VERSES FROM ABOVE

Garden Of Abuse

2008-12-23T21:11:00.000-08:00

Why is this section named such? Some have asked me what abuse and a garden have in common. Years ago that title, Garden Of Abuse, came to my mind. It seems I was sitting outside looking at an untilled garden spot; nothing had been planted, nothing was sprouting. In my mind's eye, I began seeing faces of different people in my life - precious individuals who had been abused and hurt in different ways. Their smiling heads broke through the hard crusted soil, and beautiful floral arrays burst forth in many different fashions of color and design. A most glorious garden lay before me! When I began collecting the poems for this book, almost a third of them belonged to the chapter I knew had to be called "Garden Of Abuse."

On Man And Nature

2008-12-18T19:13:00.000-08:00

Since childhood, nature has been an important part of my life. Living in the country and on a farm , I was able to experience the outdoors at its best. When I was upset, I would seek out a pet (calf, dog, cat)to whom I thought I could share my concerns. They were wonderful listeners! And they never criticized what I said!
Teenage years brought a different type busyness - sports, social life, girlfriends, boyfriends, school activities, work. My interest in nature became less. College life left no room for reflections on the beauty of nature; actually, I found the subject a bit boring.
I am thankful that, as I aged, my appreciation for God's creation returned; it grew and grew. I could often see myself in some aspect of nature, almost able to identify with a blade of grass, a lone flower, or tall green pine tree. Every where I turned, my name was whispered or my thoughts were stirred by the outdoors. Travel afforded more opportunities for me to see the similarities between man and nature.

Praise The Lord!

2008-12-16T10:06:00.001-08:00

Today I will address the first chapter of VERSES FROM ABOVE. I look back over the years of my life, and I see God's handprints everywhere. When I was a child living a hard life, He was there; during the formative teenage years that built work and social skills , He guided me, although I thought I was the almighty one. He was beside me even in the tumultuous early years of adulthood when I lost my way on the Road of Right and detoured a few years down the Road of Wrong. Since He had created my inmost being, He was the only one in all creation who really knew who I was; I had no clue. I was like a fallen leaf being swept along on the River of Life with no control over my destiny. I was in that river for much of my life. That could explain the shape I was in when I eventually lodged in an isolated shoreline. It was in that state of being that I was in a listening position and a broken state for healing. Nearing the age of 39, I met the Lord late on a Saturday night in my bathroom floor. My life was never the same after that encounter.
At this writing( 21 years later), I am still on the Road to Right - and know where I am headed.
The poems in this chapter reflect different aspects of or stages in one's walk with the Lord.
(In later blog entries, I will discuss some of the different poems in this chapter; the next entry will probably be a reflection of the second chapter, On Man And Nature; the next entry could be a reflection of the third chapter, Garden Of Abuse.)

VERSES FROM ABOVE

2008-12-05T20:32:00.000-08:00

This is my first book in print and my first blog experience. Thanks for sharing this with me!

Almost fifty years ago (also the name of one of my poems in "On Man And Nature" chapter), I wrote a poem. Another sixth grader made a negative comment about that poem; it was never completed , and creativity in my teen years was greatly stifled. Even many adult years were affected by that comment. How many aspects of a person's life are marred by others' words, intentional or unintentional? At that time - and even a year ago - I would never have dreamed that I would have completed and published a book of poetry!

There are times that I could not buy a poem to flow from even one fingertip; at other times, the verses ooze from seemingly every fingertip. Sometimes I know not any source from which a certain poem comes; at other times, the poem speaks an inner mystery I cannot verbalize even though I know it exists. Such is the nature of VERSES FROM ABOVE.

Verses From Above

2008-12-05T20:15:00.000-08:00