Homeward Bound
pulling so hard
they snap!
And we go!
Emotions ride hard and high
about Christmas, family
and being together
Mom’s and kids and grandkids
tender dads, kisses and hugs
caring that was born and grows
always
So highways and byways
trains and planes and even ships
take folks in and deliver
People pouring home
Take snapshots of drivers
purposed, driven
to make it home for Christmas!
Bathed by music, church programs
food and presents folks are blessed and blessings
in their Christmas garb and doings
It is a time for sharing
put our arms and minds around
the greatest need mankind had and has
God made it simple.
A baby came
defenseless
pure
Lowly shepherds witnessed
Princely nobles came, gave
connection, click enter, God and mankind
Dwelling among us He spoke
His words endure
sifting and sorting all of life and living
poking, enticing, showing the way
to personal and mutual abundance:
“I have come that you might have life…abundantly”
Creation yielding, creation sustained
Peace on earth
and goodwill to men…
“Hosanna, hosanna
the whole world is singing
the hope of all ages is born
Though sometimes it may seem
this old world’s in control
He’s still King of Kings
and Lord of Lords!”*
Merry Christmas! Lin 2014
*Gloria and Bill Gaither, Ron Huff, 1975
Swimming Upstream
is ‘going with the flow’
no need for a sail
just put your boat
out into the current
Lots of company
floating along
life is but a party!
A continual celebration
down a lazy river
of days, months, and years.
But there’s some folks
who set their sails
pull out the oars
and go the other way
Up the stream
against the currents
eyes on a prize
One way lies the waterfalls
a crash landing
over
The other, a reward
“Well done, thou good and faith full servant!”
assessing the situations clearly
setting out to make things better
Oh, what a ride!
Choosing paddles
sometimes tacking
against the winds
using the wind in spite of
gaining, always gaining…
closer, closer, to the prize
Making ports, landings,
out of reach to the floaters
higher, higher up the streams
high ways of life
And somewhere up there
the final landing
a dock like no other
a heavenly ‘click’
connection
a welcome
to a mansion
selah, Lin, a leadership journey, 2014
The Planter
take the best seeds
carefully selected
admire them
treasure them
and bury them in the soil!
What drives that planter
to bury his food
into the dark, unknown, unseen?
Faith, I say,
in life and all its processes
in design
and a creator
who rewards those who step out
step forward
Deep inside that see
life exists, at the ready
so warmth and moisture
just so
can fan the ember into flame
Exploding, multiplying cells
burst the tomb
to send forth a root
tapping nourishment
and then a shoot
heading for the sun
by the planter
observing, caring
documenting
what works
and works the better, the best
Faith rewarded
a plant is growing
again, studied hard
through the season
Adversity strikes
too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry
not enough sun, too much sun
diseases, insects
soil fertility, cation exchanges
bacteria good and bad
and finally the fruit
or not
Faith
the man, the woman
who has studied, toiled
and believed
in harvest
Somewhere in heaven
is a smile
Well done
thou good and faith full servant!
Selah,
Lin post harvest 2014
Chicago Steam
Illinois farm folks hit the roads
pouring from their farms
all across the state
Cairo to Galena
Danville over to Quincy
Champaign, Decatur, Springfield,
some 2,000 arrive in the Loop
Indeed it’s Science
modern agriculture
education on the move
botany, biology, genetics
animal science, food science
soil science, medicine
setting the bar
for the world
And it’s Technology
satellites, drones
site specific applications
computers, software
the worlds in microscopes
creativity steaming across the state
Oh, it’s Engineering!
Beautiful machines gleaming
grooming soils and planting
accuracy untold but growing
to harvesting with ever increasing efficiency
Green and Red competing
engineers abound around the farms
numbers all along the way
in science, technology and engineering
the farmers know how to ply them
accounting, planning, discerning
what works, what doesn’t
they figure it out
and figure again
With seven billion Souls On Board
planet earth spins along
every year more children, men and women
needing to breathe, to drink… to eat.
Agriculture rises always
from hunter gatherers to farmers
millennia building industry
and then computer knowledge
every day, we need to eat
Chicago, four days,
Illinois Farm Bureau is in town.
Delegates propose, consider,debate, determine
the policies that govern the association
Volunteers, almost all unpaid
except they make it better
and better
and better
The President and Senators,
Representatives, Governors,
come in turns to see, to talk
Agriculture,
the sea of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
becomes STEAM
and rightfully so
Please pass the salt!
Lin, Palmer House, December 2014
Hush
like two day old beards
lay softly sodden by the dew
Soybean fields lie in wait
the fruits of their labor ready
Come on harvest!
Mother earth had different plans
as the sun slipped up
a downy blanket came down
fog
quietly forming on the warm earth
spawned by cool moist air
hush
either a mother or a lover
put a blanket over us
then disappeared back to mystery
Not to be forgotten
tall buildings and trees poked above
and we, knowing our sun
prepared for our day of labor
how very small we are
captives in our very small places
we can but watch
Who can stay the fog
or stop the earth from turning?
Who can cause the rains to come
or not?
Can this power be bought
or traded
or what?
Hush…
ours is but to ponder
and wonder
at the beauty of it all
Selah, Lin harvest 2014
Mom
and it is, of course, rightfully so:
WOW!
She carries us, in part,
as an egg.
Waiting
A funny fish attaches
and human is created afresh
Each and every single one
different
And so we grow
hidden away
protected and nourished
precisely
and grow
and grow
until
some fateful day
it’s time
Hosanna!
A tiny human emerges
sucks in air and breathes
then sucks in food
from mom
in every way
mom and child together
Up on two little legs
junior hangs on to…mom’s leg
hides behind…mom’s leg
Little arms reach for the sky
and mom picks him or her up
Oh, do they ever…
play ‘pick up’!
Two days later
it’s ‘Pick up from school!’
Two days more,
and she watches
junior at the wheel
driving off to college
And a thousand prayers later
she watches
junior drive off…to a honeymoon
Wow! Mom! Grandma!
Selah 9/2014
Great is Thy Faithfulness