Happy Spring! Happy April!

 

Happy Easter!

 

 

 

Easter morning-prayer!

(April 1, 2018)

 

 

He awoke me sweet-quiet tender hint-of-dawn kiss

Thrilled me emotion with His Resurrection “Son”-rise

Savored mid-morn whisper-wind stirring rainbow-hues

I live yonder south in Glorious-glow of high-noon “Son”

Delighted an ice-cream treat mid-afternoon among “flutter-bys”

Sup-gourmet blessings-fare with family at yon golden sunset-time

Replenished strength in soft respite-eve deep-purple shadow-space

Rode white-winged Unicorn to count me Lucky-stars in midnight-black

 

And---

 

Joined in pleasant-comfort an alabaster pale full-moon dream…

 

To wit:

 

Good-enough is barely effort

Better results of sacred-ambition

Best reigns “Supreme”-always

 

To a holy determined-conclusion humble-prayer:

 

Live! Love! Laugh! Focus-contemplate!

Vigilant be! No one’s future is ever late!

 

Faith! Family! Freedom! Might just be all there really---Is!

In one eternal-instant the only mercy-blessing will be…His!

 

Amen!

 

Happy Easter!

 

Lovely-Lady Candice Leah & “simple-humble”-me

 

 

 



April

 

First rains are chill in the very early spring

Cold winds recede as birds, melodious sing

 

Reticent plants rejuvenated by April’s quenching showers

In fanciful poetry follows May myriad rainbow-flowers

 

Ancient white oak holds red-robin’s nest

Five light blue eggs in it so softly do rest

 

New foal in green pasture on shaky legs long

Soft-wind pines whisper springtime sweet-song

 

Warmer each day now, soon Morels pop

Children delight at the Easter Bunny Hop

 

Bright dresses in splashes of red, purple, pale-yellow

Easter-bonnets on pretty girls please many a young fellow

 

Emotional Love!-words flow like sweet-kisses kind

Thoughts-of-romance harbored in boys’ and girls’ mind

 

Softly earth warms in this season of living

Perfect world harmony in charitable giving

 

Could mankind just find in life’s challenging maze

The virtue-path righteous-true in God’s simple ways

 

Amen!

 

Happy Easter!

 

 

 

Thoughts sonclude

Virtue!

 

9 - Virtue!

 

Virtue results in a white soul. Pure in its intensity; cleansed by practiced values.

 

Jesus made known to me that the body is the host to life, the soul is the life of the body in man and the spirit of humankind is the life of the soul. When the human body perishes, our soul lives on in eternity, perhaps stained by our life’s transgressions. The spirit is pure, as separate from the soul in uniqueness as is the soul from the body. Yet each is dependent upon the other for survival in this world and the afterlife. That enigma is akin to the concept of the Trinity, three in one, as it begins where it ends where it begins.

 

Virtue is honed to razor sharpness by one’s values. The true beliefs held close shape the direction of one’s principles and beliefs. There is no compromise in right, which is virtue.

 

Everything is simple! That is not to say it is easy, only that it is simple. Once we get the distractions, the ego, the self-deception, in a word, the lie, out of the way of righteous decisions, the puzzle pieces fall into place. Concise, precise, succinct---Truth! The glory of that revelation, brought to light, makes the issues focused and understandable.

 

Virtue is its own reward. The good in man desires to be exercised, demands to be free. Any doubt is quickly defeated by observance of a child, not only “innocent” by chronology, there are many adult children. The young will push the bounds to the limit the custodian will tolerate. Problems occur when the warden is selfish and self-centered. Keeping their ward under thumb is NOT Christian parenting as many profess.

 

Conditional love is only a poor masquerade of a damaged ego salving its wounds.

 

“I’ll love you, child, if you get ‘A’s’ on your report card.”

 

“I’ll love you, child, if you date the right people, that I choose for you.”

 

“I’ll love you, child, if you don’t get caught and embarrass me.”

 

“I’ll love you, child, if you build me up and do my bidding,”

 

Not true! We do not behave in such despicable manner; we’re the good guys and gals.

The truth? Get a full length mirror, strip away the façade, the armor, the deceit, the, dare I state the obvious? The lies! Take a long, hard look. One day, too soon, you will stand naked in eternal judgment. There will be no rationalizing, no justification, no lies.

 

Only cold, hard truth. Are you ready? One way to get there is to: live Virtue! Amen!

Thoughts (8) continue...

Truth!

 

Day 8 - Truth!

 

In the Beginning was the Word and the Word was God…

 

Without Truth! there is nothing. An abyss devoid of life, an empty nothingness.

 

The evil intent of the un-truth shall forever and always display its own inaccuracy, no matter how many attest to the lie, irrelevant to the number of times the lie be told, no credence allowed because of whom perverts God’s truth. Evil is evil and a lie is evil.

 

Dress it up in fashions declared fine splendor, evil is the lie.

 

Justify the meaning, even intent; evil is still the lie.

 

Rationalize the transgression, evil cannot hide.

 

I should choose to stand alone in the light of truth, radiant in Spirit Grace, than be acclaimed in honored shame by purveyors of the perverted Gospel Scripture. Such choice cannot exist, for evil wears the demon mask which goodness shall unveil, destroy.

 

Truth! It is value of its own accord. Virtue practiced by a contrite soul. A holy sacrament dispensed with love from within the essence of  a pure spirit. Truth! Always wins.

 

Stand in the light which is truth and evil fades; reach toward the demons plaguing life and watch the coward flee. Evil cannot come against truth and claim triumph. The evil of self- doubt fosters fear and her stepchild, worry. I, for one Christian, refuse to wallow in the putrid swine sty of wasted time contemplating fear of what might, but probably will not, occur. No positive action is required of empty, idle worry; it is a destructive endeavor of utter futility, gaining nothing for glory, only self deceit for an evil plan to destroy the value of reality and thereby blacken the soul and empty the spirit. I will not participate.

 

Worry, too, belongs on the heap of man’s idiocy where life is concerned. Such foolish- ness restricts creative passion, constraining the value of potential good like the coils of a giant South American Anaconda crushing and suffocating its prey. Such is evil.

 

Fear not and Follow Me! The concise lessons of Scripture. Many claim salvation through belief; live the adventure and show by example your Christian faith. Carpe Diem! Life!

Spend not precious time seeking the approval and acclimations of another. Plant the seed of truth and nourish it to fruition: What other people think of me is none of my business!

 

God loves you! “They” may or not. You must trust and love yourself. Amen!

Thoughts (7) continue...

Liberty!

 

Day 7 - Liberty!

 

There is a quaint village on U.S. Highway 70 southeast from Lebanon following a trace through Alexandria-town in west central Tennessee. In this thriving metropolis which proudly sports a living population of near five hundred, my own roots tap the sweet spring underground river containing nutrients for life, including reverent virtue Liberty!

 

My Mom grew up there and the Baptist cemetery inters valued ancestors, among them my precious Granny and Granddaddy, God rest their souls. Liberty, Tennessee is a special place from the Smith Fork River bluffs on the east to the white house with a friendly front porch on the west where my mother lived, the enclave bounded north by limestone cliffs and south with round-top inverted Ice Cream cone hills. So beautiful in Spring-time glory; uncomfortably hot in Halcyon hellish summer. A pleasant reminiscence loved, it is.

 

The village epitomizes the independent nature that is liberty practiced by the individual spirit in man. That God-given right to think and say in freedom the truth political, social and cultural absent false constraints of necessity or force imposed without. Life is worth the effort for mere pleasure of performance of the deed, proclaims a placid environment in silent bellicose strident exclamation of sentiment evoked in beauty quiet lived.

 

We celebrate those values bestowed on man as virtue worth the battle fight, should it once more come of necessity to that end. Fourth of July thumps proud within the heart of every caring American on Independence Day each year; parades and picnics, family reunions, swimming parties and the best bar-b-que, and birthdays, too. Through the lovely warm day with sun tanning pale bodies, on through the calm dusk to excited expectation of the dark night illuminated with myriad colored light explosions of bombs bursting in air. Our high flying flag we so proudly do hail in this land free and sweet home brave!

 

America! is the beautiful! Stand proud, my friend. Stand proud! No where else on God’s good earth has man found the reverence nor dignity nor praise to exact the honor of this unique great land. The Declaration and our perfect Constitution see America through quite well. This greatest of Christian nations humbles itself before our Almighty God!

 

Liberty is a town in Tennessee; better, it is a realized dream in the American spirit!

 

Praise! Honor! Glory! is the mantra of the Christian body. Celebrate Liberty! with un- restrained enthusiasm beginning with day’s first light and continuing through last sight.

Prayer! is the conveyance to happiness. The fare is free, just offer each and every thought, word and deed, for none is insignificant, in recognition of the gifts that matter, Liberty! among them. All, in Praise! Honor! Glory! To the Creator! Amen!

 

Give me Liberty! Allow me Freedom! Let me Live Truth and Honor-bound! Amen!

Thoughts (6) continue...

Belief!

 

Day 6 - Belief!

 

The interview: He held a news conference extolling the virtues of a best-selling book on the value one may place on helping others upon this journey which is life. The advice was offered in good spirit with honorable intent, based on Christian values practiced in a secular society wrought with the cancerous consequences of evil. One took exception.

“Do you really believe this tripe?” came the cat call from a “reporter”.

 

“I do not believe ‘tripe’, my good woman,” he replied, kindly, with just a hint of cold- challenge in the tone. “I do believe practicing these S-C, Scripturally-Correct, virtues can improve individual life and lead to a better world. I, also believe, that would be a good thing, an endeavor I hear a lot of words about and upon which is spent many billions of dollars, mostly to no positive conclusion, other than, it doesn’t work.

“In my own life, I have found that when I practice what I believe, life is good. For me, for others, for the people I help, for those who help themselves. Not because of what I say, rather, for the reason that good always triumphs evil…always! Borrow a bible and read that story for yourself, dear woman; I guarantee it will not hurt and may even help.

 

“What I do NOT believe is value in a system that allows uneducated, uninformed, rude behavior to go uncalled, and, yes, even, unpunished. That piece of paper from a journalism school does not give license to spout obfuscated innuendo, the usage of two or three words in a single sentence with wrong verb tense, attesting not to the erudite sophisticate to which you aspire. It displays a void of knowledge, even, of courtesy.

 

“Belief is not just ‘what’ thoughts pop into an empty head, thereby making them both correct and valid; belief is tried and tested truth. They must be relentlessly scrutinized, challenged, dissected, inspected under a microscope. Maybe, even, carbon dated.

 

“The words Faith! and Truth! and Justice! whether they be mine or come from any other, must be seen in clear light, examined with fair-minded discrimination. Truth! is pure!

 

“If it cannot stand to such challenge, the conclusions are always the same: perverted lies!

 

“I believe in Truth! In God! In Right! In Justice! Yes, Ma’am. Indeed, I do. 

 

“If you have a problem with that attitude, then, that is your issue and not mine.

“What other people think of me is, none of my business!”

Faith! lives. Try it. Faith cannot be defeated.

Good triumphs; evil is left behind. Always!

Thoughts (5) continue...

Charity!

 

Day 5 - Charity!

 

Charity! begins at home. And, what better place? Let it begin with me.

 

A charitable heart is giving, kind, open, pleasing, generous and, always. People who embrace this virtue are happy; they are satisfied with life and bring a sense of solitude to others. Many profess that they would like to be more charitable; some claim they are.

 

I am a Traditionalist. Do not make the mistake of labeling me to a political party, a church denomination, or  calling me a mere “conservative”; none of those are either good enough, nor accurate. It took years to hone this mind, what there may be of it, at least, into the logical constraint it has become. Not the sixty-four chronological years I have been given here, but probably about seven, those first impressionable, tender years.

Too much Catholic school learning math and English, diagramming sentences, verb tense, daily mass, bible history, religious instruction. Oh! Yeah!

 

Then, from my family, also. Literally acres of garden for a young boy to work; the produce then given away to relatives, friends, neighbors, even strangers. No one ever left our house thirsty or hungry, or unwelcome; my grandparent’s homes, either. Generosity!

We have divided the holidays among Candy and our daughters, Beth and Becky, for party celebrations. Christmas is at our house; Becky does Easter; Beth entertains 4^th of July. The others, we share. There are many; this family needs little encouragement to party.

 

One Independence Day, several years ago, a friend and I were discussing the welfare system in our country. A flaming liberal guest, an acquaintance of Beth’s, interrupted the intense conversation with what she must have thought to be a Curare-tipped barb: Why don’t you take care of someone, then? Her insulting snaky query was aimed at the cold, cruel heart of what she considered to be just another rich Republican. I was neither.

 

Looking her directly in the eye, to castigate her for the rude interruption and to make sure she saw those intense, piercing blues, I replied calmly, “We do!” Her mouth fell open.

 

Spluttering, she stammered, “You do?” The astonishment was most evident.

 

“Yes,” I continued, letting her know that Superman was impervious to poison arrows.

 

“We have someone we give food, clothes and money. And time, for celebrations.”

Like any liberal worth---nothing…she stormed from the room without another word. That, in and of itself, must have been her first miracle. I never saw her again. Charity!

It has to begin with me, or it never begins, at all. Amen!

Thoughts (4) continue

Hope!

 

Day 4 - Hope!

 

Without Hope! there is no future. For that matter, there can be no present, for Hope! has brought us to the now. By extrapolation, history, which was just an instant ago, the present, and so quickly now has past, came to us only through Hope! for the future.

 

Hope! Is the desire for a better tomorrow and the belief that it will, indeed, come to be so.

 

Lord! Each day help me strive to be better than I was in my best time. I was thirsty and You slaked that burning need. When I hungered, Your Grace satiated that terrible pang. In my sorrow, belief and trust salved my wounded heart. Lost in desperate helplessness, I found strength to continue when You so humbly carried me. In the good times you celebrated in my glory, yet, I knew, it was Your Glory that lighted my way. Together, we danced in achievement’s sweet music serenade. Embraced by Your Loving arms, was I, when You bestowed on me, so undeserving, the angelic spouse who has become as one with me in You. A Blessing greater than the Creation given this lowly sinner with two children and again, four times, cherubs for me to love and entertain. How? Lord! Can one man be so Blessed? So often? So continuously? I know, Lord. By Faith! By Hope! Amen!

 

It is a far better intent with which I do begin anew each dawn to perform aid and comfort to my fellow man. And, I shall fall short, again, as have I so many times in past attempts. Yet, the Hope! lives on, that this special day, just this one awesome time, I may, in fact, in deed, in fruition, complete that good intent with enough passion to, at last, accomplish some goal for another, to offer You deserving Praise! Honor! Glory! And, to that: Amen!

 

My Lord! My God! When I in Awesome Wonder…

 

Evil darkness stalked for a time in all its ugly determination and caught me, after many years of struggle and strife, which I rebuked in Your Son’s holy name, Jesus Christ, but wore me down in health and, less importantly, in finance matters. With Your shining glow from the Holy Spirit Grace, through the undeserving continued Blessing of Jesus, the Christ, and with the Supreme Authority of the Father, this Deity, this wondrous Holy Trinity led me to redemptive salvation. Hope! My Lord! Hope! saved me once again.

 

Of all that I have given and might yet bestow upon those I so love, the gift would be to ask my God to instill in them that eternal flicker of light which will forever glow to high noon sun intensity frustrating evil in all his devious manifestations when it rears its demon head to come against Thy eternal will. Hope! My Lord! I ask only for: Hope!

 

Your most humble servant, Lord, in Faith! And, in eternal Hope! Amen!

 

 

 

Thoughts (3) continued---

Day 3 - Freedom!

 

“Oh! Say, can you see?”, “God bless America!” Flags wave and fireworks explode.

 

This represents the celebration of Freedom as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and in the U.S. Constitution. Worthy sentiments. Indeed! Practice Freedom! It is the right of man to be free, to exercise independence and to stand tall as an individual. But, man’s freedom ends where another’s begins. Transgress not!

A “right” is bestowed by the Creator, it is God-given; a privilege is society-generated. Inalienable rights come from the Deity; they cannot be honestly revoked not impinged by man in his feeble attempt to garnish power or favor over another. Privilege is granted to man by law when certain criteria or expectations are met, such as, legally driving a car. This is a privilege offered by society within explicit parameters of rules and behavior.

Difficulties arise from the very nature of Freedom. People find making decisions most difficult and concluding correct choices where the good of all is concerned becomes nearly impossible. One’s mindset and motivation must be “pure” to attain virtue.

Ah! “The saints among us!” Indeed! I do wish. I really do. Few will test the celestial waters of sainthood; less shall ever glimpse angelic. Such is the nature of man.

So, what sets the “good”, head and shoulders, above the rest of us? They are: Pure!

Pure in thought. In manner. In perspicacity. In Faith! Family! Freedom! In execution.

They shine in the glow of Grace emanating from the Holy Spirit. It shows in their face, in their eyes, in their demeanor and, mostly, in their actions, their way of living life. That Grace begets a humble attitude, a selfless generosity, an enviable personality.

Search no farther than good parents, fine siblings, honorable kin, polite people. Want to know what children are like? Watch their parents. Really want to know what people are like? Observe their children. Class will tell, every time. It has nothing to do with wealth, the model car one drives nor even, Oh! No! not that, one’s zip code. Amazing!

I once, but certainly not the only time, got into big trouble for commenting on the idiocy of people paying a hundred thousand dollar premium to reside in a certain zip code, knowingly over paying, just for the privilege of being an “elite”. My loved ones quickly informed me that they were just doing the best they could. I retorted that they did much better than they could as long as they had access to the bank’s money. Anyone willing to sign their name can drive an expensive sports car. Since being right in assessments is an important value to me, I will only say, “Check out foreclosures and repossessions/Exercise Freedom! Choose wisely. The consequences may be eternal!

 

Amen!

More thoughts---

Day 2 - Family!

 

“But, that I were not born of flesh, such void forlorn, never to refresh.”

 

Scripture teaches that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son to be born Man, to suffer crucifixion, die and be buried to arise in glory for the Redemption and Salvation of mankind. No greater love has one than to give his life for another.

 

I have been blessed, exceedingly so! By no plan nor scheme nor doing of my own; I confess that I would not know the way to such promise. It is God’s gift, I know not why.

 

But, I shall not defy His will nor suppose that I might have done better without His Grace. Indeed! It is His strength which sees me through. Family brought me to the feast of Goodness and I will not turn from His blessings. Rather, I will thank Him and rejoice.

 

Second to Faith, is Family. From the former comes life, itself; from the latter, belonging. Man fits into Family and is as lost in life without its love as he be in the spiritual without God. My blessing is doubled by virtue from both my father and my mother and all their ancestors. Many, I have known; a number, have since departed. The generosity of these fine Christian families was impressed on me from little on. Un-selfish in their nature, true in their belief, sophisticated in their Faith, generous, these are exemplary people in God.

 

Search out and find the saintly in your children; uncover and celebrate the angelic in your spouse. Love is a gift, a free endowment from an Artesian well, overflowing and never ending; the more you give away, the more love is replenished to bestow even more. It is the Cornucopia of Family, complete, satisfying, accepted and respected, love is.

 

True love is unselfish and unconditional. Any other is evil in its narcissism.

 

It must be freely given, or it is not love, but hatred. And, the secret of love is that it may, indeed, meet all the positive criteria, the effort, the emotion, the intent, and still it is up to the intended recipient to accept the gift. One can love another, without acceptance. Love is true and to be given, it does not require acceptance nor return. Love is free.

 

A family is thought to be blood kin, blood related. And, the family is so. But, family can and does come in many forms. The family of mankind, for example. Family is love; it is the friendship born of helping another out of respect; doing the right thing, merely because it is the Christian way to behave in any given situation. Pure love is true.

 

A Family is tolerant and forgiving, not just of its immediate members, but of the brotherhood of man. This is not to excuse evil either in intent nor in execution; evil is evil, not to be tolerated for any exalted reason, no matter the consequences. Hate the sin, not the sinner. “To err is human, to forgive is divine.” (Alexander Pope)

 

Past,, present, future; then, now, always; Family matters. Amen!

Just some thoughts

The 1-2-3 Mantra

 

 

Faith! Family! Freedom!

 

In the last three years I have embarked on a project to instill in the reader a nostalgic sense of Christmas past. This effort is titled: Christmas Eve Trilogy. The story follows a Christian family through three years of pleasant holiday celebrations. Originally, I intended to write something along the lines of “The Night before Christmas”. It grew of its own accord and evolved into a three volume set. At this writing, two episodes are complete with the third is approximately half finished, scheduled to be done by Fall.

 

In the course of that work I came to understand something of myself and my belief system. Three words express the shaping of my character, values and virtues.

 

All the “secrets” relate to one another, in a spiritual manner. I shall endeavor to explain.

 

Day 1- Faith!

 

Faith transcends belief. It is the spiritual equivalent of man’s survival instinct; it is engrained in his psyche. As a Christian, I would confess that Faith is a tie to the Creator, reminding us from whence we came and a blessing that allows us to praise, honor and glorify the God who is our reality in a world which sometimes seems as surreal as an underwater aircraft. Belief is the intellectual conclusion of self-examination of the premises of one’s values which necessarily evolve into virtue, tempered by character.

 

Perhaps, this abstract concept is incomprehensible to any with an ego too large to humble themselves in the acceptance of a world not of their own creation and importance. That misconception can be as easily affirmed as the blessing which is life can be dismissed as the chance result of a chemical reaction. Some great people have come from such chance.

 

Faith is akin to purpose in the reality of life. Take it away and the scenario begs the ultimate question: What is the purpose? Man perseveres because of Truth, the very “rightness” of a thing; it is worth doing simply because it is the right thing to do.

 

World War II Navy Admiral William Frederick “Bull” Halsey, Jr. said, “There are no great men. Just great challenges which ordinary men, out of necessity, are forced by circumstances to meet.” Try the small or the great without Faith; it can’t be done.

 

Faith is the glow of God within man. It is like the lead in crystal which captures, diffuses, reflects and then refracts light into myriad rainbow colors of beauty, sending laser shafts beaming into the abyss of reality which is the character of God found in man. Amen!

Celebrating Daughter-Becky's farm purchase

Kiss-me Darlin’-(Baur-farm song)

 

Awake me Darlin’! Time to kiss new sun

Pink-dawn has drifted-off and now is done

Let’s adventure-run and play to have great-fun

Another beauty day-of-chance at-life has just begun

 

Dance me through the meadow-dew of emerald-green

Stately forest-pine needle-carpet quiet-softness scene

Fish-breach wispy corkscrew-tendrils surface silver-sheen

Dragonfly tease bull frog as red-winged blackbirds preen

 

Soars suave black-shadow streak Zorro-horse design

Stride cross-country canter with Skippy-friend equine

Pistola-Anna urge-Lightning to beyond a “wild”-resign

Sophisticated-Lauren sails fences with abandon-refine

 

And, simple-humble I to easy-Proud with Love-observe

Lexi-Lu saddled-up to chase with laughter haste-reserve

Tidy-quiet acreage-plot whitetail deer and game preserve

Even I---might plant another tree…if only just to conserve

 

Landscape-pretty now the tundra-calling mid-west farmer-boy

Fly-fish shy Red-Ear, seek-out some wild-Morel, sniff air for joy

Tame me wild-beast heart to tender Love-in-nature time employ

Transgress: Be I chronological-“Senior”; Confess: Life be me Toy!

 

On stony-ridge tree-pines above the waves silver-dancing lake

A makeshift “kitchen”-outdoors for delicious bar-b-que bake

4-stones hold a grate red-hot of teasing hardwood flames-sake

Gathered kin to share a sacred-day of Love-surround partake

 

Yonder! Across the dale quick-slide abandon-wild the creek

Cabin-size rocks natural-cascade spring-water babble-sneak

Embrace-wild yon whisper-wind unsuited for frontiersman-weak

Courage! Pilgrim! Scripture-promise: Earth inherited by the meek!

 

Marching-sun warms earth-bounty fresh in mid-night Cool!

And, I return to “roots” in-land still un-educated “Fool”!?

Happy-times just might be simple-found: 40-acres and a mule

Allow that humble-I be like friend Mother-Nature: Never cruel!

 

Azure-sky more blue each ‘morrow come cerulean-clear

Allow! Respect! Enjoy! White-clouds bring rain to cheer

And, I, in me element of Life! Space! Love! Absent any fear

Listen! Thee! With me. Soft whisper-wind serenade to hear



North! South! East! West! & Forever-Beyond!

Mine!?---all mine, and…”your”-own!

 

Rolling prairie amber-gold wheat flowing rhythm

White-snow summit cloud-kissed grandeur-proud

Crest-trough wave unulation-tempo white-sand beach

 

And---Life! Love! Laugh!...wild celebrate each instant!

 

Thankful for the gift-of-life to stir this spirit-wild!

 

Amen!