Author Unknown

This is a poem I came across a few years ago, and I do not know who wrote it.  I was told it was found in an anonymous WWII scrapbook that had been picked up at a White Elephant Sale.  If anyone knows who wrote the poem, or if it is copyrighted, I'd appreciate hearing from you.

The poem is written from a maternal point-of-view, which point-of-view resonates with my soul. 

Okay then, here's the poem:

While I am rocking you, my son

And singing lullabies;

Someone is planning stouter planes

For Death to ride the skies.

While I am dressing you, my son,

In little boyish suits,

Someone is making uniforms

And sturdy soldier boots.

While you are chasing butterflies,

Amid the tangled grass,

Someone is testing chemicals

To make a deadlier gas.

And while you eat your simple fare,

Perhaps the war lords sit,

To start again the bugle notes

That only call the fit.

While I would build a splendid man

So fine and strong, my son,

Someone, in secret, tries to make

A farther-reaching gun --

A gun that on some distant day,

When drums of battle roll,

May leave me with a golden star

And iron in my soul.

-- Author Unknown

If any of you who read this are on the "Wage Peace" bandwagon, please do not write to ask me to jump on board that wagon. War is a horrible thing, but I am not necessarily opposed to all military action.  I do not know what to think about this war, I never have known what to think about this war, I don't know if I have ever heard the truth about this war.  I'll wait and let my grandkids tell me what was really going on.

Doing Good

"There is gold, and an abundance of jewels;

But the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing."

-- Proverbs 20:15 NASB

I got a holiday card just after New Years Day from a dear friend.  Her gift to me, to her family, and to her other friends this year was that she donated a cow to Heifer International.  From the back of her holiday card, I quote:

"The mission of Heifer International is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth.  Since 1944, Heifer has helped more than 7 million families in more than 125 countries move toward greater self-reliance through the gift of livestock and training in environmentally sound agriculture.  The impact of each initial gift is multiplied as recipients agree to 'pass on the gift' by giving one or more of their animal's offspring, or the equivalent, to another in need."

Heifer International's web address is: www.heifer.org

I can only imagine what a difference this gift might make on earth. I am so honored to have such a friend. 

Friends, if you have the power in your hand to do some good somewhere today ... just do it.

Dutch Tuna Melts

Tuna Melts

 

1 pkg. Rusk
2 cans tuna
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 c. onion, diced
1/4 t. celery seed
sliced swiss cheese
sliced fresh tomatoes

 

Combine tuna with soup, onion, and celery seed. Place on Rusk. Top with tomato slice, and slice of swiss cheese. Bake 350 till cheese melts (approx 8 min).

Time

"So humanity goes on, bundling up anew the things it has found precious." -- Christopher Morley

Desiderata

I had this hanging on the wall of my dorm room in college, and it still inspires me:

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be careful. Strive to be happy.

Gerald R. Ford

Everybody in Grand Rapids has a Jerry Ford story. This is mine.

When I was in high school, Jerry Ford had been congressman forever. (He was first elected to congress before I was even born.)

I had a research paper to write ... can't remember now what the topic was ... but somebody told me to get the info I needed from Congressman Jerry Ford. So I wrote to him, and he wrote me back. He sent me everything I needed for my research, and wrote me a personal letter, which I kept.

A few years later, when I was in college, I was sorting through my childhood stuff. I remember picking up the letter from Jerry Ford, looking at it, and saying to myself, "Oh, just throw it away, he's just Jerry Ford, he'll never amount to anything."

This was not because I didn't respect him, but rather because I thought America was only run by people far more sophisticated and powerful than this man of simple integrity.

So I threw away the letter. And time taught me a great lesson: Never despise the day of small things ... and never doubt the difference a simple, decent person can make on God's earth.

Eccl 9:13-18:

13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.
KJV

Eccl 5:7-8:

7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.

8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.
KJV

Gerald R. Ford, 1913-2006

"The memory of the righteous shall be for a blessing;" -- Proverbs 10:7