Love cannot last for but a day
It does not happen quite that way
For love is meant to stay and stay.
Man will be faithless by design
Too shallow and prone to malign
With sentiment and thought unkind.
While God’s love is example set
And leaves us nothing to regret
It is the most to give and get.
So I shall always pray to be
Within that circle loved and free
To worship Him who’s there for me !
A nagging chill pervades the room
One seems to sense impending gloom
Another day has come and gone
Another chance to wish upon
Some fragile hope we care about
Or dream we followed most devout.
A helpful thought to keep in mind
Remember to be just and kind
There is one way that we can choose
One path to follow win or lose
We need no special trade or school
It’s simply called the Golden Rule !
The wind and rain came pelting down
To leave my senses all aground
One question that I asked aloud
Can life progress under a cloud,
Are we all bound to be possessed
By causes old and thoughts distressed ?
Oh, what I’d give to find release
In pleasant joys and joyful peace !
The fantasy of modern day
That won’t attempt to melt away
And hides behind a false facade
Is that no one is fooling God !
Life is one living circle awaiting God’s commands
I do not know the reason it shrinks or it expands
But I know that we are here serving at His leisure
Whether it results in our pain or simple pleasure,
The happy thought we exist is an indication
He cares and watches all deeds in anticipation !
Poor old teddy bear, waiting tired and time-worn
Reminding me of many nights spent too forlorn,
We have seen better days when your soft coat was new
And all the dreams we dared to dream seemed overdue.
I put away my childhood toys as I grew old
Because I’d sought the happiness that futures hold.
While childish hopes are based upon small simple things
They fade into the lonely past that growing brings.
Sometimes I wish, with all my heart, I could recall
That yesteryear, so long ago, when I was small.
There’s a precious amount of brief security
In loving a teddy bear who loves only me.
We’re given the strength to believe
And the wisdom to understand,
The will to accept and receive
To learn to obey and command.
Man’s power of love conquers all
In spite of the ache or the cost,
Wherever this madness may fall
Or whether it’s won or it’s lost.
While the love of God’s not the same
It rises greater than real life
As we humbly call on His name
He answers with kindness not strife !
If love had arms, I’d clasp you close
Unto my heart and then disclose
The passion that we never knew
Just lingered there and grew and grew.
It simmered on the edge of fate
It flourished soon but came too late
There never was one chance that we
Would spend our lives in parity.
But that was oh, so long ago
Who can remember, who will know
Sometimes a breeze caresses me
What is it that I cannot see ?
Oh blessed heart that sings a song
Or hums a tune the whole day long,
That dances down an empty street
Where victory must be discreet.
The song we chant is such a gift
It fills the air and spirits lift
I yearn to hear that melody
That echoes like a symphony,
A hymn that’s raised with one accord
To love our God and praise The Lord !
It appears to me that the times just fly
And so like the wind, seem to pass us by
With a gentle nudge and a fond farewell
Without as much as a brief kiss and tell !
Thus having spent my last remaining days
Safe in the arms of past forgotten ways
Like memories of a familiar place
Or the lost vision of some cherished face.
Soon we arrive at the departure date
The time grows short and the hour’s grown late
We must say our goodbyes without ado
Knowing I have left all my love for you !
A lacy heart, a tender tug
A gentle kiss, a loving hug
We have no need to lovers be
Since friendship binds both you and me.
We have been friends a long, long time
When we all knew a kinder clime
Though days of old are long forgot
We comprehend forget-me-not !
While childhood does so quickly pass
Those lessons learned forever last
A child has eyes that seek the truth
And caring heart that needs no proof.
The child does not a judgement make
Based on reports both real and fake
The honest world of children knows
That “thank you” works and kindness shows.
Why do we lose this simple touch
When older grown we’ve learned so much ?
What we have lost and left behind
Is innocence we’ll never find !
I have placed my life in God’s hand
Hoping to glimpse the promised land
Like Moses on that magic spot
Who saw the place but entered not.
Just the distant sight of it all
Is enough to lift lifetimes pall
For in the end when truth is known
Each of us reaps what we have sown.
What shall we do this blessed day,
We’ll walk with God along the way
And tred the path to long ago
When kindly thoughts did ebb and flow.
We’ll take a moment here and there
Remembering the love we shared
And try to keep our dreams alive
While unrelenting powers thrive.
When we have chosen every word
The angels up above have heard
And tasted both wins and defeat
Then may our hearts decline to beat !
The God I know is good and kind
The world outside is deaf and blind
The rules of life are cast aside
And compromised by greed and pride.
The little that we know and fear
Won’t aid us as the time grows near
To make that one decision bold
Wherein the final truth is told.
God’s love will triumph over all
When bugles sound the last roll call
I’d like to be excluded from
Anathemas old curse and sum !
I looked outside into the sky
And in the west there shone this eye
So round and full and bright and white
Set in blue sky mid morning light.
I find it strange the two should meet
Like passing strangers on a street
I think that God employs surprise
Morning magic as we arise !
How much more ere we each depart
Will He reveal to trusting heart
To prove to us omnipotence
Is His alone in every sense ?
The fog encases all I see
As snowflakes strive to rapid flee
By tempest tossed chased in their flight
They cloud the sky and dim the light.
How clean and white the ground appears
While buried in God’s frozen tears
This fragile thought has crossed my mind
Perhaps the wind will purpose find
And churn the storms of faith about
Ensuring lives remain devout.
The chapel bells rang loud and clear
The sounds sang out so full of cheer
These simple notes did spur my soul
To try again to reach my goal.
The joys of life seemed far away
I begged of God I should not stray
My heart is true, I rule my mind
Yet sometimes even truth is blind !
I awoke this morning with these words in my head, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish” ( John 3:16 ). Wow ! For those of us who are parents this is some wake-up call, but for those who have only one child, what a sacrifice ! This unseen being or power that masquerades in many forms to many peoples for many centuries must really like us, you think ? Frankly, I can’t begin to imagine that kind of love, I’m not even capable of it. How about you ? Is that why love has such power, not to be confused with lust ? The Bible is full of stories of love, when did we lose the true meaning ? Perhaps we should consider the story of David and Bathsheba, now that was lust ! Just look at the results, the baby died and the wisest man who lived, his brother Solomon, left us reams of prayers and wisdom and a civilization that perished. But love, like that of Jacob and Rachel endures forever. I think that is God’s love for us and passes all understanding ! I’m sure His promises are eternal and I’m willing to spin the wheel with God, no matter where the chips may fall. Will you join me ? It is truly the lack of love destroying this old world today and it’s time we got our act together ! Sincerely, Claire B.
We have come to the end of a perilous year
One that’s been filled with deception, anger and fear
We have learned to exist with incredible lies
To put aside our values and cover our eyes.
I’ve been chatting with God in my usual way
Asking for help to get through a very long day
I wish this coming New Year would teach us to be
Once again the bastion of truth, land of the free !
The heart is full of sadness
The mind so full of grief
One needs a sense of gladness
For laughter brings relief.
A simple love of goodness
Can reach out to lift pain
An act of tender kindness
Stirs souls to hope again.
True, Christ was not born on Christmas Day
In that foreign land so far away,
You must believe all that He has done
He’s the long expected blessed One.
It matters not what the details are
Or how long ago or just how far
For dates are fallible and unsure
It’s what will be that’s truth to endure
Rejoice for any date He will come
Our salvation and God’s only Son !
Can you perceive each shadows movement in the hall
Distorted shapes that spring and bounce along the wall ?
These need to wait till day is done and loses sight
Before they cavort and dance and play by firelight,
And so each eve they leap and bound upon the stairs
So thin and tall their prancings catch you unawares !
They frolic up and down the cabinets and sides
Grotesque shapes and sizes you don’t recognise.
I think that shadows are great fun to watch at night
That is if you remind yourself, switch on the light.
Here in our world the truth reacts in manner same
Phantoms of a lie twist your vision and your aim
The truth at best will keep your earthly values straight
Its shadows will not echo in your life or fate !
To all of those who know and care
Please be assured that God’s still there
Behind a crowd of works and deeds
Invisible when He succeeds.
He hears them while these mortals scheme
And hovers over the lost dream
He boosts our strength as faith survives
The world outside wrestles and writhes.
Our wish remains within His eye
Though plots and plans oft go awry
He knows what’s true and what is not
What we recall and have forgot
His love is sure and full of grace
But once it’s lost cannot replace.
It pleases me to think that I
Can spread my wings and to you fly
Across the oceans great expanse
Perhaps to take another chance
To make new friends and socialize
In this strange world each occupies.
These miracles that we have found
Did change our lives and still astound
Where will they lead us in the end
Beyond the keeping of a friend ?
I wish I were a happy song
Whose merry tune played all night long
I’d like to be a story old
With ending bold and twice retold.
If I could climb a tall, tall tree
And find a bird who’ll sing with me
Or take a turn upon a swing
To spy upon what’s happening,
I’d try to reach up to the sky
To touch the clouds as they drift by
Or speak to God with His own Word
So He may know that I have heard.
Familiar words we’ve heard before
We wait without we seek no more
Though waiting can be hard to take
Because with time there is no break.
Repeated words that pique the mind
What will it be we cannot find ?
A faithful heart a kindly way
The help to face another day ?
Reprise in prayer and music blend
There’s but one life for us to spend.
I need to cast away all thought
And flee this web in which I’m caught.
At last the time has come for us to see
The battles that define our legacy
That follow us wherever we may go
No matter what the odds win, place or show.
This world a test in which we must compete
Display our colours calmly in defeat
And if by chance the winners we should be
Do take the lead with deep humility.
Have faith and trust in that we will conceive
Know God abides in all that we believe !
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 | ||||
Claire V. Bogdanos 