Poetry

Do That

Imagine you are near the end of your life.
Those you love are with you to say goodbye,
and you say I wish I had…

Do that.
Say that.
Be that.

I’ve said it before,
but it’s a drum worth beating.
God implants within each of us talents and dreams more real than we believe.
So it bears repeating…

Do that.
Say that.
Be that.

We are meant to add
something noble.
We are meant
to enrich.
Potential
is gold deep underground.
Until you’ve done the work
to bring it to the surface
and use it,
you’re not finished.

© Joel Tipple
380

Christmas Sails

Christmas sails on,
another season blows through,
at breakneck speed
we rush
into and out of it.
We gather ourselves,
brush off bits of wrapping paper
and fir needles,
then begin the focus
on rest and recovery
until the next one.
Always an opportunity for growth,
and trying to focus on Jesus the most.
It seems with humans nothing is worth doing
unless it’s overdone.
But still, amid the fun,
God, we remembered Your Son…
was the reason.

© Joel Tipple
379

I Believe

I believe in Christmas hearts,
in the passion of Christmas dreams.
I believe in the full measure of
what Christmas really means.

I believe the best giving
comes from sacrifice,
like that of a soldier posted in a desolate land
or the burden that is carried by a soldier’s husband or wife.

I believe in remembering those who have gone before,
the ones who determined to do without
in order that we have more.

I believe in feeding the hungry
and spreading Christmas hope.
I believe peppermint
should be the official Christmas soap.

I believe Christmas breakfast
should include little egg cups
wrapped with slices of ham.
I believe in Christmas muffins
with a spread of Christmas jam.

I believe in Christmas cats
who, too early, take down the Christmas tree,
just because an ornament was calling,
with its light so sparkling.

I believe in Christmas Eve,
and morning,
and night too,
when the Christmas house, exhausted,
gets ready for a New Year’s view.

I believe in Jesus,
the One who started it all,
Who loves us when we live big,
but calls us to be more
when we choose to live small.

I believe better tomorrows
are made out of better todays
and spreading love and compassion
because it’s the Christmas way.

© Joel Tipple
378

B Present for Christmas

I want to (b) present for Christmas,
I think that would be better than (a).
A person can be so focused on the future
that he forgets about today.
Each morning I open up the present
of a sound mind focused on Jesus.
The gift of our Lord given to save our souls,
the Bible says is guaranteed us.

© Joel Tipple
377

Politicians and Celebrities

I would hope to make the people I actually know
more important than politicians
and celebrities
in my life.

I would rather go to the mat
for Joe or Sam down the street
than a guy being paid to be popular on TV.

If I know the names of your children,
and where they go to school,
shouldn’t I be more interested in them
than in who this week’s magazines have spun to be cool?

So much is artificial,
ultra-refined and designed
but without nutritional value
for the body or the mind.
I just think we should focus
on what’s real instead of buying
the mass market media line.

© Joel Tipple
376

The Gardener’s Tree (Keeper of Memories)

Once there was a gardener who kept a great estate for a wealthy client. The gardener was very talented and did amazing things with his client’s grounds. He was especially adept at taking care of diseased plants. In fact, his reputation grew to the point that he often traveled to diagnose problems that other master gardeners could not fix. Over time his relationship with the estate owner grew so that he became like family to the man. He moved into a fine home adjoining the estate and was given an inheritance of the estate orchard when the owner passed away. This orchard was immense, and the gardener earned a good living, but he had a special relationship with a beautiful large apple tree in the center of the orchard. You see, it was the first thing he planted when he began working on the estate and he always treated it in a special way, with love and reverence. He even crafted a large tree house for his children in it. Whenever the family got together for picnics during fine weather, the tree was witness. Then, one season the tree began to exhibit some symptoms of disease. The gardener treated them, but eventually he realized that the tree’s sickness was beyond even his great talent. Eventually, the last leaf fell and rain in the form of the gardener’s tears touched the ground beneath where the apple tree’s branches yielded tasty apples and relief from the hot sun. Some time later the gardener began a project that kept him busy in his workshop for hours on end. He stayed up late many evenings until finally the project was completed. It was a beautiful curio cabinet with intricate scroll work and inlaid glass for shelves and doors. He placed it at one end of the family dining room where everyone would see it when they shared meals. Inside he placed all of their favorite photos, the children growing up, graduating, getting married, loved friends. And so, the apple tree lived on, sheltering the family as it always had.

Memory Tree come shelter me,
in God’s orchard when I am gone.
Show heaven’s stars through your leaves once again,
then rustle with the wind at dawn.
Be the meeting place as my friends and family
move on to their reward.
You are God’s gift to me in heaven as you were on earth.

© Joel Tipple
375

Take Me to Church

If you want to transport me to a place where faith works,
Load me up,
buckle me in,
take me to church.

Everyone sings!
Can you believe it?
We make a joyful noise!
We serve.

That must be why
they call it a service.
It’s our offering to God.
And yet,
we are the ones
who are served.

We open up to the word.
We test ourselves to prove we’ve heard,
and try to absorb
the lesson we thought we heard
the last time
we went to church.

© Joel Tipple
374

Don’t Keep the Faith

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It’s so tempting to keep your salvation to yourself,
protecting it, like a beautiful bird in a pretty cage.
But God’s love really flies out in the real world.
You need to let it show; don’t keep the faith.

Don’t keep the faith, don’t keep it, all locked up inside you.
Don’t keep the faith, growing cold, away from the sun in the sky.
Don’t keep the faith. That anthem always had it wrong, I believe.
Because a glass of water held under lock and key…
will still go dry.

Now the Holy Spirit is a gentleman. He doesn’t go knocking down doors.
He goes where He’s invited and empowers the children of God.
Those born again, are given a part in the great commission
and that doesn’t involve keeping Him on a shelf like a set of laws.

Don’t keep the faith, children, don’t keep it, all locked up inside you.
Don’t keep the faith, growing cold, away from the sun in the sky.
Don’t keep the faith. That anthem always had it wrong, I believe.
Because a glass of water held under lock and key…
will still go dry.

Release it. Sonshine. Release it. Now is the time.
Release it. Sonshine. Release it…
Don’t keep the faith.

© Joel Tipple
373

Mission

If you’re looking for a mission,
here’s a good direction to roam.
You can start by letting folks know
they are not alone.
You see lots of people are good at
looking like they’re alright,
when really they are lonely
and maybe scared inside.
You’d be surprised, but it takes so little
to make a difference in someone’s day,
and God can use that opening
to shine His Son that way.
Just remember if you show the light,
people will use it to see,
so make sure what you put out there
is worthy.

© Joel Tipple
372

Labels

Closed,
prejudiced,
minds.
That’s what negative labels produce.
They’re intended to ostracize and belittle
those the speaker thinks of less use.
They may bind one to another, with the intimacy of a cause,
but one hand clapping another’s is a suspect form of applause.

The great frustration I feel
when I hear a label applied
is due to what I perceive
as the thunderous sickening sound of the closing of a mind.
They are words intended to separate instead of bringing together.
They’re intended to convey our differences instead of ways we’re similar.
If we believe we are:
just,
loving,
and right,
then we need to stop and think
before acting like taggers in the night.
It takes effort to discover more than what a book’s cover shows.
But if I care to chance being wrong,
it’s worth being exposed to the light.

© Joel Tipple
369