Thursday, September 28, 2023

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.


Thursday, September 21, 2023

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.


Thursday, September 14, 2023

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.


Thursday, September 7, 2023

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.