Afternoon Light

But where would I rather be?

If everyday this were mine to see.

Afternoon sun on its way to the horizon. (C) 1inawesomewonder 2016.

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Bliss

Photography 101 – Bliss

bliss

blis/

noun

1. 1.

   perfect happiness; great joy.

Abrams Pond, Maine

The Beginning and the End

The Lord said, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”

But I sit here thinking on and longing for the good ole days, the past.

 

Where does faith go when we think too much, and get caught up in the pace of society?

Information comes and goes so fast that we barely hold on, so we search again just to see.

 

I am a man in awesome wonder, at times life gets in and my mind slips into constant wander.

Praying just enough to keep from freezing solid from mental strain, opportunities I squander.

 

Where’s my trust…”whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord…”

So many things converge at the same time, have I walked when I should have soared?

 

I look into four fresh, young, bright eyes and I wonder if I am worthy of their care.

In these times we can know all about the places we go, having never even been there.

 

In the days of my youth time marched along but with it came a pace, the days, our own.

Now news travels faster than the facts themselves, we fear things we should’ve never known.

 

“Submit to God and be at peace with Him…” for its here you’ll find there’s always a friend.

In the darkness, there is light, He’s got this, for “He is the beginning and the end.”

 

The earth spins; light glows and fades, here on earth only man creates the absence of light.

No matter the corner we’ve backed into there’s always two choices, one which is right.

 

Commotion bellows all around me, I find solace in this little space between me and these keys.

I know God is listening, for when I wander; I’m reminded of His splendor evident in the breeze.

 

I give my troubles to Him …”for vain is the help of man”…I on my own can only descend.

“Through God we shall do valiantly…”and only He holds all, “the beginning and the end.”

 

 

2 Corinthians 5:6

Job 22:21

Psalms 60:11-12

Revelation 22:13

 

Seeking light at Abrams Pond

Minutes after sunrise, Abrams Pond 2013

The heron, an eagle, loons, and me

It was the middle of the day when I climbed in

A two seat canoe, a paddle, and me, I did begin

 

The water was calm and close to crystal clear

Moving through water, and birds, all I could hear

 

Not a cloud to be found among the blue sky

The sun warmed everything from up on high

 

I imagined this place in a time centuries before

Wishing it were then, and how I’d still explore

 

I moved slowly, and quietly, letting my senses record

The smells, the sounds, the sights, while aboard

 

A faint noise from above sparked my heightened sense

I moved toward the cattails and reeds oh so dense

 

I squinted and searched for the origin of the sound

And soon, a great blue heron in a spruce, I found

 

Moving away to allow it some space, another sound

I heard from across the cove and closer to the ground

 

It was another heron calling, or at least to be heard

When above my head appeared, yet another bird

 

Passing the spruce and gliding in, a bald eagle did rise

The majestic bird landed with grace before my eyes

 

Once in his perch, silence ensued, nothing dared move

Or so it seemed, but for me, my site to improve

 

All at once a splash from behind, and I turned to see

But nothing was there but ripples left for me

 

Resuming my gaze the calm pierced masked in black

The loon appeared from below, after a snack

 

My masked playmate called another yards away

The eagle, or not, the loons wanted to play

 

Time stalled and rested with me there in the sun

Sitting still in nature, watching, I was having fun

 

My mind raced to the eras past, land minus flaw

And I wondered what I missed among all I saw

 

As self-imposed limits do, measurement moved me

I paddled in, slowly, so as to stretch time, there to be

 

The loons called across the water while the heron hid

The eagle cleaned his wings, and I smiled like a big kid

 

I left, wanting freedom for always, to just be

The heron, an eagle, a pair of loons, and me

 

 

 

Clear

It’s a beautiful day! The air is crisp and clean.

Seeking a shaded tree on which I wish to lean.

 

Wishing I was in the woods north, not near.

Right beside a babbling brook all I can hear.

 

Pad in hand, writing, just to let it all go.

My mind lucid as the sky, just let it flow.

 

Rest, reflect, gather thought, choose words.

Nary a diversion, just the singing of birds.

 

Day’s not enough, I’d sit a week to meditate.

A Bible, and books I’d bring, to fill my plate.

 

Enjoy the beauty in God’s creation, a given.

Slowed down, soaking up hours, real livin.

 

It’s where my mind goes looking from here.

Real enough, plans from which I almost veer.

 

I grab another deep breath and get back to,

Reality awaiting me, and things I must do. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving in my words

I know this is late according to the calendar. Is it ever late to be thankful? I guess there are times when it would be. Hopefully this isn’t one of them. Happy Thanksgiving in my words.

The following are some definitions of the word ‘happy’:

• feeling or showing pleasure, contentment, or joy
• causing or characterized by pleasure, contentment, or joy
• feeling satisfied that something is right or has been done right
• willing to do something
• resulting unexpectedly in something pleasant or welcome
• used in formulae to express a hope that somebody will enjoy a special day or holiday

The following are some definitions of the words ‘thanks’ and ‘thanksgiving’:

• an expression of gratitude for something
• a prayer that offers thanks to God
• an expression or an act of giving thanks
• a public acknowledgment or celebration of divine goodness

So maybe I would say, in my words, a joyous contentment in expressing gratitude. Or maybe pleasant satisfaction in publicly celebrating divine goodness.

When I dig to the core of the meaning of Happy Thanksgiving to me, I truly get to a place of content, of joy, of genuine gratitude and an internal celebration of divine goodness. It’s not about the stuff, or the things; all of which I can’t take to heaven anyways. It’s about the times that could have been worse, but they weren’t. It is about the times that were so amazing in a moment when I felt the least deserving. It is about the wondrous warmth and goodness in people when so many seem hard and cold at times. It’s about my family and loved ones. We didn’t pick our families, I am so glad God did it for us. It’s the joy of being a dad, being needed, as shown by the look in my baby’s eye or in the calm they feel in my arms. It’s the beauty of the quiet, distant moments with my wife when all the world seems miles away. It’s as plain or as magnificent as the simplicity of walking outside from a crowded place, full of hustle and bustle, into a dark evening where the sound of the silent snow falling is deafening, and beckons my mind to visit dozens of warm memories that just seconds before, were miles from view. Content. Happy with how things are, in any moment, or in all moments.

We have so much to be thankful for. Every moment there is something. Sometimes it’s the moment itself to be thankful for. I mean think about how life would be if we stopped more often, throughout each day, even for a second, to be thankful for something in our lives. Maybe it is a physical thing, or maybe it’s a moment today, that we didn’t have the day before. I think life would be far more rewarding than it already it is. I think we would proceed differently, slightly at first. As time and our commitment to genuine thankfulness wore on, the course would be dramatically altered. I can’t imagine that overall respect for one another as human beings wouldn’t improve. I would like to think that gratification could return to being a word that stands alone and no longer had to tag along with the word instant. Hey I know changing the course dramatically seems far-fetched, I just don’t think that being more thankful is that far-fetched. Neither is the time it would take to be more thankful. A conscious thought to allow for a moment to recognize a feeling of joy or content for something already present in your life. We spend more time trying to remember the name of a song than we do being present and thankful for just one of the many things we have to be thankful for.

Say thank you more often. Mean it. Look inside yourself and check to see just how thankful you are. Once you have identified how much gratitude you feel, let it be seen in your eyes, heard in your voice, and felt in your hug or handshake. If you cannot find the level of gratitude that should be present, then think on it some more and figure out what mental block is keeping you from gratitude. Get over the block and express gratitude or celebrate divine goodness, but don’t dismiss it.

I know, it’s late, but Happy Thanksgiving in my own words.