By trimming the sails, a good sailor skillfully pulls the wind into the canvas, dominates the prevailing, opposing and shifting gusts, and maneuvers his boat forward. He or she knows their boat’s capabilities, reads maps, sets the course, watches the skies, and catches the breeze with skill and strength . Know-how, common sense, intuitiveness, andContinue reading “Into the Wind”
Tag Archives: Jesus
Timing is Crucial!
We know plants bloom or fruit at specific times. Field daises flower, crab apples blossom, and pond lilies emerge on schedule. There are seasons to life, and at some point, we become aware that “time” for us is unpredictable and limited and that there are no extensions or redo’s. Our responses to thisContinue reading “Timing is Crucial!”
Does God have a Budget?
If we are wise, we work, budget, don’t over extend our credit, and live within our means. But our fortunes are tied to more than the money we earn or save. The cost of living changes as the economy fluctuates, a fact we have recently experienced during the pandemic as the production and supply ofContinue reading “Does God have a Budget?”
Magical Thinking?
Memorial Day is a day of “remembering”. Originating in the post civil war period as Decoration Day, it is now a Federal holiday designated to honor US military veterans who died while serving our country. However, the day has morphed into not only a day filled with ceremonies, parades, flags, and wreaths to remember allContinue reading “Magical Thinking?”
Shalom
There is something calming about strolling through simple, precise vignettes of rock and sand, beautiful flowering trees and ornamental shrubs, meandering streams and murmuring waterfalls, and fish pools interspersed with reflective spaces containing old pots, bowls, lanterns or religious symbols. These natural and symbolic elements invoke a sense of orderliness and serenity, of antiquity andContinue reading “Shalom”
On Guard!
These geese are alert and on alert! As a defensive maneuver, they have stationed themselves to observe all points of the compass and seem to be “circling the wagons”, a tactic used by early pioneers to corral their oxen or horses at night and to protect themselves as they travelled West on the Oregon Trail.Continue reading “On Guard!”
Oh, What About Those Neighbors?
Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall “ deals with the difficulties of neighborliness. Frost and his neighbor had different philosophies about the stone wall separating his orchard from his neighbor’s pine grove, but Frost pointed out how unnecessary the fence was, “My apple trees will never get across/And eat the cones under his pines, I tellContinue reading “Oh, What About Those Neighbors?”
Trapped?
These lobster buoys appear trapped and remind us that, at some point, most of us hit the proverbial wall from which there is no apparent exit, no obvious way back or forward. We long for the apparent unobtainable. Sometimes that is reality, but often it’s perception that ensnares us. We may believe ourselves captive toContinue reading “Trapped?”
“Raging against the Dying of the Light” or Confidently “Going into the Good Night?” Thoughts from Dylan Thomas and Jesus…
Watching his beloved father become weakened by age and illness, Dylan Thomas lamented that “ Old age should burn and rave at close of day ” and wrote the untitled poem with the well known quote “ Do not go gentle into that good night.” In that poem, he observed the end-of- life ruminations ofContinue reading ““Raging against the Dying of the Light” or Confidently “Going into the Good Night?” Thoughts from Dylan Thomas and Jesus…”
Blood, Sweat and Tears
The idiom “blood, sweat and tears” is usually associated with hard work and not with poultry! That saying has often been attributed to Winston Church in his address to the UK in 1940 and was also the name of a 1960’s brass-jazz-rock group. But the term predates Mr. Churchill and rock bands. It was usedContinue reading “Blood, Sweat and Tears”
Sweet Words from Maine 