The Kingdom yet to come.

I slept soundly until the the dawn cracked wide open.
The birds were singing like they were singing just for me.
The room was filled with an air of blessed thoughts,
And my dream had not yet left dreamland for consciousness.
I tried to make sense of the parting dream before it faded.
The night is at odds with morning like two different worlds.
What goes on while we are sleeping, and What foolishness?
What mischief, the owl and moth, the bat, and the rat? 
The only daytime thing that doesn't sleep at night 
Is the clock that ticks faithfully beside my bed.
Do we dream our own dreams or is someone dreaming us?
My dreams are a misty view through the window of my soul
Unto another world behind the filmy curtain of Paradise.
My dream companion, my hearts content, is my Lord and Savior, 
He was, and is, and ever shall be, my guiding light. 
I am happy to know that He is there for me at night,
But I am also happy to see the open eye of another morning,
To live and work, and pray, for the greater glory of God
And a ticket to His glorious Kingdom yet to come.

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Among other things...

Sometimes when I am searching under the seat cushions
On the armchairs of history or philosophy, inter alia,
To see if there are wayward crumbs of wit or wisdom
That the vacuum cleaners of lost edits failed to get.
Continually coming up empty handed, I get the feeling 
That indeed there is nothing new under the sun and
I am just a pup chasing its tail to no particular avail.
It is apparent that those "Aha!" moments are by design
Only few and far between and they are likely reserved
For those who climb the highest peaks no matter what,
And bear the costs of risk for the sake of honest truth, 
To be on the side of He who tells the finger of fate 
What to write, and exactly how to say it, and move on.
For God has put it into their hearts to carry out 
His purpose by being of one mind, united in the hope
That the world can be made a better place if we only try.
In order that I might find some favor in His sight,
I will give Him my heart and soul and try harder.

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Repair the World!

Are the means to an end themselves the end,
Delusional fictions that give life to lies?
Are there really alternative facts as well?
Did not God make man from dust and is not man
As befits the made, the inferior of the two,
Not purposed to create facts from lies, but
To avoid the bad, the ugly, and the false, and
To seek the good, the beautiful, and the true?
Is not man's attempt towards truth God's intent?
Can man ever create truth like God? Certainly not.
Nothing that never had life shall get it from man.
Rather it is the purpose of man to repent and
Correct what he has already done in error.
Those fortunate few with an abundance of life, or
The multitudes without much, it doesn't matter,
When it comes to the truth only one thing does.
Only belief in God makes way for a new beginning.
Faith completes the incomplete circle of life and
God redeems man's soul from total obscurity
By way of man's love for God and his fellow men.
"Tikkun Olam," the ancients say, "Repair the World!"
Imagine how it will feel when you are too late,
For by that time it really will be...too late.

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Are you lucky?

A wealthy man is a lump of clay gilded with luck.
Oh greedy one, you are not wealthy. You are just lucky.
An unlucky person will accuse you of guilt,
But what guilt is there in being lucky?
To be lucky and guiltless you must share the luck.
Then everyone is rich. They are lucky to have wealth,
And lucky to know a generous person like you.
You are good when you are one with your soul,
You are good when you speak well of others.
You are good when you strive toward goals.
You are good when you do something kind
For somebody else's sake and for nothing in return.
And you do good in many countless ways
But when you are not doing good for others
You are merely wasting away an opportunity.
If you have the good fortune on Judgment Day
To be within earshot of the Savior,
You will cry out with the others and say,
"Oh Lord, I am a sinner and you are all merciful.
In spite of all the bad that I have done,
And all the good I could have done but didn't,
I sincerely repent and I crave your forgiveness
If it is not already too late."

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All-Terrain Woman

Today was the first time that I heard the phrase "all-terrain woman." A news reporter was interviewing a young Honduran woman named Rosalin Guillermo with three children who had been waiting on the bridge between Guatemala and Mexico for twenty-four hours with no food or water and in desperation she had climbed down a sort of rope ladder into a boat that was below the bridge and some kind young men climbed down after her bringing her children with them and they all crossed he river together. When the reporter asked her how she had the courage to do something like that she said, "This bridge, this river, they can't stop me. I am an all-terrain woman." ("Soy una mujer todo terreno"). By the use the metaphor "all-terrain woman", she labeled herself as a strong person who can endure a lot of difficult situations.

When asked why she was making this difficult, dangerous, and uncertain journey to seek asylum in the United States with her young children she said, "I want them to study, have a good future. My husband is dead so I do this for my kids. I ask you with all my heart, wouldn't your mother do the same for you?" When the reporter mentioned that Donald Trump has a "zero tolerance" policy for her actions she said "I know about this," she says. "But I have faith in God. He has the final word. We did not come to rob or kill anyone. All we want to do is work and start a new life."

Her courage and determination remind me of a line from the English poet, James Allen:

The human will, that force unseen,
The offspring of a deathless soul,
Can hew the way to any goal,
Though walls of granite intervene.

My hat is off to all-terrain women everywhere!

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Politics vs. Peace and Harmony

Politics is a convention for the narrowing of minds enough to perpetuate the reign of ignorance, misunderstanding, and misinterpretation of the desires and designs of one another. Because individual lives on earth are relatively short, mortality compels a dependence, and charity speaks to the heart in a faint, yet powerful voice, and binds mankind in a common brotherhood in the struggle for the common good against non-rational ideas and the evil impulse of our base desires. Nevertheless, we have every reason to hope that through individual humility, patience, empathy, and self-sacrifice that we can accelerate the unity of purpose of the vast human family under the paternal gaze of our Creator and thus reach the state of peace and harmony that is the end point of His eternal plan.

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On the Gifts of God

Considerations:

1.) I consider the material gifts that God has given me, my body and the means to maintain it, my family, my talents, my abilities, my education, my vocation, and my mission in life. I also consider how many more people there must be without these gifts; people who are in poor health, people who are injured, without limbs, blind, deaf, mute, poor, uneducated, homeless, and hungry, etc. I also consider that God willed that I should be better off than many people and yet, at times, I have been ungrateful of what I have and envious of those who have more. I also consider that He has granted the progress of my soul in uniting with His Holy Spirit.

2.) I consider the mental gifts that God has given me. Why am I not stupid, idiotic, insane, neurotic, psychotic, or hopelessly drug addicted like so many other people? God has favored me with loving parents who provided me with a decent and suitable education while so many other people have grown up without good parents to guide them and have grown up in utter ignorance.

3.) I consider God's spiritual gifts. From a small child God has taught me to know about Him. How often has He shown me the correct path and how many times have I failed Him? How many times has He forgiven me and delivered me from evil only to see me fall again from his grace. In spite of my failings, how many opportunities has he given me to repent and turn away from sin, and how have I responded?

Affections and Resolutions:

1.) Oh God, how good Thou hast been to me; how generous in mercy and kindness Thou art. O my soul, be ever aware of all the great things that the Lord has done for thee!

2.) I wonder at my own ingratitude. What am I, Lord, that Thou should remember me? I have rejected Thy mercy and abused Thy grace.

3.) Wake up O my soul! Renew thy faith and love for thy Benefactor. How could I not serve the Lord who has done such great things in me and for me?

Conclusion:

1.) I thank Thee O Lord, for making clear to me the knowledge of my benefits and my duty to serve Thee out of love for Thee and accepting Thy gift knowing that I will never be able to repay Thee.

2.) I offer Thee my heart, my mind, and my soul, O God, and I plead with Thee to accept me as a true son (or daughter).

3.) O God, please strengthen me by the merits of Thy son Jesus Christ who died on the Cross at Calvary for my sins. Amen.

Note: From Introduction to the Devout Life by Saint Francis de Sales, 21 August 1567 – 28 December 1622. He was a Bishop of Geneva and is honored as a saint in the Catholic Church. His Introduction to the Devout Life was written specially for lay people. In it he counseled charity over penance as a means of progressing in the spiritual life. St. Francis de Sales has been styled "the Gentleman Saint" because of his patience and gentleness. He developed a sign language in order to teach a deaf man about God. Because of this, he is the patron saint of the deaf. He is one of my favorite saints because he was very "down to earth, understanding of human nature, and practical as well as saintly. He, St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Anthony of the Desert are my companions and advisers on the "straight and narrow path."

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The Lesser Towards The Greater

In our mind's eye we recognize a power
Spanning all space, and linking together
Every one of the worlds without end
That spangle the robe of the Infinite.
This illimitable power we call "gravitation"
Which resides in every form of matter, and
By which, particle is attracted to particle,
Mass to mass, the lesser towards the greater.
The smallest speck that floats upon the breeze
Carries this attraction of eternal presence
And we attribute its overarching influence
To that center of all, the will of the Creator.
Gravitation unites the whole by the power of God.
If one of the most remote specks of starlight,
Flickering in the distant dark of a moonless night,
Was removed from its place in the starry vault,
The disturbance would be felt through all Creation.
Attraction, Connection, Complexity, Consciousness.
The unity of progression in the Divine Milieu.

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The Ends of the Earth

In the beginning was the Word,
Scattered to the ends of the earth.
But where are the ends of the earth?
The ends of the earth are where
The Word reaches the farthest,
On and on through space and time.
The ends of the earth are where we rest,
Where the heavenly voice is heard
Through all the lamentations of this world,
Ransomed by our Savior into a new life,
Redeemed from the evil one and the abyss.
Stand by the roads, ask for the ancient path,
Search for the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Follow it, and find eternal life for your soul.

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Has there ever been a time?

Has there ever been a time when we did not 

Tend to stray from the straight and narrow,

And get tangled in the sinful affairs of others?

"How could such a thing happen?" That is what 

We say when we realize our iniquities 

And we are crushed with the burden of our sins.

Our eyes fill with pitiful tears of sorrow,

But with each teardrop should come a lesson.

Alas, where is our promise of faithfulness? 

Where is the remorse of our conscience? 

Oh Lord, you who keeps track of my many sins,

You in whom my soul takes refuge from my ego,

Remind me that only my undying faith in you 

Will deliver me from the abyss of oblivion. 

Wipe away the stain of guilt from my soul,

Replace my sorrow with boundless hope, 

Remove the stumbling block from my feet.

Oh Lord, I stretch out my arms to you. 

I thirst for you like a desert thirsts for water.

Reach out your hand from on high. Rescue me

From those whose mouths speak lies and whose

Right hand is a right hand of false friendship.

Lord, you are the one to whom I look.

Instill in me the truth that will set me free.

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