His message rings true
of grace's gift freely given,
yet, honors free will.
Our eternal destination is our own to decide. The gift has been freely offered. We choose to accept or deny.
fmf April 7, 2023
The Troubadour's Song
Overcome by fear
despairing loss, hope gone
Peter denies Him,
Judas walks beside
the true Messiah, daily
impervious to truth,
ignorance succeeds,
Pharisees deny their Messiah,
Jerusalem cries,
overwhelmed by grief,
John couldn't contain his tears,
his Messiah dies,
dementia cries out,
darkness envelops the cross
death's grip shakes the earth,
heartbreaking loneliness,
despair descends to hell's depth,
where is my hope?
We walk every day beside
the true Messiah,
impervious to truth,
YET>
a single voice sings, illuminating darkness with salvation's song,
the morning light hums, the eternal wrapped in clay, has set Terra free.
His message rings true of grace's gift freely given, honoring free will.
The song of the church is the gospel story of God's eternal plan.
The harvest complete, the church caught up, Israel will once again have a hand in redeeming Man.
Hebrew 4:1 For the word of God is living and active, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Matthew 13: 18-32, Parable of the Sower, Tares among the Wheat and the Mustard Seed, denial and faith to overcome.
Denial or Acceptance come from the heart, here is an excerpt from:
https://crossref-it.info/articles/52/seed-sowing
Parable of the Sower/ and the Mustard Seed Parable Excerpt
"Jesus uses the idea of seed metaphorically in a parable to explain how different people receive the word of God. Christ, who sows the word of God in human hearts, scatters the seed, but some falls on stony ground or is choked by weeds. However, those who receive and understand the word of God are like the good soil which nurtures the seed (Matthew 13:3-9). In another parable he compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard-seed, which is ‘the smallest of all seeds' but which, as it grows, develops into a well-established tree (Matthew 13:31-32). (See also Big ideas: Parables.)
Jesus also used the image of a seed to explain how his death and resurrection (see Big ideas: Death and resurrection) would have a significant impact on the world, resulting in the redemption of humankind (see Big ideas: Redemption, salvation). He explained that, just as a seed would not grow unless it was buried, so he had to die and be buried before his word could be spread: ‘unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds' (John 12:24).
Sowing and judgement
The product of a seed is also used symbolically to stand for the natural consequences of one's actions, both positive as well as negative. Paul warned that ‘people reap what they sow. Those who sow to please their sinful nature … will reap destruction; those who sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life' (Galatians 6:8).
November 2022
Vol VII No IV
See final version on published work page
A Pastoral Cacophony
As morning's first blush slips through the mizzling mist, dawn's chorus begins. The woodland world wakes, nestlings fluff their feathers, squish together and listen to their twitter song.
Blackbirds sing a low mellow tone blending choral notes to a day-spring chant. Red-breasted robins' antiphonal tweets, twitters back and forth.
A cool zephyr breezes through the budding trees, and a hermit thrush adds a rhythmic woodwind harmony. Chee-pippety-chee-chee, Jenny wren joins in with a light peppy lilt, stepping up the beat.
Colorful warblers echo a descant as tiny rainbows shimmer in the twilight's dew. A Capella chorus in one voice, sings a spring aria.
Songbirds greet the morning with a pastoral cacophony.
"siiih "siiih" "chink chink chink. Suddenly, the tempo changes and the chorus fades. A mockingbird's catcall signals a tail twitching taunt, kitty in the weeds.
The aria ends with the soft adagio from a mourning dove. coo-ah coo-AH, Coo-OO-oo coo-coo-coo.
Morning's first blush slips through the mizzling mist, dawn's chorus begins.
Antiphonal tweets, robins, warblers, blackbirds sing day-spring's symphony.
The woodland world wakes, feathers fluffed, nestlings listen, to their someday song.
Blending choral notes, blackbirds add a mellow tone to twilight's day-song.
Chee-pippety-chee, chee-chee, Jenny wren joins in with a peppy lilt.
A rainbow shimmers in the morning dew, colorful warblers echo a descant.
An Acappella chorus singing a spring aria, songbirds unite.
“siiih, siiih" “chink chink chink," a sudden signature change, the sunrise song fades.
A blue jay's catcall signals a tail twitching taunt, kitty in the weeds.
The aria ends with the soft adagio from a mourning dove.
perch-coo, coo-COO-coo, coo-ah, coo-coo-coo,
Antiphon: alternate singing by two groups.
Adagio: A tempo having slow movement; restful at ease.
Lilt: a pleasant gentle swinging rhythm, a characteristic rising and falling in the tune.
kitty in the weeds bluejay's catcall a tail twitching taunt #HaikuSeed taunt
warblers' echo shimmering in the mist, morning descant
ending with a soft adagio of a mourning dove, coo-Coo-coo, coo-ah, coo-coo-coo
Moons of MarchSky looks down on earth
with the dark eye of a new moon,
spring winks at the stars.
Seeds shed winter's shield
roots stretch in fertile dirt-
March howls for spring's warmth.
Loam stirs, breaking free-
muddling nightcrawlers rise
under the worm moon.
Foretoken of spring
Marsh marigolds in damp fields
Hoverflies delight
Terrestrial tides collide
rising high, but twice a year.
sun and moon poised.
A morrowless day
arriving on the equinox
perfectly balanced.
Sugar Moon shines down-
sweet maples release sap
as March winds breathe change.
Trouvaille Review, March 23, 2022 PublicationThe Hummingbird
Swiftest things that run the world,
Hums and beats, their wings unfurled.
Hummingbirds need constant fuel.
Brilliant blooms attract this jewel.
Forward, backward, upside down.
These dashing (feisty) fliers zip around.
Golden flowers brilliant blooms
Entice birds with shiny plumes.
Blazing Star to Geranium,
Coral Bells to Delphinium.
Flower meadows, patchwork plots,
Scattered seeds in local lots.
Hopscotch with seas shells and whirlybirds in the air, singing weeee and swinging high swing high, flying free, landing barfoot in the grass
Cousins taking turns Counting to one hundred hands in sync, switching without missing a beat the ice cream maker's hand-crank keeps churing.
Walking with cousins Playing with friends, hoping summer will never end.
No school, outside and free, it is time just to be me. Gliding on the porch swing, a bowl in my lap shelling peas with purple fingers- I prefer to snap green beans, please.
Straight from the garden, a summer snack. Chores done, potatoes stored in the shack. Childhood summers make me wish for more, tree climbing, river-side camping on a sandy shore and so much more.
The pulse is weak, a vanishing vapor, Thanatos grins when breathing ceased. Death's grim triumph- of the Afghan thirteen, fallen, betrayed, left behind.
A country's demise by the hands of a few won't be forgotten. America's heart bleeds.
Hope hurts and hope heals, shattering the grip of hate- past and present repeat. (1776)
A mind free to think
Imagines, reasons, then decides
to act with forethought.
Haiku by RL Brown
C S Lewis/PIC: stories.gordon.edu
CS Lewis said that imagination is key to reason. But your mind must be clear, lucid, looking beyond instant gratification to see a reasonable danger. Reason trains the mind, and imagination helps you see beyond what you know. Reason will test, decipher, and separate subtleties that snare. You are ready to think -to act beyond just yourself.
The drug trap. A mind clouded by dreadful need. The loss of love for others and cherished memories turns to disdain. Careless attitude in life that drags you down into the depths of despair. Despair is so great that it takes you over an unimaginable cliff. Drugs trap you in a body and steal your life and freedom.
To imagine means to explore possibilities and reason is to weigh actions with consequences with a depth of understanding and proceed with full knowledge, ready to bear consequences. Marx was an elitist fool who lived off others and yet abandoned his children to starvation. Marx was the type of man who celebrated the death of his uncle, so he could live off his Uncle’s wealth without producing any of his own. China and Russia only pulled out of poverty because they allowed for free enterprise. Our country is not perfect, but it allows for everyone’s life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness… and all that goes with that, great success or great failure.
A mind free to think will imagine, reason, and then decide to act. R L Brown
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Added 6/13/23
Virtual is a hoax
Reality is hands-on
Dewey’s Thoughts
Imagination-
is key to wading through
dense weeds.
A mind free to think
imagines, reasons, then decides
to act with deep thought.
@Bleu_Owl deep, Dewey, dense. (CSLewis) (John Dewey)
#HaikuSaturday #haikuchallenge
Thanks. David came instantly to mind. He was tending sheep, called home, anointed future king. He was sent to the…
I like your take on this week’s prompt.
Yes! You said it exactly. “compressed” … as I think of my childhood looking through photos my mom left behind…
so fast they grow and change, life phases go by so fast. visiting from FMF18
In the blink of an eye, my baby boy is about to have his 2nd child.
For me, a Haiku is a 17-syllable verse that captures an image or moment that touches the heart when the reader grasps its meaning.
Some are still a work in progress.
The Haiku is a
seventeen syllable-verse,
understood by the heart.
Depicts a moment
in nature filled with simple
wonderment and awe.
Perspicacity
Reach into the world of words,
to find clear insight.
Slipping through morning dew, first blush hues cast,- dawn's chorus begins.
Antiphonal tweets robins, warblers, blackbirds sing day-spring's symphony.
The woodland world wakes.
January sky
Its sheer so clear, so blue.
Nothing leaves a mark.
On gradient winds,
matching a clarion call
Eagles hitch a ride.
Spring buds pop their heads,
February trickery-
Winter snaps, not yet!
Loam stirs, breaking free
Roots stretch in fertile earth
March howls for spring's warmth.
Sky looks down on earth
Eyes as dark as a new moon,
Winks in the spring night.
Loam stirs, breaking free
Roots stretch in fertile earth
March howls for spring's warmth.
Ode to Daffodils Bordering Mamaw’s cotton field Beside Mamma's fence To my backyard Daffodils. Posted on February 25, 2022 by Posted in #HaikuSeed Daily Haiku Prompt
Longing for a sidewalk stroll
along the storefronts of a –
five-and-dime
boutique
coffee house
with friends
. . .mask less.
Winter folds a tree- into a counterfeit death – Gray, bony, lifeless.
Cold, still, frosty white
Frozen precipitation
The glistening sun
Icicle droplets
Drip amid a frozen field
Robins drink mid-stream.
Kindness ripples when
interjected precisely
and rips through meanness.
kindness ripples and rips through meanness.
Tempean ox-eye titivated petals sway as butterflies dance
Hidden Object The only reason I've never been snake-bitten; I pound when I walk.
The object I seek is blatantly obvious, yet invisible. ---
the object I seek is blatantly obvious, yet invisible.
frustrating-
just like leaving my intentions behind while crossing the doorway.
I laugh as humor seats itself quietly.
A trim crimson comb
Proud strut, surefooted, perched high.
First to greet the day.
Calls the world to wake.
Rises with the morning sun.
Cock-a-doddle-do
Prayer is your weapon. Like the soil loves the tree and gives life to the tree so does prayer nourish your soul. Prayer cradles life whether answered here or there (heaven).
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