Just some thoughts...

Every day, as I write Poetiquejustis, I pray it will be a blessing to someone.
Today, I hope it is you.






Wednesday, July 31, 2013

The Rite of Rubble Removal



Take the gentle path
George Herbert


You can blast your way through life


You can trod all underfoot



You can mow down  all that is in your way


But then be ready


to build your life on rubble


Today- by all means go forward

Gently....

You will still get where you want to go
And it will be a much nicer place to live 

when you get there
and that's poetiquejustis
Let your gentleness be known to all
Philippians 4:5








As far as the east is from the west. so far does He remove our transgressions from us
Psalm 103:12

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Let it soak


You usually have to wait for what is worth waiting for
Craig Bruce


I come from a big Italian family where there were lots of big Italian meals


And those meals almost always included lasagna


There is a point to my telling you that


After dinner,the women would clear the dishes


And march off to the kitchen to wash up and gossip

The china and crystal never went in the dishwasher

So it was quite a task

We would chatter and laugh and sing

But lurking in the back of our minds was that lasagna

And the pan it baked in

If it had to be washed, the cannoli and coffee would be a good twenty minutes away yet

Finally, all that was left was the pan.

Mom would eye it speculatively and we would hold our breath

"Let is soak!" she would declare with all the authority a 4'11 Italian woman can summon- 
which is quite a bit

and we would all breathe a sigh of relief and sit down to cannoli and coffee


Today, when you get that over the top email
Or you are ready to fire back at some nonsense sent your way

"let it soak"..... 
or in other words:  leave the stress
and take the cannoli

and that's poetiquejustis
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23










Monday, July 29, 2013

The View from Under the Bus



Lots of people want to ride in the limo,
but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you
if the limo breaks down 


Oprah Winfrey

It has happened to all of us

The limo of our career seems to break down
But instead of being able to take the bus

Someone throws you under the bus


Heck- I have been there so many times that I was thinking of having my mail forwarded


to "Under-the- bus, USA"
I had a reader tell me the other day that two people came out of the same meeting
where he was not present
and both accused the other of having "thrown me under the bus"
Note: bus throwing is usually done in absentia  

When did extreme under the bus throwing become a national past time?

It does not take  courage


or brains


to throw someone under the bus


You know what does?


Coming along side and helping that person under the bus



To get back on their feet.

Well done to all of you who are bus survivors
And bus victim revivers!  
and that's poetiquejustis

                                          For the people worked with all their heart.

                                                         Nehemiah 4:6 



Sunday, July 28, 2013

Path, Purpose and Projects Undone





Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction
John F Kennedy 



I have two unfinished manuscripts sitting on my desk


They are being very patient, and only occasionally let their emotions show


But I swear I hear them sighing now and then

"Hey, Lady.....Here is a pen....could we please get on with this?"


Those books and I know where we want to go.....

And there are things in them that we have put the effort and courage in to saying

(as much as any writer has the courage to put their thoughts on paper for all to see)

But direction and purpose do not come from the pen

or the brain

Direction and purpose comes from the heart

and connects all else

Today, my books and I  will find that road between my heart and  head

and see where the path may lead

Are there projects waiting for you?
Go...build that path
And you will find the purpose and direction along the way
and that's poetiquejustis


I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Psalm 32:8

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Two Chairs

Let me live in my house by the side of the road
and be a friend to man
Sam Walter Foss


Thoreau kept two chairs in his home at Walden Pond

One for himself and one for a guest


It is not the lack of furnishings that catches the mind




It is his thought to make room in his day for another 


To leave the door ajar to the footsteps of passersbys


Today-

"live by the side of the road" in your mind

and make a little room for others 

That is worth more to most people than you will ever know
And that is poetiquejustis
                                 The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.
                                                                     Proverbs 27:9


Friday, July 26, 2013

Throw 'em a curve!

A smile is a curve that sets everything straight
Phyllis Diller
Andy Rooney said: 

when you smile when nobody else is around
you mean it

Right as always, Andy....
but

If you smile when others are around
you share it
and that's a good thing, too

Today-
you will see so many people without a smile in their eyes

Dennis Waitley said;
a smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside
Today- throw them a curve!

Give them smile they cannot seem to manage on their own
I bet you get it back!
and that's poetiquejustis
A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed. 
Proverbs 15:13

Thursday, July 25, 2013

You: A Brief Case Study

I have to learn to be myself again....that's all
Doris Lessing

What are you waiting for?
Pack it up!




Pack it in!


Peel off those labels that people have stuck on your life

 Unlock the real you
Get a handle on who you are

then take it on your road!
and that's poetiquejustis

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10


Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Rhythm and Rhyme

Talk is a refuge
Zora Neale Hurston



You can hide behind your words



Or you can use them to reveal your story





You can bury life in rhetotic


Or dialogue with the stars


In the words of the great Al Jarreau:
  I will take my time this time I'm gonna make a rhyme this time 
I will make a rhyme this time 
 I'm gonna take my time this time

Today- find your rhythm in your words
 then make your life rhyme
and that's poetiquejustis

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? 
You have the words that give Eternal Life."
John 6:68