THE LORD'S SECOND MILE

January 1, 1999

It’s New Year's Day of Ninety-Nine,
And there is time to write a rhyme.
The earth is white with falling snow,
I can’t work out, so here I go:

The grain in bins, the hay in ricks,
The wood stacked straight in firewood sticks,
The pantry full of food we’ve canned,
It all makes New Year's simply grand!

The cows bunch up around their shed,
Waiting there until they’re fed,
The poultry sounds are not to beg,
But just to announce they’ve laid an egg.

Some would say that our life style
Is way behind; at least a mile!
We’re seldom seen down at the store,
But healthy food? Who has more?

The clothes we wear, we’ve worn a while;
They have to go that “second mile,”
But they are warm, and they look nice;
We tell ourselves that they’ll suffice.

Our car is old, but it is good;
It’ll last a while; or, I think it should.
We’re neither rich, nor look that way,
But give ear, 99, to what I say:

High dollar missiles don’t keep the peace;
Dollars we invest in the poor’s release,
To teach them to earn a better life style,
Will clothe us in the “Lord’s Second Mile”.

No nation rules the earth by force,
So God has portrayed another course:
Let’s deny ourselves and take up His Cross,
Before our pride turns us all into dross.

Of all God’s gifts, I’ve found not another
That thrills me like the love of a brother!
Let’s reach out as long as there’s life,
And by so reaching, decrease human strife!

When neighbors ask, “How goes 99?”
We don’t want to say, “The World is Mine,”
But “Heaven’s hosts behold with mirth,
And exclaim aloud, ‘PEACE ON EARTH’!”

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christmas 1998

It’s December eight, Nineteen Ninety-eight,
So, lest I be late, Or thought an ingrate,
I must wake my bard, who's been in retard,
And though it seems hard, Send out this card.

Our kids were all here in the fall of this year,
Which brought enough cheer to make this year dear.
Tho Mom has been ailin', and Pop has been wailin’.
And some things are failin’, it’s mostly smooth sailin’.

Three meals on the table for all who are able
To eat food with no label, that keeps us quite stable.
We limp when we walk, forget when we talk,
But still we don’t balk when the Lord says “Walk”.

For all these good things that Love to us brings,
In symphony ring as God’s angels sing
Of that time by close by, when a Babe’s low cry,
Says Christmas is nigh, SO WE SAY, 'HI'

WE DO DECIDE WHICH

Unknown Date in 1998

As I lay sleeping on the couch,
The Angel, Gabriel, shoved me Heaven.
The banquet table, I’m here to vouch,
Had to spring from Heaven’s leaven.
Every dish was true perfection;
Not a thing was left undone.
Cheery souls, in my reflection,
Sat round the table, having fun.
But this one circumstance I saw:
Their arms were splinted, straight and strapped.
The thought that made me stand in awe
Was, ‘Why so cheery when handicapped?’

But then the angel changed the scene,
And suddenly we stood in Hell.
A banquet set, just like we’d seen,
Drove home the truth I have to tell.
Sad souls sat in dire dejection,
Hollow-eyed, mal-nourished, all unfed,
Which brought to mind one more reflection:
‘Why sit they here, as though they’re dead?’
The omniscient angel read my mind:
‘Heaven’s souls,’ the angel said,
‘Feed each other because they’re kind.’

And waking with a start, I thought,
"Here lies the key to happy life:
A key, which by her deeds she’s taught,
Throughout life by my kind and loving wife.
Our lives do change and so do we,
For change is growth, and growth is change.
Abundant life, the selfless see,
When through their love they rearrange
Those urgencies that deal with ‘me’
And feed others as they learn each other’s need
Through loving word and thoughtful deed.

MY FIRST LADY

June 20, 1998

When I became a Reynolds in Nineteen Forty-Two
There were some subtle changes I’d like to share with you.
As Parsonage first lady, referred to by my name,
My wife was Reynolds through and through, and acted like the same.

Details were her thing; she never missed a shot,
And when it came to cleaning, she never missed a spot.
People were her purpose; she always saw their need
From wiping children’s noses to teaching them to read.

Violence she detested; she always worked toward peace;
And in trouble calmly moved us, all toward sweet release.
She suffered very quietly, in body, or in soul.
Somehow knowing calmly that faith would make her whole.

I could not live with this, without a change of heart,
And so I studied her to learn to play my part.
And in these years of study, proclaiming God’s great Word,
This self in me has cratered, for now my heart has heard.

In newness I rejoice; from oldness I am free
My old ways disappear, nor does this credit me;
But rather must the credit go to one I truly love;
One who held me up to God, our Father up above.

TO ZACK, GLENDA AND ANTHONY

March 8, 1998

Just a cool, cuddly time with you sweet three,
Around the table with Mother and me.
A healthy portion of calm conversation
On daily doings throughout the nation.

But just being here to love each other
To touch finger-tips or hold one another;
Was more than enough to make the day good,
As the cold day warmed with love and firewood.

So Zack, your ship is about to sail
As soon as the summons comes in the mail?
You’ll be off to lands to accomplish God’s ends;
Your white sails billow now in the winds.

For long years now you have worked on this ship,
And all in all, it’s been a good trip.
She’s polished and waxed and all battened down,
Your degree in hand, dressed in cap and gown.

The seas you’ll sail we don’t know now,
But we know your Captain, and He’ll show you how
To move that craft to where it should be,
Toward whatever land, o’er whatever sea.

But on land or sea, or wherever you are,
With present technologies, you won’t be far;
So keep in touch, whether far or near,
For from 01’ Zack we just gotta hear.

But in that harbor where you set the keel
There’s a lighthouse burning a light that’s real;
And it beckons you home as oft as you can,
For you’re still our child, although a man.

GOD CALLS “GO-BETWEENS”

Christmas 1997

Lord, hear our prayer and fill the air with warnings that abound,
We sing with mirth of Christian birth that few of us have really found,
For high school students carry guns and mow their classmates down,
And dope and drink, and sex perversion, all still stay around.

“Media Madams”, matching mates in talk-shows all across our land
Make it difficult for youth to really take a Christian stand.
Holy days are days for work; the same as others of the week,
Or “week-enders” all go berserk; they fun or fortune seem to seek.

Our President, and Congress too, are often called into account;
Their moral measure in review, as lack of trust still seems to mount.
Our churches seem to sit enthralled, as God’s salvation they unfold,
But sitting is our problem; we do not walk as saints of old.

Where Christmas bells ring long and loud, as wise men kneel before The Child.
The “Light” we see comes through a cloud! Worship Christ - and still run wild??
Yes, “Mission” is the call we need; to people starving, homeless, lost;
But Christian flags must be unfurled in THIS GREAT LAND, whate’er the cost.

The church again must come around to telling forth THAT GREAT GOOD NEWS
In such a way that Christ is found, thus making LOVE what all men choose.
Love of God, and love of others, in church, and home, and on the street;
Tightly bonding, as all were brothers, a bond that does not know retreat.

We cannot focus on mistakes, or wrongs, or sins, or faulty choice;
But make the choice the Master makes; He loves until we hear his voice.
Then we know what we must do in times of toil and dark despair,
For as to all, we “ring quite true” they’ll know the Master is right there.

No more costly gift to give; it will cost us all we are,
As we help all people live, by following that Christmas Star.
The actual gift is His to give, and we but props within the scene;
No greater gift can I receive than to be His “go-between”.

JESUS

January 23, 1997

He speaks with the voice of an angel,
His words flow forth from fountains of love;
No brassy tinkling of a cymbal,
But truths imparted from above.

He has the gift of prophecy,
Understanding mystery and knowledge;
Through faith He can remove the mountains
Though He never attended a college.

He gave his goods to the poor,
His body He hung on a cross,
And in faith that is constant and sure,
He counts not the giving a loss.

His love suffers long and is kind,
No envy or boasting are known;
His behavior always so seemly
As He lives in behalf of his own.

His anger is justly evoked
When injustice raises its head,
But that anger is quickly revoked
When truth wins out, injustice dead.

His love bears up in everything,
His belief unending and sure,
And in hope we continue to sing,
As long as His love shall endure.

CHRISTMAS, NINETY-SIX

Christmas 1996

November was balmy all the way!
The Sun Flower State was a pleasure to all;
December has something else to say:
"You Kansas Kids are through with this fall!"

Frosty The Snow Man came blowing his breath;
Not with steam, but showers of snow.
All green plants just curled up in death
As the weather man said, "It's down to zero."

But Dorothy and Oj got in jump suits,
And did the chores with spirits bold;
For farmers don’t stay out of their boots
Simply because the weather is cold.

Down at the barn there was a great clatter:
Cattle were lowing and asking for grain;
Chickens were singing and cackling their chatter
And sheep joined in the Christmas refrain.

Inside with rabbits the heater kicked on
As Dorothy opened the rabbitry door.
In spite of the fact that fall was gone,
The rabbits that night had become a few more.

So goes it this Christmas on the old Lewis Place;
We’re "hale and hearty" and seldom "outta snuff";
If you need to relax and slow up your pace,
Just come on by and do some Lewis stuff.

KANSAS LOVE AT CHRISTMAS

Christmas 1995

Here we are at Christmas time
To bring you one more Christmas rhyme
We have not many thought-out views,
So let us share some family news.

Glenda nurses 1200 students,
Jerry fosters Marion prudence,
Zack holds forth at ol’ K.U.
While Coby studies in ol’ Missou.

So Anthony has all Pfeifer Place
To study, play and interlace
The family schedules with his own,
Which sometimes makes his parents moan!!

Terry is a major player
Both with Sydney and with Bayer.
Kristy works in child day care,
So Sydney knows that Mom’s right there.

Judy's Tiny Little Tours flies summer, winter, spring and fall,
And in between she gives her all to a Church we call St. Paul,
Andy Masters in Education Administration at the first of 97,
And then comes home, which for us all will be a great big chunk of heaven.

Ernie gathers soy beans, and does some flying in between.
Donnis subs in Bastrop school and teaches kids the Golden Rule.
George works hard for Uncle Sam while Allie aces a grade grand slam
At nursing school in Tennessee and keeps two sons as they should be.

Beth is also off at college, winning friends, pursuing knowledge,
And Loyola knows she is there ‘cause she fits in everywhere.
But great grands is our biggest boast, so it’s to them we make a toast.
Kieran and Killen Sherwood and Sydney Renee Gates.

Half a hundred and four more years,
Lots of laughs, and some few tears,
Ups and downs along the way,
But to sum it up, here’s what I say.
How could one couple be so lucky
As Mom and I?

GOD SPEAKS THROUGH LITTLE LAMBS

Christmas 1994

3:00 A.M. in 94:
A muffin and a glass of milk;
Warm coat on, and out the door.
Colostrums, as soft as silk,
Will feed the lambs too weak to nurse;
They need this milk to make them strong;
But how will God now reimburse
The shepherd tired, who walks along?

The night is clean and cold and white;
My snow-kissed lips conjure a song;
And hark, I hear it through the night;
A tiny bleat! - I walk along.
A little lamb voice soft and low,
Can preach more clearly than I can,
That God sends lambs to earth to show,
“His lambs, like He, can feed a man.”

No wonder that the Lamb of God,
Which Wise Men sought so long ago,
Seeing still, that we’re not shod
With grace and peace and hearts aglow,
Comes calling in our world’s dark night.
Like shepherds climbing out of bed,
He purges sin; he makes things right;
The Shepherd sees God’s lambs are fed.