Hope Triplet

Evil scans
For hope to steal, come

Renew life

The world gasps

For hope like air, come

Lord Jesus

My life cries

For hope like bread, come  

Savior, fill 

Our hearts thirst

For hope like water

Come, afresh

---- 

Joy shines in darkness, 

His presence renews my joy,

my soul is drawn to Him. 

When I feel the weight of evil 

and see the enemy's hatred and rage; 

His joy remains my strength

-Bruce S. 

Advent 2025

My Faith is weak
A candle nearly snuffed out
I need a living flame,
A body to encourage me.

Oh, come, Savior
This Advent I need
And from that need a child of hope is born in me
Again;

The Everlasting One
That I know that I know
I have sought this before /here you come again /rescuing with your love

Haikus of hope

Heightened, holding a 

Tentative taut twine of hope 

Clutching, releasing

--

Cautious steps

Of hope, fear hovers;

Fragile bloom

---

Disappointment is

A heavy burden of grief 

Sad futility 

--

Feeling the 

warmth of sunshine; a

moment's gift 

---

Transformed by

Inviting changed mind

Surrender

River remembrance (2024)

I'm by the river

One bridge of lit concrete,

One bridge of light, 

The reflection, a false

Horizon.

I'm alone here

Maybe just where I'm supposed to be.

-----------------------------------------------

Murky stank, but you can't 

Smell it in the pictures of the moon peaking, the river's cadence...

Faded intent, sad gleams, 

I've got so little in me 

its an instinct, a response.

Incredible, the support, 

I should have taken a picture.

If Dick could have seen that... 

so many turned up. So many cared.

Even when you were hard to be around, sometimes- 

Still, the river drifts on.

I am calmed, I am 

Claimed. 

Sure recommendations for a one day at a time life

I don't recommend wanting

or hoping

because you're sure to be disappointed

but I also don't recommend numbing

or giving up

because you're alive and made for living

what is there to do? 

One day at a time 

Moment by moment 

Grieve

             Share

                            Cry

Hold yourself in a cocoon of compassion

One day at a time 

Moment by moment 

Daily dose of sunshine 

Deep breaths to fend off the doubts and fear 

One day at a time 

Moment by moment 

Being present to the thoughts, feelings and emotions in your body 

One day at a time 

Moment by moment 

Twenty years - you betcha!

A blooger, a blogger, a booger 

Almost the 20th anniversary; two decades of writing these occasional inspirations 

Overflowing to the modern outlet, the cacophony estuary of the internet 

Inspired by a professor assigning extra credit if we "try out this new medium" 

And does it still stand? Yes, and no, 

We've got X and Insta, Youtube and TikTok and whatever is coming next, 

We've got to communicate that's the thing

Cave walls, tablets of stone, papyrus, printing press, newspaper, mail, electronic mail.... 

We've got to share to be alive, even if it's just with ourselves

We live in glory days, my fingers funneling focus (fragmented) - ciphering it through code into HTML into the world. Why a glory, what a mystery, 

Here we are- 20 more to go? 

Death in this house

This morning, a chipmunk beneath the kitchen sink

Months before, a mouse at the back door rug

A year ago, his body found on the floor

And before that? I know not; being born and dying happened at home,

So commonplace the endings and beginnings of this vapor life.

Why so much toil and tumult?

When the house has quietly stood for 85 years, unweighted by the suffering plaguing the children of men

Can I release it to the one who holds it all together, 

Holding faith that in the crashing markets and blockaded lands,

He'll never let go.

Even the chipmunks days were marked and spent well in their own glory. 

Couldn't I try to do the same? 

Greeting death as the doorway, not the enemy

To the true rest our sick bodies and stretched minds long for?

You know not when he will come; 

Welcome.