Just Noting ......

Spent a large part of the “warm” weekend pulling snow off of the roof. Tons of snow that had a 3” layer of crust over it. Breaking loose, the slabs would slide down, gaining speed as they neared the eave, and glide over the edge, shaking the deck as they hit. I’d brace myself against the ladder and they’d hit me in the shoulder before smashing to the driveway or the patio. What fun!
Father Pat (a Francisan brother) came over for lunch on Sunday and we talked about the state of the church in the US and the necessity of using the laity to lead – lessening the hierarchal aspect of Catholicism, as well as the need to amend and augment the lessons learned in seminary school.
Over time, I’ve become convinced that the Catholic church needs orators in the pulpit and they seem to be few and far between.

Casting Off

Had lunch with a friend of mine who, with his wife Patty, has spent most summer weekends of his adult life sailing Lake Superior. "Casting Off" was written for them ...

Casting off, they’d loosed the lines

And turned to face the breeze

Twenty seven years they’ve sailed the lake

Companions, mates at ease

And tacked across expanse of blue

At knots at times deemed high

To push themselves beyond the known

At times, the wind a sigh

Explored the shores, the coves and tors

Perched high upon the hills

Of islands set upon the waves

The view from which gives thrills

To look out on the placid seas

And know from where they’ve been

In truth it matters not one whit

Should becalmed remain the wind

The sailing has enthralled them since

They first became as one

To stand upon their deck and peer

At rise or setting sun

And times the storms have roiled

Their craft o’er waves blown rough and high

And made them better sailors

As on life’s seas they ply

Their long experience, intimate

Of themselves and of their mate

See through the deepening troughs of life

And so the seas placate

Someday, becalmed, they’ll come to peace

With one last sail to make

And off into the glorious eve

Together they’ll partake.

Diamond or Prism - continued

Part two:

I’ve thought of that glass, that small little thing
Quite often the past many years
As I stew in my mind the problems at hand
And bounce things around with my peers

Here is the thought that occurs to me
See if you think it makes sense
Our God given gifts we use as the light
Through a prism or diamond and hence

There are those who when challenged to think
Go quickly to blue or to green
With thoughts like a prism, they break it apart
And decide which color is seen.

The opposite trait is the thinker who sees
Like diamonds which capture the light
It bounces around its faceted walls
And fires out bursts left and right

Both types are good, they come from the source
Of life, from heaven above
There isn’t a good or better or worse
We all receive it in love

This brings me to ponder the question
Of which one am I and are you?
For if we’re to love each completely
The way we see light will construe

The way we see love and affection
The way we see others and self
The way we treat dogs or a hamster
The way we see riches and wealth

The answer to me is the bauble
That which I found long ago
To look out at life as the diamond
Is the way we just happen to glow.

Diamond or Prism

Part One:

Once as a child, a bauble was found
A treasure of glass at my toes
In hindsight a piece of an old chandelier
But what does a boy know of those?

From where it had come or what it had been
There wasn’t a clue in the dirt
But O what a treasure it turned out to be
As I polished it off on my shirt

The tricks that it played as it came to see light
Were wonderously amazing to see
Not knowing the how, the why or the what
Made it magic to us – and to me.

It still is, this trick of God’s crystal clear world
But the structure of light is well known
Although we now know the why and the what
It’s the how that He keeps quite unshown.

As we held up our treasure to consider its source
We noticed the colors come through
The light we were using to examine our find
Was first red, then yellow, then blue.

To Play The Role

The daycare was filled with kids young and old

As Santa strode in from the snow and the cold

And all of their eyes beheld him in red

Lit up their faces, no words were yet said

With a “Ho ho ho” Santa was there!

At their little daycare with nary a care

He’d come just to see them to bring them a smile

Took time to stop in and chat for awhile

Their eyes were like saucers, so big and so round

They stood and they looked and gaped at the mound

Of red suit and hat, big beard and black belt

The love welled right up and he thought he might melt

And he became Santa, the jolly old elf

He loved each and every one little self

To see adoration and know it can be

A good thing or bad thing, it was all up to me

My best I put forth, to allow them to see

The beauty of Christmas and all it can be

For it is when we give with no thought of return

That love rushes forth and in one’s heart does burn

The clear and distilled message today

To love each and everyone passing our way

And as I waved goodbye and said my farewells

They called “Merry Christmas” and jingled some bells

As I walked along and went out to my sleigh

Santa stayed with me throughout all the day

e is a real person you know

He is in all of us if we just let him show.

Thank you Santa. Merry Chirstmas. ©

A Christmas Anthology - Part Eight - Merry Christmas to all.

So closing this extended verse, I wonder how to do

The lessons in the prophecies, the Gospels are for you

And me to learn the truth of Christ, the reason that He came

Was more to know a giving God than just to know His name.

His mother Mary, bless her heart, gave Jesus human life

She nourished Him and brought Him forth and then became a wife.

And mother too, to Him, her Son, a most important job

For mothers love, that’s what they do, it’s why their hearts do throb.

Now Joseph gave his trust to God, that all would turn out right

He listened when he was spoken to and heard from God at night.

He set the tone for family life. He was a grateful man.

For all that he’d been given, he knew it was God’s plan.

For this is what it’s all about, the giving part I mean

If you’ll recall the animals around the manger scene

What could they give? An animal? Why, they provided heat.

It’s what they had, it’s what they could and did provide that’s sweet.

The shepherds came with nothing but their wonder and their awe

Which proved to be quite the gift when they realized what they saw

The Magi gave their earthly gifts with homage and respect

Two very important things to give to those whom we neglect.

Of all these words and all this talk, my point is overdue

The reason for the season is God’s gift to you

The gift He sent, the greatest prize, to you and me and all

That we may know and worship Him for that is our great call.

Merry Christmas.

And Happy Birthday to you, my dear Robin - December 23

A Christmas Anthology - Part Seven

So off they went, the three of them, in search of Son of Man

And when they found the place He was, their gifts they gave began

The tradition we still do today. The tradition done with love

When we give gifts at Christmas time, we honor God above.

They gave Him frankincense, a spice from far and long away

And myrrh, a similar thing to use to freshen up the day

And gold they gave, in homage to the one they’d come to find

For wise they were and generous too as well as very kind.

The night they left, they had a dream, a kind of sleep alarm

That Herod, the Roman king was planning to do harm

To the newborn king and so they went and took another route

And headed home by a different road on which was no pursuit

Remember now, that Herod knew that Christ was borne a king

He knew the town and had to act to save his royal ring.

And when he found the wise men gone without honoring his rule

He was quite mad, very much upset that he had been so fooled

He gave an evil order to protect himself and Rome.

Kill all the boys under two years old who make Bethlehem their home

But before the act was carried out, before the deed was done

Joseph had another dream to take his wife and son

To leave for Egypt, get out now and stay until you’re free

To come this way again as you return to live in Galilee.

They left there fast, they had no choice, their lives were in the hands

Of God himself. They trusted Him to guide them through the lands

This story of salvation is 2000 plus years plus old.

It is only the beginning of a story so often told

The story of the Son of God, sent here by His own call.

For us to hear His voice, His name, Jesus, Savior of us all.