The Real Bucket List

 

Life begets life; energy begets energy.

It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich

Sarah Bernhardt

Got a drop of time?

Give it away

and watch it pour

Got a trickle of hope?

Spread it around

 and it will gush

Physics reminds us about the truth of potential energy

You are a universe of potential energy

What are you waiting for?

let it rip!

and that's poetiquejustis

But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.

Philippians 2:17

Looking for Mr. Good Guy

 

You're a good man, Charlie Brown 

Charles Schultz

So, what exactly does it take to be a good person?

Well, here is my short list...

You are a good person if....

You fill up the empty water dish for the dog....

Give the guy on the street a few bucks to eat

and he is a good guy

when he shares it

You are a good guy

if you smile when you see a daisy

 (did you smile?)

You are a good guy if

You eat the meat loaf even if it is not "just like mom's"

 That's the good person short list

feel free to add your own

and that's poetiquejustis

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart

Luke 6:45

Books and Blossoms, Buds and Bowers

 

I sing of books. blossoms, buds, and bowers-

of April, May, and June.

Robert Herrick 

You can whine

You can snarl

You can throw up our hands in dismay

Or you can dance

You can sing

You can find pleasant things to say.

You choose.

And that's poetiquejustis

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Proverbs 16:24

Keep the Peace

 

Communicate a sense of admiration, of wonder, of trust

Sylvia Shaw Judson

I read a line in a Dick Francis book once that stuck with me

"All around her was an island of peace."

What does the "island" around you look like?

Is it cluttered with the fruit of bitterness?

or the fruit of love and kindness for the picking?

Littered with angry thoughts and memories?

or have you captured the glow of happy memories?

Overgrown with fear and suspicion?

or a place of order and calm?

What messages are you sending from the island of your life?

When people sail near, 

do they fear the rocky shores 

or are they grateful for the safe haven?

It is your island

Make it a peaceful place to dwell  and visit

a place of comfort for yourself and others  

The world could use that right now

                                                                   and that's poetiquejustis
                                                   Do all that you an to 
                                                 live in peace with everyone.
                                                                        Romans 12:18

The Way You Are

 
                         People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
                                      Love them anyway.
                                         Kent M Keith
                              The Paradoxical Commandments

Some people are just jerks

You can try be logical with these folks

Good luck with that

You can try being reasonable too

Dead end

You can try being generous

and giving

and just plain saintly

 

 

And most of them 

are still going to be jerks

so you can

become a jerk as well

or 

 just love them the way they are

and remember

                                                                  Because that's the way you are

          and that's poetiquejustis 

 If you love only those who love you, 

what good is that? 

Even scoundrels do that much.

Matthew 5:46

And on That Note...

 

The great composer doesn't set to work 

because he is inspired

He is inspired because he is working

Ernest Newman

                                                  perhaps it begins with just an idea or two - 

the or the very wisp of an idea

The shadow of an idea

                                                       as you go about your daily life....
                                                        you know there is something more

and suddenly

it is there!

what you have been waiting to see and feel and hear

all of your life

 and others hear it to

in the middle of their own lives

                                                                           That is inspiration

            and that's poetiquejustis

 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; 

behold, the new has come. 

2 Corinthians 5:17

You Are Almost There

 

But above all, try something

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Try

You are almost there

Only you can stop you now!

One more push and you are over the top!

On the other side!

Out from under!

Thinking about giving up?

 

I didn't think so- not you!

 

It is climb or fall

And you are a climber.

 

who is going to make it.

and that's poetiquejustis

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer

Romans 12:12