Something that is loved is never lost.
The function of freedom is to free someone else.
Ohio-born Toni Morrison (1931-2019) experienced the ultimate tributes given any novelist when she received the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for her ground-breaking novel BELOVED and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Her many awards and published works were a testament to her gifts as a writer.
Be in love with your life, every detail of it.
One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.
Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) was an American novelist and poet.
In praising or loving a child, we love and praise not that which is, but that which we hope for.
Correction does much, but encouragement does more.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was a German polymath. He has been considered one of the most influential writers in the German language.
Most precious union
Trusted journey of marriage—
Love expressed each day
Treasured daily gift
Twin hearts always together—
Love’s refreshing breath
Couple sharing joy
Transforming experience—
Harmony’s grace sings
The love of husband and wife is the force that welds society together.
From Matthew 19:4-6: “He answered, ‘Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
John Chrysostom served the early Christian church during the late 4th century and early 5th century in Constantinople where he preached and was a prolific writer.
This poem is written as a traditional Sonnet, but it can certainly be read as a prayer. God’s peace!
Lives pretending to follow a Holy God
Being of the flesh, greater than the spirit
Living as infants in our Lord Jesus Christ
Thirsty for our Father’s love, we shall fear it
Life filled with jealousy and quarrelsome times
Behaving outside of our Father’s design
Belonging to the Left, beholding the Right
Only walking with Jesus, should lives align
Sowing life’s seeds for a bountiful harvest
Thirsty for true living water and care
This world’s Master Builder brings His hope-filled Grace
Humbling kneeling at the Cross, hear our prayers
Only through our Lord Jesus, rests our foundation
Unifying voices throughout this nation
From 1 Corinthians 3:21-23: “So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.”
Originally published August, 2020.
To love God and love our neighbor is the standard of God, which on our own we cannot achieve. But in Christ, a new command is issued.
From Matthew 22:36-40: “‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.'”
Randy Frazee is an American pastor and Christian author. As a teacher and innovator, he is dedicated to leading others in Bible engagement, spiritual formation, and biblical community.
Peering out from her window
Times changing much, much too fast
Being alone many years
Husband and friends having passed
Small home meets her meager needs
But, the neighborhood has changed
Folks come and go, few she knows
Life blurs by, as if arranged
Sheltered from the outside world
Homebound most days by herself
Family in distant states
Ignored like books on a shelf
Watching some television
Staying away from the news
Remembering old classics
Dreaming of Julie Andrews
Reading occupies her time
Local newspaper connects
Crossword puzzle smiling back
Novels thrill with their suspects
Peering out from her window
Another sunset draws near
Unfamiliar car drives up
Grandchildren bring happy tears
Originally published August, 2020.
Singing
Worship hymns
Praising Father above
In His Holy name
Gathering
Gathering
Congregation’s joy
Honoring Father’s Word
Faith nourished with grace
Blessing
Blessing
One Body
Father’s welcoming place
Uniting voices with hope
Togetherness
Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.
In this universe we are given two gifts: the ability to love and the ability to question. Which are, at the same time, the fires that warm us and the fires that scorch us.
Mary Oliver (1935-2019) was a best-selling American poet, who received many honors for her work. Her love of nature can be found in much of her writing, and it resulted in honors from the National Book Award in 1992 and Pulitzer Prize in 1984.
