On Not Getting Stuck

I saw a restaurant scene in a movie today, and had a fleeting sorrow that I can't do that anymore.

And this is very wrong...the thought, not the situation.

It's a slap against the face of God. He has brought blessings aplenty in spite of the cancer (hardest week yet), and to moan about what's lost to me is like a disappointed child pouting on Christmas morning, surrounded by piles of toys, because he didn't get a pony.

Christ didn't take on and pay my debt of sin for that. He wore my shameful squalid garments to save my soul.

Not so I could go to Outback again.

They say it must be galling

(and that I should admit it true)

that I get quite depressed recalling

the things I can no longer do,

and what I can no longer be,

no longer give, not longer get,

and live earthly eternity

in the dungeon of regret.

Yes, my days are sore constrained,

and some failures can't be remedied 

but with much lost much is retained,

and my Saviour didn't bleed

that I'd put His pain upon the shelf

to feel so sorry for myself.

The Five Minute Friday prompt this week is COPY.

Please don't try this stuff at home,

please don't try to copy me.

Do as Romans when in Rome,

but please, friend hear my simple plea

to not face cancer without aid,

no docs, nor 'cancer group' support.

It's the worst game to be played

when in pride you come up short

and face the things that might have been,

the chance to give, and take help given.

Remember hubris is a sin,

and not a way you should be livin',

but when the whole thing's said and done,

on my own, I did have fun.

Three minutes, and truth in the dichotomy.

Music from U2, with Stuck In A Moment

Sylvia doesn't regret, but she sure can pile on the guilt if ice cream isn't shared.

Leadership

Someone, somewhere, is looking to you for courage, hope, and inspiration.

Be the miracle.

Lead even when you'd rather not,

lead even when the word sounds hollow,

lead even when you haven't got

a single soul that deigns to follow.

Lead as though you've got a plan,

lead 'gainst body's protestation,

lead because you understand

that there must be a destination

on the other side of night,

past the roaring raging gale,

and that if you survive you might

just be equipped to tell the tale

of the battle's warp and weft

for those who walk footprints you left.

The Five Minute Friday prompt this week is OPINION. Well, in MY view...

They say that I am arrogant,

but that's unfair, and so untrue,

it's just that there's no argument

that holds against my point of view,

for I am highly educated

in every manly art and game,

and it's often been suggested

that I should enjoy wider fame,

but I am just a humble bloke,

and I once (really!) did err

when I one time I went and spoke

and thus a doubt did find me there,

that I truly thought me quite

in the wrong...but I was right.

Three minutes. Boy, that says something.

Here's Harry Belafonte's calypso take on a kind of leadership 

Sylva's always willing to lead or follow, as long as ice cream awaits.

It's Been A Beautiful Life

 

Henri Matisse once visited Auguste Renoir, and saw how difficult it was for the old master to hold a brush, due to his rheumatoid arthritis.

"Why do you punish yourself so!" cried Matisse.

"The pain passes, my friend, but the beauty remains."

I don't count beauty in my words.

I count it in the many dogs and cats who found a home here, and none were ever turned away.

Sure, it's been hard, and exhausting, and sometimes heartbreaking.

And instead of a video, here's Anthony Hopkins with the most powerful prayer in the world.

Yeah, that.

That's the resume I am giving to God.

Amidst the wide world's loud bright chatter,

soft hurting eyes are turned to me,

and in the end it doesn't matter

what I thought that I might be

compared to hurt, compared to fear,

compared to hell lived on this Earth.

Yeah, okay, we'll share a beer,

and in this house you'll find rebirth

from the hard life you've been living

that you never could deserve.

From here on you will be given

every thing, and I will serve

your needs as my worn aching heart

tries each day to do its part.

OK. And yes, dogs and cats do enjoy beer.

The Five Minute Friday prompt this week is ESCAPE.

I once thought I'd outrace time,

and death would be left in far dust;

eternal summer would be mine,

and thus in mine own strength I'd trust,

and not deign to wait upon

a Lord I could not hear nor see,

but now those days are truly gone;

one can almost say the same for me!

But a funny thing did happen

en route to my bare funeral:

Jesus popped out, fingers snappin',

and said my joy could still be full,

'cause what's supposed to be a tomb

is God's eternal party room.

Three minutes flat. Did I get away with it?

Sylvia was found in a high-summer southwestern field, abandoned with a dead puppy in her womb, left to die.

She deserves all the ice cream she can eat.

A Prayer At The Edge

Pain is now over the top,

and this has gone on far too long.

I'd like to cry, 'Lord, make it stop!',

but I know this would be wrong.

These words would doubt His mercy;

this plea would shade His plan,

and now, 'fore strength deserts me,

I pray, 'Make me a man

subordinate to Holy Will,

to that I may not understand;

take my fears, please, and then fill

me with willingness to hear command

and follow through unto the ending,

resolute and sure, unbending.'

The Five Minute Friday prompt this week is RELY.

I once believed in self-reliance,

and of dependence had no trace,

not realizing this defiance

was a slap against God's face,

and I am really really glad

that The Dude took no offence,

for I think to make Him mad,

well, things could really get intense.

But anyhow, I came to learn

that though I can do almost anything,

the one thing I did not discern

was that beneath God's shelt'ring wing

I could from my own pride rest

and thus pass God's greatest test.

Four minutes and a bit.

Music from the soundtrack to Zulu, with Men Of Harlech

Sylvia say that Pitties never yield, either, but that they DO need ice cream breaks.