Encourage others
Offering heartfelt kindness—
Relationships blessed
Sharing morning’s sun
Harnessing gratitude’s peace—
Light fills one more heart
Try another way
Every step marked with patience—
Staying flexible
I not only bow to the inevitable; I am fortified by it.
The stuff of which masterpieces are made drifts about the world waiting to be clothed in words.
Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) was an American playwright and novelist. His gifted words earned three Pulitzer Prizes for Drama and Fiction.
Character, not circumstances, makes the man.
Those who have accomplished the greatest results are those who never grow excited or lose self-control, but are always calm, self-possessed, patient, and polite.
Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. He was the founder of Tuskegee University (originally named Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute) in the state of Alabama.
Facing
Life’s detours
Unwavering faith breathes
Filled with Savior’s hope
Overcoming
Waiting
Patience nourished
Savior’s risen spirit
Filled with mercy’s connection
Reflecting
Believing
Savior’s light
Darkness swept away
Filled with love’s truth
Maturing
This series of poems (written in the German-inspired style of Elfchen or Elevenie) shares a total of eleven words in each poem, with a sequence by line of one, two, three, four, and one words.
Autumn rains lasting for days
Covering the land with mist
Cleansing under cloudy haze
Rising pollen, now dismissed
Harvest pausing, farmers wait
Parking soybeans, left to take
Drying cornstalks, know their fate
Standing ready, combines brake
Creeks filling, slowly at first
Running water, sent ahead
Suspending reservoirs’ thirst
Pausing for now, winter’s dread
Nature’s perfect cycle breathes
Singing praises to the Lord
Watching as autumn unsheathes
Waking when spring comes aboard
Originally published October, 2020.
Time is no fast-hurrying stream, but a sportful sunlit ocean.
Experience is the grand spiritual Doctor.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) was a Scottish-born essayist, historian, and philosopher. He was a leading writer of the Victorian era.
From Isaiah 6:3: “And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.'”
Expecting our best
God shall never rest
God’s future glory
Becomes our story
Adopting each child
Life now reconciled
What’s lying ahead?
God’s plan weaves its thread
Life fosters trials
Coming with each mile
His Word, guidance, love
Shining from above
God’s sacred fitness
Our constant witness
Daring to dream now
God’s mercy allows
Caring, righteous Lord
Trusting His accord
Patience encouraged
Waiting with courage
Together working
Blessed networking
Humbleness fills life
Removing all strife
Sowing fertile seeds
Harvest’s bread now feeds
Called by Jesus Christ
His blood sacrificed
Glory fills God’s name
Building each life’s frame
From 1 Corinthians 10:31: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.”
Originally published October, 2020.
New window opens
Unique opportunities—
Embrace every breath
Lessons in patience
Potential storms move away—
Sunshine breaking through
Morning’s welcome note
Invitation for breakfast—
With love sprinkled in
From James 5:11: “Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
Totally unexpected, overwhelming
Lingering cracks appearing along life’s road
Tripping, stumbling, and finally crashing down
Shattering confidence, from life’s heavy load
Floundering, drowning . . . caught in river’s rapids
Endlessly swimming, lost at pool’s deepest end
Feet never finding firm ground, dour fear arrives
Replacing life’s daylight with night at each bend
Life’s turbulence teaches us lasting patience
With the Lord, with ourselves, and with life’s curve balls
Fumbling life’s slippery game ball once again
God’s love sends patience after every fall
Endurance of Job, life’s journey shall require
Living with patience, frees us from each briar
From Galatians 5:22-25: “By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.”
Originally published October, 2020.
Nothing lasts forever–not even your troubles.
From 2 Corinthians 4:17-18: “For our slight, momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen, for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.”
Arnold H. Glasow (1905-1998) was an American author and humorist. He was a regular contributor to the humor sections found in Reader’s Digest.
Big Sky Buckeye 