Alimentary, My Dear Watson!
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when we think about it
the processes inside us every day
Open the hatch
send something down
and then study from end to end
changing food to energy
the system works
year after year after year.
Some would posit
it’s but evolution
happening, accidentally, over time.
Step by step
for thousands of years
it just sort of…happened.
My mind is simple
won’t stretch that far
so I’m left to wonder
I know a little
having studied it a lot
and lived many decades now
a baby nursing
a toddler smearing
teeth coming…and going
and coming again
Some muscles seen
many so hidden
silently working away
Valves of tissue
molded just right
all this hooked together.
Penny in?
Penny out!
The little one lives to tell
Oh the loads
that enter, leave,
processed, of that there is no doubt!
and ‘feel okay’.
Compounds created to dissolve and use
the chemicals we call food
I have a friend
a professor smart
who has studied it all most deeply
His reaction?
His main thought?
“Every day,
thank God…for your liver!”
Take a moment
and do just that
offer up some praise
you have the gift
to be alive
and chance to understand
Lin 04/09
Treasures
names and more names
line after line
page after page
Then it happens
The particular letters
that label one person, known
and treasured
We know
‘the rest of the story’
therein lies value
like treasure buried
in a field
causing the discoverer
to sell all they own
to buy the field
buy the treasure
a husband for a wife
a wife for a husband
a parent for a child
a child for a parent
brothers, sisters and more
who order their lives
build on firm foundations
All in the context
of the Creator
who caused
watches
moves
knows
amends
heals
takes home…forever
Lin 03/09
Salts of the Earth
of some of creation
I’ve found it in people
who I know
Some are close
for many years
my learning grows from them
I’ve watched them
can you see
in many different places
I’ve seen them laugh
I’ve seen them cry
I’ve seen them study hard
I’ve seen them ponder
and sometimes not know
sometimes ‘click’ out loud
Some are moments
along the way
Serendipity, you might say
I’d like to give a taste of both
My farming family
Hank and Ad
Ida and Alfred and more
Don and Dorothy
Jake and Lilly
Lou and Arlie for a few
Then there’s mentors
folks I’d copy
like Stan and Marie
Bob and Dee
Dale and Virginia too
Kenny and Lorna Mae
Fold in church
loving folks
like Ralph and Georgia
Paul and Jessie
Bill and Virginia
Dick and Ruth
Carl and June
Herschal and Wilma
Ken and Taschia
Jim and Lydia
Gary and Carolyn
Dick and Marge
Al and Margaret
and so many many more
Salting the earth
with their values
flavoring, oh so richly
the meaning of life and living
above it all
I can sense a Hand is moving
molding
something I can only glimpse
I can see it
then I can’t
I can smell it
then it’s gone
I feel it oh so strong
and then
where is it?
My thinking grows
with reading, watching, listening
with loving spouse
children
grandchildren
I sense it coming together
and yet it’s ‘out there’
I can’t quite capture
altogether
Indeed,
‘It is through a glass dimly’
even though I’m gaining
Meanwhile I’ll savor
the salt of the earth
In them, I will pleasure
And I will sing:
“God is moving
by his Spirit
moving through all the earth
Signs and wonders
when God moveth
Move of God, in me”*
And
“All over the world
God’s Spirit is moving
All over the world
as the prophets said it would be
All over the world
there’s a mighty revelation
of the Glory of the world
as the waters cover the sea.”*
Lin 02/09
*authors unknown
Minus What?
at the moment
Sun is shining brightly
A squirrel just ran up a tree
oblivious to the temp
He’s making his rounds
just as usual
checking his area out
Summer’s harvest
is tucked away
awaiting his preplanned visit
It’s minus 12
and I’m inside
but the house is pretty chilly
66, the dining room
70, my office temp
80 degrees of difference
From 150 feet
below our house
water flows around
warming our house in winter
cooling our house in summer!
round and round it goes
My grandma told me
of ‘way back when’
the winter of ’82
Her parents sheltered
on this land
staked out as their own
A lean to home
a constant fire
a lot of clothes
and cold
Still they made it
built a house
lived through many winters
they did
from early morning until dark
Every day except the Sabbath
Grew the crops and harvested
fed the grain to cattle
Hogs and sheep and chickens too
Horses pulled their weight
Light was kerosene lanterns
Heat was a big iron stove
Fire the friend
that kept them warm
cooked their food
kept them all from freezing
Life went on
at minus 12
but not the same today
I start the car
warm it up
turn the heater on
drive away in comfort
My office fare
is through the net
high speed signals fly
I drop a note
to you, my friends,
to let you know we’re warm
Remembering
Thanking
those who came before us
to blaze a trail
and leave us better
May we do the same!
Best, Lin January 15, 2009, Minus 12F
Evie
smiles and frowns
party gowns and frilly things
A thousand million things
flying around her world
Once was a toddler
looking up
giving hugs that warmed some hearts
Still she leaps
and hugs some folks
some day she’ll knock them down!
Her mind is growing quickly
she likes
she doesn’t
She sings and dances
she reads and listens
and yes she talks!
Her laughter is so beautiful
Oh, so many ways
she fills the days with good
with blessing
in no time passing mom
What child is this
born in love
nurtured in love
living in love and grace
Evelyn, Grace,
Happy Birthday!
Love, Grandpa
September 28, 2008
The Waiting Father
and the waiting farmer
have some things in common
An idea is born
some winter season
spoken
and comes to being
Springtime finds the chosen seeds
carefully placed in soil
Mothered well
tiny plants poke up
and drink in sun and water
Oh, how they stretch and grow
taller and taller through the days
days of warmth, and days of wind
days that stroke, and days that test
taller and taller they grow
then birth their seeds
marked with mother and father
All along,
the harvest season
has been a part of the plan
Some day, you see,
the harvesters roll
set their sickles, fine tuned
to the plants
and begin the final swaths
The plants devoured
but the seeds carefully saved
are food for today and tomorrow
and seeds for next year’s harvest
is a time
just before the harvest
When the farmer waits, knowing
the time is coming
Patience? Oh the virtue!
He sleeps in peace
and watches with care
day after day
He waits.
In another dimension
yet there all the time
a waiting Father
thought
spoke
created
and watches
His people move
across the earth
from the soil, till the soil
become the soil again, except
In Him
their spirits are forever
He’s waiting for you
and for me
Selah
Lin 10/08 Waiting