A Letter to the Lord

Letter to the Lord

Dear Lord:

How many times have I found myself thinking of you and your kingdom?

How many of those times have I realized that you abide in me?

In every single instance, I have wanted to express my love for you.

How can one be so consumed with these thoughts and feelings?

Indeed, how can a love so strong be maintained in a busy world?

Are there not a myriad of distractions and important goings on?

What is truly trivial and what is deeply and personally vital?

The motions, the strivings and the nest feathering are never done.

The thing that is able to last forever is spiritual and ephemeral.

It is quite possible to add to, to bolster, to reformulate a feeling.

So feelings, thoughts and emotions are superior to tangible things.

The things of earth are only devices to allow moments of epiphany.

King Solomon obtained all the world could possibly offer.

He had wealth, power, position, possessions and great wisdom.

Why did he question all of those things, including wisdom, in his old age?

Solomon surmised that all is meaningless without your spiritual presence.

All was available to the great king.  All he could imagine could be his.

Instead of enjoying the enviable position he had, there was great sorrow.

He was not able to pass on the wisdom he ultimately gained to his heirs.

They did not hear him.  The things of the world drowned out his voice.

No Easy Remedy

No Easy Remedy

You capture some hostages and expect us to jump

You think we’re always at fault and you call us chump

You dislike us for our prosperity... our Coca-Cola

You best be reminded of what occurred in Angola.

Terrorism is too easy in that it lures the weak,

promising a quick solution to all that you seek.

You lock up a victim of your misdirected rage

You terrorize their families and lengthen your cage.

We’re all living in an era needing quick remedies

The answer is not to demand, but listen to the pleas

Of a world full of problems, a world full of sickness  

A world that insists on the remedy’s quickness.

Love's Shining Light

Love’s Shining Light

In passing a long and arduous day

I find solace in my true affection

of someone who banishes the gloom and gray

Among my confusion, I have direction.

The one vital source that contains my relief

Brightens my day and confirms my belief

I eagerly await the time of our meeting

Whether for a day or a moment fleeting.

A bright future awaits us the rest of our days

But for now, my love, we count the hours

Till we embrace together, and I’ll bask in the rays

Of your bright, illuminating, healing power.

And as we share our time with each other

We trade our lives, one for the other

I’ll be yours, if you’ll be mine

Today and forever, be my valentine.

In the Shade of Aspens

I am sitting in the shade of Aspens, looking out over Colob Canyon Reservoir. It seems as good a time as any to record into a diary. Southern Utah has a beautifully varied terrain with foothills, mountains, sheer cliffs, tree cover and crystal clear water. The beauty is in the tranquility. Despite the rugged terrain, the feeling it exudes is majesty. A mild but cooling breeze sweeps over the expanse of the lake's surface. Small waves generated by the wind sparkle on the surface and telegraph the angle of the wind. It is as if God realized the need to direct this scene for me. He expects me to care for it while he is busy doing something else. When something of this quality is loaned to me, I feel gratitude and a feeling of being loved and respected. Yes, on occasion, God takes a special interest in a particular physical place and breathes life into it. In our lives, I imagine there are mighty demonstrations God will orchestrate to uplift us and to make Satan despair. Nature attempts to teach us spiritual lessons. Things are cyclical. The cycles can be over ages, over lifetimes, over decades, or over mere minutes and seconds. Things are predictable in some instances and quite unpredictable in others. God's creatures and plants attempt to survive and adapt but ultimately the larger powers of the universe they inhabit controls all. We can predict tides, hydrology and use meteorology to measure weather but we are unequipped to alter what we survey. One cannot witness the majesty of God's creation and not be humbled.

My Brain

My Brain

My car just burned up.  The stupid car.  I turn on the heater, the car stalls and stops.  I walk to school, get a ride back and the entire car is engulfed in flames.   The fire department asks me what happened.  I turned on the heater!  Ha Ha.  The car is on fire!  The dashboard is melting.  The windshield is bashed in.  The Fire Dept. did that.  Probably thought someone could have been inside.   I could not help but imagine this was a staged scene for a gang warfare movie.  It wasn’t.  It’s just my luck.  It’s no big deal though.  Inconvenient, but no big deal.    

My school days are just about to reach an end.  I have an education in filmmaking.  A lot of good that will do.  I have decided that I don’t want to enter the film job market as a laborer.  No, I want to earn my fortune and produce a film.  How long would it take to earn my fortune?  What would I do to earn this mythical fortune?  How could I pay for groceries for this week? These and other questions zip through my brain as I stand there watching my car scorch the roadside grass.

My brain.  I have to rely upon this machine to guide me in the right direction, or several directions at once.  I need to devote time to earning the money and still keep the dream alive of investing the money into a project that I love.  What’s the use of earning it and living a life devoid of  art? My brain drives me to earn so I can spend it on the art.  But the art requires the earning, or more specifically, the freedom and opportunity to spend the money on my passion.

Waste, waste, waste.  So much time, money and opportunity is wasted while the earning is taking place.  But isn’t the art also a waste?  Doesn’t the idea of art mean that waste is relative?  Art is wasted on the vast majority of people.  Ignoring art is common.  Blurring the distinction between art and commerce is even more common.

I have a small umbrella that keeps me dry, but I keep leaving it somewhere.  The umbrella is my protection against the storm but it is not sufficiently large.  If I were alone and in a new place, would I be dedicated to the writing or would I let the past distractions follow me like some malevolent genie?  

What can give the hope that I can succeed and not return to my workplace with the stark realization that I am supremely untalented? It is tempting to let little pieces show through the drapes rather than reveal the entire nude statue.

Hope springs eternal!  Other self absorbed would-be writers are similarly stuck in the quicksand.  Think of all the angst and the remorse.  These are the people that populate the movie theaters and the bookstores.  The term “frustrated “ suggests that an attempt was made in the midst of obstacles.  Were they attempts or rehearsals for an attempt?

This will work because it is marketable.  That won’t work, but it’s of high quality.   Keep seeking the compromise.  It’s there somewhere, but hurry before the demographics change.  Rush into something you really feel passionate about and let the passion carry you.  Is the storm too much?  Does the passion at least provide a canopy under which you can duck for a time to gather yourself?

The Beatitudes and the Converse

The Beatitudes from First Corinthians Chapter 13 can be paraphrased thusly:

Love is patient and kind

Love does not envy, and it is not proud

Love does not boast, nor does it keep a record of wrongs

Love is not rude

Love always trusts, always hopes and never fails

In the converse, Satan is the opposite and the opposer of Love

Satan is impatient, unkind, envious and proud.

He is boastful and rude.

He keeps a long list of our failures and is not capable of forgiving.

He is suspicious. He knows he is ultimately doomed and will fail.

It is no wonder why he is known as the father of lies.

Facing the Unknown

When we think things are out of our scope and out of of our power, God is in control. His presence is inevitable in our lives. The example from the Bible is the story of Joseph and his experiences in Egypt. He was sold into slavery by his brothers, became a servant in the foreign land, was wrongly accused by Potipher’s wife, then imprisoned and apparently abandoned. He never abandoned his prayers to God, and that impressed a few people in the prison. When God knew the time was right, Joseph was put in the presence of the king to interpret a recurring dream. Joseph predicted the drought coming, was made Prime Minister of sorts and saved the country from ruin. His family came to Egypt in dire need and Joseph had pity on them, saving them and perpetuating the remnant of Israel.

We have no security from harm by owning a certain car, home, etc. Our security is from being a child of God. We live in the presence of God through his holy spirit which Jesus promised us when he bodily left the earth. If God gave his son for our sins, then why wouldn’t we trust him to provide for our needs and our salvation?