Posts Categorized: Pastor’s Ponderings

Have mercy on us, LORD, For there is a lot to do To undo what we have done- We could pray all day long, And yet not name it all. But pray we must, So gracious God, please Help us pray.   Help us pray for responders- First, and second, and all who follow Where… Read more

Last week, Trinity Presbyterian Church was awarded the Martin Beautiful award. Many thanks to the facilities committee for their faithfulness and diligence to our home.     The recipe for success Is a long road in a different direction: Start with a plan you are willing to scrap, if God wills, Willing to amend and… Read more

Walking on the blistering pavement On the hottest day of the summer On the hottest year in decades, I discovered Thriving in the split concrete of the walk Some sort of flowers, minuscule, That only God could have planted And only somebody looking straight down Would have noticed. They thrived there, And bloomed, When they… Read more

WHILE READING ABOUT SLAVES, ENDURING THEIR COMMON DESPAIR   The little bit of good That we do for each other Is not enough To heal the wounds Our hate and greed have caused- We still limp across the field, Coming home. We still go to bed hungry For what another had taken. We still despair… Read more

Oh, I hope so- And that hope Is forged in suffering, Hammered by prayer, Tempered by faith, Made rusty by waiting And sometimes Hope is all I have.   Yes.   But hope is also a seed, Not so much patient as stubborn, Eager to make an opportunity Of the slightest thaw, The slimmest break… Read more

The difference Between who we are And who we can be Is great, And it will take Lots of hard work To make that journey. Without repentance and forgiveness, We will become Lost in the wilderness, And without a half-peck of faith And a carload of grace We will never make it, Not at all…. Read more

Waiting in the hospital lobby, I saw two families leave With their brand-new babies, And I saw one family gather, Tears flowing, Prayers rising, Mourning a loved one’s death. We come into this world And then we leave.   In between we rise, We fall, We struggle, We persevere, We pray. We laugh, We cry…. Read more

This world Has its share of troubles, And more, And so do you Though you’ve done your best With what you had- Considered the facts, Listened to the pros and cons, Made hard decisions and Followed through.   But trouble comes uninvited, Like a salesman with his shoe in the door, Like rain through a… Read more

I do not Know enough, Nor save enough, Nor love enough, Nor dare enough, Nor even pray enough- For those are things That can never be done, Enough.   But I do laugh enough To enjoy the day, And cry enough To massage my pain, And imagine enough To look forward to tomorrow, And wonder… Read more

“The artistic image is not intended to represent the thing itself, but, rather, the reality of the force the thing contains.” -James Baldwin, reporting on African art.   So what image shall I use To portray the force Of a life held back, Of garden mowed over Before it came to bloom?   And what… Read more