Feeling like an Acorn

There are those times when I just feel like an acorn. Times like these.
I do see the growth that is occurring within me. But as many have said recently in my job groups, the process of networking and personal growth takes so long!!!!

what I find amazing is that within that little acorn which has a compact octagonal shape is great storehouse of potential just ready to crack open and set down that first root and then from there grow a strong trunk and wide reaching boughs and onto those boughs form little arms with leaves sprouting from them. It can take 50 to 100 years to grow such a tree. All from a tiny acorn.

Lord, help me have the patience that I need to nurture my oak sapling and the other saplings that are in the forest of job or personal transformation. Let me water them with kind words and appreciative deeds so that a great canopy can cover us in this life.

Living in Advent

This is the time of year for the advent season. Churches celebrate advent for the 4 sundays prior to Christmas and then celebrate the fifth week on Christmas day or Christmas weekend.

As each candle is lit, we are being reminded of the importance of the four symbols that the wreath represents. The 4 four candles represent hope, peace, joy and love.
What a special way for us to remember this very special holiday for us as believers.
The warmth and the arrival of the aromas, flavors, and sounds of the season are very special and bring many people from all over the world together.

As we await for the Lord to come and whatever lens we look through this truth: from the Old Testament prophet or to the New Testament believer, may we approach Christmas day with that exciting anticipation.
As 2 Cor. 9:15 states, "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift." In Him benefits spring forth from the eternal life that we are seeking.
Jesus has been called the light of the world. For one gentle flicker of his light and the sound of His Word transforms the depths of darkness into a spring of everlasting life.

From the first century wisemen that traveled from afar in the East to grant the new King Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Let us rejoice and be glad. That He has been given to us.
For that eternal life and that hope, joy, peace, and love often missing in our world.

Sustaining the weary voices and hearts of His visitors.
To stroll in that eternal dance of life.
Warmly embracing the King of Kings.

For just as God touched the shepherds, angels, and wisemen, let us do likewise on our advent journeys.

For Christmastime is more than a day to light candles, sing songs, and unwrap presents. It is a time to present our lives to Jesus and for Him to unwrap us as well.

Treasure it with your families.
Remember that God is with us!!

Incarnate.
Emmanuel.
Let us celebrate the eternal life of our servant King.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.


Struggling to open that door to Jesus as in Rev. 3:20.

Does the tide fight life

When I look at the ebb and flow of our human relationships, I think back to the tide coming in from the ocean. The gentle flow of the ripples upon the waters approaches the shore and the water crests over.

The journey

Life begins with small steps. Mine began in such a way. Life has a series of wanderings with those first steps becoming giant ones. Some announced on the air with Neil Armstrong's first imprint on the moon and others subtle changes.
In our world, the first step is often the hardest. Some more difficult than others.
For me it was this way.

For I was wired in a unique manner, in that of a mystery to be entangled of how I was to operate in this world. For I was born with a portion of my brain not developed at birth and the self=starting mechanism was not there. A little more involved than replacing a spark plug on a car. For the human is a very complex person. But that stubborn spark did come to life and thus my personality and personhood was born. (anew)

For we all face handicaps and hardships in our lives, and what makes me unique to others is not really a matter of being different per se but created and designed for a purpose.

To give one a better view, glance back at the Christmas story told throughout the last two centuries.
We have Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. Mary is found to be pregnant with God's son.
For when Jesus was born, they had to flee to Egypt to avoid Herod and his gang. For hardship was facing Him and His family at that very moment. Making him very handicapoed by the surroundings and dependent on others for his well being.
Yet, the family did all they could by making the alternate route to Egypt.
And followed through with the various struggles with the temptation in the desert and other thwarts along the way. What kept Jesus on track was the knowledge of his identity.

My hardships while not like those of our King were still hardships. When I look back at my journey for these forty plus years, I have hit some mines that seemed steep to climb up and down. But each of these has made me stronger as I will illustrate. And helped me to form my identity as well.

When I was born, I had arrested hydrocephalus and a series of defects that made it harder for me to learn and grow. Yet, these did not stop me at all. I kept moving forward and did not give in for a moment. I learned through speech therapy in the phonetic approach where I dissected the way words were constructed and became in love with the English language and learning.

For I can understand the hardships that one can face in life and I am not afraid to take on the challenges that it does offer. These indeed have made me stronger. As that saying goes, what does not kill me will indeed make me stronger!!

In our lives, it is always important to have moments of recess in our lives where we can reflect and think on what our lives have to offer. It is important to slow down and savor what life has to offer. Just as a great sauce takes a long time to flavor or a great hot dog to become crisp and tasty, so it is with life.

Maine has been such a place to me as I have gone to the edge of the Shore as many famous people such as Rachel Carson have done to reflect on what is important in life. Maine has been a sanctuary for me in that I have been able to recharge my batteries so I am not so taken aback from what has assaulted me through this life.

For this is what the apostle Peter had happen to him when he faced a crossroads in his life as he was about to go fishing yet Jesus invited him back to a hot cooked buffet of fish for breakfast and an assurance that his love has never left at all.

And what has indeed happened that Christmas morning when the shepherds and angels announced his birth. A new and welcome beginning. Let us remember that we have those new starts all the time. Let us look at the wow factor.

When I look back on my journey through this life, I have these wow moments as I describe some of what I have been through. For I can say, I actually have lived this or that scenario in my life. Especially as I have shared my journeys of three consecutive buses and a brief 5 to 25 minute hike to get to some of my destinations.
We all need to do this for we all have those wow moments in our lives.

We are heroes who can celebrate life.
When I was recently at the grand opening of the Easter Seals Autsim and Developmentally delayed center in Stamford, I recalled to those there that I was a poster child for the agency some 46 years ago. I overcame a lot and I applauded the heroes of the caregivers and parents and clients in the room who have done the very same theme.
When we realize how far we have overcome, we can indeed reach out to others and not be ashamed of what we have actually accomplished. It is actually a miracle as we take the small steps which are actually giant leaps for mankind. For as we branch out of our comfort zone, we are actually building bridges into one another's lives.
That is key and essential. That is the value of transparency to our souls so we don't become stagnant at all.

Now stand up and take pride in how we all are making those advances for mankind and watch for those who are following close behind you in this journey called life.
Live it to the fullest.

The Advent Path

Walk with me through the woods of time.
The forest of those trees of which we can cling to and enjoy their presence.
From which presidential palaces are built
And mangers made of wood
to House royalty
awaited from dawn.

Not recognized
Yet revered from afar.

May we take those gentle steps towards
the manger land.
that path which our hearts direct.

Blessings as we are drawn to one another!!

Happy Advent!! to the Advent..ure of it all!!

Land of Entrapment

For so many years, Maine has had the same slogan and nickname. I think as the perennial mayor of this state, we should call it the land of the many fingers. I have looked at the map of the state of Maine and have seen so many little islands jutting out from the coast. For the shore extends for miles.
In the hand of the fingers, Detective Cousleau holds the crown jewel and must be careful not to lose it. Often he bungled the capers that he investigated. This is what has sometimes happened with the state bungling the beauty of the land.
I know that the state has had long standing nicknames of the pine tree state or vacation land, but why not change it to give it the flair of attraction. It deserves that fresh new coat of paint.
As one drives along the coast of Maine towards Canada, it is called going DownEast. When I look at the map of the state of Maine, it looks like someone holding a trophy up and capturing the beauty asking the beholder to view and be raptured by its beauty.

Imagine going only 300 to 400 miles from anywhere in the NorthEast and enjoying the land of the many fingers. It would greatly save on the airfare to Bermuda or St. Croix. There are many reasons besides the money to be saved to go to Maine as your get-a-way. First, there is the natural beauty that it offers. Where else can you go in the world where you can see the rugger Mainers working on the coast pulling their lobster traps and the boat builders working on the skiffs and yachts to go down the gangplank into the water for their maiden voyages. For many such people do such a thing. Tourism is a big business for the state accounting for 7% of the gross state product. It contributes $2.5 billion. One article treated this industry as an export industry. This happens through the visitation of the tourists to our state. As the potential mayor, I would educate the visitors of the importance of living on the land and enjoying the quaint aspects of it. Taking the time to sit on the porches to enjoy the slowing down of the traffic on the Sheepscot River and the gulls returning home to their nightly rock.

For the youth at summer time, they sail the bays and inlets that are outlined by these little fingers. When one goes to the shore, the young adults form regattas at the local yacht club and sail in front of the summer rental cottages. Our family saw many of these races up close in front of our cottage and it was always an exciting time to see what they learned at the time.
These 5 fingers can fit perfectly in the glove of your hand. The land of the perfect fit.

There are the stops along the way of the blueberries that people can pick from the side of the road. I saw many a car as my dad drove along the country lane of Route 27 towards Boothbay Harbor, and occasionally, there were stands at the side of the road of people selling their wares.

Yet, if one wanted to go to the casino, they can always escape to and gamble and enjoy the limelight of gambling. Yet that does not reflect the true character of Maine. There should be a law that protects the beauty of Maine. Just as there are laws that protect the sanctity of animals, why not protect the beauty. Many areas have lost the general nature of Maine.
Our rural vacation spot at Pratt's Island at the tip of Southport Island on the western side was compromised recently by the building of mcmansions. One such one is 17,884 square feet for a summer enclave for artists on almost six acres of shorefront. The Pratt's Island that I know gets accessed by a rickety one lane bridge that creeks when the car goes over it-requiring one to hold their breath on the journey. To get a glance of this new devlelopment all you need to do is to look at the recent October issue of Down East magazine and read about this creation.

While there is a beauty still from my memories of the seven summers on the island, the beginning of my first romance, progress can take away from the rustic beauty that our family was so used to. Being used to five rooms is fine that get heated by the evening fire. The draft that blows through the cracked doorways is part of the charm of a rustic Maine cottage.

These kinds of tourism are gentle and can be found apart from the large tour bus crowds. While a more elaborate casino may be great, there are moments to enjoy that I have remembered from so long ago.

So, I would definitely petition the state legislature and congress to change the designation of Maine as the Finger State. For she definitely has many of them and each one can lure you into an adventure close to her lap. Come sit down and enjoy the story of being entrapped in the splendor of Maine.

Advanced Drawing.

When I was a child, I made attempts at drawing. I remember being in Mr. Lambert's art class in junior high and getting assistance with drawing a cat on a big tan piece of paper. I drew with crayon or colored pencil and colored the image. I had it in my art portfolio which I shared at that time with some of the people that I knew at the time. Not something that I was tremendously proud of. Kept the portrait of the cat for a while. She may still be rolled up in a ball somehow to be discovered later and maybe to auctioned off for millions of dollars.

Drawing has many meanings in life. Tomorrow, I am off to have a vial of blood drawn for the basic cholesterol testing. At least not the full drawn testing for the pituitary tests in the past.
Then there are times when we get older and we may draw some blanks. Imagine how that gets done. I can barely draw that straight line. I surely could be an expert in drawing a blank, but it is not something that I would be very proud of though. So I will keep thinking hard--to draw out those neurons and those connections. And when I have another 20 years of work ahead of me, that may be one of those rewards to look forward to.

Drawing Conclusions is what we are to do when we make decisions. I wonder what a conclusion would look like on a canvas. For they can be rather lengthy and as my professor , Dr. John D, in Science and Faith at the New England School of Theology says, "Scott, try to keep it brief and simple and to the point."
Yet, I do like to make the connections and can be rather exhaustive, even to the teacher. But I like to keep the neurons firing away in the chamber of my mind as long as it remains active.
Now I better try to be exhaustive before I exhaust myself out!!!!

For another time, there is that play on the word, "exhaust."

one half century of Blogging!!!

Here I am. At the amazing 500th post. Hard to imagine from the very nascent beginnings of 2003 from my old HP computer that I have come this far!!!
Life has its twists and turns from the very beginnings of Triumph. Many moments of victory and moments of defeat. Of the exhilerating highs and the lows that accompany our lives.
It is tough at times to open up the soul and reveal what is inside of it. I regard it sometimes as very fragile and delicate. That which has happened to it needs to be kept in the shell. Secluded and safe.

But here I am on the precipice to climb into another 500 posts to bless and encourage and express frustrations and challenges as I seek to find the way everlasting each and every day. Inching closer to the cross of Christ. Where there is no suffering or shame at all. Since He went ahead of us and I need to march in that direction and not in the direction of anyone else!!!

The Amazing all One day!!

Today is a rare day in the calendar. The digits for today are 11-1-11. All ones. Definitely signifying Victory. A great attitude and one of never giving up in life!!!!!

Let us celebrate as we have 5 minutes left of this historic day!!!
How did you celebrate?

Weather forgot its daytimer

Here we are in the middle of the fall season, and part of Connecticut receives a foot and a half of snow and church services are being cancelled a day ahead and the governor is declaring a state of emergency. And not even December 21st.

Possibly a confusion in the spinning department of the earth. Or maybe in not ordering enough day timers for the weather Gods. Whatever, it is a funny take on how the world spins.
Yet, even with these jabs, I do know that all is under His control. Especially how the whole earth is held together by His great love for us. Thank you Lord for that!!!

The Brooklyn Bridge

As you tower over the the Hudson River with its waters churning
Letting the traffic float above your shore
Quietly staying awake as the denizens go to sleep
Leaving windows open to the wanderers
Adorned and draped in garland
Peacefully awaiting for the sun to rise again to the bustle of
that morning commute.

Inspired by a photo by Lucia Aschetino

The ending of the dreams

Life sometimes is about endings of what we have dreamed of and what we have hoped would come out of fertile soil. I have experienced my first such loss this summer and it has been teaching me a lot about life and how I am to process what it has been teaching me.
I knew being friends with my special person was going to teach me some valuable lessons but I never expected loss to be one of them. On the news, I frequently have heard of the news of break ups of hollywood stars or of famous sports couples. But for me at the ripe old age of 48, I never thought that I would be in that arena. For the heartache of not being able to hear the laugh of my dear friend or the quirks that I adhered to of not going a step ahead or lock the car door after I got out.
I heard of a book called Necessary Endings and maybe this experience has been fertile soil for me to consider how to be more considerate and learn how to set and establish boundaries. I have learned that I need to be responsible and pay attention to the small details of where a movie is and to know the exact time of the showing of that movie. I have also learned to enjoy all kinds of food from McDonalds to the Diner to the Olive Garden and the Chinese restaurant. Of being able in a moments notice to be swept into a Home Depot or Walmart during the storm of Irene looking for double D batteries or the like. And of not going to Super Duper Weenie for the hot dog special.
Of being able to see movies of suspense and adventure and to identify key areas of our lives in the dialogue from the screen.
Lessons that I have learned that I have heard often but now it is on my front stoop of my heart and of which I will bring into the next close friendship that I want to develop. Relationships are about the give and take of our lives. Fresh water being deposited on the beachfronts of our lives and the swoosh of surf spray as it leave s the shore. Gulls overhead in symphony with the crows making their sounds and their cries.
Oh for those times to return. Oh for me to be patient and to learn to trust. To learn to sing a new ode with someone else. Taking more of a control and melding of faith into the relationship. Of being able to equal alongside but linked to the almighty- almost like a tripod.

For I am valued by Him and want to express that value to others as well.
For now I can add loss to the column of my life in a love that I was slowly trying to nurture and of which I will continue as I reach out to others to bring them slowly to the warm embrace of life. To dance that dream and that hope. Of the eternal joys found in the Eternal City of life. So let us dance and feel the joy sweep our hearts. As we await our names to called anew. To be brought into the continual daily dance, whether held by arms or by the Spirit itself. Renewed forevermore.

The priceless value of our friends

Life consists of random steps. We take them every day. Through the unfamiliar at first. In both territory and person. This is when the most valuable of these friends have appeared. Let me take you through a quick and inspiring journey and how I have found them to be.

When I was a freshman at college, I met one of my best friends who I have stayed in touch with since that first day of freshman orientation at Bellarmine Gardens. For the past 24 years, we have traveled often and gotten together at our 5 year class reunions and at holiday gatherings as well. And have united during moments of pain and tragedy as well.

Another random gathering of a friendship was at the bus stop after work when I met Andreaya. Just a chance encounter to discuss and talk about life and faith. Finding out we were in the same neighborhood and shared the common faith in God. Our friendship has taken me into new realms of concert promotion and even the city for an evening at a jazz club. And it has brought my heart to Africa as I have learned how their culture lives as I have worked on the small assignments. Challenges have arisen but they have given me insights to remain stronger as a result.

And then there was the friendship with a writer who I discovered one winter evening as I read an editorial in the daily news and saw her heart on the page and her compassion for life. Thanks to google, we met up when i responded to her blog and this journey has touched my soul as I have learned how to trust God more in those tough spots of our lives.

Finally, there is the jewel of my current friend who has helped produce an oyster in my life. There are those times in our lives when we don't want to allow the polishing to occur and we may fight and fuss over the minor things and not know exactly what the benefit may be.

That is exactly how friends are. They are sacrificial and lay down their lives for us and we for them. They are the waves that rock over our shoreline--bringing in beauty from the depths of the sea==to be laid down on our shorefront for beach combers to visit.'
And by which we get to walk with God along the shore-sharing the invaluable lessons learned by them along the way.

Friends are Jewels

For the past few months, I have been blessed to share networking time with a very good friend and I have learned that friends are like jewels that are to be treasured and worn around your neck and held in the heart closely.
Little lessons are learned and reinforced from ones youth. To look at the other person.
To call someone by their name.
To keep pace and do simple things like waiting til the car stops before popping out.
Friends are to nudge and encourage and keep ones path straight.
Friends like these go straight to the core of ones being and fertilize the soil of your heart
for greatness to spring forth.

And that can be a benefit and springing forth a gusher of hope with interviews my way and a confident step to my daily walk.
A motivation to live life to the fullest and this post is dedicated to my special friend on her way to greatness in the world.

Remember to cherish and nurture your friends in all that you do!!!

my love of Maine tied to family.

I love Maine. Maine is like a simple outfit that hangs on a woman beautifully covering the shoulders and gracefully making her very beautiful. A very welcome time spent away from the routine of the tryanny of the previous year. The school year always seemed like a marathon but I always looked forward to the reunions we had with our family and friends and the treasures that arose from our everyday life on the shore.

A good place to lose track of time as it suspends itself and nothing seems impossible.

I dance in Maine in the imagination of my surf. I find it a magical place where the sea dramatically meets the shore in a very personal way. I walked to the water's edge often at the North Shore beach as I walked through the forest behind our cottage and heard the soft moss underneath my feet squish at times from the wetness of the leaves. Seeing the light spreading her wings through the forest.

I looked out at the horizon. I skipped the rocks at the beach. My cousin Bruce taught me one summer the exact flick of the wrists that I needed to get the rocks to glide smoothly across the water. Causing bouncing ripples across the surface of the waters.
Once I was shown this secret place hidden behind our cottage, I kept going back and skipping the rocks in that very secluded and private spot to be enjoyed often. Many times, I regretted not being aware of the sanctuary that was behind the woods. But thankful for the curiosity of my cousins, Bruce and Carol, who brought joy to the summers we spent together.

Another fun time with family was when Uncle Lenny and Betty showed up for a week. My dad and mom and I invited them out on an excursion on our 16 foot motorboat. My father warned Uncle Lenny that it could be rough on the bow of the boat, but he bravely sat up there anyway. One day, when we were on the water, there was a rough wave that our boat swallowed and then let loose over the surface of the bow getting Uncle very wet and causing him to dive under cover.

We had my dad's sister often over at our cottage for a lobster meal or a night of meatloaf or spaghetti and meatballs cooked by my mom. One time, we went to a lobster pier outside and Aunt Marion was eating her hotdog and a seagull swooped down and took her dog from her bun. Aunt Marion said, "that poor scroundel took my dog." It was rather humorous at the time causing us to laugh and have a fond rememberance of that time.
She brought her pug dog often and Aunt Marion and the dog stayed at the camp of one of her cousins. We visited her small cabin that she had and often sat in chairs reminiscing over growing up in the 1930's in Maine.

Many times we celebrated the sea by just sitting out and watching the sunset go down over the water's edge and catching a glimpse of the warm afterglow spread across the sky painting a very vivid picture of what it was like. And we saw the birds make their evening migration to their gull rock. A very methodical commute to and from the rocks they hovered over.

Many times we walked along the docks observing the ships moored along the harbor after we had our dinner at
Boothbay Harbor. We walked the footbridge and ate our cones and cups of ice cream at the Roundtop stand. We stayed outside as the sun set and we saw the deep dark blue of the water disappear over time.

One year, we had a very rough summer with 14 straight days of fog and we never knew when it would lift. During this time, we explored many of the nooks and crannies that Maine is known for. The state is carved up and whittled into little fingers that jut out of the land. It is known as Down East and the further that one goes along the shore towards the North, Mainers say that
"you are going down East."

Our final activity that we shared as a family before we sold our house was a trip on the Windjammer, the Victory Chimes. My dad and my brother Randy and I took an excursion that summer for 4 magical days at sea. We ate the home cooking of the captain's cook and we sat along the edge of the boat as we listened to the strumming of the guitar against the lapping of the waters against the boat. We lifted the sails many times manually and then on the last day, the crew flipped a switch and the sails lifted automatically.

I only wish that we had that time to live each and every day, but my Aunt, my father and even Uncle Lenny are no longer around but the fun times and antics often bring a smile to my mind as I face the tyranny of the current day not knowing what will be around the corner.

Neighborhoods

We all grow up in neighborhoods. Some of them are quite idyllic and others can be quite the bustle of the town in the summer time.
Life on Margemere Drive in Fairfield was such a place. When our family moved there, we settled in at our house near the end of the cul-de-sac. We had several large barking dogs on either side of the street. On one side of the street, we had a loud beagle named, Trouble, belonging to a Doctor Samuelson and on the other side of the street, we had a yippy dog. And one of our neighbors next to us constantly had pool parties with 30 kids and parents yelling and splashing in and out of the pool. Causing us to worry about the safety of their kids as we tried to sit out and enjoy our rarely used back porch.
This series of noises led us to escape to our paradise in Maine, our second neighborhood, of which I have shared much with my audiences of this blog.

Margemere Drive was lined with lavender forsythia bushes and beautifully blooming dogwood and japanese maple trees that flowed smoothly into one another from above.

It was on this street that I learned how to ride my two wheel bike on my own after several weeks of my dad running behind me on the bike so I would not fall off. After the two weeks, I was not going to get any more help and I had to bravely hop on the bike and put on my helmet and ride around the street. I never did get off the street but that first time when I could balance myself was very exciting and freeing. And I would ride around for hours enjoying myself greatly even when I fell down to the pavement several times.

Our house at 166 Margemere was nestled down in a little valley. In the wintertime, I used to slide down the driveway when it was not fully shoveled and I also sled down the back yard. It was especially beautiful when we had a crust of snow and ice in the backyard. I would put on my boots and head out to the garage to get my red flyer sled and sit on the sled and go down the backyard until the snow stopped the blades from gliding forward. The trees glistened with the snow on them and occasionally some snow would fall off the trees and fall onto my face.
I would do this for an hour at times and then put away my sled and come back into the house for a cup of hot cocoa.

It was also on this street that I walked to the corner of the street to catch my school bus to my elementary, junior and senior high schools. I lugged my bookbag up and down this street many times and I grew up while I was on this street going through my adolescence and emerged into adulthood. And on this street that I invited my first friend , Barbara,from elementary school to share some times with our family.

Inside our home, my mom tenderly decorated the house with warm wallpaper with flowers on it and plush carpeting throughout. We had plants hanging in every room and it would take mom several hours a week to tenderly take care of the plants for she had a green thumb and extended it to the gardens around the outside of our home.
Pictures of seascapes and birds hung on the walls and mirrors were on the walls that extended the reach of the rooms.

It was always inviting to come home after my days at school and to smell the aroma of fresh cooking coming from the kitchen. Whether it was the homemade meatloaf or spaghetti and meatballs or the chicken stir fry that was simmering on the stove.
I was the chief table setter and I got the napkins out and the silverware from the silverware drawer. And the milk glasses and the condiments for the table.
In the kitchen there was a brown bar stool that I would sit at while my mom cooked and looked out and saw the birds flying to the bird feeder and the squirrels making their attempt to swing from the roof of the garage and land precariously on the bird feeder itself, sometimes to awkwardly fall off of it.
When my dad came home each day from work, mom dished us the food from the stove and we carried it into the dining room to sit down and have our evening meal and to discuss what went on during our days.
I also did quite a few chores along our property from the edging of the walk to the mowing of the grass and the shoveling of the snow.
And also I began to try out for the home basketball team by playing with the backboard that my dad set up but never did make it to the big leagues with all the tosses I made to the skies which often bounced back to the ground never making the net.


Our lawn care professional loved our street and especially our house and when Tim saw the view from our kitchen window, he knew that this would be the home that he wanted in the future. When it came time for us to make a move, we contacted Tim and he took us up on the offer.

So this sense of neighborhood extends to where we lived both on a street and also in our home itself. Both provided a great sense of neighborhood. Even though we never really knew our neighbors well except for when we had to call late to a neighbor to quiet a yipping dog, it did also extend to future neighborhoods for me in the wild blue yonder of Maine.

Creating the Bucket List

It is a scary trying to form a bucket list. There are many things that I want to try but involve a great deal of risk. Many times I go about my day using the contraction of "can't." It occurred this morning when I was presented the idea of selling a product and I responded to the automatic red flag of no as I began to make excuses. I must learn to live outside of the box which requires a great deal of risk.
I have many friends in my network that are willing to help me launch out new ideas and I need to engage them with me in this process.

In such circumstances,I must go to the bow and arrow store and grab a set that will innoculate the no beasts and make me immune to them. To just say Yes and not be so afraid. I need to make that self-imposed no to have no life at all. To make it extinct. I need to declare to the world that I CAN do all things. It is in the Scriptures all over the place, especially in Philipians 4:19 which states, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." While I won't be jumping off of planes or buildings with a parachute anytime soon, I can be open to the idea if it was presented to me.

There are three risks that I need to defeat in my life. The first is fear of the unknown. Right now, I am facing the fear of not knowing what is going to happen with my situation of employment. I do see glimmers of hope within the horizon. I am being given an opportunity to learn QuickBooks as I help update a local church for their audit. I also have had the opportunity this summer to be an intern with a local ministry that is holding their benefit in New York City. Now that is something that requires a great deal of faith.

Which brings me to the next lesson about risk. Being willing to step out of my comfort zone. I have had to learn many lessons along the way in getting to the methods of free event planning. After 10 days, I stumbled upon Zvents.com which allows me to announce the event to a wider audience. I also have mastered most of Constant Contact and have a fairly good working knowledge of the way it works. I have found that the technical aspect of learning the job at my own pace has brought me some more confidence. Now I will learn how to present the concert and missions to several local businesses to see if they will promote the attractive black and yellow post card.

The final lesson that this brings is that I must be willing to climb out of the boat and have faith to walk on the water. Or from a lesson that I learned as a 15 year old as I was in the middle of Cozy Harbor in Maine and ended up in the middle of the harbor without an oar lock. Having to ply the heavy waters with the big bulky wooden oar. Taking a very long time to row that boat. But knowing that dinner was waiting at home and being determined to make it back to shore and not stay in the middle of the harbor feeling sorry about myself. It all boils down to having perserverence. Something I am currently trying to learn and master!!That can take a lifetime but it is well worth it!!!

A good analogy is that of a puzzle box. Normally when you go to the store to buy a jigsaw puzzle, it is neatly shrink-wrapped and has the solution on the cover. Ye, life is not this way. We get pieces that are not always cut to size and we must work with what we have been given.
The key to any endeavor is to have the willingness to have the support of your friends with whatever you undertake for they can help lift you up out of any uncertainty that one may be facing.

Random thoughts

The rain clings to the outside of the sleeve to my arm and it is damp and clammy.

I went to an exhibit last night at a local gallery. The artist loved to work with architecture and we had a chance to play with several of his blocks with patterns on them. I got to make my own designs in which the lines matched. And sometimes, they did not match at all.

It can be rather fun to match the designs up. There are not as many combinations as the rain which falls from the sky. Those raindrops may or may not match at all. Yet, they form a constant dampness upon ones arm. Yet, they dry off fairly well.

The shuttle took off last morning and I got to see the lift off live just as I did on the original lift off on April 12, 1981. The first one was on Easter Sunday morning. On the last launch, I was at my potential new employer who has a big screen television in his office and it was good seeing all of the smoke and thrust going up into space. Last night on CSPAN television, there was a lot of discussion on the effectiveness of the program and the next steps that NASA is going to take.

It seems a hard challenge to build a spacecraft that will go to an asteroid, the planet Mars or the Moon. Doable maybe. I really enjoyed watching and following the shuttle era. I am going to miss it. Yet, I did not always walk around watch each launch and landing as they happened. They became almost commonplace for me.

I was there and present when they relaunched after the Challenger accident since I was in the job market looking for work after being let go from my first job. And I was there to see on television several other key launches.

But I guess it is time for a change and maybe change for the better.

Time Travel

On Memorial day, I got to travel through space and time!!!
Zoom back to the past and then onto the future.

Two weeks prior, I entered a drawing for a 6 pass ticket for the intrepid Air and Space Museum.
Last Wednesday when I was researching some jobs and checking email, I heard the reference librarian leave a message for the winner of the tickets to the Intrepid. Wondering if it was me, I asked. She said no. I quickly forgot about it.
When I was home 24 hours later, I received a phone call stating that I was the lucky winner of these tickets.

I have a tendency to win these things from the time I won an on air $1,008 on WEBE108 for being the 8th caller, to circuses and other fascinating prizes. When I called my mom to tell her the great news, she says that usually happens for me.

I quickly got onto it and called my long time friend from University days and told her of the good news and if she wanted to go with her family. I got a quick yes and at the end of the day, the party of 6 was booked.

Getting started that morning took a little while since there was a nasty thunder and lightning storm. A few minutes before I left to catch the train, my friend called and said " Better wait a few hours before the storm passes. Watched weather channel for a bit and then when the storm calmed down and houses stopped shaking, we rendevouzed our ways towards the train to meet up in Greenwich and then onto Grand Central. I was instructed to catch the first carriage and then my friends could meet me there. As the train pulled up to the track, it was moving way too fast. What I did was hop into the middle carriage and then called my friends and said, "I am in the middle carriage." At Greenwich, my friend Phil hopped onto the next carriage and found me and I walked back one. Even with the carriage reference going back to the reference of England.

When we got to the Intrepid, the line was quite long. When I asked where do the library patrons go to go through the line, we
were whisked through the VIP line and were able to flow right through;thus, not getting stuck in that wonderful heat and humidity.
The Intrepid was massive when looking up at it from the street level and the command deck was positioned directly on top of the boat. It was painted in green and grey paint and had a big white 7 on the boat. From the upper deck, we could see the skyline of New York City well and down by the water was the British Concorde at the dock. A big narrow red and white plane parked in its parking place neatly. Looking almost like how Captain Sully parked his plane onto the same Hudson River that the Concorde was sitting next to.


We saw many old planes that were in the hanger of the Intrepid and they were painted in bright blues, yellows, whites and reds and black. There were several long planes with wide wings and a small cockpit window. Some of them looked very similar to the ones that I saw in a Stratford Air show of the Corsairs a few years back. But these were on the deck of the USS Intrepid, the same deck that saw much of the fighting during the Pacific Theatre of World WarII.
We lined up in front of several screens and there was a film with some footage from Kamakaze days. The red sirens went off and the alarms rang too with the announcement of all hands on deck. Also, there was smoke that filled the deck as if the actual fight was going on. Soldiers who used to be on the boat spoke of the great effort some of the 69 men made who died while serving our country.
Being fleet week, there was another large aircraft carrier parked at the next dock of the Intrepid. At first when I heard fleet week, I thought it was going to be windjammer type boats sailing along the Hudson River. But no, it was the BIG War boats.

We saw one of the 95 year old men sitting in his wheel chair in a bright yellow t=shirt that served on the blue plane. He posed for our photographs and talked a little bit of the experience. His arms were narrow but well worn from his years of service and his enthusiasm beamed forth for what he had done with the service to our country. Especially on Memorial day to see that and to see all the men and women walking proudly around the city Streets with their heads held high in their uniforms. As the song by James Greenwood comes true, "I am proud to be an American for I know I am free!"


Looking at the missiles and the boating gear from this era inspired me and made me thankful on Memorial Day for the sacrifices that our men and women in our Armed Force made for our country to be free.

Later on, we were whisked away to Mars. On a space shuttle onto the Red Planet for dinner. Several times during the day, the special dinner was hinted. When I heard we were taking a shuttle , I was wondering was this going to be like they do it in the movies or not with special ships to restaurants. We got to the Mars 2112 building and it looked ordinary on the outside.
When we arrived, we had our own private trip to the Red Planet in our shuttle with the announcing and descriptions of the trip. When we arrived to the Planet Mars and the doors to our shuttle were opened, we were greeted by the Martians and commanders of the Planet.

We were seated at a big round table and we ate our meal nestled in a red grotto. The seats were silver and red. Several of the space aliens were walking around and shook our hands as they greeted us without words. My friends daughter, Willow, loved it and bounced around and bonded with CutePie. Cutepie alternated with sadness and great joy when hand gestures covering her face or bouncing them outward towards Willow in a hug. The huge webbed hands were soft and smooth to shake. Very welcoming of us and also a little reticent also. But they get many intergalactic visitors each and every day.
It was a joy to see life during this time travel from a 6 year old's perspective. It is good practice for when I visit my niece in Minnesota as she graduates from elementary school at the age of 12. There is so much wonder with the youth and to capture it only for 1/2 day is so precious. And for the first time meeting her as well.

As I was seated at the round table, I pulled out my cell phone and called my mom like I did when I was at Yankee Stadium once. I told Mom I am on Mars for dinner. She did not quite know what to make of it. I had to explain later on in the evening what I meant for my humor is not always great-even in the reality of the moment!!!

Mars 2112 was covered in Red Rock and there were screens showing vast expanses of wasteland of green and blue hazy atmospheres and beautiful orange and yellow sunsets and sunrises. There was music on Mars and it sounded a lot like the music here on earth. Yet, our aliens could not lip synch the music somehow.

At the end of the journey, we went through the land of the red rock and passed a sign saying, welcome back to earth. Not as exciting as the arrival in our space ship. But returning to earth was good as I have much to do. A quick way to go to Mars while still being grounded on earth but somehow transported by the imagination into the future while being in the present moment.

A definite fun way to spend the day traveling back to the time of war and then forward to the future. Seeing how life was lived and also how life could be lived in the 22nd century. Imagine how our citizens of the world would have felt back in 1945 if we told them what is happening now.

A good way to view life of going from one part of the world to the next-always in anticipation of what is in store for us.

For I am definitely proud to be an American for I know I am free. For the red blood and sacrifice of our soldiers even at this very moment. Willing to fight for us earthlings and aliens as well.

Sailing out of the doldrums of life.

It has been a while since I have written this piece. Taking up the keyboard and moving the words of life for others to hear, ponder, and listen to.
I spoke to John, a friend of mine, and he mentioned how we need to look at the moving parts of thought and argument. We also need to look at how life is constructed and built. Especially when sometimes the puzzle pieces of our lives get tossed out of the box and mixed up with the pieces of many others on one big pile.

That is where passion comes in when we take the uniqueness that each of us has been given and infused with the creativity, we can find and enhance how those pieces will end up. The original 1,000 pieces won't be in that box minted in 2010 minted with the brand of company X. But those pieces of our lives will influence many other folk in our society.

Imagine what an impact we can have if we take some creativity that we have and move some of these pieces around and create great pieces of art. Art that emerges with our mind and our souls on the front of a page.

I am not a huge fan of the moving piece of not being at the desk at Pepe's but I have seen a world bigger than I ever thought possible. A world that is filled with wonderful people that so many corporations are missing out on. A world that I am dying to help and a world that I hope I will get to know real well in the coming months. Of igniting a big firestorm of talent in the region so that people will feel good at themselves.

To look on the top of the tapestry and not being stuck under it. To see the fine needlepoint and pattern that emerges.
Tangles do exist underneath but there is great beauty when viewed from above~~~~

Be blessed until next time.. For more inspiration, stay tuned and glued to your seats~~~

Finding the Puzzle pieces

To my fellow toastmasters and friends, here is a snapshot of my life seen through the lens of my work, faith and love of the coast of Maine.


The constant rhythm of footsteps from out of the house to the curb of the bus and then on through several curbs and greetings. A constant pattern of day to day. From dances of umbrellas and jackets.

I awoke one of those mornings. I headed out the door with my bag fully organized and ready to tackle various unresolved pieces to the puzzle of my work with Karen, my interim boss. I went about that morning with my ordinary routine of going to the warehouse for the customer returns and opening up my red and yellow lipton tea bag and pouring the heated water and the sugar packets into it. I began to process the dozen credits and laid them on their backs to print them shortly thereafter.

Suddenly I was summoned into my boss's office to be handed the news that my 20 years were over on that bright June Monday morning on the eve of my 47th birthday. I only had ten minutes to retrieve what I regarded as important and say my final farewells from a distance and place the piles of organized work back on my desk never to see them again.
Then I was ushered back home in a yellow New Haven Cab only a mere 3 hours from when I departed my apartment to take the 3 bus commute to work.

That moment has taken me on quite a journey that I am beginning to appreciate. At first, the reaction to this new journey is how could this have happened to me after so many years of faithful service.

I lost the box of my 500 piece puzzle that I was fairly close to solving. For the picture was becoming a little clearer. I was getting used to solving those pieces and had begun to develop a rythymn in doing so. So I rode in reverse in the cab with the taste of the tepid tea in my mouth and the memories and views becoming distant in the rearview mirror of my time at Schrier and Bunzl.

These were somehow the puzzle pieces that guided my life. Pieces that came unglued when I was called into the inner sanctum of control that morning to receive the brusque news. News that wounded me and made it very hard to take the next steps for quite a while. For that mission was aborted and a new one was to begin immediately.

But as I look back over the past 10 months , I see a new view emerging from the rearview window as the hand of God has been in the middle of it. I have gained the equivalent of two decks of cards of contact information that I can begin to unfold and deal forth to myself and others at different times of life. These are not like the gin cards that my dad and I played throughout life. They are a snapshot of the history of my new networking contacts .

For it has been a challenge to maintain a sense of order in this open classroom of life. In which the boundaries of the 60 hours of my routine being yanked out from under me. Yet very frustrating and perplexing at times. As I began to discuss the following Sunday morning at church with Mary, she told me to regard this as a trial retirement and I am regarding this as a well-earned sabbatical that I longed to have. Being able to sleep and wake at whatever schedule I desire and then the times I focus intently on the search itself. But the day trips that I have gone on to meet the new network of contacts have been deeply rewarding.

Besides my work, I am defined by how God sees me. For this came into clearer focus when I was a student at Fairfield University and began to learn how the world of faith intersected one's life in a personal sense. Many times were spent this first year of college sitting in the mess hall and sometimes I had lengthy discussions with my friend Jim Greenwood that I outlined key points discussed on a 3x4 inch white medicine packet. Somewhat scribbly but it kept me focused as I assimilated key elements of faith into my mind. For I continued to learn how this puzzle piece of faith would impact my life and then about two years later I became immersed in the waters and the life of my church as a member and went on journeys through the snow, sun and rain on retreats. In the woods and on rivers throughout Connecticut and Massachussetts. Then fast forwarding to that of today where I am on the third class at my local seminary finding that a very rewarding experience-providing a secondary purpose to this sabbatical.

Another important puzzle piece in my life is that of my having challenges in my life through my handicaps. For others have defined me through them. For I had missing the connections in 1/4 of my brain that had to be rewired and connected in different ways. Moving through the early years in a puzzle mode. Learning how language is built upon the building blocks of phonetic sound and pictures. Yet, the beauty of my growing up through this lens is that I appreciate the value and honor of love and extend it to others as a result. And learning how to take those first crawls and steps and leaps throughout life.

A final element of the puzzle of life is my love for Maine in that holds all of my life together. It is the one place to where I can be renewed after a long period of drought and a place where I can see and sense and hear the gulls of nature coo and sing to one another=melding into the occassional cry of a crow. An orchestra that God has created with the movement of the bows of their flight and sound. I fondly remember how the gulls can flap frantically and then settle down with a whoosh onto the rocks. Something to be listened to carefully, a movement within that orchestra of Heaven.
It has been those times on the rocks of the Pemaquid coast or the Shepscot Bay or the Portland Harbor that bring back fond memories -of traveling through the tidal pools and crevices of rocks. Of seeing the surf crash against the shore and the repetitive motion of the tides washing up and over the beach and shore.

Thus, I am thankful for the opportunity to share with you how I have been shaped by the love of my work, the love of my God and the love of the nautical world of Maine. Now as I continue to meld the new puzzle picture into my life to make it once again a new cohesive whole. But being better prepared to rework it if the pieces become reversed once again.

Enduring the race marked before US

Getting a roll out of bed this morning was rather difficult with the news of the capture and killing of OSama. Good that it happened in that he will not be a threat to our world. But there are the systems which he has developed and the innate character of evil that is always present in the world. There have been varied discussions on all of the networks on whether it was fine to celebrate his capture and death. And then there is the sentiment given by others that it was a life that is lost and should be mourned. I am in the middle of the two views. It would have been nice to throw a big victory party but there have been so many lives lost on the battlefield since the blue day on Sept. 11,2001. But the beauty of our nation and the world is the sacrifices that have been made in the daily pursuit of evil.

But the key to life is to remember how we are to encourage one another and to view positive movies and concerts to lift our spirits up.
For as a Christian song states,
"For we fall down and then get up. For we fall down and then get up. For we fall down and then get up."
For I look at the cross, Lord, on your journeys through the stations of the cross. FOr you fell down and needed help along the way.
I recalled how you ask me to deny myself, pick up my cross and follow you. Help me and my fellow friends understand what kind of cross you are asking me to follow in love.

It is time for us to get up and keep on moving forward. For as the Apostle Paul states in Ephesians, "No love can separate us from the love of Jesus." So thankful for you, Lord, for loving us unconditionally in the process of what has been going on in the world of today!!

He Is Risen!!!!

In the dark cold winter night,
candles are lit in the pew.
in the brightening room, sounds pierce the room.
sounds of silence broken.
echoing cries across the land.
of the prophets of old.
Of the babe in swaddling clothes
crying out the sounds to the earth
to listen
to ponder
to understand!


The throne room awaits for His arrival...

The crowds clammer
The anvils smash
Angst rains down
Diasporas occur
Only for the moment

He arrives to the throne room
To be sent back

Angels reappear
for the sequel to LIFE-Part II

For He is arisen. He is not there!!!
" Yeah, not at the tomb!!
He is RISEN!!!
Let us continue to ponder what began on that cold winter night.

Let us continue to light our candles in the darkness!!!
Let His love and light spread through the World.
For He does love the world and each one of us!!!

For at Easter's Eve and Dawn
Hope for paradise

For Amazing Grace
How sweet the Sound
That He would save a wretch like me!
Let us cling to that old rugged cross
as we see the incense swing forth in churches
and hear the bells chiming on Easter Morn!!


Now the mist lifts and the sun rises. The Lord shine His face upon you!!

He sits at the right hand of the Father!
Caring and interceding for us!!!
All Glory, Honor, and Praise go to you Lord Jesus

Happy Easter to you!!!!
I love you.

Refusing to present oneself as muscle of pleasures

A powerful thought came to my mind of how we can refuse to present ourselves as muscles of pleasure but instead should present ourselves as muscles of grief. That is indeed what the Apostle Paul did.
For in our faith, we are called to bear sacrifice. That is what we are turning the corner on when Jesus and God took on the radical project of suffering to redeem our world. To enter and bear into the suffering so that we could have muscles that could feel pleasure for eternity. But the problem with our society today is that it demands and desires the pleasure and satisfaction of a good time now but loses the perspective of eternity in their hearts.

Forgotten Fruit

This evening, my hands wandered through the refrigerator and visited a rather lonely green pear, a red apple and some withered red plum tomatoes in a clear see-through plastic box.
I washed each and then proceeded to eat them. The pear was firm to the taste and tasted fairly well despite being somewhat crystallized. The red apple was another story, being somewhat turned, not unto wine or cider yet, but only able to consume 1/3 of its purpose. The flavor of the tomatoes was a little off for having sat quietly for quite some time. Never hearing its cries for consumption.

That brings me to the subject of fruit this evening. For fruit grows on the trees in their season and are monitored through the season by the farmers to make sure that it lasts and is ready for market.
The other day, I purchased an orange and it looked fine at first glance. When I took it out of the refrigerator, I noticed the rind had a gash in it. Sniffed it some and it smelt a little moldy. I peeled back some of it and took a taste. It did not have its full robust flavor. So I am going to return it to her home and get an exchange!

If Jesus was going through my refrigerator, he probably would come up with a well thought out parable. But since I don't have the gifted story telling that He has, I can still draw out the inference of what it means when St. Paul in Galatians 5:22-23 states, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Yikes, this 9 pack of fruit is something that I lack the fullness of and some it may be somewhat stale, having sat on my cupboards for longer than I have intended.

Yes, it may still have some taste but as Jesus mentions about salt in Matthew 5:13, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again. It is no longer good for anything ,except to be thrown out and trampled by men." Therefore, fruit just as with salt needs to be treated nobly and with immediacy and not left to sit around for days.
For our lives and others can be nourished as we use the fruits that God has given us in ministry to build up the body. Much better than having trash heaps of fruit and salt decomposing for the ravens to pick at.

Next time, I will start unpacking that crate of fruit that has just pulled up to the warehouse of the church to be distributed and worn by believers.

Next off to the call to the vegetable side of the produce aisle.

w e

Star struck windows
Reflections seen from within
Glimpses of faces
mingling among the flickering lights.

The scenes of life grab us and capture us.

There is never a dull moment when some stardust falls from the sky and sparkles ones day.

The moments can be brief and the moments can take take us off guard.

Moments such as the time that my dad invited mom and I to the porch to view the Northern lights from our cottage in Maine. A moment that I will always remember seeing the laser beams of yellow and red and blue and green dance across the sky. A moment in time to look up and out at the expanse of the heavens and see the handiwork of God. Locking eyes with an audience throughout time.

A moment such as the time when I got stuck out in Cozy Harbor with a single operational oar lock. A time to rely on the one single heavy oar to give a heave into the blue-green depths of the harbor and the strength required to ply it through the waters.
Sun drenching upon my neck and arms.
Unexpected to say the least, but enough to bring me full circle many times, inching one at a time until I reached the dock safely.

Times such as the spotting of a perfect clam shell on the beach
hinged together in beauty. Wrapped carefully for the journey home and placed in the box on the closet shelf.
Then that unexpected moment for its crash from the closet shelf to the floor below.
Shattered and rather ordinary now. Dust now filling up the box.

Times to see the beauty of the Moon's eclipse in the summer evening. The time to sit quietly at the window and to watch the light fade away. Hoping to see it blaze brightly again. Only to see it dark. Disappointed not to see it flare again.

Such are these shaping moments. Moments that give one ecstasy and one joy. And sometimes moments to endure through and moments to savor life in its fullest potential, yet to blossom fully.


Against this backdrop, I have moved forward through my life. A life that has had its adventures and its shortcomings. I wish I would listen and look for those invitations and heavenly breaths of great joy more often. As a middle-aged adult, I have the full responsibility for my life. It is not like the times when I was a child and could look to my parents for my daily provision. Now I have to forage for them and make those decisions myself.

I accept when I have broken opportunities and times that do not go as I have planned. That can be a challenge but I am grateful for the times the perfect clam splits in two or when I only have one oar lock to guide me. Keeping me focused on my path so that I don't go astray and appreciating the time for a challenge. When I was young and that happened, I did not analyze the mess I was in as I would now. I brought with it a youthful attitude and a can do attitude.
Not that I can rebuild the broken clam shell either or extend the light from the eclipsing moon either.

One Easter sunday, I received a chambered Nautilus from the Yale Peabody Museum. I have it displayed in the middle of my knicknack shelf in the living room. I love that shell because it is beautifully painted with streaks of red and maroon.
It has a sharp curve to its shell and is shiny. It is firm to the touch but delicate with its wavy and dance-like design.
One day when I had my carpet cleaned, I found a note on my hall table that the shell was damaged and not perfect as it once was. Yet the shell can stil stand up on the shelf and it serves as a splendid reminder to me that I can be beautiful despite the defects and able to stand even in my weakness. I also realized a lesson from that shell when I thought of how God was broken for our shortcomings as well at Easter.
And it was not like the time when I was young and dropped the box with my summer shells. That was painful but served as a lesson for me when my nautilus shell inherited some damage from its fall from grace and beauty.

Only to say that time and space heal our prior hurts and grow us. Times that will bring new ones too.
I look out to the sea and see the tide coming in and the tide going out. Bringing in new nourishment for the resting and dormant shells.
Reliable and constant.
Attitudes that I strive to live up to as well.

Cycles of composition

Today, I awoke to the pow of the transformer out front. Seems to have a semi-annual habit of doing this. About 6 times to a collective memory of me and another neighbor. For not having slept much in the evening and then kaboom.
Some lights were still on and some appliances were off. Took the stairs down and then back up. Our association president was downstairs. Not easy climbing six flights of stairs twice. Was going for a third but had some trouble finding my way since the hall became darkened.

I was thinking on poetry today and how it is a collection of some random ideas throughout our day somewhat weaved together.
Of how I looked at the orange I purchased and how it became pierced somehow. Torn. I called the store of Stop and Shop and I can return it absent of the deformed orange. And it had a moldy aroma to it also!

Chopped up some scallions after tearing off the limp leafy limbs of the scallions. Put some in the shells and sauce and bread crumbs. A nice everlasting twinge of flavor.
The same can be said for belief in Christ for after two thousand years, there still is that twinge of belief. Of that flavor that believers add with the salt and light of their lives. All requiring a mild washing off and getting a little of the stalk stuck on the fingers.

Felt good to stay inside tonight and not pierce the darkness. I forfeited a writing night to clear writer's block but I also needed the downtime to recover from the interrupted night of rest.

So I challenge the reader to go ahead and pierce the day with familiar things to see how they can impact you and see where they take you in order to become a blessing to others.

Hard to believe that in less than 3 weeks, we will be celebrating the loss and the triumph of our God in the same weekend.
More on that later.

No longer a desert

The past month or so has felt a little bit like a desert, a hot stretch in cooler weather.
When I was riding the bus on an adventure to a meeting with some sales and marketing professionals since I am interested in maybe breaking into the sales field. On the bus, there was a lady who wanted the door to the bus opened since it was getting hot inside. A laugh ensued with some of the riders on the bus. Also, the bus driver averted some turkeys crossing the road. At least the two of them were not run over.

Yesterday, while I was awaiting for my friend to finish some shopping, I noticed a young pre-teen get out of the car to pick up a movie to rent at RedBox in his pajamas. Pulling up next to the car I was in was a van painted green with flowers all over it. On the license plate, it read Utopia. When my friend pulled down her window, she mentioned that it was a nice van. It was for his side business of landscaping.

Today, the sky was an unusual color in that it appeared more silver and the white lettering of Kolbe Cathedral stood out in stark contrast to the building itself. Exciting. And with the rain creeping in, I thought "Evacuation orders." That could be since when I was at the networking meeting and heard all the fancy projects that people were involved in the past and when I gave my 60 seconds, the earth did not move. I felt a little awkward even in the networking afterwards with just 20 in the room. Even with the humor that was bantered about. But I made a few connections and I hope to circle back to them and encourage them.

So, all to say, Thank you God for providing me with these moments that I could look out and around and be on this unusual adventure and even have some time for a blessed nap in the afternoon!!!

As my friend Mary said, "I hope that you get a job that you will love." Indeed, that is my true desire. It would be great to have that happen and to feel fully in the center of His will.

God's life blood

This poem was inspired during a 30 minute quiet reflection after reading and discussions Richard J. Foster's book, Celebration of Disciplines. This is after focusing on silence and solitude.
And a big thanks to Celine for her hard work teaching God's children His truths each and every week in that very room where her signs of Christ abounded.

Gods blood runs through me
Hard to grasp the essence of you since...
I like quantities to grasp and hold onto.

Signs that say God is alive,
and new life in Christ
and Jesus lives.
You, Jesus, were born son to Mary and Joseph
in a family
The clocks ticks ever so slowly
individually
one second at a time
distinct just like my heartbeat and my breaths
Thank you Lord for the small acts of
kindness and for your big act of kindness at Calvary.
For enduring the cross and the shame

For I kneel at the cross for you.

the Birthday of Stars

The power in the universe to bring birth a star from within space.
The power to crush houses and lands
The power to distinguish the in-between of Good and Evil

The power to love and to hate.

The power to forgive or exact revenge.

The love to hang on the cross or throw insults at the King

That is the love of God verses the envy of the enemy.

Let us accept our place in the world and not fight back.

Enjoy each day that....
you receive some star dust sprinkled from the birthday cake of the stars.

Walking

Mothers are very special people in this world. They are the creative canvases for which the genius and talent of society get formed. For within their wombs are created intricately created human beings.
Architected through the swishing of cells floating through a sea of life clinging to the scaffolding that supports life.


When I think of my mom, I think of the word, "walk". For without this word, I would not have moved forward in my life. Or I would have moved very silently forward. For when I was born, I faced many challenges in my life. Without her strong hand, I would not have made it and would have probably been a small heap in the middle of the floor.

When my mom left school after meeting and marrying my dad, they lived near a farm and conserved their resources as my dad was a traveling auditor through General Electric where my mom's dad worked. Dad's job took them through parts of Ohio, New York and Connecticut.

When I was born, I was slow to speak and through many long hours and months of therapy, I got the gears moving and going until I spoke with a fluency and a cadence of thought.
Forwarding to today, I can speak so well that I often deliver my thoughts at a supersonic speed, one that breaks the speed barrier, as others and even I try to chase back to a previous idea that was communicated by me.
When I speak, I often start my thoughts in the middle of a sentence. That is something that my mom often reminds me often to go back to the station and pick up with the original train of thought and to string it together.

My mom is a pioneer, one that went out into the world to find a way to reach into and release and capture my inner soul.
In the past, it has been easier at times to write of my father and his influence on my life, but without my mom, I would not be here for she has been a strong advocate of me in those early years as she has made sure that I get the best of education and care in the academic stations of life. Almost like that of a baton carrier in a race that sees to it that she hands off the baton smoothly to the next runner.

As I have taken that baton, it has not always been easy. When I was younger, I looked back and saw how it was not easy to move forward in life. But the courage that mom has demonstrated every day in her life as she dealt with struggles with my brother and with her mom and my dad and myself. She always has been a special person whom I and others could talk to and express their feelings.

Mom had experience early in her life as she helped to raise her twin brothers. This gave my mom invaluable experience in how to deal with family dynamics. Several times, she waited in the car while her mom and dad went to the market or the library. She speaks often of my resemblance in my appearances and dry sense of humor.
She recalls often of how her mom waited for the delivery of the fish, ice, meat and fresh vegetables to their home growing up.
Her family grew up during World War II and often at the dinner table, her mom and dad conducted and followed the war with maps on the wall showing where the troops were going. They grew up having to use the war ration stamps and often had to darken their windows to prevent them from being seen from above.


When my mom was growing up, her father brought her to the local library when she brought home a full bag of books to read during the week. She devoured them during the time that she spent with them.
Mom wanted to pursue further studies in library science but had to put that ambition on hold as she transferred her knowledge and talents into me. To make me a better person. So I can continue to bless others in life and move out into the world.
That is a very good model in life to follow as it models the theme of discipleship found in Scriptures where Jesus teaches his followers to continue His mission. For I am continuing my mom's mission of helping others in this selfless manner. Even when it has costs to ones ambitions. But they were ambitions that were blessingly transferred over to me as I help educate others about life. Myself being a branch of my mom's library of resources.

And she serves the library of their retirement community bettering the lives of many residents there, stamping in and out the books, culling the card catalog, recommending good bios and just being a friend to all. And exchanging stories of growing up in the different communities throughout the United States.

As my mom has grown up, she has aged gracefully. She has been gentle in how she has dealt with all the challenges that life offers each and every day. She has been a very good executive to control all of life's challenges that have faced the Davis Corporation of life.

Thanks for all the quiet service and love that you are and have meant to me, Mom.

Pushing towards loving and goodness

Thank you Lord for allowing me to be having a good transition time. I do want more to come out of it than a status quo. I want to push towards great outcomes and not just trickles from my fingers. I started on a pile but lost the energy to move it forward. I gave myself three days. I hope God I can push it to completion in the next two days!! I think I can.

My friend called transitions blessings, really complicated ones.
Somedays in the shifting sands can be a complex swoosh of the grains.
even small gains among the grains.
an instability until I reach the water's edge.
a compacting of the sand until it is pressed firmly into the ground,'
immovable until the big wave or the creativity of a child, unearthing its tomb,
unto a sense of creativity!!

My friend said that I also need to be good and loving towards myself. Maybe I just need to do all three in a gentle way.
1. pushed to be motivated to action.
2. then somehow have that sabbath built into the sabbatical to give me the goodness and love which underlies the need to push so hard.
3. Almost like that of labor to create something wonderful for God
4. to Celebrate and share in!!!

Thanks to the cradle and the cross.
Both times of pushing and shoving.
Pushing into the world and
then through God's infinite goodness....
pushing that boulder away by the angels on Easter Sunday morning!!!!

Thanks Crissy for inspiring this today!!!

The Neighboring Galaxy

Star Clusters
Spinning in circles.
Aren't we wonderful.

The beauty of the heavens.
Lighting up the sky.''

That star dust
sprinkling and touching us on the chin.


The spectacle of greatness
of being shriveled at the same time.

How wonderful you are Milky way
Do I have a neighbor elsewhere to share
this grandeur.

Can I have the car keys!!!

I am traveling down the lanes in life and I want to make the turns and direct my vehicle down the course of my life. I want the Lord to give me periodic guidance as I go through my life, but I have not been doing the best job as of late.
I do hope to make some major corrections in how I view life and of how I view purity and the like.


I want to be fully ready for Jesus when He comes to take me home. For I will be with Him forever at that moment.

Valentine's day of the cross

Awakening to the end of the day.
The sun emerges as a cross
behind the screen
nestled within the clouds

A force to be reckoned with
taking its slumber for 3 days

Pulsing again
a momentary and everlasting rebirth.

Its view:
blinding
yet approachable
pulsating
Incredible
A warm afterglow.

Bouncing off the traffic below
blurring the vision

A vague figure standing in the middle
Arms held wide and firm

Warming the soul and the heart
creating shadows of a cross
behind the participants

An ultimate force of love, power, and life and hope for all.


This above poem was crafted by me before a talk and reading of some poems by Vivian Shipley on Love, power and Women and men.
Ultimately, God is powerful in our lives but also very loving.
And the ultimate lover that is true and faithful to mankind.

Happy Valentines day to all and especially to you Jesus, the lover of my soul.

A story of blackness on the Stage of Life

Darkness surrounds the tunnel of life and a cloud envelops around its very existence.
Hard to see as the mist forms a heavy fog.

The boxer emerges from the curtain and he pushes the curtain away and slouches and slumbers unto the stage.
The lights with the audience are dimmed where the boxer can not see the crowd that is in front of him but he hears the screams of the crowd. The curtain fully opens and the lights in the audience turn up and the announcer says, "Here is the best and greatest boxer in our time. Lord Scott emerges into the ring and opposes the great Hindin. The great Hindin scares Scott for a moment as his huge hands sway over Scott's head. Scott bows for cover and feels the persistent swish of the gloves over his head.
Great Scott tears off his robe and reveals black and gold shorts with the Big G on them.

The audience is a lot like that of my friends who are cheering me on in the dark moments of my life when I do not fully understand what is happening behind the scenes. For the plot is being developed when the curtain is closed. Furniture and sets are being moved around. Signs are being hung to mark the progress of life. News for others to read.

Lights momentarily erupting and canceling out the darkness. Scott says to Hindin, :"Oh I see your hands. They don't scare me buddy. I can take you on."
The gloves of the boxers are in black suede and have the yellow insignia of G for great. For both boxers were termed "great" in the program that was handed out to the audience.

That is what the search for work has made me, great, as I have unearthed the potential that I have developed over the years.
I have so much behind the scenes that I have developed and know for well that I can do all through Him who gives me strength.

A poem of Blackness:

Going on a trip

I awoke this morning with an insatiable urge to start Elizabeth Gilbert's new book on marriage, Committed. I began to devour the intro and kept reading through the first chapter on her adventures of going from an ordinary woman into one thrust to the spotlight with fame.

As I was doing this and preparing my bowl of cereal in the kitchen, I saw the darkened sky deciding whether to unwrap itself from the sheets of slumber. It almost had that feel in the air of when I am about to take a trip up to Maine to see my mom. The anticipation of the day but with more sleep than I usually get because of fear of whether or not I would miss the bus to the bus.

I feel a little bit like a nomad lately going from workshop to workshop or seminar to seminar. I do enjoy those times like I did last night when my creativity and soul were unlocked a little bit. Of how Kathy Caprino of Breakdown, Breakthrough gave a good description of how to live authentic lives. Of how to power up our very existences.

In the past, when I went about my daily life, I woke and then put my feet on the floor and just went running about the day. Getting what I needed to do. A little enervating at times. Not knowing how I would handle any fears that might be thrust my way. What darts could hit me in the form of a warning or stern word. Of being caged in by some of my failures and my failure to communicate within the specified forms and expectations that were set up. As Kathy Caprino put it last night, sometimes the jobs that we may have had are not the right fit for us. That made me feel good with all of the failure that I put up around me. Being told that I failed in my communication and organizational methods.

That still is true but my true worth is from within me as I mentioned yesterday. My worth is not the defeat I may feel when I am within the corporate ring. I may fail or not have all the tools that I need in my tool chest. But I have another tool chest that is equally invaluable and that is the tool chest of my heart. It is this tool chest that I need to unlock more, and I sense that I am unlocking it a little more. Even if I have weary eyes from the passion to pursue excellence and inspiration to help others get back into the ring of their lives.

So, it is off to another exciting day of this sabbatical not knowing who I am going to meet or hear from. Maybe, Lord, that is what it was like for the ancient Israelites that you cared for. How they awoke early to the sunrise and wandered and heard from you. Yet, Lord, you mixed into that equation uncertainty with captivity and wars and bloodshed. But in those times, you sprinkled a sense of fulfillment and order for the world to see that you are a great redeemer and a designer who is predictable with the sunrise yet very subtle with how lives changes as when you etch the rocks of Pemaquid ever so slowly. To be seen by your microscopic hand yet to be marveled by myriads of children passing by.

I hear the bus in the distance taking passengers on their journey. I will be joining the bus in a couple of hours for my journey to the Job Center to share my enthusiasm and joy for life. To exchange stories and to build others up as well.

Being at the edge of the ring

Oh my. 7.5 months. I have been out of work. Out of the normal flow of the office and its ins and outs of the daily grind of dealing with issues and problems of customers and staff that I used to work with. In a way, it feels good to be out of the flow but I am itching to get back into it and make a difference. The process currently seems so daunting. I have been trained and prepared as to how to do the whole process and am into my third notebook with the different classes and workshops that I have been taking. I see no end in sight.

Almost feel like a boxer who is at the edge of the ring and has been pounded a few times with a bloody jaw. Shoulder muscles aching and cramping from the jabs that were thrown. Lying in a pool of sweat and blood on the mat. With the trainer and his towel over the boxer urging him to get up. The trainer reaches his hand to the boxer and urges him to grab hold of it. The boxer reaches up and takes the trainer's hand. Slowly grabbing the ropes and the jaw goes into a grimace and he tentatively stands and then sits down in a chair to rest.

That is how it feels right now for me. I have not fully entered the ring. I am a bit scared. Yet, I have not been fully knocked down. Only got a few automated emails saying that the position was filled. Or an answer from the recruiter that the position was filled a month ago. I still have me and the wit and the spunk. I just need to spin it in the right way so I can step back into the ring and go at my opponent. I don't know who he is right now. Or what color shorts he is wearing.
Is it blue or green or white. And what about the logo. GE or UBS or Lifecare.
Maybe my opponent is the attitude in my mind. I watched the Tom Brokaw special the other night on Aaron Rogers who wrote, Between a Rock and A Hard place of his week long journey stuck in a canyon. He fought through being by an 800 pound boulder and had to chip away at that thing for quite a while with his pocket knife. Ultimately having to cut off his arm to move past the boulder and into safety and rescue. But he had to face high obstacles and fears. I want to be like him and to be like my old self who fought those battles head on.

Looking back, those battles were not easy but I relied on my friends and family a little more maybe. Lord, help me to do the same to get back into the ring fully so that I can make a full difference and recovery of my soul. To introduce myself and my value to the world in a fuller way so I can be the welterweight champion of the Job World. Come on rejection and discouragement. I can handle it. I just won't keep you on the shelf or marquis for too long though. I am tough. I have grit. I can handle it.

Come on crowd. Bring it on!!!!

a toe of snow

Today, we were supposed to get a dumping of a monster storm of 1 to 2 feet but we only got a toe of snow. Only an inch. The weathermen should call for the toe of snow once in a while. Something to scrape off with ones boot. The snow bothered Maine, New Hampshire and Boston. So we got spared. It may have gotten lost getting to Connecticut this time!!!

The weather may still deliver a doozie. We will have to see. Nothing profound today. Just a chuckle to deliver!!!

Can I have a slice of Life!!!

Walking up to the pizza shop.
To the pie store.

My oh my. Life does have its many choices
of which toppings to put onto the pie
and which pie to buy.

Life seems like such a big pie right now.
I am faced with the decision of where to work and how to allocate the time between searching for elusive work or trying to find the time to learn and understand the meaning and method of how to understand the Holy Scriptures. But I really do enjoy this aspect of studying the Scriptures. For I had the opportunity to open up and review the first chapter of Nehemiah at the gym while I was waiting for a new friend to finish her workout.

As I have been examining this concept of interpretation , I have finally realized that God is definitely a genius in how He put together and inspired the Scriptures to be placed in the language of our time which has survived through many centuries of war, persecutions, weather, political upheavals. His word is a constant in our world and life. And to open up the puzzle box and move around the pieces to make the whole.

I only wish that I could easily divide all the tasks that I have to do in 24 hours a day in a way that I can get it all done.
Inefficiency drains some of my time but I am slowly working on that. Trying to find the space to fit the stuff into my life and the time to write down the thoughts that go racing through my mind , "quiet at rest.."

But God seems to know how to stuff the pies into the boxes and to make them as well. For the making of the boxes proved quite a challenge to me at thanksgiving as I tried to staple the edges of the pie boxes to keep them from falling apart. And to somehow stack them up so that they don't fall over.

So at least I know not to work in a pie shop or pizzeria. Or in the circus where I would have to juggle many things at once.

Even though I probably will end up there, at least I know the final destination will be orderly and beautiful. For now I just have to keep stapling and keeping up the best I can.

And please hold the anchovies and load the pie with lots of onion and green peppers. Steaming hot and not to go!!!
Pass the cheese and pour plenty of iced tea. And a side salad with croutons of opportunity as well.

The model T. got a ding to it !!!!

Twenty five years ago today, I received the chicken pox and got to be excused from school for the weekend to confinement at home .

Brightly lit distant memory!

Lighthouses fascinate me. Growing up during summers on Pratt's Isle, we were nestled up in the trees and sitting upon rocky crags. To our right we saw Hendrick's Head Light House which guarded Cozy Harbor of West Southport Island.

Several miles out to sea was Sequin Island light which peeped its light on and off every few seconds with a briefly pulsing light.'


I had a dream this past evening of a brightly lit amusement park next to a lighthouse and I was impressed by the brightly lit colors that were present in the background.l

Thorns in our lives.

Wandering through the woods, my hands and face become tangled with the thick branches of the rose and the thorns that are hanging off the branches. I want to push them away and they are ever present. They stab at me and resist being moved away.

I smell the sweet aroma of the roses that are on the vine and see the bees buzzing overhead. I see that the thorn is seated below the beautiful rose bud which is getting the attention of the bees and man that passes by. Either to drop off and deliver the beautiful pollen from the feet of the bees or to be grasped by man as he cuts off the stem of the rose plant to place in a vase for a beloved.

As I reflect on the roses, they are often sold in the dozen at a very valued price. The plant is delivered with rose, leaves, buds and the thorns attached. We focus on the beauty of the red petals. But often we forget to look at the thorn and neglect to see its beauty as well.


For we all have thorns and sticky situations in our lives. Things to dash off from ourselves. But often God deposits those very things in our lives. Things that must be nurtured and absorbed into our very fabric of our lives. For how can we appreciate a beautiful petal until we see the thorns. I don't know the value of the thorn on the rose plant but it must have some value since God placed it there. So I must see the value in my suffering and in my trials of unemployment. Somewhere there must be a garden that God is tending. I need to invite some bees to pollinate it and to allow it to grow fuller and wider. And to be able to give an offering back to Him as well just as the bees have done.

de clomping!!

Tomorrow, we get to continue to break the record for the snow falling in the Northeast. We already got 31.5 inches , approximately four times the average snowfall through this point in January.

I love the opportunity for the optional outings that I get to stay inside. Rather nifty.
For I don't have to clomp in foot deep snowdrifts that are to my knees.
I can actually de-clomp!!!!
It is great to have that freedom, not one of those found in Norman Rockwell's paintings of the Four freedoms or of the freedoms that are guaranteed under the Constitution of the United States of America.
But still good to have a freedom of choice.
The opportunity to look out the window at dry ground and smile at life!!!

Lord give me an opportunity again to have to clomp and be joyful about it. I like being in my nest
nestled six stories up in the sky.
Not affected by the howling winds
but only by hearing the wind itself and being inspired by it.

I did clomp some this week and enjoyed it but will probably hibernate until Saturday when I go to the diner and to NEST to learn more of you, Lord, and your self-appointed authors of the Scriptures who have portrayed you in a very loving way
of your being a mighty conqueror and also a very loving person
kneeling before children
asking them to follow you.

Let me be like that , Lord, as I watch your ticket tape parade pass by my bedroom window tomorrow.

Trading places

Car wheels are spinning today and the plows are beeping as they move backwards. The reports call for real bad conditions outside for driving and walking.
I chatted with a friend out in Arizona where the temps are going up to 76 degrees. I asked for a swap of the weather for just one day. The response I got was "No Way!"
I say back, "oh, only for one day and then you will have it back,"
My friend says, "No!"
I say "unfair"


This little interchange reflects the journey also of the Christian faith. I so much can relate to not wanting to leave a comfort zone. It is extremely hard to move from an area of familiarity and into an area that is going to be much different and not the same.
I have enjoyed the cocoon that I have built around myself as it has crystalized and taken shape around me. I can move around in it and poke around in the world with it.

I am trying to slowly break out of it but have not totally become totally free. I do chat with my friends of what my dreams are for my future. I do want to do something great and make an impact on the world. Lord, is that done by working with accounts and files and transactions. And making small impacts as I deal with the clients and customers along the way? Or is it by making a splash in something totally new. Letting the water go over the sides of the pool as other children laugh as the get in and out of the pool. I wish I had a clear answer like an advertisement from a bulletin board on a highway saying "destination for Scott two minutes down the road."

Yet, Lord I am going to trust in you. For as I explored on Martin Luther King day with some friends, Jeremiah 29:11 which states, "For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." There is a lot of power packed into that one simple sentence.
In that one sentence the Lord repeats the use of the word, plans, three times. He also repeats the pronoun, you, four separate times. God is directly involved with me helping me to see that He is directly involved in my life. He already has the end in sight and the means to accomplish it. The verse reflects the confidence that the Lord has in me and I have to develop that same self-confidence in knowing the gifts and talents that I have been given will help me to prosper and help others in the future as well.
Not in a health and wealth manner that some preachers speak on but in overall shalom well being.
Lord, thank you for the few moments thinking over that verse again in a new way by looking at its structure. May others be blessed as we continually mine for your truth as well.

Warm Wishes

The phrase, warm hands, warm hearts keep ringing through my mind.
I read a piece from Richard Foster's book which talked about the discipline of meditation. He mentioned how we receive from the Lord when our hands are open palm facing up to Him and we are in act of submission to Him. When we place our hands down, we are surrendering our lives to Him.

At an inspirational workshop for the unemployed this morning, the presenter gave us each a stone. The stone had beautiful flaws on it. We were to take the stone and hold it in our hands and breathe in and out 10 times while we looked at the stone. This stone reflects how we are to be in the moment and not let the cares and worries of the world to take over us.

This stone remembered on which I received as a neighboring church was planning their expansion with the theme that now we are going to do even greater things than which Jesus had done.

I love stones. When I was a teenager and my cousins, Bruce and Carol, accompanied me to one of the beaches on Pratt's Island in Maine, we skipped stones across the water's edge. As the stones flotsammed through the water, ripples echoed out from each skip. Sometimes the stone sank right to the bottom but we kept flicking our wrists and some made a merry journey across the surface and made moments of magic and music before us.

Plunk, plunk, plunk.

So, let the warmth of our hearts be developed. Let us focus. Let us draw from the Lord. For He is the hearth of our very lives.

the ebb and flow of our lives

When I think to today being Martin Luther King's Birthday, there is so much that the world has missed without him being in the world. Yet, the world has been inspired to receive so much from the contributions and challenges that he has given the world.

I look at his life as within a poem.
May grace flow and ebb deeply in your pores.
May that never ending flow..
not stop with your love of life
of connection
a love that carried on beyond April 4, 1968 when man tried to silence your voice.
It lives on in the lives of other gentle giants,
The Maya Angelou of the world
taking on the bravery to open her soul to the world.
to echo great and deafening words to a dark night of our land,
an ebbing land

To shine forth a bright light
to redeem
to a land flowing
with potential
a depth to be imagined and redeemed

through a deep and sustaining love of country.

Martin Luther King,
Thank you for your dream.
You delivered it well
It was received
not returned to sender.
Carried forth and marched on
In the ebb and flow of our lives.

Happy Birthday MLK!!!!!
Let us remember one man or woman can make a difference.
I have a dream....