Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Is

God is.
All that is
Is
Because 
God is.

Dios es.
Todo li que hay
Es
Porque
Dios es.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Coughing

Weaker Than a Gerund

If you send a gerund,
On an errand,
It can convert cough into coughing,
It can convert sleep into sleeping.
In fact "inging",
While singing,
Is its "thinging".

But I on the errand,
Can not compete with a gerund,
I can convert cough into coughing,
But not while sleep, sleep, sleeping.
Coughing,
Not sleeping,
Is my "thinging".



Thursday, September 24, 2015

Focus on Life

Focus on Life

Days of pain,
Days of doubt,
Try to drain,
what life's about.

Life's about Love.
Life's about Duty.
Life's about friends.
Life's about Beauty.

So if at noon,
It's dark as night,
Whistle a tune,
Don't surrender the fight.

Life's about Love.
Life's about Duty.
Life's about friends.
Life's about Beauty.

Focus on life,
Each day that you live.
dwell not on death.
Be quick to forgive.

Life's about Love.
Life's about Duty.
Life's about friends.
Life's about Beauty.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Common Cold

I think I am much too old,
To have just a common cold.
So let Google inspire us,
It's not a cold it's a rhinovirus.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Funny Story



This is funny story my grandfather was found of telling me. I don't know if it's fact or fiction so I call it "a Harlan Ky WW2 Legend". About a half dozen people in a Harlan County group I am in contacted me to say it was fact.

It seems a draft board official asked a prospective draftee, "what's your name?" He was surprised by the young man's answer, "I don't rightly know."

Now angry the official demanded, "what do you mean you don't know, everyone knows their own name!?"

Sincerely the youth replied, "we was born twins. Mom named us Silus and Gilus. One of us up and died. We ain't sure which one."
       JSM

Rev J Scott Martin in a blogger and author, more into jscottmartin dot com


Thursday, September 17, 2015

The Shell

The Shell

Is it fear?
Is it fright?
Is it wrong?
Is it right?

Love is wasted,
Never tasted.
Stuck in a shell,
Social norms spell.

A pain shared,
Is a burden paired,
But Inside the shell,
You must not tell.

I see the tears,
Aged past years,
I must not ask,
Tis not my task.

Love is wasted,
Never tasted.
I am the stranger,
The norm of danger.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Perfect Morn

Excellent Morn

Sipping Coffee,
Clear my mind,
Search my soul,
Love, joy, peace,
Intact the treasure trove.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Black Hole


Death stole,
The goodly role.

Never more the face.
Never more the embrace.

Just a,
Black hole,
In my soul.

Monday, September 14, 2015

Anonymity

Anonymity

The soul in anguish
A smile may feign
But the heart's windows
Divulge the pain.

Hold my gaze
And we will see
I in you
And you in me.

Silence

Silence

Impetuous we beg, scream, bang our head,
Awaiting an  answer we hear silence instead .
The ears, the ears, can not this Word hear.
in this world's silence,
He Shouts, "I am here."

Patience

Patience

I ordered some patience on E bay one night.
I paid extra postage to  go out the next flight.
The parcel was very late to arrive.
Not taking one day but instead taking five.

A box full of nuts arrived at my home.
Not nuts made of nuts but nuts made of foam.
My face turned red , red as a beet.
I picked up the phone I just had to speak.

On hold many minutes with music so gloomy.
I Finally spoke to a gal named Soe Soomie.
"Patience was packed in the box we did ship"
I was so mad I  just bit my lip.

"No no no, no patience at all."
"Why do you think I'm making this call?"
"Don't worry sir, you don't have to pay"
"We'll ship some more this very day"

95 boxes now clutter my hall.
95 times I made that same call.
Box 96 was empty and small,
But I found patience after all.

James 1:2-3 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 

Smile Collector

Smile Collector

I tread along a path unknown,
Many shadows slumber in stride.
I search each face that passes,
Looking, hoping for a sign,

Eyes open I see her coming,
Today's angel along my path.
Though the exchange is unspoken,
I guard her smile in my belt pack.

God is a Whisperer

God is a Whisperer

I have slowly formed the opinion that God is a whisperer. Now and again he sends a hint. However I am conflicted about my own opinion. After all He wrote a book whose first line reads "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". But even then He never put quill to parchment but was a Holy "ghost writer." Still when one considers how God could communicate using multiple media outlets, writing in the clouds, mass megaphone, etc., I think my opinion is safe. After all. If God wasn't a whisperer wouldn't He have a Facebook page?

Suffering of Job

Suffering of Job

Not job as in work but a man named Jōb pronounced with a long "o" like "grow".  Have you read the book? I think it is a book worthy of contemplation many times in a lifespan. One's  perspective changes as decades pass and one accumulates his own set of losses and encounters with God. As a result of an argument between God and Satan over Job's righteousness, Job endures unthinkable loss amplified by the ignorant judgements of family and friends. For his trouble he gains an audience with God Almighty whom Job has accused of playing unfair. Job is awed by the grandeur of God and apologizes for complaining.  God then rebukes those who had told Job his suffering was a result of sin. Next he restores Job's fortune twofold and Job has 10 more children to offset the 10 he lost.  The end.

What? The end? It's like one of those movies you wish you hadn't watched. Did I miss something? It's not that my question wasn't answered. It is an answer I didn't want to hear. It's like when a  child ask a parent why they cant do something and the parent answers "because I'm your parent." It does nothing for my curiosity. Yet somehow I know the answer is true. No matter what befalls me, God is good.  Who am I to question God? Shall the clay say to the potter why have you made me into an ash tray?   God's  perspective is eternal. My perspective is temporal. Job's 10 dead children would never return to Job but Job would go to them. To Job they were lost but not to God.
Like Job said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

Cycles


You ask me a question.
I answer it the best I can.
No sooner than the sentence is finished,
You ask the same question again.

I repeat the same answer.
As Inside I feel  a little fear.
When I contemplate my future,
I know my turn is near.

War

War

"War is hell."
Was said very well.
Even a small bit of hell.
Is a very tough sell.



Dark Stories

Dark Stories

We each have stories We wish to tell.
We want our friends to know who we are so we feel understood.

A car nearly hits you.
A utility pole 10 yards away is struck by lightning.
You find a twenty dollar bill on your door step.
You hold in the story trying not to burst.
You calculate to who you want to share the story and at what time.
You rehearse the story in your head  while scolding yourself for embellishments.
You encounter a friend. Now's the time. Out pours the story like water from a gutter in a cloud burst.
Did he listen? A nod, a chuckle, a few kind words convince you the answer is yes. As you go your separate ways You reflect on what a good friend he is .

There are other stories, dark stories, stories we are afraid to tell. The stories that haunt our dreams and ensnare our souls. They themselves resist being told. They are ugly, dark, sticky, slimy monsters that covet anonymity.  They are true enemies. We only dare tell them to mentors, counselors, close family, or close friends. The irony of life is that dark stories brought to the light lose their power and are eventually discarded. Their memory no longer brings tears or angst. 

A poor person pays large sums of money to tell a dark story to their shrink. The rich person pays nothing to tell it to a true friend.

Counting Sheep

Sheep induced insomnia 

To lay in bed
Yet not sleep
Is cured they say
By counting sheep.

12, 13, 14 sheep
Jump over my head.
And just when I'm sleepy
There's no more room left in bed.




Sunday, September 13, 2015

Repose

A few days of complete repose,
Are not as pleasant as one might suppose.

Fall Falls

Fall

Fall colors the leaves so bright.
Frost will soon enlace the dew.
Fall displays her awesome sight, 
"Look, look now, my days are few."



Peanutbutter Friends

Good Friends are like Peanut-butter.

Peanut-Butter you say???
Delicious,
Nutritious,
Adjectives true.
No matter how neat or how messy,
It clings to you like glue.

Angels Unaware

God is extraordinarily amazing.
Some think this is absurd.
While they wait to see the Red Sea part,
They miss the angel with the smile and kind word.




Sailor of Time

Sailor of Time 

As my prow slices the waves of time,
Sea foam spray drips memories from my beard,
Memories of glass smooth seas and gentle puffs of breeze.

I try to turn and tack into the mighty wind, to wash back the tide of time.
My vessel threatens to roll under the angry swells, 
so I return to run with the ever faster gale.
I baton the hatches and trim the sail.

Sea foam spray drips memories from my beard,
Memories of glass smooth seas and gentle puffs of breeze.

Axioms

Discard old fore it's old?
accept new fore it's new?
It's a pity an axiom,
Is not like a shoe.

Mighty Oaks

Mighty Oaks

I have met a few mighty oaks.
They are superbly steady folks.
Lean on them you feel no sway,
Not even on the blustriest day.

7 things you could not guess about me

1. I was stopped by soldiers in Uganda and forced to spend the night in a refugee camp. At a different location I was arrested by soldiers the next day but quickly released. The journalist I was with did an award winning documentary that aired multiple times on CNN Español, La Otra Cara de Africa.

2. I got lost in an abandoned coal mine is Pennsylvania but later discovered signs I had left for myself.

3. I rappelled into a 180 foot deep subsidence crack in Harlan County.

4.  I once preached for an all night worship service for native Americans in a remote reservation in Costa Rica. I has no advanced warning. The next morning I had the privilege to baptize converts in a mountain stream.

5. I once had to evacuate a Wall Mart due to a dangerous construction situation I was engineer on.

6. I toured a multi-story shanty town in the Philippines suspended by ropes under a bridge and over a river.

7. I have been held at gunpoint twice in my life, once surveying in the mountains of West Virginia and once in item number 1 above. I can't count the time union thugs pointed a 45 at my vehicle after I refused to stop.

Ugly Thoughts

Ugly thoughts are like a bitter pecan.
The best medicine is to spit it out quickly.

I stuck in my thumb


I peeled an orange,
Inside was a plum.
Till it happens to you,
You'll think I'm dumb.

It's not that I care,
Both are fine by me.
It's just that I thought,
The orange was thee.

Born Again

Spiritual Birth

Have you seen Jesus?
I saw his blood,
I washed his feet,
I brought him bread,
How can you think
He is dead?

My color blind friend sees
Red,
Blue,
And yellow,
As but various shades of gray.
I always did feel sorry for that fellow.

"Unless one is born again He/she can not see the kingdom of God."
JC

Dinosaur

If I was dinosaur,
In a chorus.
I would be,
The brontosaurus.

Bad Deal

They say you're only as old as you feel.
Well, no thank you, I do NOT want that deal!

The Past

The past,
Has past,
So very fast.

Facetime

FaceTime Modesty

I like FaceTime
But not all the time.
Though I love you a lot.
I'll not answer on the pot.

Sound of Silence

Sound of Silence 

Do you ever stop to listen? I mean to hush the noise within and really listen. Is the silence you hear like that of an empty 55 gallon drum, whose metallic echo betrays a void? Or is it the silence you hear that of a universe so well oiled the mechanism and the maker make no noise except the peaceful purr of a well ordered silence?

Old Coffee

Day old coffee,
Is not as good,
as
Day old toffee.

Big Thoughts

Big Thoughts

Greatest thought,
That could be thunk?
 Is of a loving God,
Who makes no junk.

What is the reason
We mortals live?
If not the will of God
Our life did give.

And when my heart,
Beats it's last.
I'll fly with angels
His at last.

Listen up friends 
And foes alike,
We tread this sod
To meet our God.

Pick up and read
The Gospels four.
So you will know
What lies in store.

For God so loved
You and me.
He sent us Jesus
Our souls to free.

Feed the hungry,
Help the lame.
Do it all,
In Jesus name.

Riddle

What hurts when you don't get it?
And is spoiled if you get it by asking?
And is often received by giving it away?

Suspect Phrases

Socially Challenged? 

Certain phrases cause me to suspect the person using them is socially challenged. For example the phrase "I'll be honest with you." Why would I believe a person who just revealed he is a chronic liar who only tells the truth after announcing the same. Or the phrase "don't take this personally." I am a person, I will take it personally. Aren't you just saying "I am about to hurt your feelings but since I warned you first you can't hold it against me"? Guess what, I can. Last but not least variations of the phrase, "I am sure you would agree" or "wouldn't you agree". How do you know if I agree or not? Are you telling me I must live up to your expectations?

I'll be honest with you, I seldom rant so I am sure you would agree you shouldn't take it personally.

Easter

Winter's gusto can not long endure,
The return of the hot, blazing sun.
As we wait with ashen forehead,
to celebrate the risen Son.

Bad Bedfellow

Pain can be a faithful friend,
Or a cruel bully,
But never a good bedfellow.

Star Trek Prime Directive

Star Trek Purity

How fortunate would we be,
If we paid heed to the prime directive. Not the fictional Star Trek "don't interfere with the development of a sub-warp culture", but Jesus' prime directive, "love one another".

Probably Jesus' beatitude, "blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God" refers to an after death experience but this does not preclude a secondary meaning referring to "seeing God" as we love others.

Bluegrass March

Bluegrass March

The Summer breeze blows in a Winter freeze all in but one spin of the top. Kentucky bluegrass weathers winter's last gasp to nurture the new foals of spring. Around Keeneland's track soon thoroughbreds prance and Spring will at long last reign supreme.

Truth

Truth is a bell which rings the same tone no matter if the clapper is swung by friend or foe. 

False Laughter

The Window washer of the soul,
It Lets us see within.
Gone the grime tis plain to see,
The laughter hides the pain.

Proverbs 14:13
Even in laughter the heart may ache 

Ou

Piety
Pity
Pit
3.14159265
P

Love without

Is there love without suffering?
Is there love without grief?
Is there love without sacrifice?
Is there love without joy?
Is there love without hope?

No.

How can love not suffer,
When their is evil?
How can love not grieve,
When their is loss?
How can love not sacrifice,
When their is need.
How can love not rejoice,
When their is good.
How can love not hope,
When their is God.