God has been good. I’m tempted to ‘say’, “All too soon…”, but no, it’s been a standard length year, like every other year. What always makes the difference are the great people we meet and the wonderful memories we make. It’s been a challenging year. Thank you for your prayers and support, they’re very much appreciated.

Sadly, I couldn’t be as consistent as I was in the first year. There were weeks when I couldn’t make a post. Fortunately, you, my audience, have always been consistent, and it is humbling, thank you.

On the subject of wonderful memories, marking this anniversary will be a recap (links and excerpts) of fifteen posts (in no particular order) that per viewer assessment and personal opinion, require a second look (at least). Please feel free to click on the links (titles) for the full posts.

If all I had were words,
I would weave them into the most beautiful tunics,
Of many colours, shades, and shadows,
Enough to set eyes alight with envy.
I would lay out pleasant sceneries
From yesterdays to the ends of the horizon
I would adorn myself with finery
Straight from the factories of imagination –
Your faithful tour-guide;
And I would carry you along
To palaces of dreams and reality set in eternity.
Please come along.

1. Pampered

There are those whose stories
Are etched on their bodies;
It’s in every untimely wrinkle,
Each inexplicably heavy sigh;
The weight of each step,
The unconscious stoop,
The wary glance,
The weary countenance,
The shallow smile…

2. Reverent Gratitude

…My gratitude is weighted with my words, thoughts, heart, and acts;
Sometimes by my presence, silence, smile, compliance and reliance;
The absence of gratitude weighs me down, tortures my mind,
Afflicts my heart, breeds conflict, and is deadly to my soul….

3. Raised to Run

One foot in front of the other;
On a diet of milk and honey,
Easy does it, they say,
That’s how to walk….

4. A Merchant’s Lament

Hither and tither I go;
I search for a spot to restock.
I’ve run out of my signature commodity;
My warehouses are full of things in demand,
But absolutely devoid of anything of true worth….

5. Erring On The Side Of Love

To err on the side of love is to be acquainted with pain;
It is akin to the fate of the moth – enthralled by flames
Of compassion, empathy, kindness, patience, humility….

6. Ancient Words

I have loved thee with an everlasting love,
And I have stretched thy boundaries,
Even as I have stretched the heavens,
Wheresoever the soles of thy feet toucheth….

7. Guilty, But Not As Charged

I’ve been charged with being unworthy;
Unneeded, unwanted even before birth;
Destined, not for this life or the next;
Overstaying my welcome; Overextending my reach;….

8. Quote #36

Peace calls out each morning for my attention, promising comfort and strength for the day on the breath of dawn; Sometimes I respond, sometimes I choose to sleep just a little bit more. One too many times I missed the call….

9. In Harmony

‘How beautiful it is for brethren to live together in harmony’;
A beauty unmarred by offenses, unbroken by distance,
Unforgotten through time, to be desired the harder it is to maintain;
It is like the sound of heaven’s choir with perfect harmonies;….

10. Fathers

To fathers – past and present.
To the past, a tribute; to the present, an ideal;
Because it would be a truly sad world,
When the best Dads are the dead ones….

11. That Song

There’s a song – wordless;
It haunts me at odd hours,
And brings tears to my eyes;
It wrestles reason to the ground….

12. I Want You; Come To Me (I)

I want you to smell of the incense of purity;
To be the sweet smelling fragrance of excellent sacrifices;
To be the spices that make the unique blend for the oils
That perfume My tabernacle and pervade my temple….

13. A Father’s Loss (I)

I’m served my hurts on a plate each morning;
Drinking the soup of sorrow every evening
Laddled out generously by sweet old memories…
Sweet old memories turned into the sourest grapes….

14. By Faith, In Obedience

By faith and in obedience, bridges are built to places unknown,
Forays are made into territories uncharted and foreboding;
Possibilities and probabilities become strange bedfellows
With certainties and the insuperable – weightless on these scales….

15. Hope And Faith

When the dawn rises,
Glimpses of golden rays fall
Shimmering on diamond dews;
Beautiful Hope is nature’s prophecy…