Another poem

It's poem recital time again! Nathan came with a tall order: "Dad, please write me a poem with the theme 'My kitten always copies me'. Okay, here goes:

My kitten always copies me – Wessel and Nathan Bentley

My kitten always copies me

I don’t know what to do

He thinks he is a human being

Cat doesn’t have a clue

Today he started follow’n me

Making my way to school

Jumping, skipping on my shadow

Cat makes me look uncool

In class I had to give a speech

And talk about a cow

I barely had a chance to speak

When Cat began to MIAO!

At break we went outside to eat

He wanted something too

I had to find him milk to drink

Cat drank it from my shoe!

I tell you when I go to bed

To have a peaceful rest

Guess who I’ll find when I look down

Cat, sleeping on my chest

Tomorrow I will break the news

To this, my furry pal

He may do all things that I do

Except ride my bicycle!

"I need to feel whole"

I so valued this prayer this morning. It is from Kenneth G. Pfifer's "A book of uncommon prayer", quoted in "A guide to prayer for all God's people" (Upper Room Books). The prayer is called  "I need to feel whole". Here it is:

O God, what is Spirit?
How do I worship in spirit and in truth?
I am a solid, earthly creature,
my feet planted firmly on the ground,
my life based upon material things.
I like to touch and feel before I believe.
I am accustomed to dealing with houses, land and money, with bread, meat, and potatoes,
with objects handled, weighed, and valued
by my own standards.
I am uncomfortable with what cannot be analysed
or dissected or given market value.
What is Spirit?
Yet, O Lord, the very things I handle and see
lose meaning when they become ends in themselves.
They are all given meaning by the things of the spirit,
by love and hope and faith.
I know when I come down to it,
if I have all kinds of earthly goods
and have not love,
I have nothing.
I need the mystery beyond the tangible.
I need the things of the spirit
to give meaning to the material things I prize.
I cannot divide life up,
you have made it whole.
If I avoid love, diminish hope, deny faith,
my appreciation of my house and land,
my meat and potatoes, shrinks.
And I become a little man
with little aims and little power.
So help me to see that I worship in spirit and in truth,
not just through the use of right words
in the right place at the right time.
I worship in spirit and in truth
as life assumes wholeness.
I worship in spirit
as life takes on shape and form,
and I glory in it all.
I worship in truth insofar as I know that
no life can be separated from your Spirit.
I worship as I offer it all unto you. Amen.

The gift

Happiness doesn't just happen
Neither does love
Joy is not merely a feeling
Belonging, not an emotion.

The storm is not just stilled
It took a man to stand
Courage
It took a word
Spoken
'Be still'

It is a gem in the sand
A moment of grace
Glitter in the sunlight
The right time, right place

It is a pause in time
A risk to stop
An effort to delve
A reward to behold