When the snows of January come I am reminded of another January not that long ago when we heard that our nephew Matt Johnson was missing in Japan. Matt was there on business but no one knew what other plans he had.
His snow covered rental car was found in a parking lot not far from a building that serviced visitors who wanted to view or even climb Mt. Fuji. There are marked trails that lead to the summit.
We found out a week or two later that Matt had stopped there on the morning of his solo climb to purchase two post cards. He wrote that the weather was cold but the air was clear and it was a great day for a climb.
Matt did make it to the summit, the starting point for this poem.
One January
Sacred ground, lofty, rocky
and upon it he placed his Nikon,
facing East behind the setting sun,
and there he stood, arms resting
on hips, against the wide, wide
early evening deep blue sky
that said - forever
She dreamed that two angels
lifted him off a boulder and placed
him just so, then carried him away
Snows melted, Spring came,
men who are charged to do these
types of things followed the valleys
and found the frame that climbed
on high, and rode so long
and danced to it's own tune
But him they did not find
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Listening
Can I display his love today or will it simply be
a wondering or pondering at one or two or three
yet here I am deep in this plan deciding which is best
to share a bit of divine wit from heaven's open hand
Now one may question what is best for those who have no joy
they're deep in thought of what life brought and cannot redeploy
yet here I stand to hold a hand and feel a beating heart
to say I know let's take it slow, you'll get another start
And so it was only because I took the time to care
they told the pain direct and plain then came my turn to share
of love for me, eternity, the joy deep in my soul
and love for you, all fresh and new, if only you let go
There comes a time we think is fine to sing of His great plan
with chorus loud, in a great crowd, eyes closed with upraised hand
but sometimes we are also free to mourn with those who groan
and share a moment quietly - we grieve - but not alone
a wondering or pondering at one or two or three
yet here I am deep in this plan deciding which is best
to share a bit of divine wit from heaven's open hand
Now one may question what is best for those who have no joy
they're deep in thought of what life brought and cannot redeploy
yet here I stand to hold a hand and feel a beating heart
to say I know let's take it slow, you'll get another start
And so it was only because I took the time to care
they told the pain direct and plain then came my turn to share
of love for me, eternity, the joy deep in my soul
and love for you, all fresh and new, if only you let go
There comes a time we think is fine to sing of His great plan
with chorus loud, in a great crowd, eyes closed with upraised hand
but sometimes we are also free to mourn with those who groan
and share a moment quietly - we grieve - but not alone
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Diary Of A Charismatic: Essays On The Spirit-Filled Life
Announcing the publication of my third book! (although - so sad - no more books in sight)
Diary Of A Charismatic is something I am so pleased to share because it represents for me the main reason I started blogging many years ago. Yes, I love to tell funny stories and to write poems and to sometimes opine on political subjects. However the core of who I am, how I see life, what motivates me day to day and hour to hour, is my relationship with God the Father, through Jesus His Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
I started writng because I wanted to be able to share in at least some little part how God has moved in my life, what I have seen and heard, spiritual insights that I've been given, and more than anything else, how we can never go wrong by trusting in the Lord who knows us, loves us and always desires the best for us.
The book has about 50 essays, edited and taken from past blog posts, that cover subjects like faith, grace, trust, spiritual gifts and much more.
The Amazon listing is here
Diary Of A Charismatic is something I am so pleased to share because it represents for me the main reason I started blogging many years ago. Yes, I love to tell funny stories and to write poems and to sometimes opine on political subjects. However the core of who I am, how I see life, what motivates me day to day and hour to hour, is my relationship with God the Father, through Jesus His Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
I started writng because I wanted to be able to share in at least some little part how God has moved in my life, what I have seen and heard, spiritual insights that I've been given, and more than anything else, how we can never go wrong by trusting in the Lord who knows us, loves us and always desires the best for us.
The book has about 50 essays, edited and taken from past blog posts, that cover subjects like faith, grace, trust, spiritual gifts and much more.
The Amazon listing is here
Saturday, December 31, 2016
2016 Year In Review
Opened Facebook this morning and I get one of those - Happy New Year's Eve Bob! - Just thought you would like to view all the political memes your "friends" shared or liked this year.
It then ran a slide show where memes flip in and spin out and since it's been running for the last 4 hours I decided to give you my own year in review.
When I was a freshman at Aquinas College in 1972 I took a class in Speech. One of our projects was to make a presentation to the class and my theme was - Is Paul Dead? - Paul being Paul McCartney, the cute one of the 4 Beatles. Evidently Paul had not been seen in public for a year or two and people who are into things like that suggested that he was actually dead and for contractual reasons the rest of the band was mum about it but they did hide clues in their music so their true fans would find out.
There was a song on one of the albums, I can't remember it it was on Magical Mystery Tour or The White Album, which had a blank space after it ended and then a minute or two or random noises. If you had that vinyl record on a turntable and rotated it backwards at just the right speed there was a place where it very clearly said "Paul is dead". And then there were pictures of Paul on album covers which were clearly photoshopped. My teacher didn't buy it but half of the class did and isn't that what's important?
"Fake news" isn't new, but this year we finally have a name for it.
This year it seems like half of Briton's musicians, from Ziggy Stardust to George Michael, have actually died, almost everyone except for Sir Paul, still kicking around after 45 long ones. American celebs, from boxers to movie stars havn't fared much better. And with such an expiring crowd I feel bad for them. Johnny Carson, the long time past host of The Tonight Show, said often that his greatest fear was dying on the same day as a President or a natural disaster, which of course would get all the big headlines.
Now we can wonder if someone is actually dead or if they just didn't want to perform at Trump's Inauguration.
Ah, the year of vanity, from the guy coming in to the one going out with pen and phone in hand.
On a brighter note, this year I published my first two books.
The interesting thing about writing a book and publishing it is that unless you are a well known, no one except friends or family will ever find out about your book no matter how good or bad it is. Unless of course you find a way to promote your effort. Even though my books are listed on Amazon and formated for Kindle and the titles may go out on catalogs to major retailers, there are already millions of titles out there with hundreds of thousands new ones being added each year and the odds of being discovered are very small.
Books like mine (not going through a major publisher) used to be called Vanity Publishing but now there is a much more friendly and sexy term attached to it - Indie Publishing. I am now a proud independent publisher who paid zero dollars to get my books published. I did not have to pay upfront for a garage load of books and can order for myself 1 or more at a very inexpensive price.
However I do want to do things to promote my excellent and unique work so I am working with a Christian book marketer who has written a very nice review of my first effort, GLORY TRAIL They gave me 10 out of 10 stars. Can you beieve it? Perhaps this will be nothing more than vanity marketing but we will just have to see.
May the year 2017 find blessings for all of you and your families and for me and mine as well. May God bless and protect our country and may the well springs of revival open up to renew and heal this land and it's people.
And thank you, thank you, thank you for having visited my blog this year.
It then ran a slide show where memes flip in and spin out and since it's been running for the last 4 hours I decided to give you my own year in review.
When I was a freshman at Aquinas College in 1972 I took a class in Speech. One of our projects was to make a presentation to the class and my theme was - Is Paul Dead? - Paul being Paul McCartney, the cute one of the 4 Beatles. Evidently Paul had not been seen in public for a year or two and people who are into things like that suggested that he was actually dead and for contractual reasons the rest of the band was mum about it but they did hide clues in their music so their true fans would find out.
There was a song on one of the albums, I can't remember it it was on Magical Mystery Tour or The White Album, which had a blank space after it ended and then a minute or two or random noises. If you had that vinyl record on a turntable and rotated it backwards at just the right speed there was a place where it very clearly said "Paul is dead". And then there were pictures of Paul on album covers which were clearly photoshopped. My teacher didn't buy it but half of the class did and isn't that what's important?
"Fake news" isn't new, but this year we finally have a name for it.
This year it seems like half of Briton's musicians, from Ziggy Stardust to George Michael, have actually died, almost everyone except for Sir Paul, still kicking around after 45 long ones. American celebs, from boxers to movie stars havn't fared much better. And with such an expiring crowd I feel bad for them. Johnny Carson, the long time past host of The Tonight Show, said often that his greatest fear was dying on the same day as a President or a natural disaster, which of course would get all the big headlines.
Now we can wonder if someone is actually dead or if they just didn't want to perform at Trump's Inauguration.
Ah, the year of vanity, from the guy coming in to the one going out with pen and phone in hand.
On a brighter note, this year I published my first two books.
The interesting thing about writing a book and publishing it is that unless you are a well known, no one except friends or family will ever find out about your book no matter how good or bad it is. Unless of course you find a way to promote your effort. Even though my books are listed on Amazon and formated for Kindle and the titles may go out on catalogs to major retailers, there are already millions of titles out there with hundreds of thousands new ones being added each year and the odds of being discovered are very small.
Books like mine (not going through a major publisher) used to be called Vanity Publishing but now there is a much more friendly and sexy term attached to it - Indie Publishing. I am now a proud independent publisher who paid zero dollars to get my books published. I did not have to pay upfront for a garage load of books and can order for myself 1 or more at a very inexpensive price.
However I do want to do things to promote my excellent and unique work so I am working with a Christian book marketer who has written a very nice review of my first effort, GLORY TRAIL They gave me 10 out of 10 stars. Can you beieve it? Perhaps this will be nothing more than vanity marketing but we will just have to see.
May the year 2017 find blessings for all of you and your families and for me and mine as well. May God bless and protect our country and may the well springs of revival open up to renew and heal this land and it's people.
And thank you, thank you, thank you for having visited my blog this year.
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Shepherd's Watch
Vast stars spread out
Judean sky
we watched as nights before
and wondered if
how deep how far
could there possibly be more
Benjamin spoke
as one who knew
about this moving map
and told again
where lights would go
to fill prophetic's gap
And listened we
but deep in thought
so long the promise waits
how small we are
to think we know
the depth of what He creates
A little lamb
stirred by my side
then fast again to sleep
I laughed to think
I could know more
with thoughts that were not deep
How could one know
what lays beyond
if even just one day
then stirred again
my little dear
but then he was OK
Out in the dark
we heard a song
with lights that made us stand
to greet a band
proclaiming news
I couldn't understand
And oh their faces
shone with joy
their wings covered the sky
today they said
a Savior born
so hurry now and fly
And fly we did
to a nestled cave
where a mother held her Son
who stirred a bit
when we came in
then slept - He was the one
That night of course
I could not sleep
trying to take it in
that time goes on
yet He had time
to heal my soul from sin
Judean sky
we watched as nights before
and wondered if
how deep how far
could there possibly be more
Benjamin spoke
as one who knew
about this moving map
and told again
where lights would go
to fill prophetic's gap
And listened we
but deep in thought
so long the promise waits
how small we are
to think we know
the depth of what He creates
A little lamb
stirred by my side
then fast again to sleep
I laughed to think
I could know more
with thoughts that were not deep
How could one know
what lays beyond
if even just one day
then stirred again
my little dear
but then he was OK
Out in the dark
we heard a song
with lights that made us stand
to greet a band
proclaiming news
I couldn't understand
And oh their faces
shone with joy
their wings covered the sky
today they said
a Savior born
so hurry now and fly
And fly we did
to a nestled cave
where a mother held her Son
who stirred a bit
when we came in
then slept - He was the one
That night of course
I could not sleep
trying to take it in
that time goes on
yet He had time
to heal my soul from sin
Sunday, December 18, 2016
Happy Hearts
Announcing the publication of my second book - HAPPY HEARTS - In Poems And Short Stories. My first book GLOrY TRAIL was a collection of mostly poems and a few short stories that were spiritual in nature. HAPPY HEARTS is about 2/3 poetry and 1/3 humurous short stories that are not overly spiritual in nature.
This is again self published through Create Space which is partners with Amazon and Kindle and so is listed on both. The great thing about self publishing is that my main reason for putting these two books out there is not to make a lot of money. Thus I don't need to worry about combining poetry and funny stories and then have someone ask me - So who is your audience?
Putting those books together has been a lot of fun but has taken some time and creative energy which is why I havn't been posting as regular as I would like in the last 2 months. And, I am working on yet a third book which has the working title - DIARY OF A CHARISMATIC - Essays On The Spirit Filled Life. Unlike my first two books that one will be much longer, perhaps 300 pages.
Is it commercial? I don't know. Here is where I do need to ask the right questions and then perhaps submit it to a Christian publishing house which will take unsolicited manuscripts. There are two reputable ones who will look at a word document and get back to you in 7 to 30 days to let you know if they have any interest. And if they reject it - I can always self publish! (already have a great cover designed).
This is again self published through Create Space which is partners with Amazon and Kindle and so is listed on both. The great thing about self publishing is that my main reason for putting these two books out there is not to make a lot of money. Thus I don't need to worry about combining poetry and funny stories and then have someone ask me - So who is your audience?
Putting those books together has been a lot of fun but has taken some time and creative energy which is why I havn't been posting as regular as I would like in the last 2 months. And, I am working on yet a third book which has the working title - DIARY OF A CHARISMATIC - Essays On The Spirit Filled Life. Unlike my first two books that one will be much longer, perhaps 300 pages.
Is it commercial? I don't know. Here is where I do need to ask the right questions and then perhaps submit it to a Christian publishing house which will take unsolicited manuscripts. There are two reputable ones who will look at a word document and get back to you in 7 to 30 days to let you know if they have any interest. And if they reject it - I can always self publish! (already have a great cover designed).
Saturday, December 10, 2016
Cheesy Christmas Movies
If you are a woman, and I know over half of you are, what would be your ideal December day off?
My third daughter Melissa informed me about a month ago that last Wednesday (my day off) she was going to call in sick at the school she teaches social studies at, still drop her kids off at the babysitter, and spend the entire day with me at my house watching cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies. Mom was of course also invited and wouldn't it be nice if we started the day by going out to breakfast/brunch at Anna's House, a fairly new breakfast/lunch restaurant nearby.
In Missy's mind this was going to be just like old times. Her older brother and sisters had moved out of the house, Younger sister Becky was away at college and she could chill out with her dear old dad (and mom).
Eventually, because she was getting so excited about the day, Melissa told her sister Carrie (my second daughter) about her plans and Carrie, thinking that was a great idea, got included. She told James her husband that he needed to take the day off and manage getting their younger kids off to school and back again.
Well, now that Carrie was invited Melissa didn't want her other sisters to feel excluded so she did the right thing. She waited until the day before (ha ha) and left a voice message with Ceci and Becky telling them what the plans were. Becky who lives over an hour away wasn't able to get off of work but Ceci did have a couple of hours open mid day and she said she would swing by.
The big day finally arrived. I had a previous commitment first thing in the morning so I missed the brunch but was here when they came back to the house. Melissa told me that her husband Dan would have loved to also come but he's as honest as the day is long and he didn't quite know how to explain to his boss a day off chilling with with his father-in-law watching Hallmark Christmas movies.
All the necessary ingredients for a good time were there. Jackie got out her best Christmas plates and prepared some goodies to snack on including a spiral sliced ham for lunch. The girls each brought more goodies to snack on plus a variety of breads. We moved a bunch of rocker recliners in front of the big screen TV, each with a blanket to snuggle up in, and proceeded to watch 3 of the batch of Hallmark movies we had recorded.
Ceci came over for a couple of hours as promised. Dan took an extended lunch break and got in most of one movie (maybe he saw the whole thing, I'm not sure how long he was standing outside in the cold looking through the window before he got up the courage to join us).
I've watched a lot of Hallmark Christmas movies just with Jackie but it is a totally different experience when you are watching one with a group of your daughters. I'd glance over at my girls during a sad part and there they were, blankets wrapped up to their necks, tears streaming out of their eyes, even audible words of encouragement for the poor actress who just found out that her true love, whom she just got to know while visiting her little town all decked out for Christmas, complete with the requisite skating rink, wise old Santa Clause and home town bakery run by a chubby faced woman who knows every body's business, has to move back to New York or LA where his snooty ex-girlfriend is waiting to sink her exquisitely manicured nails into his handsome but innocent and naive neck.
And then there was the movie where an Italian Catholic guy tells his hospitalized and dying from heart complications grandmother that he has honored her last wish and now has a girl friend. Not actually having a girl friend he goes online and hooks up for an agreed two week period over the holidays with an only child Jewish girl who needs to show a boyfriend to her folks who want her to find a nice Jewish doctor to marry. Things go better than expected. The girl comes over to visit the Italian family. Grandmother is there because she has made a miraculous recovery, they know the girl is Jewish but don't care and everyone has a great time.
It is a little more dicey when the couple goes to the girl's parent's house to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah. He has to pretend he's Jewish, they insist he light the menorah candle and lead the singing (in Hebrew) but things work out. However, somehow the girl's parents get invited over to the guy's house. The family wants to make a good impression so when the couple walks in with the girl's parents they are greeted by the entire Italian family who, pretending they are Jewish, are each (including grandma) wearing the skull cap and have decorated their home with about 15 Menorah candle sets which it turns out are actually Kwanzaa candles. All the candles are lit, the Christmas tree is still up but the angel on top has now been replaced by a star of David and the family puts on Jewish music and start dancing around in circles with the stunned couple in the center.
At this point my entire family is rolling on the floor in laughter. It calms down a bit when the exuberant dancing causes grandma to have a heart attack but by now the tears will have to wait.
The girls think this was so much fun that we need to make it a new Christmas tradition. The only problem is that everyone of their girl friends they have talked to about this want to come over as well. Don't all dads like to watch cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies with their girls?
My third daughter Melissa informed me about a month ago that last Wednesday (my day off) she was going to call in sick at the school she teaches social studies at, still drop her kids off at the babysitter, and spend the entire day with me at my house watching cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies. Mom was of course also invited and wouldn't it be nice if we started the day by going out to breakfast/brunch at Anna's House, a fairly new breakfast/lunch restaurant nearby.
In Missy's mind this was going to be just like old times. Her older brother and sisters had moved out of the house, Younger sister Becky was away at college and she could chill out with her dear old dad (and mom).
Eventually, because she was getting so excited about the day, Melissa told her sister Carrie (my second daughter) about her plans and Carrie, thinking that was a great idea, got included. She told James her husband that he needed to take the day off and manage getting their younger kids off to school and back again.
Well, now that Carrie was invited Melissa didn't want her other sisters to feel excluded so she did the right thing. She waited until the day before (ha ha) and left a voice message with Ceci and Becky telling them what the plans were. Becky who lives over an hour away wasn't able to get off of work but Ceci did have a couple of hours open mid day and she said she would swing by.
The big day finally arrived. I had a previous commitment first thing in the morning so I missed the brunch but was here when they came back to the house. Melissa told me that her husband Dan would have loved to also come but he's as honest as the day is long and he didn't quite know how to explain to his boss a day off chilling with with his father-in-law watching Hallmark Christmas movies.
All the necessary ingredients for a good time were there. Jackie got out her best Christmas plates and prepared some goodies to snack on including a spiral sliced ham for lunch. The girls each brought more goodies to snack on plus a variety of breads. We moved a bunch of rocker recliners in front of the big screen TV, each with a blanket to snuggle up in, and proceeded to watch 3 of the batch of Hallmark movies we had recorded.
Ceci came over for a couple of hours as promised. Dan took an extended lunch break and got in most of one movie (maybe he saw the whole thing, I'm not sure how long he was standing outside in the cold looking through the window before he got up the courage to join us).
I've watched a lot of Hallmark Christmas movies just with Jackie but it is a totally different experience when you are watching one with a group of your daughters. I'd glance over at my girls during a sad part and there they were, blankets wrapped up to their necks, tears streaming out of their eyes, even audible words of encouragement for the poor actress who just found out that her true love, whom she just got to know while visiting her little town all decked out for Christmas, complete with the requisite skating rink, wise old Santa Clause and home town bakery run by a chubby faced woman who knows every body's business, has to move back to New York or LA where his snooty ex-girlfriend is waiting to sink her exquisitely manicured nails into his handsome but innocent and naive neck.
And then there was the movie where an Italian Catholic guy tells his hospitalized and dying from heart complications grandmother that he has honored her last wish and now has a girl friend. Not actually having a girl friend he goes online and hooks up for an agreed two week period over the holidays with an only child Jewish girl who needs to show a boyfriend to her folks who want her to find a nice Jewish doctor to marry. Things go better than expected. The girl comes over to visit the Italian family. Grandmother is there because she has made a miraculous recovery, they know the girl is Jewish but don't care and everyone has a great time.
It is a little more dicey when the couple goes to the girl's parent's house to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah. He has to pretend he's Jewish, they insist he light the menorah candle and lead the singing (in Hebrew) but things work out. However, somehow the girl's parents get invited over to the guy's house. The family wants to make a good impression so when the couple walks in with the girl's parents they are greeted by the entire Italian family who, pretending they are Jewish, are each (including grandma) wearing the skull cap and have decorated their home with about 15 Menorah candle sets which it turns out are actually Kwanzaa candles. All the candles are lit, the Christmas tree is still up but the angel on top has now been replaced by a star of David and the family puts on Jewish music and start dancing around in circles with the stunned couple in the center.
At this point my entire family is rolling on the floor in laughter. It calms down a bit when the exuberant dancing causes grandma to have a heart attack but by now the tears will have to wait.
The girls think this was so much fun that we need to make it a new Christmas tradition. The only problem is that everyone of their girl friends they have talked to about this want to come over as well. Don't all dads like to watch cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies with their girls?
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