The River Waits

The Mississippi River -
long, with lots of twists and turns.
Here in New Orleans, she is on her last leg of the journey.
Does she have regrets that she carries along like sludge -
the faster the current, the slower it takes
for the mud to settle and be left behind.
What about sorrows deeply held
and weighing down the water flow?

She's quiet, this river,
but she has stories to tell, treasures of wisdom.
The bushes, wild flowers, and grasses
crowd down to the bank to listen
and be watered from her wealth.
The birds and gulls hover and swoop down close
to be nourished for their own journey.
The river waits for them to come to her -
-for them to ask.
She waits silently.
Waiting, but moving, slowly and deliberately along . . .

You are the river.
I am the river.

New Shoes

Remember getting a new pair of shoes when you were a kid? I remember my mother taking all five of us to Boudoin’s Shoe Store on Main Street in Jennings. The tinkle of the little bell on the door announced our presence. We all got a turn to sit in the chair for Mr. Boudoin himself to measure our foot. Then we tried on shoes until we found the best pair. We always put our old shoes in the shoe box to carry home and wore our new shoes out of the store. We walked a little different, a little straighter, stood a little taller. When I took my five sons to buy new shoes, it was a completely different experience. No smell of leather when we entered the discount shoe store and no one to give us personal attention. While I tried shoes on one boy, the others ran the aisles. I left with a headache, but the boys felt the same way my siblings and I used to feel. They claimed they could jump higher and run faster with those new sneakers!

The apostle Paul must have been thinking of getting new sandals when he told the Ephesians, “As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.” (It is in the passage of putting on the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6.) How we need to hear the gospel of peace proclaimed in our world! In Isaiah 52:7 we read, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!”

Go out and share the good news of peace and salvation. As we were reminded at Easter, “Our God reigns!”

Which Way?

Well, it happened again. I was in Monroe, at an intersection trying to get on I-20 to drive back to Tallulah. I knew a left turn would get me moving in the direction I needed to go. The sign said, “I-20 East” and the arrow pointed right. I knew I needed to go East, but I did not want to go right. Everything in me wanted to turn left. At the last minute (learning by my past mistakes), I followed the sign, “I-20 East” and turned right in order to go left. Sure enough the pathway finally curved around, took me in a circular way and got me pointed left – back toward Tallulah. Whew! Sometimes you have to trust the signs, even when it doesn’t feel good at first.

In the Bible, we have directions for life. Sometimes, everything in us wants to go the opposite way from those sign posts. Sometimes, it seems that everyone else is turning the other way. Even when we follow the Bible directions, it sometimes does not feel good at first and we have to trust that it will eventually get us going the right way.

In Proverbs 14:12, we read, “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.” And in Proverbs 19:1, “Those who keep the commandment will live; those who are heedless of their ways will die.” The commandments of God are for our good, to show us the way home.

Anticipation

Anticipation . . . hope . . . There is nothing like it! I recently had a birthday – ‘double nickels”, as my sister kept reminding me. A week before the big day, I was told that my sister from Lake Charles would be bringing my parents from Jennings up to Monroe (my other sister’s parsonage) for my birthday. My niece from Bastrop and my son & his wife and my granddaughter from Marion, as well as two other sons and their wives from Ruston were all coming to my birthday party. What happy news! I so looked forward to seeing my family – from old to young. Wow! Every time I thought about it throughout the week, I smiled and it lifted my spirits. Anticipation of something happy brings happiness ahead of time.

That’s the way our future with God in eternity is. Just thinking of being in God’s presence forever makes each day sweeter here. We rest in the promise and have hope for tomorrow – hope that affects the way we live today. It is like knowing the end to a movie – we can enjoy what happens, knowing that it will end well. It is not just ‘pie in the sky’wishes, but secure hope and promise!

Paul expressed this very thing in Acts 24:15-16, when in his defense before Felix, he said, "I have a hope in God-- a hope that they themselves also accept-- that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. Therefore I do my best always to have a clear conscience toward God and all people."

May we all allow our hope in God to sweeten our life now and affect the way we live each day!

You can't judge a book by its cover!

I remember a conversation I had with my grandmother (Grandma Harris) on the occasion of her 60th birthday. I heard how old she was and was appalled, feeling that she surely would not be with us long - how can anyone live much longer than 60 years!!??!! Not wanting to break out crying at the thought of her imminent death, I asked her, "What does it feel like to be old?" (Only a loved grandchild could get away with such a question, and even at my young age, I knew to ask it when we were alone!) She honored my question with a thoughtful and serious response - one that I will always treasure. She said that on the inside of all those wrinkles, gray hair, false teeth, etc. she felt the same that she did when she was a child and when she was a young woman. Even though her body is very different, the essence of who she is on the inside is still the same. I treasure her response because it has changed the way I feel about old people and handicapped people - "you can't judge a book by its cover". Same message as this wonderful poem.

Someone sent me the following story & poem in email today and made me think of my conversation with Grandma so long ago.

When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Tampa, Florida, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through his meager possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital. One nurse took her copy to Missouri . The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the St. Louis Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has
also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem. And this little old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this "anonymous" poem winging across the Internet.

Crabby Old Man
What do you see nurses? .....What do you see?
What are you thinking......when you're looking at me?
A crabby old man, not very wise,
Uncertain of habit .....with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food........and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice....."I do wish you'd try!"
Who seems not to notice ..the things that you do.
And forever is losing ........... A sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not...........lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding .... The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking? Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse......you're not looking at me.
I'll tell you who I am ..... As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, ....as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten......with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters ....who love one another
A young boy of Sixteen ..........with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now. ........a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty, .......my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows........that I promised to keep.
At Twenty-Five, now ....... I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide ...... And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty ....... My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other ....... With ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons .........have grown and are gone,
But my woman's beside me........to see ! I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more, ....... Babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children ...... My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me ........ My wife is now dead.
I look at the future ...................I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing ......young of their own.
And I think of the years....... And the love that I've known.
I'm now an old man.........and nature is cruel.
Tis jest to make old age ..........look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles..........grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone........where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass ..... A young guy still dwells,
And now and again ......my battered heart swells.
I remember the joys.............. I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living.............life over again.
I think of the years ....all too few......gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact........that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people open and see........
Not a crabby old man. Look closer....see........ME!! (anonymous)

Why am I pondering such thoughts today? Perhaps because I will soon turn 55! (not far away from that ancient 60!) At least I will have my answer ready for my darling grandchildren!

Birdsong Tea

I know there is no such thng as 'birdsong tea', but if we could make a cup of tea out of birdsong, I'd love it, I'm sure. Wouldn't you? So welcome to my first blog ... and join me for a cup of Birdsong Tea!