Yes! Easter!
Broken, crashed, by Easter!
It was mankind broken
at its worst
celebrating in evil
unjust accusations
warped trial
a sentence all wrong
the season of “Hosanna!”
gone wrong
No surprise the earth shook
no surprise the sky darkened
they won
He died
God had a plan
much bigger than man
God IS over all
including death
What horror at man’s sin
yet God’s grace triumphed
over sin
over death
He arose!
He lives!
Hosanna forever more!
Easter 2012, Lin
Little Angels
begins a well known statement
about the kingdom of heaven
We get little packages
in the most personal of ways
results of brief encounters
resulting in new life, birth
The little ones grow quickly
we count them weeks at first
then months
then oh so soon, in years
They grow in our hearts
in places we didn’t know we had
but become stamped so firmly
we savor moments with them always
smiles
laughter
querulous
to first ‘their heads nestled in our necks’
to riding on our shoulders
to racing some short distance
They trust us
so beautifully
sleeping in our arms
on our laps while we read together
What gifts they are
our task is to ponder
and learn
and be
like them, tender in special ways….
Selah Lin, 3/2012
to Sam and Joe and Libby and Harry and Evie and Keller, Malia and more!
Concert Time
and our air is springtime
first blushes from plants seem rushing this year
An abrupt shift from winter
a mild one it was
so the warming sun has clicked
and plants come to heel
Swelling buds
tiny leaves
grass yawning and stretching
then racing to be mowed
farmers and gardeners itching
pulling on gloves
scratching the soil
humming of insects
chirping of birds
it is, indeed, concert time
and nature is glorious
Spring is surging all round
oh, what a time!
Won’t you come celebrate
take a moment, step back,
and nestle in nature
and the Creator, of it all?
Birth, new life remind us
touching all senses
that design was purposed
and so are we.
Lin 3/2012
Country Folks
I did my best to soak
A beautiful spring day
blue sky, cumulous clouds
fresh green grass and budding trees
I zig zagged near a river
heading back to the farm
The woods were dotted black
with Angus cows a grazing
lazily munching along
safe and secure on the edge of woods
Easy to find the rivers
here in central Illinois
as woods line their pathways
One farmstead, then another
Well appointed homes, aged,
and neatly kept barns and sheds
Not a painting, real
Real places, real people
Secure in who they are
Breathing in the people
I know their names and faces
Soaking up the places
centennial farms planted
I got my arms around them
and I was blessed
To be a part
It is good
And I am grateful
to know and be known
by them
Page Two
Maybe we were sculpted
by some special soil
(in truth, all soils are special!)
but I do know the soils are part
of what we do each year
We touch them, feel them
waiting for warmth to mother seeds
We scratch and till them, tile them,
and cover them with blankets green
They give us food, and fuel, and fiber
to feed, power, and clothe us
The farms are laced with tools
shiny handled shovel
our hands have polished often
Shiny door handles, gate latches
where we’ve touched them often
his much prized scoop
a shovel made for grain
I still have, on the shop wall now,
a little simple stool I sat on
when growing up
to sit and milk the cows!
My bride has grandma’s hoe
sharpened by the soil
the metal half the original
Prized tools all
loaded with memories working
Countless animals have trod the fields
mooing, voicing their messages
while I in jest, mimicked them and laughed
I helped to birth them, feed them,
raised them to be shipped away
They did their part
We, the people,
do our part as well
Drawing together the best
of knowledge, research, progress
bout seeds and breeds and tools and more
To tune ourselves to nature
and nature’s Creator, God
Come Sunday morning quiet
a different day for us
set aside
like the Good Book says
“Even during planting and harvest,
work (only) six days.”
Families pile into cars
and make their way to church
to sing, to pray, to study on the ways
laid out for all mankind
Amen, and amen,
Selah, LIn 3/2012
Happy Tears
our emotions try to prove it!
When pain comes our way
if it’s big enough
we cry
Warm tears flood from our eyes
as though the bad can be washed away
somehow, it does help
Does anyone know how?
Today I’m thinking of the other sort
the tears that flow from ‘happy’
Very, very happy!
Good! Very good!
Oh, so good!
A famous Army general
broke the ice with his comment:
“I don’t trust a man who doesn’t cry!”
This from a very tough guy.
So we now have license, we men!
I cried okay when a child
little boys were often admonished
‘Big boys don’t cry!”
I took that to heart.
and gave my life to Christ
to be my Lord, my Savior.
Maybe you can guess what happened?
I cried.
So, for forty years now,
for exceeding happy
for sad and tender
I can cry.
And it’s okay.
50 years ago come April
I met the girl who married me.
50 years December
we’ll pause to celebrate the wedding.
I’ll bet the happy tears
would fill some buckets now!
Precious, the word,
has grown and grown
I put strong arms around the thought
and then around her
and I cry
little warm tears
Happy tears……
Lin 3/2010
First Whiffs
on stiff rubber tires
A disk blade or spring cultivator
eases into the rich, loam soil
and the farmer gets a first whiff!
There’s that stirring in the memory
of communion with the soil
and all the things a farmer does
to raise the plants that feed us
clothe us
fuel our machines these days
Do you have a favorite ‘whiff’?
Fresh bread smell wafting through the house?
Apple pie on the counter?
Pot roast with onions, carrots and potatoes?
Roses or apple blossoms
Oh so many wonder full whiffs!
How about the rain freshened air
after a sweet summer rain?
How about baby shampoo
on your precious baby child?
Or fresh brewed coffee in the early morning?
Hamburgers on the summer grill?
Fresh mown hay some summer day
a field of clover, in full bloom?
Are we blessed or not?
The farmers and the gardeners
are out and doing their toil
I’m thinkin’ there should be a symphony
playing in the background
some singers humming quietly
along with the robin’s tunes
Selah, Spring, 2012 Lin