Melancholy Moment

Written in Crestwood, Kentucky, 2012 at Green River Writers Retreat

Photo by Andrew Neel on Pexels.com

On that turbulent morning

Frost met Fog in Winter Ghost Wonderland.

They rose and swirled together

until Sister Sun parted those icy lovers

with yellow knife fingers

bathing them in warm rays

of golden hair.

Their dance over

their mingling done

Frost melted away

like ice on a country stove.

Fog came unglued

dismembered

spreading until invisible.

I heard Kate’s voice

rich, deep as oak tree roots

singing of a homeplace

singing of coyotes at the door.

I smelled coffee

Grandpa’s kind

dark and strong

enough to stand a spoon in.

I thought of where I write

of grass by the pond

simple grass, tall grass

of juniper trees and their smell.

How they welcome me

even in winter and I wanted—

I wanted to go home again

to be with those who love me

to hear baby laughter

to see Rachel with a katydid jar

to hear little boy giggles

to feel slick Christmas paper

between my fingers

and to hear Daddy say,

“Sis, come on in here.

Let me tell you something.”

You Harvest what you Plant

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You can never harvest beans by planting tomatoes. At least that’s been my experience. Every time I plant beans I get beans, unless the groundhogs get them first. When I plant corn, I get corn, tomato seeds yield tomatoes, squash seeds give me squash and so on. No matter what kind of seed I put in the ground, that’s exactly the kind of plant that comes up. That seems to be a law of the natural universe. It’s also a law of the spiritual universe. You harvest what you plant.

If you saw a person planting pumpkins and expecting carrots you’d probably think they were a little wonky in the head! Yet, we do it all the time in the spirit realm.

Consider the following:

When I was in college I complained to my beloved Art professor one day that I had no friends. She replied, “He who hath friends must show himself friendly.” I realized it was true. I developed a little philosophy based off my discoveries through the exercise of showing myself friendly.

With one statement that professor taught me a bit about the Law of Reaping and Sowing, also known in some circles as the Law of Attraction. If you see yourself as being lonely then you will be lonely but if you become friendly, you will have friends. If you want everyone to think you’re interesting, then show interest in them.

You can’t sow complaints and reap joy. You can’t sow lies and reap truth. You can’t sow hatred and reap love. You can’t sow drama and reap peace.

In the Book of Hebrews, the Apostle Paul says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not see.” He goes on to say, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” Hebrews 11:1 & 3 (NIV) In Romans, he said that God had called the things which were not as if though they were.

The truth is that it’s a little more than just saying something. It’s having a joyous feeling, an excitement, when you say it. Don’t dwell on it. Don’t fixate on it. Speak into life, be thankful, then go about your business doing other stuff and in time, it will come to pass and you will get to rejoice a second time! In the same way, if we have a negative feeling when we speak a thing, we can literally call unpleasant things into our lives by our words and the spiritual vibration or expectation that accompanies those words.

Here’s another way to look at it. Truth or reality is based on the credence or mental acceptance of what one perceives; this mental acceptance is the essence, confidence and assurance, the absolute foundation, that brings into tangible manifestations objects and events that are expected into fruition. In other words, if we believe it and rejoice as if though we already have it then it will manifest in our lives. We don’t have to know the specifics, just that it’s as good as done.

If you sow seeds of earnest expectation with a thankful heart then you will reap crops that are only limited by your imagination.

Two Weeks to the Wire

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I asked myself what I would do if I knew I only had two weeks to live.

I decided that I would love every person I met. I would go out of my way to tell those people who had especially blessed me in life what they meant to me. I would do fun things with the children in my life. I would sing as loudly and as often as I wanted to, from my heart, no matter how off-key it sounded. I would tell every child I saw that they were special and that the Creator of the Universe loved them specifically.

The point I’m trying to make is that I decided I would do the important things in life, the things that matter in the overall scheme of existence, in eternity. Then I realized that none of the things I wanted to do revolved around “things.” They revolved around people and around doing what brings me true joy, hence the singing.

I think about the Apostle Paul who said what difference did it make how fantastic he was at anything if he didn’t have love, the genuine acknowledgment, compassion, empathy, and appreciation for others.

So, why do I have to wait until I think I have only two weeks? I can start right now, living my life in the light of the eternal, doing the things that make me feel good in my soul, in my spirit. I think it’s when we live our lives from a view of the hereafter that we accomplish the most good, experience the greatest depth and beauty in the here-now.

I believe that when I have only two weeks left or twenty minutes or twenty seconds, the only thing that will matter will be whether I learned to love.

I want to live my life by the rules of Love and not by the dictates of any culture, society or norm. I want to direct my steps according to the laws of the Spiritual Universe so that I might fully understand and interact with this universe.