Envy is kin to bitterness
Love and forgiveness carry a family resemblance.
Coveting a neighbors wealth
Plants seeds of resentment.
To dwell on things you lack
leads to angry resentment and wrong doing.
So like Cain,
Feeling sorely mistreated,
You find yourself pining away
Marked fallible.
For wants confused with needs
Create human misery.
So recognize the gifts received
And appreciate the given
And with your neighbor make friends,
Practice love and forgiving.
THH
11/30/24
This morning
Watching my breathe
Basking in sweet quietness,
Stretching out liked a contented old dog,
Freedom dawned in me.
True, I’ve always been free.
I know the common understanding,
But put in perspective
I’m seriously lucky to be me.
Many people have fewer options;
Their freedom of choice limited by
class, race, and abject poverty. I’m privileged enough to do about what I want — free as one can be.
Only obligations founded in my heart limit my options:
Family first and their security,
Friends that remain,
Community and neighbors to help where I can,
Commitments made with connections to which I maintain loyalty; but at my age most have moved on; wife and two children taken by rude fate, beyond comprehension, are gone.
Death and broken connections left an old bachelor behind with time on hand,
Healthy and able to reimagine yesterday’s dreams; time to explore sundry directions without the burdens of past obligations.
At first I grieved my losses
Felt deserted,
Even thought why me,
Angry the lives of loved ones were cut short,
As the family was torn apart, leaving
me alone and forsaken.
And I miss the old connections,
The habits of our hearts
The camaraderie despite attending costs.
But now I see a new door flung open.
A freedom I can choose to walk through with complete abandon.
So my losses cost,
And circumstances brought pain and some desperation with my grieving,
but the gain I now perceive is in the time available to spend as I please.
What dawned on me is this freedom to explore once more, the past intentions and lost reveries long shelved as no longer possible, are now options,
Opportunities knocking.
The time that remains is my own :
Time to read,
Time to write and travel,
Time to make new friends
Time to reflect, and make amends,
Time to discover the authentic me.
Free to go as far and as deep as I’m willing.
THH
11/28/24
On Christ the King Sunday
Jesus stood alone
Deserted and beaten
before a magistrate of Rome.
His kingdom proclaimed:
No armories,
Or boundaries,
No petty rivalries,
Nothing for a worldly judge to fear.
His Truth stayed hidden.
The Kin-dom gift is for all to see.
And to this life of loving and forgiving
He gave up body and soul to make it so.
But none joined the fight, not even the disciples. No one answered His call.
For sacrificial living was death defying,
Seemed life denying.
So His Truth remained hidden.
Jesus spoke of an other worldly kin-dom.
To the judge just empty words,
Of a deluded Jewish prophet,
Hoping to impress Rome,
With talk of an invisible magic kingdom;
So with no army to suppress
The judge from his worldly throne
Mocked Him roundly.
And the people enamored by the idea of a King,
Angry and thirsty for an idol with power,
Ready to bow before a stone idol
Like Israelites of old had demanded,
Like the one many would crown King today.
All loudly insisted —
We have no King but Caesar !
Let him tell us what to do and who to hate.
Let him bring order and make
our dusty world safe
from all bandits and demons.
Still His Truth lay hidden.
So failing to be the King desired,
Jesus got crucified.
And in His dying hour
He spoke His truth once again to power.
To the beloved disciple at His grieving mother’s side: here is your mother; here is your son.
And on that Good Friday
By simple example
His Truth was revealed :
All of us from beginning and the end are Kin.
For only in a life giving Kin-dom
Will His kingdom come.
In Christ no tyranny reigns.
Christ heals with friendship and love,
Offering hope someday we will
Learn to live His lesson of
Love forgiven.
Then there will be nothing hidden.
*Thanks to Sarah Reynolds
THH
11/26/24
Grieve today,
Not coming in first,
Then rest,
Let go of anger,
Disappointment
And your fear of worse.
Notice the rain wash clean the streets,
Settle the dust.
Splash in puddles if you must.
Breathe autumn’s air,
And then as before
watch and wonder as colors fall,
Covering old ground and dying grass.
Take delight as leaves blow free,
Then ready yourself for the cold winter
you flee.
Raise your head from preparing the fire
and if you will,
Rejoice for the spring that soon will come;
Make necessary amends,
Hold hands my friends,
Then go build the rainbow bridge
You intend,
For no one knows how or when
This struggle will end.
THH
11/6/24
Enter the doorway of time carefully
For your mind will demand to go out shopping.
To step into the marketplace
Full of wants invented
With cares to redress;
Push a cart on wobbly wheels,
Down well stocked aisles of
Potential sustenance,
Difficult to resist,
Or wisely consider
For color, freshness, and flavor.
With promises of relief and
total satisfaction,
A hungry body and thirsty mind
Could be forgiven carelessness,
Mistaking taste for true nurturance.
Available at one low price
Desires and curiosities charm;
Cheap warranties and hidden costs
abound,
Claim more and more time,
Impose a slavery without manumission.
Passions owned tend to last and last,
As spellbound hearts chained
To purchases from your past,
Closed to requests for refunds and returns.
Stay focused on the real,
For time flies fast on tempting wings
in one stubborn mortal direction.
And if your mind shops unfocused
Resentments and envy will dominate
Full of regret for poor and unwanted
bargains,
Bound now to your silver shopping cart
Forced to trudge into a cheap future.
THH
11/1/24
Take a moment
Untangle arms and legs,
throw back the covers,
Feel the sticky remains of love,
get out of bed.
March to the bathroom mirror
Take a moment to see yourself:
Hair mussed after twisting about,
Cold water to awaken the face,
A washcloth to warm your skin,
The morning chills bare feet,
As your eyes take a moment for remembering.
Lick your lips —
Taste your night time pleasures,
Recall the thrill,
The giving one to another
The joy of a rhythm as one.
Be still as your muscles and bones
Resonate with being held.
Stretch and flex your arms,
hug your half dressed body
Rejoice in the echo of the moment.
Recall the surrender of your daytime face,
The giddiness of yes,
The dropping of worry and petty obligations
The letting go.
Then notice how separation invades
your senses;
Standing alone
Watch distance rush the quiet morning,
Push work on routine drills,
Blur your reflection on the night’s passion.
Remember and look back
Smile from inside out,
Refuse to let the moment pass,
Leap back in bed,
Pull the covers over your head
Snuggle up against your lover’s skin,
if he protests the chill,
Kiss his eyes open.
Whisper —
Let’s do it again.
THH
10/29/24
Disasters storm across our lands these days: Rivers forget their banks,
pour raging waters into our streets,
wash out bridges, trash our treasures, leave us to cry in the dark.
Funny we never expect such happenstance.
Winds bend trees to breaking and limbs crash in rooftops, turn homes into unsurvivable wrecks —
Victims by tragic circumstance.
Overwhelmed by loss
And the muddy mess,
we fear what will come next:
Wonder just what we have reaped,
What seeds have been carelessly sown.
Times of struggle loom ahead
Times of discomfort,
Little time to recover tattered remains,
We will have to make do with less.
But surprise awaits as people
gather on site, where we learn
What neighbors are really like:
The ones with a flashlight,
The ones with chainsaws to clear debris,
The ones with power, food, and a freezer to share,
The ones with brooms and shovels,
Ready to get down to it.
Ready to make the day worth living
With helping hands to restore
Better times for the rest.
Even people from far away places,
People with unfamiliar faces
show up at the door,
To make for us a hearty stew.
And in their love plainly demonstrated,
We find humanity at her best.
Tragic experience shatters norms.
Sufferings shared makes of desperate people one.
The mystery of hope held in common, bends in one charitable direction
To make real corrections.
The blessing rarely spoken,
learned when disaster strikes,
As you face frustration, worry and strife,
Is the joy brought by people who knock
Twice; People waved at yesterday in passing, now offer a hand strong and lasting.
Neighbors you barely knew
Become trusted friends: a whole new community for you.
The realization of solidarity and
respect provides healing for human grief; the faithfulness restored by willing hearts, gives hope in spite of worldly distress,
The unexpected grace of nevertheless.
THH
10/01/24
No matter how far you travel
No matter where you go
The world she travels with you
And teaches lessons you need to know.
Some days are grey and cloudy,
others sunny with skies full of blue;
For along with joys and pleasure,
No matter if you are due,
The world she brews trouble,
And not a few heavy woes for you.
So when you hit the road
Have friends at the ready
To lighten up your load,
And bring you close together
To share the love of living
And keep you steady as you go.
THH
9/23/24
A gentle shower begins to play.
Raindrops snap and pop
on my tin roof;
Adventuring sounds,
Fading in and out,
Rushing tempos,
Slowing down,
Searching for chords,
A warm up set.
Accompanied by a breezy horn,
Blowing jazz notes for emphasis,
Finger my skin,
Lay underneath the rain
A refrain that works with emotion.
The breeze and rain play counterpoint.
An ensemble of enchantment,
soothes aging ears
with a syncopated sounds.
A rhythmic salve to thoughts pestering my brain, releasing the demons of what was and what might have been,
From another round of reasoning.
Tree frogs provide accompaniment,
As tears from father sky
bath bird and beast and
Quench the thirst of Mother Earth.
The land is a sponge.
And the tinkle of water
performs its rooftop tunes,
Until the jazz fades,
Leaving nothing but rest.
THH
9/14/24
Thoughts Have Hands 