Saturday, December 31, 2011
A Brave New Year - 2012
TO ALL OF YOU AROUND THE GLOBE
I WISH FOR YOU PEACE IN YOUR COUNTRY
PEACE IN YOUR HOME
PEACE IN YOUR HEART
I WISH FOR YOU PEACE IN YOUR COUNTRY
PEACE IN YOUR HOME
PEACE IN YOUR HEART
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Do I Need To Shout It From the Rooftop?
http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2011/12/25/oath-keepers-launches-national-effort-to-recall-andor-remove-members-of-congress-who-voted-for-ndaa-military-detention-merry-christmas-u-s-congress/
Monday, December 26, 2011
A Glimpse From the Past
There was this man
I watched with interest
With him was his young apprentice
His steed - a Raptor Ford Pickup
A serious man, a serious truck
A muscular body
And swarthy stride
He was walking away from me
When he returned
I saw what before I could not see
All he needed was the suit:
The sword
The helmet
The chainmail
Boots
He begrudgingly acknowledged me
With a look that only he
Could give with no much as an afterthought
His hair was thick and very black
All he needed was the knot
I took him all in
And was mesmerized
By the Samurai Warrior
I idolized
I watched with interest
With him was his young apprentice
His steed - a Raptor Ford Pickup
A serious man, a serious truck
A muscular body
And swarthy stride
He was walking away from me
When he returned
I saw what before I could not see
All he needed was the suit:
The sword
The helmet
The chainmail
Boots
He begrudgingly acknowledged me
With a look that only he
Could give with no much as an afterthought
His hair was thick and very black
All he needed was the knot
I took him all in
And was mesmerized
By the Samurai Warrior
I idolized
Sunday, December 25, 2011
The Awakening
I see something happening. There is an awakening of some sort. People are shedding the "Christmas as usual" where we spend ourselves into oblivion, running from one store to the next, buying trinkets, gidgets and gadgets, piling up huge credit card bills and emptying our bank accounts.
Toy manufacturers with their very latest for the little ones, Air Jordans that people will kill for, and others have had us trapped, brainwashed into thinking that emptying our wallets to satisfy some momentary want is what Christmas is all about. Not so.
What are the reasons behind this? There are probably many. But I'd like to think that we, somehow, at this precise moment in time, have been given the opportunity to reassess, take a hard look at what really matters in our lives, what is really important and we're fiinding out that it isn't some type of plastic appliance or a video game.
Toy manufacturers with their very latest for the little ones, Air Jordans that people will kill for, and others have had us trapped, brainwashed into thinking that emptying our wallets to satisfy some momentary want is what Christmas is all about. Not so.
What are the reasons behind this? There are probably many. But I'd like to think that we, somehow, at this precise moment in time, have been given the opportunity to reassess, take a hard look at what really matters in our lives, what is really important and we're fiinding out that it isn't some type of plastic appliance or a video game.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Split Myself in Two
Split myself in two
So me can look at you
One half''s a laugh
The other flunked math
It's clear me have no clue
So me can look at you
One half''s a laugh
The other flunked math
It's clear me have no clue
Finish the Mission
I want to go back from where first I came
But where the hell is it? --it won’t be the same
I’m still trudging on,
Feeling alone and forlorn
Getting madder and madder
Just like the Mad Hatter
My friend tells me please, to
“Stop all the chatter”
But I feel that I won’t
I must sense of this make
Like the bow on a ship
I am leaving a wake
Moving steadily forward
Through endless sea
With no getting off
But lots of places to pee
If I knew why
If I knew that
I think I’d feel better
Knowing right where I'm at
But I am left wondering
From dusk until dawn
Why the heck I am here
And the card I have drawn
But where the hell is it? --it won’t be the same
I’m still trudging on,
Feeling alone and forlorn
Getting madder and madder
Just like the Mad Hatter
My friend tells me please, to
“Stop all the chatter”
But I feel that I won’t
I must sense of this make
Like the bow on a ship
I am leaving a wake
Moving steadily forward
Through endless sea
With no getting off
But lots of places to pee
If I knew why
If I knew that
I think I’d feel better
Knowing right where I'm at
But I am left wondering
From dusk until dawn
Why the heck I am here
And the card I have drawn
Friday, December 16, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Opening Doors
Good morning Said the women as she walked up to the man sitting on ground.
The man slowly looked up.
This was a woman clearly accustomed to the finer things of life. Her coat was new.. She looked like she had never missed a meal in her life.
His first thought was that she wanted to make fun of him, like so many others had done before.. "Leave me alone," he growled....
To his amazement, the woman continued standing.
She was smiling -- her even white teeth displayed in dazzling rows.
"Are you hungry?" she asked.
"No," he answered sarcastically. "I've just come from dining with the president. Now go away."
The woman's smile became even broader. Suddenly the man felt a gentle hand under his arm.
"What are you doing, lady?" the man asked angrily. "I said to leave me alone.
Just then a policeman came up. "Is there any problem, ma'am?" he asked..
"No problem here, officer," the woman answered. "I'm just trying to get this man to his feet. Will you help me?"
The officer scratched his head. "That's old Jack. He's been a fixture around here for a couple of years. What do you want with him?"
"See that cafeteria over there?" she asked. "I'm going to get him something to eat and get him out of the cold for awhile."
"Are you crazy, lady?" the homeless man resisted. "I don't want to go in there!" Then he felt strong hands grab his other arm and lift him up. "Let me go, officer. I didn't do anything."
"This is a good deal for you, Jack" the officer answered. "Don't blow it.."
Finally, and with some difficulty, the woman and the police officer got Jack into the cafeteria and sat him at a table in a remote corner. It was the middle of the morning, so most of the breakfast crowd had already left and the lunch bunch had not yet arrived...
The manager strode across the cafeteria and stood by his table. "What's going on here, officer?" he asked. "What is all this, is this man in trouble?"
"This lady brought this man in here to be fed," the policeman answered.
"Not in here!" the manager replied angrily. "Having a person like that here is bad for business.."
Old Jack smiled a toothless grin. "See, lady. I told you so. Now if you'll let me go. I didn't want to come here in the first place."
The woman turned to the cafeteria manager and smiled....... "Sir, are you familiar with Eddy and Associates, the banking firm down the street?"
"Of course I am," the manager answered impatiently. "They hold their weekly meetings in one of my banquet rooms."
"And do you make a godly amount of money providing food at these weekly meetings?"
"What business is that of yours?"
I, sir, am Penelope Eddy, president and CEO of the company."
"Oh."
The woman smiled again. "I thought that might make a difference." She glanced at the cop who was busy stifling a giggle. "Would you like to join us in a cup of coffee and a meal, officer?"
"No thanks, ma'am," the officer replied. "I'm on duty."
"Then, perhaps, a cup of coffee to go?"
"Yes, ma'am. That would be very nice."
The cafeteria manager turned on his heel, "I'll get your coffee for you right away, officer."
The officer watched him walk away. "You certainly put him in his place," he said.
"That was not my intent. Believe it or not, I have a reason for all this."
She sat down at the table across from her amazed dinner guest. She stared at him intently.. "Jack, do you remember me?"
Old Jack searched her face with his old, rheumy eyes. "I think so -- I mean you do look familiar."
"I'm a little older perhaps," she said. "Maybe I've even filled out more than in my younger days when you worked here, and I came through that very door, cold and hungry."
"Ma'am?" the officer said questioningly. He couldn't believe that such a magnificently turned out woman could ever have been hungry.
"I was just out of college," the woman began. "I had come to the city looking for a job, but I couldn't find anything. Finally I was down to my last few cents and had been kicked out of my apartment. I walked the streets for days. It was February and I was cold and nearly starving.. I saw this place and walked in on the off chance that I could get something to eat."
Jack lit up with a smile.. "Now I remember," he said.. "I was behind the serving counter. You came up and asked me if you could work for something to eat. I said that it was against company policy."
"I know," the woman continued. "Then you made me the biggest roast beef sandwich that I had ever seen, gave me a cup of coffee, and told me to go over to a corner table and enjoy it. I was afraid that you would get into trouble.... Then, when I looked over and saw you put the price of my food in the cash register, I knew then that everything would be all right."
"So you started your own business?" Old Jack said.
"I got a job that very afternoon. I worked my way up. Eventually I started my own business that, with the help of God, prospered." She opened her purse and pulled out a business card.. "When you are finished here, I want you to pay a visit to a Mr. Lyons...He's the personnel director of my company. I'll go talk to him now and I'm certain he'll find something for you to do around the office." She smiled. "I think he might even find the funds to give you a little advance so that you can buy some clothes and get a place to live until you get on your feet... If you ever need anything, my door is always opened to you."
There were tears in the old man's eyes. "How can I ever thank you?" he said.
"Don't thank me," the woman answered. "To God goes the glory. Thank Jesus....... He led me to you."
Outside the cafeteria, the officer and the woman paused at the entrance before going their separate ways....
"Thank you for all your help, officer," she said.
"On the contrary, Ms. Eddy," he answered. "Thank you. I saw a miracle today, something that I will never forget. And.. And thank you for the coffee."
God is going to shift things around for you today and let things work in your favor.
God closes doors no man can open & God opens doors no man can close..
Have a blessed day and remember to be a blessing...
LIVE WELL, LOVE MUCH, LAUGH OFTEN The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want......Psalms 23:1
The man slowly looked up.
This was a woman clearly accustomed to the finer things of life. Her coat was new.. She looked like she had never missed a meal in her life.
His first thought was that she wanted to make fun of him, like so many others had done before.. "Leave me alone," he growled....
To his amazement, the woman continued standing.
She was smiling -- her even white teeth displayed in dazzling rows.
"Are you hungry?" she asked.
"No," he answered sarcastically. "I've just come from dining with the president. Now go away."
The woman's smile became even broader. Suddenly the man felt a gentle hand under his arm.
"What are you doing, lady?" the man asked angrily. "I said to leave me alone.
Just then a policeman came up. "Is there any problem, ma'am?" he asked..
"No problem here, officer," the woman answered. "I'm just trying to get this man to his feet. Will you help me?"
The officer scratched his head. "That's old Jack. He's been a fixture around here for a couple of years. What do you want with him?"
"See that cafeteria over there?" she asked. "I'm going to get him something to eat and get him out of the cold for awhile."
"Are you crazy, lady?" the homeless man resisted. "I don't want to go in there!" Then he felt strong hands grab his other arm and lift him up. "Let me go, officer. I didn't do anything."
"This is a good deal for you, Jack" the officer answered. "Don't blow it.."
Finally, and with some difficulty, the woman and the police officer got Jack into the cafeteria and sat him at a table in a remote corner. It was the middle of the morning, so most of the breakfast crowd had already left and the lunch bunch had not yet arrived...
The manager strode across the cafeteria and stood by his table. "What's going on here, officer?" he asked. "What is all this, is this man in trouble?"
"This lady brought this man in here to be fed," the policeman answered.
"Not in here!" the manager replied angrily. "Having a person like that here is bad for business.."
Old Jack smiled a toothless grin. "See, lady. I told you so. Now if you'll let me go. I didn't want to come here in the first place."
The woman turned to the cafeteria manager and smiled....... "Sir, are you familiar with Eddy and Associates, the banking firm down the street?"
"Of course I am," the manager answered impatiently. "They hold their weekly meetings in one of my banquet rooms."
"And do you make a godly amount of money providing food at these weekly meetings?"
"What business is that of yours?"
I, sir, am Penelope Eddy, president and CEO of the company."
"Oh."
The woman smiled again. "I thought that might make a difference." She glanced at the cop who was busy stifling a giggle. "Would you like to join us in a cup of coffee and a meal, officer?"
"No thanks, ma'am," the officer replied. "I'm on duty."
"Then, perhaps, a cup of coffee to go?"
"Yes, ma'am. That would be very nice."
The cafeteria manager turned on his heel, "I'll get your coffee for you right away, officer."
The officer watched him walk away. "You certainly put him in his place," he said.
"That was not my intent. Believe it or not, I have a reason for all this."
She sat down at the table across from her amazed dinner guest. She stared at him intently.. "Jack, do you remember me?"
Old Jack searched her face with his old, rheumy eyes. "I think so -- I mean you do look familiar."
"I'm a little older perhaps," she said. "Maybe I've even filled out more than in my younger days when you worked here, and I came through that very door, cold and hungry."
"Ma'am?" the officer said questioningly. He couldn't believe that such a magnificently turned out woman could ever have been hungry.
"I was just out of college," the woman began. "I had come to the city looking for a job, but I couldn't find anything. Finally I was down to my last few cents and had been kicked out of my apartment. I walked the streets for days. It was February and I was cold and nearly starving.. I saw this place and walked in on the off chance that I could get something to eat."
Jack lit up with a smile.. "Now I remember," he said.. "I was behind the serving counter. You came up and asked me if you could work for something to eat. I said that it was against company policy."
"I know," the woman continued. "Then you made me the biggest roast beef sandwich that I had ever seen, gave me a cup of coffee, and told me to go over to a corner table and enjoy it. I was afraid that you would get into trouble.... Then, when I looked over and saw you put the price of my food in the cash register, I knew then that everything would be all right."
"So you started your own business?" Old Jack said.
"I got a job that very afternoon. I worked my way up. Eventually I started my own business that, with the help of God, prospered." She opened her purse and pulled out a business card.. "When you are finished here, I want you to pay a visit to a Mr. Lyons...He's the personnel director of my company. I'll go talk to him now and I'm certain he'll find something for you to do around the office." She smiled. "I think he might even find the funds to give you a little advance so that you can buy some clothes and get a place to live until you get on your feet... If you ever need anything, my door is always opened to you."
There were tears in the old man's eyes. "How can I ever thank you?" he said.
"Don't thank me," the woman answered. "To God goes the glory. Thank Jesus....... He led me to you."
Outside the cafeteria, the officer and the woman paused at the entrance before going their separate ways....
"Thank you for all your help, officer," she said.
"On the contrary, Ms. Eddy," he answered. "Thank you. I saw a miracle today, something that I will never forget. And.. And thank you for the coffee."
God is going to shift things around for you today and let things work in your favor.
God closes doors no man can open & God opens doors no man can close..
Have a blessed day and remember to be a blessing...
LIVE WELL, LOVE MUCH, LAUGH OFTEN The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want......Psalms 23:1
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Looking Inside the Box
There is this little old lady puttering in her kitchen; she is busy tending to porridge on the stove, the steam wafting up and clouding her glasses, but she pays no mind and keeps stirring. Her hair is steel gray and neatly piled on top of her head. The red checkered table cloth is faded and a dried up rose stem is sitting crooked in a small vase in the middle of the table, most of its petals lying nearby. Soft humming can be heard as she goes about her business. The lacy kitchen curtains frame a small window that looks out upon a large yard. Her garden is covered in weeds as the old antique Apple Tree silently keeps watch, its limbs reaching out to embrace everyone and everything that seeks its shelter.
A picture of her late husband hangs on the wall and letters from grandchildren, great grandchildren. This kitchen is a warm and cozy place.
We peer through the pin hole in the box and watch, in awe, this old lady going about her business. She doesn't even know we're there. She doesn't know we can see her. She doesn't know she's being spied upon.
She acts as if she has no care in the world. She is content, existing within this small little universe that is her world.
So it is with everything. Small little universes existing within each other, then bigger universes existing within larger universes and forth and so on.....
I went out this morning to tend to the morning's chores. As I walked along the way I spotted some fallen leaves with drops of dew. I bent down to examine more closely. "How beautiful," I thought as I examined their exquisitely fragile and mottled structure, their once vibrant lifeblood of veins running throughout, and the precise spots where the dew had formed.
I didn't pick them up as they fell where they were meant to fall and disturbing them would disturb a lovely pattern, a lovely framework that I can sense... "that all is as it should be".
I looked up into an overcast sky and was momentarily spirited away as I savored the moment and bathed in the exhilaration of being able to view this lovely work of art--something so simple yet so grand as a spent leaf with drops of water on it.
Ah, but that's precisely the point.
For a brief moment, I was granted entrance into another universe...a lovely vista beyond anything I could perceive or know...a single, brief moment in time where all else faded away, as I was transfixed, entranced, by an art of flawless love-making more intense, more sensitive, more passionate, more demonstrative, and more creative than any mortal man could possibly fathom.
We take so much for granted, here.
If we could but slow down just a little and listen, we would be able to hear the many sounds of the universe conversing with us.
It is the chirping of a cricket, the luminescent rising of the full moon, a mother tenderly suckling a babe, the sound of waves rolling onto shore, that still small voice that enters your being and says...."everything is going to be okay."
Today there is so much disorder, chaos and confusion. Everyone is running around in a panic.
It's either "the sky is falling or is about to."
But if we look inside again, within that little box, we are transcended, transformed as our being is spirited away to another time, another place, where all is in harmonious, all is in order.
The mind is such an extraordinary thing. It is capable of healing, hurting, nurturing, destroying but it is also capable of oh, so much more...
We have not been given the key to unlocking its secrets...yet, as we are not ready for the depth of responsibility that will be required of us nor the infinite mind-bending exponentiation that will follow.
In the meantime, we must all be patient and continue our daily grind, no matter what it is, with the knowledge that we are indeed on the brink of something--a cusp of some sort, a turning point, a tipping point....maybe that long-awaited grand event in which mankind's incessant march toward self-destruction will finally come to an end.
And don't forget to peer through that pinhole every once in a while as a reminder that while things around you may not be going exactly the way you think they should, somewhere else, they are.
A picture of her late husband hangs on the wall and letters from grandchildren, great grandchildren. This kitchen is a warm and cozy place.
We peer through the pin hole in the box and watch, in awe, this old lady going about her business. She doesn't even know we're there. She doesn't know we can see her. She doesn't know she's being spied upon.
She acts as if she has no care in the world. She is content, existing within this small little universe that is her world.
So it is with everything. Small little universes existing within each other, then bigger universes existing within larger universes and forth and so on.....
I went out this morning to tend to the morning's chores. As I walked along the way I spotted some fallen leaves with drops of dew. I bent down to examine more closely. "How beautiful," I thought as I examined their exquisitely fragile and mottled structure, their once vibrant lifeblood of veins running throughout, and the precise spots where the dew had formed.
I didn't pick them up as they fell where they were meant to fall and disturbing them would disturb a lovely pattern, a lovely framework that I can sense... "that all is as it should be".
I looked up into an overcast sky and was momentarily spirited away as I savored the moment and bathed in the exhilaration of being able to view this lovely work of art--something so simple yet so grand as a spent leaf with drops of water on it.
Ah, but that's precisely the point.
For a brief moment, I was granted entrance into another universe...a lovely vista beyond anything I could perceive or know...a single, brief moment in time where all else faded away, as I was transfixed, entranced, by an art of flawless love-making more intense, more sensitive, more passionate, more demonstrative, and more creative than any mortal man could possibly fathom.
We take so much for granted, here.
If we could but slow down just a little and listen, we would be able to hear the many sounds of the universe conversing with us.
It is the chirping of a cricket, the luminescent rising of the full moon, a mother tenderly suckling a babe, the sound of waves rolling onto shore, that still small voice that enters your being and says...."everything is going to be okay."
Today there is so much disorder, chaos and confusion. Everyone is running around in a panic.
It's either "the sky is falling or is about to."
But if we look inside again, within that little box, we are transcended, transformed as our being is spirited away to another time, another place, where all is in harmonious, all is in order.
The mind is such an extraordinary thing. It is capable of healing, hurting, nurturing, destroying but it is also capable of oh, so much more...
We have not been given the key to unlocking its secrets...yet, as we are not ready for the depth of responsibility that will be required of us nor the infinite mind-bending exponentiation that will follow.
In the meantime, we must all be patient and continue our daily grind, no matter what it is, with the knowledge that we are indeed on the brink of something--a cusp of some sort, a turning point, a tipping point....maybe that long-awaited grand event in which mankind's incessant march toward self-destruction will finally come to an end.
And don't forget to peer through that pinhole every once in a while as a reminder that while things around you may not be going exactly the way you think they should, somewhere else, they are.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
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