I Can Only Hope

 "One lives to hope they become a good memory"

 

Moses' Rod

“Remember Moses’ Rod….

There are no little people, there are no little places”. 

Courageous Persecution

“Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers.” - Francis Chan

Transformation

Rainbow Tears

 "The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears"
-John Vance Ceney

How Sweet

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer’s ear! It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear.

John Newton

The Remedy

The remedy for discouragement is the Word of God. When you feed your heart and mind with its truth, you regain your perspective and find renewed strength.

Warren Wiersbe 

No Doubt

I don’t so much pray that my death will be without pain, but that it will be without doubt.
John Piper

Sunday Will Come

“Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays. But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come. No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come.” 

― Joseph B. Wirthlin
source: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2006/10/sunday-will-come?lang=eng

Good Friday. The Day Death Died

Never again wonder if you are loved. If you had been the only sinner on the planet, Good Friday would still have happened, just for you. Someone asked Jesus, "How much do you love me?" He answered, "This much," as he spread out his arms and died. All for you. Just for you. 
- Jim Dennison
source: http://www.denisonforum.org/why-easter/326-good-friday

Forgiveness

Some reflections on forgiveness...

"A good marriage is the union of two forgivers." Ruth Graham

"Once a woman forgives her man she must not reheat his sins for breakfast" Marlene Dietrich

" Whoever forgives ends the argument"

"To fogive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you"

And then of course there is ...

" Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."
Colossians 3: 13

All Is Grace

"God loves you unconditionally as you are, not as you should be, because nobody is as they should be"..
-Brennan Manning

Prayer

Listen To The Warm -Rod McKuen

Rod McKuen is another favorite of mine. His books, Listen To The Warm and Seasons In The Sun (yes, he wrote the song that was a big hit in the 70's) are two of my favorites. Breathtaking and heartbreaking. Just the way I like it.

I've drawn your face
on tablecloths across the country.
Tracing your smile
with my index finger,
making your hair just so.
Till now you are more
what I want you to be
than what you are.

I can paint yours eyes and say
this is where I lived
for twenty minutes and more.

I order grapefruit
and pay for ruined napkins.
And between the morning and the eveningI draw your face a little fainter every day.
++++++++

“I've been going a long time now

along the way I've learned some things.

You have to make the good times yourself.

Take the little times and make them into big times

and save the times that are all right

for the ones that aren't so good.”

―  Rod McKuen, Listen To The Warm

+++++++

“It's nice sometimes

to open up the heart a little

and let some hurt come in.

It proves you're still alive.”

―  Rod McKuen, Listen To The Warm

+++++++

How can you say something new about being alone?

Tell someone you're a loner 

and right away they think you're lonely.

It's not the same thing you know.

It's not wanting to put all your marbles in one pocket.

It;s caring enough to not care too much.

Mostly it's letting yourself come first for awhile.

                                                                 +++++++++++++

Eighteen

I stood watching
as you crossed the street
               for the last time.
Trying hard to memorize you.
Knowing it would be important.
The way you walked,
the way you looked back over you shoulder at me.

Years later 

I would hear the singing of the wind

and the day's singing would come back.

That time of going would return to me

every sun-gray day.

April or August it would be the same

       for years to come.

Man has not made the kind of bromide

that would let me sleep without your memory

or written erotically enough

to erase the excitement of just your hands.

These long years later it is worse

for I remember what it was

as well as what it might have been.

+++++++

“This is the way it was while I was waiting for your eyes to find me.”

―  Rod McKuen, Listen To The Warm

++++++

“Be gentle with me, new love.

Treat me tenderly.

I need the gentle touch,

the soft voice,

the candlelight after nine.

There's been so many who didn't understand

so give me all the love I see in your timid eyes

but give it gently.

Please.”

―  Rod McKuen, Listen To The Warm

+++++++

We come into the world alone,

we go away the same.

we're meant to spend 

the interlude

between in closeness

or so we tell ourselves,

But it's a long way from morning to the evening.

 -Rod McKuen, Listen To The Warm

+++++++

There is no wrong side or right side.
No misery in not being loved
only in not loving.
I learned these truths myself
I tell them to you now
as you go sailing through the sun
on your way towards life.
+++++++

I don't have to touch you
to be touching you
Nor feel your face to feel your face. 
Yet, sometimes touching you 
I feel you not at all.
There seems to be 
so much of you at times
enough to fill
and spill across the room.
Other times
I stretch in your direction
and draw back to me
great armfuls of air.
++++++++

In loving you

I've held back no reserve

and so I've nothing left

to give tomorrow's lover

when you go.

+++++

And then there is my favorite:

If You Go Away (Ne me quitte pas-Please Don't Go)

If you go away on this summer day,

Then you might as well take the sun away;

All the birds that flew in the summer sky,

When our love was new and our hearts were high

When the day was young and the night was long,

and the moon stood still for the night birds song.

If you go away, Ne me quitte pas

But if you stay, I'll make you a day

Like no day has been, or will be again;

We'll sail the sun, we'll ride on the rain,

We'll talk to the trees and worship the wind.

Then if you go, I'll understand,

Leave me just enough love to fill up my hand,
++++++++

  

For Election Day

 We will only be at peace when the power of love conquers the love of power.
                                                                                                       -Jimi Hendrix

You can't steal my happiness

r

“I love you. I am who I am because of you. You are every reason, every hope, and every dream I've ever had, and no matter what happens to us in the future, everyday we are together is the greatest day of my life. I will always be yours. ”

― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook