A STRANGE LITTLE BOY

July 13, 2004

They tell me as a tiny boy
I always loved the out of doors;
I laughed and showed the greatest joy
When Mother Tierra was my floor.
While others seemed to fuss and cry,
Unless held up in adult arms;
I found great interest in the sky,
The moon, the stars and all their charms.

I loved the clouds, the wind, the rain,
And lightning flashes, far and near,
Mom’s call to come inside was vain;
I was a child that had no fear.
I guess that even then I knew
That God, in charge of all those things,
Knew how to care for quite a few
Who loved to test His angels’ wings.

I played with bottles, stones and sticks;
They were people in my mind,
Sometimes I found them in a fix
That touched my heart and made me kind.
Sometimes I saw them as my foes,
A great array of mighty power,
Just waiting then to work me woes,
To bring me down to my last hour.

And then again ‘neath cloud-cast skies,
When flowers drooped with drippy pedals,
I scraped up dough to make mud pies,
As back drops for my great war medals;
Medals won with stones and sticks,
Fighting foes as fierce as I;
What victory a child can fix,
To show it on his own mud pie.

Oh that years had taught me how
To make the best of what I had;
To see the victory I know now,
And not the loss that looks so bad.
Once a man and twice a child;
A promise every man should cherish
For without faith as meek and mild,
The wisest man is sure to perish.

A TALK WITH MYSELF

July 8, 2004

Sometimes I wonder, as life rolls along,
How much I’m action and how much a song;
It’s so easy to write down all my desires,
But much more difficult to fuel up the fires
That keep the pot boiling ‘til my duty is done
Instead of turning to something called fun.

It’s easy to picture all that I’ll do,
All the left-overs and some things new;
But finding that time to drive the first nail
Seems it’s the stump that fractures my tale.
For example this poem instead of those chores
That holds me inside instead of out doors.

Maybe a list, on a good time line,
Would be a tool to make me inclined
To move a bit faster, to step up the pace
And avoid the disaster of losing my face,
But too many tasks put on that list
Becomes a prime reason that several are missed.

Perhaps I need to know who I am;
That might keep me out of a jam;
To know my strengths and my expertise
Would probably give me a whole new lease
On a life that God understands already,
And wants to help to be stable and steady.

It’s selfish to try to achieve too much;
It only leaves our life in a clutch
That leaves tasks undone
And destroys the fun
Of passing the test
By giving our best.

A LOVE WALTZ

Now Orion, he talked with a beautiful blond
And the band played on;
The vow from their lips
Was to share their friendships
And the band played on.
He could not forget her
So e-mailed a letter
And that’s how this all began
The friendship they’d vowed
Would soon have it’s head bowed,
And sweet love move in.

We met at the church where we heard God’s great word,
And the band played on.
We dealt with our grief
In our common belief
And the band played on.
Then after the church I asked with a lurch
If she would go for a treat;
She kindly said Yes, and I now must confess
That my heart stood still!

We let this become a brief practice with us
And the band played on.
My courage was building
Her beauty so guilding
The band played on.
I asked for a kiss
Though I knew it remiss;
The poor girl shook with alarm.
I kissed her that night and I felt it alright
And the Band played on.

A few weeks had passed and the time came at last
While the band played on
While we were just talking,
Our hearts went out walking,
The band played on.
My heart seemed to say
This was the right day
To ask her to be my wife
She said she would do it
When she could get to it
And that time has come here tonight!

Now Orion will waltz with this beautiful blonde
While the band plays on.
He’ll love her; she’ll love him
None other above them
The band plays on.
They’ll counsel and cuddle,
And often will huddle
To work out the things they’re to do,
As husband and wife, they will build a great life
On this love that God made so true.

A LONESOME JOY

My Darling soon will go to Rome,
Which seems to be so far from home;
More than a week she will be gone,
An absence which I ponder on.

For weeks, I’ve seen her every day;
It seems so good to live that way;
But I’m so glad about this trip
That I am willing that week to skip.

Miss her? yes, I surely will,
But that which helps my heart be still
Is joy I see within her face
As she contemplates that Roman place.

The sights she’ll see, The sounds she’ll hear
Will be a highlight of this year.
Historic finds she’ll talk about
As she describes to me her route.

So I’ll rejoice in her vacation
Far away in another nation;
By God’s grace I will employ
The merit of this Lonesome Joy.
Happy Landings, Sweetheart. Your Orion

THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE

December 8, 2003

Like the merchant of old in the book of Matthew
I have sought for a pearl and so have you,
Having no idea where on earth to look,
Much like the merchant in God’s holy book.

Neither of us were aware of our search;
We simply sought comfort at Resurrection Church,
For we both had loaned our Pearls to the Lord
And for comfort drew near to where comfort was stored.

How could we know that angels above
Would touch our friendship and change it to love,
That God in his wisdom, with a beautiful Girl
Would touch her sweet heart, and make it my pearl?

Or that He too would do likewise for me,
And by this great miracle set us both free?
But the fact that fulfills and makes life so nice
Is we both feel in love with a Pearl of Great Price.

CUDDLE KIDS

Is the reason that our love is soft and supple
Because we have become such a cuddle couple?
Or have we become such a cuddle couple
Because our love is so very soft and supple?

I guess it’s the question of the chicken or the egg,
Which came first, I do not dare to beg
But I do dare to beg
When we leave off either chicken or the egg!

Our cuddle is a seal of something very real,
And love so very real deserves a solid seal;
So as we move together toward that seal
Let us be assured God loves what is real.

If God loves our love, who cannot? Your Cuddle Kid

A WIDOWER’S MITE

Sometimes I wish I’d made more money
Preaching in small towns;
For gifts I give seem down right funny
In your financial ups and downs.

I owe much more than I can give,
I so regret I have to say,
But my small mite may help you live
To help some student on the way.

VonEnde taught me how to think,
Though music was his field;
Steinman taught me at the brink
Of quitting, not to yield.

English profs cleaned up my talk
And gave me self-esteem;
Science profs helped me to walk
In fields I had not seen.

Fellow class mates let me in,
As though I were their age;
Some seemed to know where I had been,
And thought of me as sage.

McMurry made a man of me,
Plus message it installed;
I recommend one come and be
At McMurry, when God has called.

So here’s my widow’s mite,
It is not all my living;
It may help me in eating light,
And help me feel I’m giving.

FUNK JUNKING

August 22, 2003

How sad when our thoughts go where we have been
And gaze at our failures, mistakes and sin,
Oblivious of joy and grace we live in
Because our God forgave where we’ve been.

May grace abound and say who we are;
Let us like “Wise Men” follow the star
That led us at last to cross that bar
Between who we were and who we now are.

When memories surround us and bring on a funk,
Our boat of salvation well nigh sunk,
May God’s forgiveness unload that junk
And show us how quickly He lessens that funk.

To feel funky is human without any doubt;
In sadness we’re prone to just stop and pout
But when, by His help, we kick that funk out
We function much better, without any doubt.

I know where you are, my wonderful friend;
Oh the times I feel beat and terribly chagrined,
But I’m here to tell you, “This funk will end”.
Because we both know Jesus, our Friend.

WHAT IS MAN THAT THOU ART MINDFUL OF HIM?

August 12, 2003

We are the people that we’ve known,
The books that we have read,
The pictures we’ve been shown,
The truths that we have said;
The genes that we’ve been given,
The hardships that have pained us,
The hopes by which we’re driven,
And joys that entertained us.

We are the God we have believed in,
The grace He granted us;
By faith we have received Him;
His Word enchanted us;
His Spirit is our teacher,
A witness always known
His prophet is our preacher,
Through whom He calls His own.

Our life is mostly gift;
Not much that we have made;
We find our greatest lift
When we give others aid.
So since God models giving,
The greatest gift His Son,
The grandest kind of living
Honors what He’s done.

So, “What is man,” we ask,
“That God knows he is here?”
He is appointed to a task
In this and every year.
He is God’s hands upon this earth,
God’s voice upon the air,
Appointed from his birth
To speak and be God’s Truth,
EVERYWHERE!

STAND UP, AMERICA!

August 11, 2003

Stand up, America; Stand up and Fight!
Why sit we silent, awaiting endless night?
God has shown the way; provided perfect light
As He sent his only Son, demonstrating right.

So why sit we here, subjecting people’s minds
To movies, media, videos of such salacious kinds?
Making people human side-shows, while we wear moral blinds;
Do we not know the nation goes, as go the people’s minds?

Nations never have gone straight by watching crooked sticks
Demonstrating violence and perverted sexual tricks,
Teaching them to lie their way out of any fix;
None of which Truth would call "character building bricks"!

Let us Stand and speak our views to sponsors of these shows;
It is our right, and duty too, to guide the way our nation goes;
To undermine the minds of men makes sponsors into foes,
Partners to Ben Laden, and all who wish us woes.

Nor are we any better as we sit silent here,
Watching our mores decline throughout each passing year;
It’s time to speak our minds and let the nations hear
That we want good and wholesome shows that we can all revere.

For every man turns out to be like thoughts within his heart,
We cannot bask in things we see and hope to play another part,
So parent, pastor, teacher, friend, it’s time for us to start
Providing our whole nation with improved learning art.