To Light The Year Ablaze

How far that little candle throws his beams!

 So shines a good deed in a weary world.
William Shakespeare

The smallest act of kindness

The flicker of  a smile

The  touch that warms the heart

The words that light the way

Today, may you give and receive that light

in abundance

and that's poetiquejustis

You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;
   My God turns my darkness into light.

Psalm 18:28

What is on the Menu?

“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” 

 ~ Joanne Kathleen Rowling 

Life always has a menu in front of your nose 

Asking you to choose those things that will say who you are

It is like a restaurant, really

Are you always going for life's emotional greasy cheeseburger

 and paying the consequences

Or grabbing that fresh green salads of peace and calm that life offers to your soul?

 and getting the reward

 We make those choices every day

What to take in 

What to leave out

What emotional "meals" you will allow to shape your soul

Life just hands you the menu

You get to choose the "meals"

                                                                          Kofi Annan said:

"To live is to choose. 

But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for,

 where you want to go 

and why you want to get there.” 

and that's poetiquejustis

Choose this day whom you will serve

Joshua 24:15

Break the inTIMIDate

Necessity makes even the timid brave. 
Sallust




Does something have you cornered?

Something in your face?

Someone got you worried?

 So you cannot run your race?

Something you are hiding

Is there someone that you fear

Is there an inTIMIDate on your calendar?

Then let me make this clear!

Tell that bully you don't have time

then watch it shrink away

Break that inTIMIDate

and let the sun come out

and that's poetiquejustis
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7 

Tale Of a Junk Junkie

“This isn’t a thrift store… We’re not selling them something less expensive, we’re selling them something more special. We have to tell them the story of what we’re showing them. And then we have to show them how they can be the new heroine in the story.”

Eric McKean, The Secret Life of Dresses

I love thrift stores

Maybe it is because I am a writer-and an old fashioned kind of girl

 but every souvenir plate...

every chipped cup....

 

every bedraggled doll

tells me a story. 

 and I always want to be the next heroine in that story

and that's poetiquejustis

Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past.

 Ask your father and he will tell you,ask your  your elders, 
and they will explain to you.

Deuteronomy 32:7

Beyond the Ordinary

In the right light, in the right time, everything is extraordinary

Aaron Rose

Come out from behind  your own shadow

And you will be in the right light

Understand that now is all you have

And you will be in the right time

Determine not to be ordinary

And you are already extraordinary!

                                                              K A Laity said:

“We have one precious life: do something extraordinary today, 

even if it's tiny. 

A pebble starts the avalanche.” 

and that's poetiquejustis

 For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. 

Walk as children of light 

Ephesians 5:8

A Thoughtful Economy

Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there will be sun.

Annie

Having an interest in those around you

Investing in others

Banking on our communities

Sharing the dividends of love with others

Now that is an economy we should all be able to agree on!

and that's poetiquejustis

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:21

Enough To Share

Every man must bide his time

in constant, cheerful, steady endeavors.

H. W. Longfellow

Wrapping up your dreams for the days to come

Putting a bow on all that is ahead

Making that list of all that matters

and then promising yourself

that the gift that is you

is something you will share

with the world.

And that's poetiquejustis

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

The Possibilities

Nothing on earth is more gladdening than knowing we must roll up our sleeves

and move back the boundaries of human possibilities once more

Annie Dillard

Today is Christmas Eve- for many the eve of Hope among us

But for some- hope seems as distant as the stars

So...every Christmas Eve, our son and a few dozen of his closest friends

Go to a section of the city where the lost and the homeless live

And they turn it in to a Winter Wonderland

They bring food, and gifts, and music and hope

They roll up their sleeves and turn the darkest of corners

In to the brightest of scenes

Eventually,

The food is eaten

Dreams are shared

and the day comes to an end

but what perhaps stays behind

is a bit of hope

that will grow and grow and grow

breaking the boundaries of human possibilities

once more
for us all

and that's poetiquejustis

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, 

so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.  

Romans 15:13