postaday

Valentine

I’ve sort of lost track. I think I can be forgiven for not being sure exactly how many, but Lori and I have been through at least 34 Valentine’s days together. Wow! That means if I had a nickel for every time I wished I had given her more for Valentine’s Day I would have (time out for complex calculation) $1.70, give or take a nickel. But how do you put a price on being in love with your best friend for that many years. The answer of course is that you can’t. By the same token, how do you put it into words? Over time it’s only gotten harder. That doesn’t mean I won’t give it a shot, so here’s my valentine, Lori Ann.

V is for Value. As I said previously, a relationship that is stronger than all the stuff two people together for this long inevitably go through is truly something you can’t put a price on. In the end, if you don’t have any possessions and your bank account is down to zero balance, the relationships you have are of more value than your net worth at your most wealthy state.

A is for Attraction. The reasons for being attracted to my wife have grown more numerous over the years. I’ve frightened myself in the mirror enough times first thing in the morning to hope she feels the same way. In the beginning of a relationship it’s easy to find the energy to do the extra things to maintain attraction for your special someone. It may take more imagination over time but should never feel like work.

L is for Levitate. Have you ever flown in your dreams? I’ve got to say, it feels so real. When I wake up it seems for a moment as though I could simply hop up and take off, but no, darn gravity. But even when the reality of the stuff we all go through in the real world threatens to hold us down, it can be so wonderful to have someone to give you a boost.

E is for Extra. My Mom once told me that she and Dad had this bedtime ritual, whoever got to the bathroom first before bed put the toothpaste on the other’s toothbrush. You walk into the bathroom to brush your teeth and that’s one less chore you have to do. So, we’ve done that for as long as I can remember. That’s a little thing. It’s an extra thing. It’s just one of the countless things you do for someone you care for to make their day a little better.

N is for Next. I read somewhere that love wasn’t gazing into each other’s eyes but looking forward in the same direction together. That’s part of the excitement of growing and planning together. Sometimes it’s just the excitement of finding out what’s around the next bend at the same time.

T is for Touch. Just in general I don’t think people touch enough. We have so many ways to interact that don’t actually involve being within the physical proximity of another human being that we lose that familiarity, that comfort, of sharing our love and friendship with each other. Sometimes the things couples do when they are first dating, like holding hands, sort of fall by the wayside. Remembering to touch each other can be cheap relationship insurance. Also, it’s hard to be angry with someone you are giving intentional affection with a gentle touch.

I is for inspire. Inspiration doesn’t always come from earth shattering actions. Sometimes inspirational people do their magic in lots of small ways. Over the course of a lifetime you might suddenly realize the person you are most inspired by is the person who managed to say just the right thing or give you just the right amount of encouragement when you most needed it. If that person just happens to be your valentine then you are truly blessed.

N #2 is for New. Finding ways to keep your affection for each other fresh is not always easy but the desire to keep love new is half the battle. If I have a good sense of humor, Lori is largely responsible. Not only is she funny, she makes me think I am.

E #2 is for Entranced. When I think of being entranced I think of the kind of entrancement the best magicians utilize. You’re not sure just how they do what they do; you just know you are amazed at the outcome. I’m happy to still be under my wife’s spell and look forward to another lifetime of magic.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Lori Ann.

Dear hands,

Dear hands,
Be open.
Hold on
to life
until the time is right to
let it go.
Point
the way to the cross
where the
nails
drove through His wrists.
Fight
for what is right.
Gently lead
the directionless.
Comfort
the hurting.
Bring home
the lost.

Big Risk

There’s Big Risk
lurking
just around the corner.
Do you dare get out of your chair?
He’s a monster of epic proportions
waiting for you there.
You imagine…
He’s checking off names in an old leather notebook
with a pencil worn down to the nub.
Surely he’s fried bigger fish than you,
You’re just the latest to join the club.
You can hear him breathing
out and in
heavy and slow.
Your heart feels
as though it might burst
if you get up and go.

Then you remember your dreams,
the goals, the plans.
A flame flickers
to life
inside you.
The fire gets bigger
than the fear living there.
It rushes from room to room.

Now ablaze with courage,
you stand up and step out
around the corner to face it.
It’s time to live or die trying,
You’re so mad at that monster,
you could spit.

Sweat pouring from your forehead,
you look,
ready to do battle with Goliath.
Forward,
nothing there.
To the sides,
naught there too.
Then you look down
and catch your breath.

Instead of the demon you imagined,
ready to eat you for lunch,
There’s a cute little monster
with a bullhorn twice his size.
Clearly, he couldn’t do much.

Then you see
you mistook
where the battlefield lay;
it wasn’t with the titan you thought.
It was with yourself
and wanna be monsters
that you truly fought.

Matthew 10:26-31
26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Unique

All are unique, though each of us
under the sun
are all part of the same.

Your own blend of talents
and foibles
and genius of art,
together with your name…

bring a certain indefinable
flavor to our world;
a particular purpose and goal.

Without you,
your special piece
in God’s puzzle,
the image
would be something less
than whole.

Time

you’ve got to hand it to time
to the second hand
big hand
or little

time out

a moment to ponder

if it’s the quickest
why do we call it the second hand
and not the first?
why is the minute hand the longest
when the hour hand has the biggest job to do?

such a vital subject with so much to say and do
there’s never quite enough of it to hold on to
it cries out from our wrist and table wall and oven clock
it even manages to talk
tick tock tick tock tick tock

we try to
save it
borrow it
loan it
pass it
bank it
and still
we go over it
we hold meetings
to consider it
and still
manage
to waste
it
it never goes to sleep
we can’t hold it tight enough to keep
our grave stones mark it
between our beginning
and our end
but weren’t we once a gleam
in our parents’ eyes?
was it then?
such an artificial construct
the little brother
to eternity

let’s wind this up

we’ll take this up
later
when
we
have
more…

How are your weeds?

In a previous post I noted that I love seeing things grow. Even though I’m not a terribly proficient gardener, I’ve never lost that childlike fascination with seeing a freshly tilled and planted garden bed develop. Even though the final product is my favorite part of the process, I enjoy all of it: the blank slate, the first shoots coming through the earth, the mature plant with whatever colors God has imbued it with.

Something every gardener knows, of course, is that no matter what you’re growing, you’re going to have to contend with weeds. Now, there are weeds and there are weeds. In fact, there are plants we grow on purpose that a lot of people would consider weeds. Sometimes we let particular weeds proliferate if we happen to like them. Weeds generally don’t ask permission to enter our gardens, they just rush right in, with barely a nod to the guy at the door checking his list. Sometimes, when a plant is in its early stages, I’m not sure if I should pull it or if it might be something I put there on purpose. Sooner or later, I’m able to make a more informed decision. Some weeds are easy to get rid of, as long as you don’t let them get out of hand. Other weeds have especially deep roots and resist removal with tremendous determination. If I didn’t dislike them so much, I might admire their tenacity. The real difficulty for the gardener here is that if left unchecked and unweeded, our garden will eventually succumb to whatever chooses to fill the empty space in between the flowers. Then, because they are the bullies of the yard, the weeds will take over the whole plot. Nature really does abhor a vacuum.

Christian lives illustrate the weed principal well, as with one of Jesus’ teaching stories, “The Parable of the Weeds.” Matthew 13:24-30
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

I believe one of the challenges every Christian must face daily is identifying the weeds in their lives. It isn’t an easy struggle, but one every believer must endure.

Lord, you know where my weeds are.
You know where the flowers are, the vegetables and fruit.
You know when I’m tending to lies,
you know when I’m watering truth.
Help me see with your eyes, Father,
so the harvest will be worthy.
Let your will be my will
as I continue on this journey.

Love Note to my Pickup

This note is for the men
(and women)
who secretly love their truck.
It ain’t a Jerry Springer or Oprah kinda love.
No, it’s a love that’s pure and natural as America’s great outdoors
and I get all misty when I consider it and glance above.

Because

A truck will carry
two who marry
a bed fulla stuff
for their first place
an xtra cab for their lab
a gun and ammo
for the game-animal race

vittles from the store
in case you miss that boar
a bale of hay
for the day
you have a field full of critters
who want to eat it…

a raccoon in a cage
who thought your garbage all the rage

a fridge full of food
invite your folks
don’t be rude

a bed of sand
for the land
your children play in

a bunch of flowers
for her bower
tea and crumpets
for the muppets
if they stop over

all the stuff to build a house
for all the other stuff
and your spouse
a play set for the kiddies
you grow in the back yard

stuff to take to the dump
or extra stuff to store
more stuff where that stuff was
again
from the
store

a barrel of oil
to change your own
a big antennae
when you can’t use your phone

4-wheel-drive
to get to the top
just scratchin’ the surface
I know it’s a lot

In conclusion…
a truck is a serious relationship
not one for the player
or insincere
just keep her gassed and serviced
and be civil
you don’t really have to call her
dear

Anthem

Though I never said out loud I didn’t trust Him,
There have been nights my faith was tested
till it could break.
And though I’d seen the sun win out
over early clouds,
time and time again
I still found myself
overwhelmed by the rain.

But Jesus here we are
and it’s morning,
I step outside and from above you shine.
While it was dark, the rain poured down,
wind and cold all around,
my selective memory failed me one more time.
Cause time and time again you have answered,
not once have you failed to take me in,
from the cross you felt more
than I will ever feel,
your life blood flowed and covered all my sin.

And I raise my hands to you Lord in thanksgiving,
my words of tribute are my offering.
Please accept this song of praise,
for by your death and life I am amazed.
Our hope was born through your suffering.

The Blame for my Hair

I fault the mirror for my hair.
I’m blaming the messenger for that mop up there.
The style I recall wasn’t messy at all,
but arranged with adroitness and care.

How could this villain reflect
a style clearly not well met?
It looks like my cat half cleaned my pate
and now that I’m saddled with this dubious fate,
I might as well retreat to bed.

Ferry Me Over

Though I can’t see the bank on the other side,
ferry me over, Lord, ferry me over.
As you’ve done it before, you will provide.
Ferry me over this river.

Ferry me over this river, Lord, when all I want to do is drown,
when the burdens of this life start to take me under
and hope is nowhere to be found.
Help me take stock of your promises
I know they’re in your word to be used
I’m holding in my hand a ticket, Father.
I know you won’t refuse
to ferry me over, ferry me over.

I’ve brought nothing for the journey, Lord.
See here my empty hands.
I can’t rely on my own strength
to get me to the promised land.
Anything you see in this mind and this body,
God you know I want you to have.
But please first ferry me over this wind swept river,
When I get there please help me stand. Please ferry me.

Ferry me over this river, Lord, when all I want to do is drown,
when the burdens of this life start to take me under
and hope is nowhere to be found.
Help me take stock of your promises,
I know they’re in your word to be used.
I’m holding in my hand a ticket, Father.
I know you won’t refuse
to ferry me over, ferry me over, carry me over, take me over,
ferry me over.