Sacred Memories

Since my last post, I’ve been trying to add some photographs and links, but find that I can upload absolutely NOTHING ! Discouraged, I convinced myself that I cannot post, and that worked for a few days, until my mind kicked into the new thinking we are all doing; thinking born of new realities for all of us….of working at home….of staying at home…of not going to church….not gathering in groups…..limited shopping….not going to school….and the list goes on, and sometimes changes every day.

We have to start thinking, not about the things we CAN’T do (like upload), but of what we CAN do. I can post words.

Last Sunday I tuned onto “Music and the Spoken Word”..a broadcast of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square here in Salt Lake City. It’s a weekly TV thing at 930am MST. Since we are not congregating as a church, I made this MY church, and what a comfort and reward it was! I wanted to share it, but it wouldn’t upload. Perhaps you could view it (and I would highly recommend it) log onto thetabernaclechoir.org and see if you can’t bring up the broadcast from March 20, 2020 (#4723)

The choir sang a number from “Oliver” that spoke to my soul about being warmed and strengthened by our making of and remembering past times. I won’t quote the whole song, but here’s a few of the lyrics that packed such a strong feeling:

Who will buy
This wonderful morning?
Such a sky
You never did see!
Who will tie
It up with a ribbon
And put it in a box for me?
Who will buy
This wonderful feeling?
I'm so high
I swear I could fly
Me, oh my
I don't want to lose it
So what am I to do
To keep the sky so blue?
There must be someone who will buy
Must be someone
who will....buy

And now, I’ll add our poem, entitled “Sacred Memories”

Sacred memories that touch our minds, sometimes fade into the dust,
Unless we store and cherish them, they wither and they rust.
Let's take the time to write them down, each day when they occur.
Meditate, appreciate and remember how they were.

Sacred memories, like my Mother's last living, dying words:
"Son, be good to your family", sacred words forever heard.
Or my Father, when he died and returned beyond death's veil.
He told me to search for truth along life's thorny trail.

Sacred memories keep us safe through life's joys and life's woes.
Sweet warm memories of our loved ones warm us as cold winds blow.
From brilliant rainbows, to buffalo swimming rivers at first light
Coming through the morning mist to our soul's delight.

We each savor special memories and store them in mind and heart.
They come in joy and sorrow. Write them down--is how we start.
Meditate on those that lift us, as we fast and search, seek and pray
And thank God for sacred memories! Gather more each passing day!

p.s. sorry about no photos or links :C

March 19

First day of Spring
My steps should be light,
With mind full of hope.
But, alas, reminders everywhere
Of sickness sweeping o'er the earth,
Who shakes and trembles,
Filling minds with fear;
And just in case
We manage to forget--
It shakes again, and again,
Reminding us
And holding us fast
In it's grasp.

Not I.
I will Avert my gaze
From pressing fears
To look up.
I see the clouds
Unchanging and steady
Blue sky
Beckoning to take my thoughts
And fling them far away,
Replaced with fresh
Breeze, or rain, or sun--
Wrapping me
With that love
Always there,
But often masked.
Today I will let it in
To warm my heart
And renew my hope
Expand my view
And see all the love around me.

Rhythm of the Heart

I remember a Christmas season..1977. My newborn son was about 4 months old, and as I rocked him one still evening and basked in the light of our small Christmas tree in that old rock house in Farmington, Utah….I reflected upon my feelings of joy and wonder, and thought of Mary and the baby Jesus, and her story became personal to me, and I penned a poem/song that has been posted here before…just a few lines for now:

I know of a baby just as small as you,
Born in a country that the shepherds knew.
A host of angels sang a song to him.
Birds chirped praises and ox kept time.
Stars shone brightly on that night divine,
For the little babe born in Bethlehem.
He was born that night for you and me,
So we could grow to perfect be,
And live in joy…forever,
Together.

And now, another Christmas season is here, and this year I hold a newborn grandson, and those same feelings come rushing in, and I’d like to post a few lines from a poem given to me on my birthday: Rhythm of the Heart–

Basked in your love
like a lizard--soaking sun
now I too have played the part
to soothe the fears
to tend the heart
watch them fall
wait for the rise

A mother's heart is open wide
a mother's heart is often broke
it's full of guilt
it's full of hope
tenderness
ferocious pride

The days are long
the years fly by
midnight feedings
sleepless nights
messy rooms
and tickle fights
chubby hands--reaching

A mother is a creature divided
such overwhelming, bittersweet joy
baited breath as bird takes flight
please let them soar--let them fly.








I can’t seem to get this 18 min. video to download correctly, so, to view it go to www.comeuntochrist.org/light-the-world/the-christ-child





Birthday Miracles

Dawn calls us through a window (freed from ivy vines)
Through the labor of my best friend with her heart, body and mind.
God gives us each talents and watches what we do.
We each have our agency to choose what we want to.

The Son's gold touches the sky.  The clouds catch His first rays.
I rose up slow and careful and stretched my pain away.
I gave my thanks to Heaven, to live just one more day--
rose and dressed and slipped away, as my mate slept on today.

I went out our front door and drove to a special place
Above the wake-up noise of each soul's fleeting race.
I watch the Son's miracles caress each cloud on high,
And gaze in awe-struck wonder, of this earth, clouds and sky.

From deer to bunny rabbits, to the birds that praise each dawn,
Each miracle reflects God's eternal song.

Now I sit again, in silence as my mobile turns before my face,
Reminding us of each precious goal; each family's special in time & space.


Bob wrote this on his birthday–July 20. Here it is, almost September, and I’m supposed to post a poem every Monday. Well, that hasn’t happened this summer. We’ve really been on the run and have not been home-based. But I suspect there aren’t many of you who race to your computer on Monday morning to catch the newest post, do you? If I lived for comments, I’d be dead! So that’s a scolding for both of us.

This is China Cove…one of the places that has distracted me from the blog this summer.

Little Hummingbird

You are special to me,
My little hummingbird...
Your happy face,
Screams of delight,
The way you want to hold my hand,
Your silent, thoughtful manner,
Your explosive enthusiasm,
Your ever-present wit,
The way you play together,
Your faces when you sleep,
The way you take pickles off cheeseburgers,
Your excitement over a penny,
The way you stick up for Jetta.
You make no demands of me.
Your creative talent,
The little poems you write,
Your tender feelings,
The way you sing Moana songs,
The way you stick up for yourself,
The way Grandpa is your best friend,
Because you are my tent buddy,
The way you eat cheeseburgers.





I found this poem saved on my desktop, and I don’t know who wrote it, so, somebody confess! I don’t know where it came from. Another sign of my old age, I guess. I could have written those words because they ring so true to me, but I didn’t.

Little things mean so much: The way we do things, unique to ourselves. It’s like Mr. Rogers used to say, “There’s no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are.”

Little Hummingbird

Ollie’s Song

So, this has been a really busy bunch of months, and, in case you have been watching, I have not been posting every Monday morning, or even every week. As I was trying to go to sleep the other night, for some reason, words to a lullaby kept coming into my mind; not a known lullaby, but a new one, especially for our upcoming grandchild. They flowed into my mind, and I hoped that in the morning I would be able to remember them. Ha. Well, I got up and wrote them down. Laid back down. Tried to sleep. More words kept coming. Got up again. Wrote them down, and put them to an Irish tune in the morning. Now, we are waiting for baby to come in November!

Come away wee little laddie
Lean your head upon my breast.
Come away with me to dreamland.
Close your eyes and take a rest.

Oh, wee lad, you are a treasure;
More than silver, more than gold.
You're a gift sent straight from Heaven;
Ours to love and ours to hold.

May the stars that light the heavens
Shine their light throughout the night.
Stand a watch as you are sleeping,
'Til the morning shines her light.

Oh, wee lad, you are a treasure;
More than silver, more than gold.
You're a gift sent straight from Heaven;
Ours to love and ours to hold.

May the sun shine down upon you;
Keep you safe and keep you warm.
May our love abide forever;
Keep you far away from harm.

Oh, wee lad, you are a treasure;
More than silver, more than gold.
You're a gift sent straight from Heaven;
Ours to love and ours to hold.

May you always know we love you,
Little Laddie, boy of mine!










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But, You Can!

If I wrote about a vacation, who would want to read it? Is there anyone as interested in the details as I am? I don’t think so….I think I write for me; kind of making a road map of life events that somehow allow you to take that road again–maybe not in the car or on the plane–maybe so, but maybe not. You don’t have to because you’ve already been there. You’ve already seen the show and it slips into one of those folders in that huge filing cabinet small enough to fit invisibly in my mind, or is it my spirit?..It must be because it’s not tangible. But I can open up that folder at will…that’s why I write. That’s why I take photos; otherwise, I fear the folder might be empty–what then?

Then I can’t achieve a ‘state of being’. I can’t dance to the music again. I can’t skip down the street. I can’t sparkle inside. I can’t absorb the saturation of excitement, and it can’t lift me, can’t give me wings….ah…but my folder isn’t empty, and so I can! You see, I don’t have to really come home to stay. Neither do you. Just take that smile , vision, thrill, tear, that time when you held your breath and when you held so tight, sang so free, felt so glorious, and heard their wonder, exhilaration, awe, fulfillment…it’s all there. It’s a state of being, bolted and bonded, never to really ever slip away. Isn’t it wondrous?

Boy in the Red Jacket





This posted poem is contributed by a guest writer, my daughter, Eve. My thoughts so often turn to my children and grandchildren with reflections on how fast time takes them from me. Several of my previous posts have been focused on that very sentiment, and, the older I get, the deeper I feel the distance, and the more I ache to gather them all in an everlasting embrace. As I look through old photographs of when my kids were babies or grade school age, I see images that verily suck me back in time and place to some spot to briefly see and feel it all over again. I can still see myself checking to see if they’ve fallen asleep, or I can see them all packed into a vehicle on the road to some anticipated vacation. I see them playing in the house, and chuckle again at the super hero costumes that often accompanied that play. I see Sunday tents in the living room, and bunnies and puppies in the back yard. I see a LIFE made of photographs. What follows is written by Eve Richardson:

James and I took a walk tonight. The last night of spring break. But sometimes, when I slow down enough it seems like more than winter is coming to an end. More like an era might be closing. Here am I–holding onto the past, trying to embrace the future. Always more useful in retrospect than in the moment.

Boy in the Red Jacket
running, running, running
winter at your back
as you sprint into spring

"Time me Mama!"
How fast you traverse each corner
my watch is broken
or is it my heart?
all these seconds--slipping away

Boy in the red jacket
running, running, running
short legs, pumping
looking back--to make sure I'm still there

You run so fast
I want to keep up 
but I can't
the corner, always on the horizon
I'm here, still here, always here

Boy in the red jacket
Thief of my heart
I look forward--to make sure you're still there
the sun is setting
that odd, enchanting quality of light
I'll see you there--forever.


This image was posted here on 20 November 2017. It’s called “Into the Woods” and is a painting of my six grandchildren moving forward, so fast!

DRIFTING

Drifting on the Sea of Life is such a risky thing.
Without a  chart & compass, the rocks & reefs of life can sting.
The treacherous waves await us, with every wind that blows.
The sirens of lies & deceit can blind our troubled souls,

Confusing truths direction, depending on our goal.
Without a map & compass to God's light, how can we know
A safe & clear, proven coarse, upon life's troubled sea,
Unto that safe, sure harbor, awaiting you and me?

There is a perfect captain, who calls to every soul,
Across the endless waves of time & space to help us grow.
His motive is our welfare.  He guides us from on high
To bring us safely home to Christ's harbor, if we will serve and try.

He gives us charts and maps to guide post rocks and hidden reefs.
His compass is the scriptures;  prayer calls Him to our relief
Past rocks of sorrow & tears, and reefs of hidden deceit,
Unto the peaceful harbor, where life becomes more pure and sweet.

I've done my share of drifting, with no set place to go.
I've sailed through deep depression of body, mind and soul.
I've wrecked upon the rocks & reefs of pride's dark vanity.
I felt the emptiness, as my sins washed over me.

I called unto my Master:  "Please help my sin-torn life!"
He reached his hand beneath life's waves, as I drowned in my strife.
He guided me to others, who understood life's maze.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints teaches of His ways.

Past all the rocks & hidden reefs, as we follow the Holy Son
Through storms of all our trials, Christ helps us work as one.




The above link will open a file to hear the song “Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me.”

The Advent Calendar

When I was a child, I first discovered the holiday advent calendars: a pleasant picture with small ‘doors’ to open, labeled 1-24, referring to the days in December. I remember how excited I was to open each one. One of my favorites displayed various woodland creatures behind each door. For some reason, those images absolutely delighted me. Now, most of them have a small chocolate behind the door, which could also be delightful.

I’m thinking that life is like an advent calendar. Each day, there is a door labeled with that date. I imagine–behind each door is a delight. I think of it as a message from God that He loves me and is caring for me, and is there to help me. If I open the door, I feel that same warm joy that I felt seeing those woodland creatures so long ago.

Life really is like that. If we but look for manifestations of God’s love for us, we will see them, feel them, and recognize them every day. It’s such a simple effort with such monumental payoff.

Grand kids…Now that’s a manifestation of God’s love!