never so … how can it be?
Amazing Love, How Can It Be? We are never so despondent that God cannot comfort, nor too frightened to calm, nor too burdened to relieve. We are never so hurt that God cannot heal, too broken to make whole; never so confused that God cannot show the way, nor so lost that the eye of heaven cannot find us, nor ever fallen so far that God cannot reach us.
My God, whom I trust;
My God, whom I praise;
I shall not be afraid.
Do you hear when I call?
I know that you do;
Then stand me right strong,
Or else I shall fall.
I am a poor boy, forlorn,
And gripped in fear;
Screaming in the night,
Hoping you hear.
So put my tears in your bottle
And write me a song;
Count every tossing and turning
And right every wrong
My God, whom I trust;
My God, whom I praise;
I shall not be afraid.
God has not carried me this far just to drop and shatter me now, so I’ll keep holding on to the One who’s holding me … and keep hope and faith alive.
to thine own self be true … walk away
It is a universal law from time immemorial that, with very rare exception, if one possesses the metal acumen and ability to apprehend the wrong and the negative, then one also necessarily possesses the same acumen and ability to apprehend the right and the positive. If someone can carp and criticize, then the same someone can also compliment and comfort. Likewise, if someone can grumble and protest, then the same someone can show gratitude and praise. This being so, when we discover someone, as sometimes happens, who seems intent on singing only dirges, wailing by the wayside, and snuffing out all light, then prudence dictates we distance ourselves for our own sake, even for the sake of our very souls. No degree of love and concern will aid the individual who adamantly refuses to do what is within their power to help themselves; by association, then, we only succeed in harming ourselves without helping them in the least.
“Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.”
– W. Clement Stone, 20th Century American Businessman
“Wise company brings wisdom; fool he ends that fool befriends.”
– Proverbs of Solomon 13.20, Knox Bible (Translation of Msgr. Ronald Knox)
How long should you strive and how much effort expend plugging holes in a sinking ship when the lifeboat awaits to carry you to some safe harbor of peace and tranquility?
The Tale of Ænia and Ionatan – Jonathan Noble
A big thank you to the Poetry Jar for again sharing one of my poems. What an awesome privilege and honor! The Poetry Jar earlier shared my poem, “I Am,” for which I am also grateful and humbled.
Speaking on Behalf of Volunteering
I recently had the privilege of speaking with the local news on behalf of volunteering.
Volunteers Give Back Through 2-1-1
Of course, volunteering is an opportunity to show my own gratitude and appreciation in a concrete way. And, as I also mentioned, it is a proactive, tangible way to help alleviate pain and suffering in our world, which is fundamentally important.
If I’d had the opportunity ~ and, obviously, time with the news camera is limited ~ I might have added that reaching out in the spirit of genuine love and compassion is one important way we express our solidarity with one another.
After all, the human creature is a communal creature; we are quite literally made for one another. As the old saying goes, “No man is an island unto himself,” so that separation and isolation are really rather unnatural.
Consequently, when we help or benefit another, we indirectly held and benefit ourselves. And because this is true, strange as it may sound, being other-centered is ultimately the greatest act of self-service possible, whereas self-centeredness is in the end quite destructive.
there is beauty
old man with kindly eyes
little boy climbing tree, laughing
dogs barking, cows grazing, birds singing
teenage girl serenely staring out the bay-window, thoughtfully, through cool gentle rain into the woods shrouded in mystery
woman riding down the freeway on the back of her motorbike, hair blowing freely in the wind, radiant face soaking bright sunshine
trees dancing in Autumn breeze
children playing hop-scotch in the park
grandmother tending the flower garden
flowers opening in Spring of life
farmer looking over newly plowed field in the waning hours of evening
family holding hands round the dinner table, heads bowed in prayer
dolphins leaping through waves of Summer
sister pitching baseball to her younger brother
daddy riding little girl, squealing, on his shoulders
snow falling in Winter crystal art painting earth and sky
and all the stars of heaven sing
ah! there is beauty in the myriad faces of God
smiling ten thousand times throughout the universe
not all is twisted pain and suffering, not all bleak and somber – there is beauty
if only we have open heart-eyes to see and time for love and the thank-you breath
there is beauty
this world is the world of wild storm kept tame with the music of beauty
~ Rabindranath Tagore
when you reach the heart of life you shall find beauty in all things
~ Kahlil Gibran
same amount of water, but the glass is half-full
It may be possible to have “neutral” thoughts – calculations or bare statements of fact, for example – but most can probably be described as being positive or negative, optimistic or pessimistic. So if I am asked whether I see the proverbial glass as “half full” or “half empty,” maybe I do not in fact change the reality of how much water is in the glass, but I can determine my attitude, my perception of that reality.
If I choose to focus upon the beautiful and honorable, and whatever is good and pure and admirable, and I orient myself to love, hope, faith and fortitude, then I have centered upon and permeated my whole life with light, life and goodness. And why should I desire anything other or less than this, especially when it remains within my power to benefit myself to such an extraordinary degree?
This is not looking at life and the world through “rose-colored glasses.” This is consciously choosing an exacting, unrelenting perspective that will not let go of the good, or throw faith to the wind and hope to the dung-heap. It is a well-known fact that many men and women have survived unthinkable atrocities, such as prison camps, precisely because they held on to such an outlook and kept precisely this sort of mindset while other around them curled up and died.
I am no Pollyanna. I simply choose to be soberly optimistic, reasonably positive, and live my very real life in this very real world from this vantage point rather than the other; and to the degree I am able to accomplish this laudable goal, I am happy and at peace. May the same be true for you as well, whomever you are, whatever your particular circumstances. And blessings to you and yours!
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
– Abraham Lincoln
“A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad, cannot fail to produce its results on the character and circumstances.”
– James Allen
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”
– From the Proverbs of Solomon (23.7)
do you want to know me?
“Do you want to know me?” God asked.
“Yes, of course; more than anything in the world,” I answered.
God opened a door, led me through, and I found myself standing in a valley filled with lush green grass, myriad variety of flowers, trees strong and tall in the distance, and majestic snow-capped mountains underneath serene blue skies with wispy clouds scattered about the canopy of heaven….
“Do you want to know me?” God asked.
“Yes, of course; more than anything in the world,” I answered.
God opened a door, led me through, and I found myself standing in a ball-room filled with all sorts of people ~ black and white, red and yellow and brown, old and young, women and men, girls and boys, rich and poor, some very beautiful and some disfigured, some dressed well and others quite plainly…
“Do you want to know me?” God asked.
“Yes, of course; more than anything in the world,” I answered.
God opened a door, led me through, and I found myself standing in front of a mirror…
