Let's Make A Deal

 We want something for something,

a deal whose outcome we can see,

but in this want we dare to fling

aside the gift, obtained for free,

held out to us in nail-scarred Hand,

held out to us with trembling Smile,

and still we cannot understand 

that there's no agenda, guile,

or any condition that is hidden,

a bondage to which we need submit,

obligation to we are bidden

except to give our heart to it,

the Love our Saviour wants to give,

and an eternal life to live.

The Five Minute Friday prompt this week is PRESERVE.

We think we can preserve our dreams

in the aspic of our labout,

and it truly often seems

that God looks on our work with favour,

and self-assurance comes thereby,

pride in our exalted state,

and we see no reason why

we should not leap from good to great,

but we see blessing where there's chance,

and in good luck see His approval

when He would rather circumstance 

would guide us to the quick removal

of the haughty beam that's in our eye

ere it comes our time to die.

Four minutes thirty and a bit. Slow, but I made it!

Sylvia likes free stuff, especially if it's ice cream.

A Bit Of Humour (Tell His Story)

 

It's been a really rough week. I need a laugh. How about you?

How did Jesus keep track of His Apostles and disciples?

He used an evangel-list.

After Jesus renamed Simon, did He hum the theme from 'Rocky' whenever Peter entered the room?

What are Jesus' favourite karate moves?

Lamb chops.

When Jesus cleansed the temple, did the merchants and moneychangers get Lambinated?

Sylvia's groaning. But I had fun.

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My Wife The Build-A-Bear

 My wife has so many skills,

juggles crises with great care

soothing church and workplace ills...

Barbara is a Build-A-Bear!

She updates software in her mind,

then passes fixes to IT.

To troubled colleagues she is kind,

good example for the world to see.

She segues to another role

so seamlessly, with a bright smile 

to keep all functional and whole 

in grace and love and peace and style,

and when at last her day is done,

she's everything to everyone.

The Five Minute Friday prompt this week is YOUTH.

Forever young is what I'll be,

no point in any other choice.

Pull up a chair and you will see

it in my dancing feet and voice,

'cause growing up is just a bummer,

encroaching on adulting turf.

For me it's always endless summer,

on the beachy road to surf

at Rincon and at Malibu,

point break up at Coal Oil Point,

and if I run into you,

I'll offer up a Maui joint

so we can stay high, young, and strong,

and live our lives all summer long.

Three minutes, and that flowed. Scary.

But, for the record, I don't smoke weed. Never did. The smell makes me puke.

She's certainly everything to Sylvia. And me.

Render Unto Caesar (Tell His Story)

 When I think about rendering unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, I usually think, painfully, of taxes.

But there's another instance in which we owe Caesar something.

Our vote.

If I enjoy the fruits of the society in which I live, like, say, paved roads, I am participating.

And the price for participation is, well... participation.

Guess that's why they call it a civic duty.

We are, after all, privileged to have a say when so many don't, and that confers a larger responsibility, to make one's vote count.

Don't waste it on a candidate who simply can't win. A symbolic vote is actually a vote for one's own pride, the I Know Better voice.

Maybe the candidates are all crooks and crackpots, but you've got to believe that one of them may be less awful than the other.

If you can't see that, educate yourself more deeply.

And maybe next go-round, you can run for office yourself.

Sylvia's not old enough to vote, and glad of it.

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