Men of Distinction
but amongst the men of power, renown,
there comes along, now and then,
some fellows, men of distinction
Casper Weinberger comes to mind.
A man of chosen words
moving daily on the world stage
comportment solid, reassuring
I met a local man last night
who had a common thing with Casper
He retired to care for his wife
Stepped away from career,
to care
To live in service for the one he loved
who, in serious illness, needed help
It would be good to have a category
for men and women who do that
who live in service to the one they love
when that person faces decline and death
I see that more and more
It happens, but often not noticed,
those of distinction just do it
They rise to the occasion
as if on angel wings
How can we help them
through this time?
By holding up their arms
when they are weary
by giving hugs of encouragement
by caring with them
as they serve in care….
Selah
Lin 12/10
“And He will raise you up, on eagle’s wings,
bear you on the breath of dawn.” John Groban PZ
Who Gives This Woman…
to the father of the bride
He’s been there along the way
birth, teething, walking and running
Little arms around his neck
riding high on his shoulders
Along the way she grew
and suddenly became a woman
so quickly, it happened
Comes a day
grand as grand can be
folks in their finest gather round
to witness vows being taken
Relatives, friends, friends of friends
associates of various ilk
watch the procession
of bride and groom
and particular people.
Mother has been seated
sealing the aisle for good
Slowly, one step at a time
the decked out attendants come
take their places
and now the bride, with her dad, dad, daddy!
Daddy!
I’m frightened!
Hold me tight!
Never let me go!
The little girl is there
in a thousand memories held
Slowly down the aisle they come
daughter holding dad’s arm light
And then the question comes:
Who gives this woman to be married to this man?”
He knows the words to be spoken.
What am I doing? Giving my precious daughter away?
Will he love her and protect her
even better than I?
“Her mother and I”, spoken at last,
and he lifts her vail
gives her a kiss
then sits with his bride.
just yesterday
they were married the same
Her dad gave her
with the very words
then they were husband and wife, one
In the beginning
God created
then set his couple free
Given minds, bodies, spirits,
an earth sculpted to His design
heaven was part of earth
The freedom twisted, became
less than heaven
there we remain, to live
one foot here, and one foot there
free, but captives in a way
The rains came
with thunder, with lightning
and so they do today
All nature points us heavenward
to help us know ourselves
and taste a bit of God, the Father
Maybe we should change our lines
and have the mother of the groom
give him away as well!
“His Father and I”,
the groom’s mom might say?
Oh my!
They might all cry ‘We do!’
Four voices as one!
The congregation too?
That’s a thought!
Settle down, dad.
Step back further.
Say your lines,
let go.
The preacher nails it very well:
“Whom God has joined together,
let no man put asunder!”
Selah
Lin, to my friend John 10/10
Juxta…posed
in great grandma’s wooden chair
the spare my office has
Next to me
back straight as a Marine
sat the latest geek!
I the geezer,
he the geek,
gazed at the computer screen
menus flashed
as he clicked along
Talk about fast!
My 120 year old chair
didn’t care, as usual,
but just think of great grandma sitting there
upstairs the washer hummed
cool air filled the room (geo-thermal)
electric lights made vision easy
and then comes the computer…
Giga bytes of memory
high speed connectivity
to the cyber world and Deere
My geek a natural speedster
taking to computers like, well, you know
College trained, company trained,
linked by cell phone to even more tech
Lightning clicks, directing the download,
entering info scoped on me
the farm
the fields
planting
harvest
plant varieties
yields
site specific info
a foretaste of glory divine?
Where intelligence is crystal clear
where God and man continually dine?
For you see, we know
so little
And each step along the way
we discover ‘there’s much more out there’!
Froth a behemoth first computer
to Blue Waters at the U of I
mechanical, electrical ‘intelligence’ grows
faster and faster and faster
until, who knows
what comes next?
My tech friend leaves
and I get his chair
Great grandma’s goes back in waiting
for another day
when some other person
connects me with some new knowledge
new power
to do it better
God bless the young folks!
And God grant us old folks peace
and courage to keep going forward!
Selah, Lin 9/10
John Deere Apex, Farm Management Software
Little Bitty Mountains
lots of things hide
Whole worlds of little plants
little animals
grow and survive
Earlier I wrote
of God’s favorite color
(that being gray, that day)
Well I now have discovered
most interesting plants
or animals
or we’re not sure what to call them
When a fungus marries an algae
it produces a lichen
Symbiotic, they are, they say
They live all around us
but it takes a scope
to really observe them
yet so finely made
they grow and explode
spores all around us!
We find them on bark
on rocks here and there
What fascinating … things!
What good are they
we’ve yet to discover
but how neat to pull back
yet another cover, to find
God’s creation so complex
we are left here to wonder
what we’ll discover next!
Lin 8/1/10
“This is My Father’s World” Maltbie Babcock
Good and Tired!
to body, mind, and spirit
But in those challenges
comes good as well
The body has its limits
borne out in getting tired
Muscles ache, complain and more
but for these a remedy exists
The family room holds a recliner
a great big chair that folds
actually it enfolds me
as I lean back, and melt in
my body plainly speaks
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
A thousand blessings surround:
the prairie lives in peace
I worship as I choose
air conditioning (geo-thermal)
electricity in abundance
water better than champagne
a loving wife
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
nature at full speed
harvest coming in aces
Nature is singing praises
and my spirit can go along
It’s not just in the stars His handiwork I see,
nor in majestic winds and clouds
It’s in myriads of plants
fascinating animals
and continual discovery
of grand design
It is good.
A rest and I’m up an at ’em,
going again to do a thousand things
I’ve never done before
and a few I’ve done again and again!
I’m good, satisfied,
and tired can be good too!
Yes, I’m good and tired!
And it’s okay!
Lin Summertime, 8/10
Horizontal Rain
know their rain!
It falls, ever so gently
and so often.
It creates lush flora and fauna
and cleans the air
crystal clear scenes are precious.
The prairie folks
in the flyover zone
have a different rain
Horizontal, they call it
Let me explain
Just yesterday I labored
inside a brand new shed
Fifty feet wide, seventy feet long
with giant doors for giant machines
Thunder boomed, lightning cracked
closer and closer it came
A wall of rain was visible
across the fields ’twas coming
Ting! Ting! big raindrops hit the metal roof
The east door open, I worked in the west end.
The wind picked up, as did the rain
which now was pounding like a snare drummer
Ten feet, twenty feet, the rain came in
and then I was getting wet!
Sixty feet from the door, and I was wet!
That’s horizontal rain!
Hot as I was, and sweaty
The cool rain drops refreshed me
Outside, the dry soil was gulping down
The corn leaves frantically waved and thrashed
happy to take a shower
Strong, the plants,
bending in the wind, but resiliant too
they stood the test, endured
More cracking lightning
more booming thunder
wave after wave of intense rain
then it was softer
and then just sprinkles
thunder, lightning distant
The sun came out to greet us
Me, the corn and beans,
all happy with our drink and shower
ready to keep on working
Oh, creation is wonder filled
wonder full
I am so small in many ways
Power just passed
power remains
My time is short, and I must hurry!
Selah, Lin 8/10