i’m not
all
ways
so eloquent
words
all run for the door
to be met
by the
gate
keeper
who checks to see
if they’ve been said before
and yet
i watch as the words
tumble forth
forgetting
their
place
in line
what i hoped
would be
rhapsody
turns out
not so
sublime
good soldiers
words
train some more
letters
lift
and run
cycle then
until the wheels
go and
spin up
the sun
© Joel Tipple
I opened the door one day,
to the room
where I had decided to keep God.
It was a nice room
I thought,
decorated lavishly
but tastefully.
To my dismay,
revealed
where I believed
I had left God
was
instead,
my ego.
It was then
that I realized my mistake.
I had built a special room
for God,
while allowing my ego
full roam
through the house
of my life.
In that moment
of clarity
I realized I had managed
to get it all
quite backward.
© Joel Tipple
23 But Jesus didn’t swerve. “Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works.”
24-26 Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?
Matthew 16:23-26
The Message (MSG)
much is expected from whom much is given
but all the same
so much more
He will do
through His children
the children of the Lord
often He waits only
for the moment we dare to ask
and then step out
believing He wants
to strengthen our bodies
for the task
our minds, too
to focus
on not small things
but great
for there is victory
in climbing daunting mountains
and reaching for a higher fate
© Joel Tipple
8-10 So don’t be embarrassed to speak up for our Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus.
11-12 This is the Message I’ve been set apart to proclaim as preacher, emissary, and teacher. It’s also the cause of all this trouble I’m in. But I have no regrets. I couldn’t be more sure of my ground—the One I’ve trusted in can take care of what he’s trusted me to do right to the end.
13-14 So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ, exactly as I set it out for you. It’s as sound as the day you first heard it from me. Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.
2 Timothy 1 8-14 (MSG) The Message
friend
i love to converse with you
our duologues
make
my mind
and heart
quiver
words imbibed
between us
are more intoxicating
than
liquor
i love
that though we
discuss
we really never
fight
my favorite
conversationalist
my best friend
my
wife
© Joel Tipple
This week I managed to go out three times cycling, twice to work, which is 15 miles away. Since my bike is part of my exercise plan and a way to save money on gas, I came home satisfied, though tired. As I came through the back door, I could hear my six-year-old granddaughter in the living room, so I went in to say hello.
Me: “Hey Cynthia, how was school?”
Cynthia: “Good. Hey Papa, why are you wearing that?”
Me: “These are my cycling clothes. I rode my bike three times this week. Isn’t that cool?”
Cynthia: “Yeah. Hey Grandma, Papa’s recycling!”
© Joel Tipple
sure as the clouds
play hide and seek with the sun
come a time
the things we’ve done
will be revealed
of our own volition
or without
because of our condition
come a time
we’ll need
to be healed
we can’t get all we need
from those we love
right relationship you see
starts from above
where you are
is where you’re placed
your obedience first
when you seek His face
will nourish you
and those you touch
with the living waters
© Joel Tipple
Matthew 6:33-34
The Message (MSG)
30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
a tear
has gathered
enough volume
to detach
from the corner of her eye
it now falls
toward the note
she has written
as gravity takes it
downward
it reflects the room
in which she sits
this chill morning
the angle of her face
and the position
of her note
cause the tear
to land just between
the a and i
in the last word
on the page
pain
© Joel Tipple
And then you have your pets.
Or do they really have us?
I guess it all depends on who you ask
or even who you trust.
They say,
whoever they are,
the authorities on such things,
that people were the ones
who made animals like human beings.
And since I’ve brought up making.
what about their genes?
Is there a cogent reason
if there ever really was
for breeding mutations
like too short legs
to go above a dog’s paws?
We doom animals we breed
to what nature didn’t choose,
make them vulnerable
to respiratory disease
and other assorted bad news.
Now before you get all up in arms,
or legs, since that’s my subject
let’s talk about that designer breed
that some of you covet.
Please remember that I love them all,
I just have little patience with their humans.
At the risk of being labeled a long legged dog and cat fascist,
I have to question the wisdom of breeding cats with a short leg characteristic.
That’s a cat that can’t jump. Does that make any sense?
I’m not a scientist.
I don’t know how long
it would take for the dog and cat population
to breed out what we’ve done wrong.
As we’ve found out with other stupid stuff we silly humans have done,
it’s a lot easier to sing, than to un-sing a song.
© Joel Tipple
Clouds haven’t time to stop at all,
even if you’re enamored with their pattern.
You’re lucky if you have a camera nearby,
for your wish that they halt doesn’t matter.
Where must they go to be in such a hurry?
As rabbits and horses and other cloud
forms whisk away, it could cause one to worry.
Whole worlds of animals plants and mechanization
become other stories, while the one that impressed
us before develops its own culture and mores.
So the future is cloudy, that much I think is certain.
But that’s not a bad thing at all, nor is it a burden.
I’ll just keep watch until the next
form comes along. Maybe soon they’ll form up a band
and the wind will whip up a song.
© Joel Tipple
We are,
each one of us,
seasoned by school.
Beginning when we first learn
to stand in line
and hold hands.
And though we never get over wishing it otherwise,
we know some lessons learned by
our children
and grandchildren
will be learned the hard way, such as:
Not everyone likes me. Some people just cannot be pleased, no matter what.
I will find some tasks fun and exciting, while merely tolerating
or being greatly frustrated by others. How I learn to handle both reactions
will have repercussions in every other area of my life, as well.
Just when I think I’ve got something or someone figured out, up will pop
the exception to the rule.
Even though I will seem to spend eternities waiting for summer,
it will all fly by faster and faster.
I won’t be able to magically impart this to my children or grandchildren, either,
but that’s okay.
Write here, Joel. 