A new Beginning

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wisdom

"The only true law is that which leads to freedom," Jonathan said. "There is no other."

Forest Flowers

Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul. -The Koran

My Muse.

I have awaited her return for quite some time now.

It's funny how she always seems to follow a rainy day or change of season.

I am delighted she has returned.

What will she bring this time?

Untroubled for the moment.

And they Danced on the breeze of the ocean.

I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance. ~Friedrich Nietzsche

Running to stand Still

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and

I-I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

"Robert Frost"

Come and Rest awhile

DADDY'S EMPTY CHAIR

A man's daughter had asked the local minister
to come and pray with her father.
When the minister arrived,
he found the man lying in bed with his head
propped up on two pillows..
An empty chair sat beside his bed.
The minister assumed that the old fellow
had been informed of his visit.
'I guess you were expecting me, he said.
'No, who are you?' said the father.
The minister told him his name and then remarked,
'I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew
I was going to show up.'
'Oh yeah, the chair,' said the bedridden man.
'Would you mind closing the door?'
Puzzled, the minister shut the door.
'I have never told anyone this,
not even my daughter,' said the man.
'But all of my life I have never
known how to pray.
At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer,
but it went right over my head.'
I abandoned any attempt at prayer,'
the old man continued, '
until one day four years ago, my best friend said to me,
'Johnny, prayer is just a simple matter
of having a conversation with Jesus.
Here is what I suggest.
'Sit down in a chair;
place an empty chair in front of you,
and in faith see Jesus on the chair.
It's not spooky because he promised,
'I will be with you always'.
'Then just speak to him in the same way
you're doing with me right now.'
'So, I tried it and I've liked it so much
that I do it a couple of hours every day.
I'm careful though. If my daughter saw me talking
to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown
or send me off to the funny farm.'
The minister was deeply moved by the story and
encouraged the old man to continue on the journey.
Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil,
and returned to the church.
Two nights later the daughter called
to tell the minister that her daddy
had died that afternoon.
Did he die in peace?' he asked.
Yes, when I left the house about two o'clock,
he called me over to his bedside,
told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek.
When I got back from the store an hour later,
I found him .
But there was something strange about his death.
Apparently, just before Daddy died,
he leaned over and rested his head on the chair
beside the bed. What do you make of that?'
The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said,
'I wish we could all go like that.'
Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive.
I asked God for water, He gave me an ocean.*
I asked God for a flower, He gave me a garden.*
I asked God for a friend, He gave me all of YOU...
If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it..

Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God.