impulses… the desire to act in a certain way.

we know that we ought to behave in a certain way…
yet we know that we often decide not to behave in that way.

i know that “ought.”  and it is not just what i have learned from mom
and dad.  i have to admit that there is always a quiet yet persistent voice
speaking what my heart seems to recognize as truth, as fact.  it is a real
voice to me, and not my own voice.  a voice that i believe to be of God.

i have a belief that there is truth apart from me, and truth that speaks to
me of right and goodness, and that the voice is the voice of the ultimate
goodness of God.

it can be very frustrating when i want something, the Spirit is
continuing to urge that i ought not to act or even think on it, and i don’t
want to listen.  i have learned that not to listen takes me on a side track,
a detour of the learning kind.  what a heart struggle it can be when my
need and my impulses gang up together and i try to ignore God’ voice.
never a good choice… i continue to find this out, over an over again.

there is a difference between the belief
of God as the righteous truth, and the
belief in humans producing their own
morality, right and truth.

there lies the gap we shall always face.
there lies the constant struggle to listen
and believe and act.

there lies our broken human will and God’s will.
there lies the thoughts of our selves and others that cause us to rise-up
against one another.

the link of this post is joined with other links 
of those taking part in reading the book 
“mere christianity” by c.s. lewis, at the blog of jason stasyszen.

I.

we all have a little somethin’ to share in each moment of being.
each of us… is the only one… that is standing in the place we are standing,
or have come through the same things we have come through,
the only one that has that “one” point of placement in “each” moment.
that makes each of us unique in the gifts we can give in each of our moments.

one person can’t be everywhere.
but, each person in God can be where they are.  no one else can be exactly that person in that place.
no matter where you are, your perspective view from that place is the only one.  no one else can “be”
it, no one else can “see” it,  no one else can “understand” it in the same way, no one else can “pray”
for it in the same way, no one else’s spirit will be “hearing” the same way from the Spirit of God.

you can be one unique part and hopefully you are connected to the vine, hopefully you are a seed
planted in good soil, hopefully you are sharing in the bread of life, hopefully you are aware of the
importance of what you are in God, in each moment that is especially you, and how your uniqueness
is a benefit in the body of Christ.  God wants you.  God wants to live with you through your spirit.

God wants His people to turn to Him, through the Son of the Father God, and so your spirit and His
Holy Spirit.

share bread with one another
share God’s Love with one another
wash one another’s feet
know that we are each a part of the Body of Christ

from the book of john, chapter fifteen:

I am the true vine. My father is the gardener.
He cuts off every branch joined to me that
does not bear fruit.  He trims every branch
that does bear fruit. Then it will bear even
more fruit.  You are already clean because
of the word I have spoken to you.
Remain joined to me, and i will remain joined
to you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself.
It must remain joined to the vine.
In the same way, you can not bear fruit unless you remain joined to me.
…… Here is my command.  Love each other.
.

i meet people online that are open to sharing.  we have the desire to share and communicate in common, and writing online is one of the ways that we do that.

by way of my interest in poetry, i met tiger windwalker on twitter.  he often tweets short poems called haiku, and has a good sense of humor.  i have since found that there are quite a few who like to do haiku twittering.

one day,  not to long ago, tiger asked for my address so that he could send me his book of poetry, and asked if i would write a blog on it.  so i did… and he did… and i am.

i have not finished the book, but, i have read through most of it.  i read book poetry slowly, going forward and back in the pages.

tiger’s words speak of an open heart and a love of being surrounded by nature,  a desire to slow down, to see the beauty around him, and thankfulness.  and his poetry reflect this.  he travels in a different circle than i in some spiritual beliefs, yet our circles overlap in words of friendship and the beauty of creation.

tiger, thank you for your sharing from your heart.

tiger windwalker
book: walk in beauty journey of a big sir mystic
blog: coyote dolphin 
twitter
facebook

Labor of Love

by tiger windwalker
from “walk in beauty” page 70
~~~

I held the piece
Of rough marble in my hand
As I fashioned it
I worked it
Grinding
Then sanding
Stage after stage
I squeezed it
Flipped it
Held it on end
Caressed it
Until the marble
Began to take the shape
Of my hand

As it became smoother
And smoother
Its surface began to reveal
a map of delicate lines
And subtle colorations
Somehow it felt like my life
And that of  the stone
Were emerging together
I understood
That all of the painful
And challenging experiences
I have encountered
Have been the abrasive grit
That has given definition
To my character
Time and Life’s erosions
Have exposed me
For who i really am…

God’s hidden treasure

~

back in the days of my childhood

i only dream
of big city
sky scraped
into streets
of yellow cabs
flowing
swerving
honking
life on the
streets
red lights
green
keep moving
quickly
no parking
it’s
a loading
zone

linked at friday poetically with brian miller.
brian is in new york for the shorty awards

.

thursday
is the day
i wheel the
full
trash can
to the end
of the lane
and set it
not too close
to the road
and
not too far
from the road
so that
the big arm
on the truck
will pick it up
and dump
the rejected
stuff
into it’s hold
and set it
back down
empty

i put the book on hold in my library system right away.
because i wanted to take part in the book discussion today.
and today is the day i was able to pick it up.

i see that the book is divided into five books.
the first book being, right and wrong as a clue to the meaning of the universe.
and chapter one of that book is, the law of human nature.

lewis is stating here that humans have a sense of right and wrong.
of course we do!  we ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
it is actually a curse that we know such things.
it would be better if we could just put the cat back in the bag
and be with God in the garden.

he is calling this sense of right and wrong, human nature.

i would say that human nature is… to do what we can get away with,
without getting into a situation that is uncomfortable.

and, one can be uncomfortable for many reasons.

our actions are pretty much in tune with human needs,
and then human desires.

we have a sense of how we, ourselves, want to be treated.
and, we can understand the feelings of others when we listen.
but, our own thoughts and feelings tend to be the most important.

i can hear lewis when he says that we want to think of ourselves as being
good, but, then find that we can not be what we see as good.

it is quite the struggle to be good or even look good, when one is not.

it seems i have read this book before, but if i did, it had to be ages ago.

*
this post is linked, for the book discussion,
at the blog of Sarah Salter,
called living between the lines.

.

photo
indianapolis museum of art
july 2010

how am i loved… let me count the ways.

.

get set.

i found this big sidewalk that had white lines and yellow numbers.
there were some people walking and running on it.
though i don’t know why they were running, because the sidewalk
didn’t go anywhere but around in a circle.
i guess some people just want to get back to where they started from
as quick as they can.

go!

.

.

blue
sky
lullaby

sings
gentle
rest

within
a heart
thankful

.

.

flower
vine
shadow
climb
white
wall
in the sun

.

last night we gave kat her tomato juice bath.

in this photo, she’s almost dry,
but still not too happy about the whole thing.

and…she still stinks.

poor old kat.

❀

i might give robin’s recipe a try this weekend.


1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide
¼ cup of baking soda
1 teaspoon of liquid dish soap

Mix the three ingredients together and use immediately. The chemical reaction produced from these 
ingredients lasts only a limited time. If you use this formula to remove skunk odor from your pet, be 
sure to rinse your pet off with water. Do not let the solution soak for more than a few minutes. 
Paul Krebaum, a chemist for the Molex corporation in Lisle, Illinois, has developed this odor remover 
which works on anything including decomposing organic matter, fecal matter, urine & skunk spray.






( robin, thanks for the recipe. )

.
diamond

mine

yours

rose

red

wine

bread

Love

blood

white

lamb

.