The Heavens Will Open

The Heavens will open

As you do the right thing

Be humble and hearken 

To receive this blessing

Something's Missing

 Desire to find what's missing,

to gain an authentic soul,

This will truly be a blessing

For there is purpose in one's role

How to be a Witness

 How to be a witness

Of things of the Lord

Requires meekness

And trust in God's Word.

Through mistakes and repentance 

the work does roll forth.

The process...no one's exempt

Of promise... of worth...

It is as though God says, and forgive me for thinking words come from Him:

Let me come in

And make something of you

The veil can thin

Come, watch what I can do

Pull Yourself Together

 Pull yourself together

It is time to move on

Humility gather

Weaknesses can be strong

Fit for the Cause

 Though fit for the cause,

You may need to pause;

To work on your faith

And build up your strength

Just thinking about Joseph Smith and the lost manuscript.  God reminds Joseph he is still chosen to do the work. Those couple of months were needed to learn what he needed to again qualify for the work.

To gain an eye single to the glory of God

humility repentance mercy 

remember who to fear

Desire to find what is missing to become authentic to your soul.

Merit

Purpose shatters.

Let good works abound.

Merit matters.

That's how trust is found

Shortcomings. though

Christ can make up

Faith, hope, charity

Can be enough

God's Word Before our Eyes

When we've God's Word before our eyes 

It is so powerful indeed,

Our thoughts, Christ purifies 

And our spirit He does feed

When we've faith upon His Word

It is so powerful indeed

That we recognize our worth

As we've eyes to see and ears that heed

It Is Time

Don't let the clock bind you,

Nor forget that it's there.

Prioritize and do

What puts you in God's care!

Get Back on Track

That worldly thing

Which hold you back

Takes up your time.

Get back on track.

It is the Humble

It is the humble

Who treasure God's Word

Who, though they stumble,

Put aside their worst

The Better Prize

Let go of that prize

You hold, now, on Earth

Treasures in Heaven

Are of much more worth 

 WHAT prize holds me back? Remote control? 

Winds of Tribulation

Don't let the winds of change

Blow your candle out

Turn. Walk in such a way

You've faith, more than doubt

Better

Some simply do not know

How much better they can be

How,  with Christ, they could grow

In a way that all can see

More holiness 

Susan Easton Black: my testimony of Prophet Joseph Smith

https://youtu.be/irpesJU8_HM

Read to write 

of days gone by. 

Seek for light.

It cannot lie. 

I just finished a year of reading the Book of Mormon. I marked my scriptures with every mention of Christ and His various titles. I found this year's reading a treasured moment in my life.  It was a blessing through this Covid time.

Susan, thank you for your years of contribution and for writing over 100 books. What a lifetime achievement. What a calling in life! You are a leader among women! You inspire me! #Givethanks

Random Or NOT? A New Year, Big Numbers, and Reflection

1,006,405 views through randomness

Is this what it all comes down to?

After having written thousands and thousands of poems

Somehow one poem has found its way to you!

Reflection

Angst and creativity. 

 I have known many periods of doubt.  Why am I writing?  Do I even have an ear for writing poems? I I have felt like I have felt pain, shame, embarrassment, and grief over being a poet.. I like the absorption of pondering and trying to say things with words. (limited meaningful words.) Mental illness?  I have often thought something flowed well and liked it.  When I went back to it, I saw mistakes.  I submitted some  poems here and there.  Rejection!  Have I ever written something that is worthy of attention?  Will that ever happen?  What is the purpose of it all? I have certainly slowed down. Is there something I am meant to write?  If I give up, I will never find out!  

Obsession

One thing that can't be said of my writing is that I procrastinate. Quite the opposite is true. I have been known to keep paper and pencil with me. I can get lost in an interest to write about. Sometimes words will wake me in the night. I know that words won't stay and so I go to the bathroom where I can turn the light on and not wake anyone. Once I lost a handful of poems while traveling. I had written them in the margins of an Ensign.  I felt sick.  I felt like they were inspired and I had not treasured them.  I prayed about this and in the night I felt I wrote new and improved versions.  I was so grateful and relieved for that experience. Sometimes I write out of habit, missing those moments of absorbed thought and pondering. It can be a scary feeling to not by inspired by much or at all.  Hmmm.  Here I reflect on a dozen years of angst like it is all behind me. I have definitely slowed down.  Aging? The concussion? Post Covid exhaustion?  I am not as intune with the spirit. Except, I did feel impressed to write this.  Giving thanks is always a good thing.  This reflection has been good for me, as I feel like I am at a turning point. 

An old rusty hinge moved with quite a moan and a creek. 

Light entered the room. There was something beyond to seek!

Who is not too busy to open the door and look?

Treasures from the past were growing dust in every nook!

Incredible Moments

Start a Blog

I wanted to personally give some poems to a general authority.  This probably isn't to be encouraged. I was torn between doing this and not being a nuisance. (I often find the words from general conference inspiring.)  I waited at the park after conference and the parking lot was almost cleared out. Am I a stalker or something?  I found myself visiting with a man in a wheelchair who had had a series of health setbacks and had lost his legs.  He had this persistent thought/question/concern about the days we live in.  He felt that adults in his family were not acting like adults for their children.  He saw this as a serious problem in our day. I almost missed seeing the stake president as I shared what I was up to and a little about the gospel.  The general authority come out of the building.  I think I would have missed my moment except I saw something that caught my eye- a light.  I can't describe what I saw for I felt it was just for me.  It was amazing. I crossed the neighborhood street and thanked the general authority and gave him some poems.  He asked me if I had considered blogging to share them.  I felt this was a confirmation that in spite of all my self doubt, I had a place in the poetry society or at least my membership's community. Well at least I pushed an anti-Mormon poet from being in the forefront when someone googled the words "lds poetry". Yes, this is absolutely true!

A Book

We had just moved to Nevada and had a treasured moment when family came to visit.  Something that I doubted would ever happen! My step-daughter asked everyone to sit down together and share their "bucket lists". I had never heard of this. A bucket list is a list of what you want to accomplish before you die.  I shared how I wanted to write a book and to have it published.  The next day, I shared this with a co-worker.  She told me her daughter is a publisher locally.  Wow. I saw it as permission to start immediately.  I had read a series of books called "Son of Man" by Susan Easton. These books give you a sense of who Jesus was as a man raised as a Jew and how all the Jewish traditions point to the coming of the Savior.  I felt passionate about writing on this topic as I have a dear friend who misses/mourns for his family and Jewish traditions/community. (It is a beautiful religion to learn from.)  I wanted him to value his Jewishness and his contribution to discussions in Sunday school.  After a very short period, the book was complete, though I kept adding to the bill through images and edits.  I felt trapped in a money racket for a second.  The crazy thing is, when I got the box of books, I got a bonus that paid for the whole thing!  I worked for a private school and it was a one time way to show appreciation for the big turn around in enrollment.  What a blessing: "Jesus Christ, Son of Man, A Jew" by Kelly Miller

Thank you

If you read this thank you!  Please don't judge me as a bad poet.  I am a work in progress. 

But, more importantly, it was good for me to write this!

As Much As We Allow

In as much as we allow

Jesus in, as our friend 

When we seek His Word, to follow

Light and Truth does descend

Idle Growth?

You can't sit idly by

And think you'll come alive,

In Christ, that you might grow!

Through effort, light does show!

This thought really came alive as I thought about my own spirituality. I feel like Covid turned me into a recluse. We need each other and service.  It takes a lot more effort to feel the spirit when you are closed off from the world. Ancestry helped a lot. Social media and family connections helped as well. The scriptures and youtube Come Follow Me lessons were gems. I am thankful for all these things. #givethanks

The Call - Going Home

Soon, I am going home.

It will not be long.

Peace and rest, then to know!

Where all pain is gone!

With Our Lord, I will be

Where I'm loved and known

Here loved ones I now see

Call for me to come!

My journey waits for me!

I am going home!

Have you ever heard about someone who is dying seeing loved ones as the veil grows thin? These are tender amazing awe-inspiring moments! 

I wrote this with a spiritual in mind. Goin' Home by Antonio Dvorak

There were no lyrics in the book, so I felt to write my own.

Step Back!

Step back, for civility's sake

And to your purpose, reawake.

It is only through unity we're strong

Forcing one's agenda  is always wrong

Have you ever thought about the days when we heard news once a day? The family listened to it after dinner. It was just news. Some gripped our attention. We felt a response.  When it was really important, it interrupted radio and TV broadcasting.

Now it comes all day long. Each one presented as something we have to know, now! I find it too much! Do you? I worry that our country, America, is usunder and damaged beyond repair. What will become now ? a fight for power and domination both foreign and domestic?? If there was ever a need for repentance, it is now! Our politicians have gone so extreme! Can they find a common ground for civility? Have you ever considered the money spent to campaign? Such high stakes Wow! Wow! Unchecked there is so much room for illegal actions! 

I remember Astonia and how the people got recontrol over a foreign government's control by surrounding the capital with song! What a nation of singers! Patriotic singers. 

WORLDWIDE UNITED Fast

I subscribed to a Facebook group that started, I think, with our prophet's call for a worldwide fast. People from all faiths, now, share concerns and ask for prayers and words of comfort and hope. It is a beautiful thing to see a social media platform that is absolutely appropriate.  Covid has not taken our ability to be a community of believers!

Today, a woman thanked us for our thoughts and prayers and shared that this man, a focus of concern, had passed. How strong of her to share.  I looked at his photo and I thought of what a last breath might be like...

The last breath 

The last thought

Before death, what is taught?

Love, concern

Faith and prayer

Surrender, to God's care!

Love and Purpose

We all loved Thee, always and forever,

In the pre-existance realm

We have come here, through birth, to remember

That Thou, Lord, art at the helm.

Help us know 

What to seek for

We have purpose ever to discover

Yes, we have purpose, ever, through our Savior.

In Heaven, we prepared. Help us, Dear Father!

Here we pray, 

Though numbers, few!

For truth, to know, what would Thou have us do?

Help us repent, when we don't follow through.

We seek faith, and find love come from Thee anew!

Have you ever felt to write lyrics? I did this today.. imagine dancing around with joy singing to Heavenly Father! I wonder why we don't? Can dancing be reverent? 

These are my lyrics to

Melody by Schumann. He loved music so much, he quit being a lawyer. Love seemed to inspire him. The year after he married, he composed nearly 150 songs!

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