Tree Trinkets

So, I remain perplexed about what may interest you.  The end of August saw over 2500 reads on the blog in three days.  And a couple this month seemed to provoke some thought.  But if I post simple sonnets…not so much.  So here are some acts of faith in an attempt to raise your interest in spiritual matters.

People always want proof when it comes to changing their mind about something.  However, they’ll go along with outright lies if it agrees with their perspective of things.  I have written about some of my experiences with spiritual forces & God’s timing.  You may think the following is nothing more than coincidence & the actions of a quirky guy…but I do not follow that logic, the timing is too real.

This past Friday, as I approached the stop light where the small cemetery is, the line to go straight was long & I was probably going to have to wait another light cycle.  But the left turn lane was empty, so I took a left.  Turning right on the last dirt road into the cemetery, I parked at the water spicket & forgotten infant graves & tidied up a bit.  It was hot, around noon.  I stood there for a moment & enjoyed the silence.

I guess I stopped because I was wondering if Martin had watered his son’s trees.  So, I drove down the center road and parked at the end by his son’s grave.  Along the way I noticed a couple turned over urns so after I checked the trees, I walked down the center road to the upturned urns.  I straightened them and a few other trinkets and sat on a bench and again enjoyed the silence as others tended their loved ones.  You can see the whole cemetery from where I sat & I noticed two graves not far away that had four-foot-high grass.  These sites, like others, had stone or mini fence borders so cemetery staff could not mow these sites.  Folks obviously tend the bordered sites, but these two had been neglected for a very long time.  They distracted from an otherwise well-groomed cemetery.  I knew what I had to do.

I took on the worst one first.  It was a double grave.  It took me over an hour, but when I was done, I had enough pulled grass & roots to make a bale of hay…which is what I did…rolled it up, hoisted it on my shoulder & walked it to the trash area.  After disposing it I went to the water spicket and drenched myself from head to toe…it was hot & I had dirt all over me.  Then, interesting things started to show.

As I was bent over rinsing myself, I noticed a piece of glass embedded in the roots of a large tree by the spicket.  What I saw was the top third of a small jar.  I tried to pry it free from the dirt & roots but didn’t want to cut my hand.  So, I got a small tree limb and pried it up & it came up from the dirt & roots rather easily…& was not broken, a complete little candle holder, with old wax still inside it.  I cleaned it up and started to walk towards the vehicle and noticed something else.  Just ahead of me across the center road was another bench…& something old & rusty was under it.  I walked over and it was a half-buried sledgehammer head, a 10 pounder in good shape except for the surface rust.  Ok, so now I had two treasures of sorts, maybe a thanks for cleaning up…well the old Peter Gabriel song “Sledgehammer” did come to mind.  But it was just getting interesting.

Another eye sore was a small shrub planted at another bench site…covered in spanish moss.  It had almost strangled the life out of this four-foot shrub.  I spent about half an hour cleaning it all off so the bush might have a shot at renewed life & another five minutes looking for a ring that I almost lost. Then I set my sights on that last site with the four-foot-high grass.  

It was a single grave with a lot of planters & stuff.  At the head marker area there was a piece of cardboard that I thought was trash as I was clearing all the grass & other stuff.  Turning it over it was anything but trash…no sir it was a picture of the young lady buried there.  She was 28 years old with long dark hair & piercing glance.  It was covered in dirt, I cleaned it up along with the entire site, it took a good forty-five minutes, but was very presentable when I finished.  I propped her picture at the head marker where it was once placed.  As I began to gather up the grass & roots, I was almost done picking up stray strands when I looked down and seen something shiny.  It was upside down about half the size of the palm of your hand.  I picked it up and turned it over & it was a crown trinket, could have even been a necklace piece.

Now that’s three good deeds & three little trinkets or signs…if you will…of thanks.  At least to me that’s what it means, and no matter what you may think of me, things spiritual, or God’s timing, you cannot ignore real time experiences.  It’s just a manner of where your true spirit resides.  Does it lie in some mystical dark world that controls you to do illogical and harmful things to yourself and others…or does it reside in the truth of enlightenment that is meant to teach & guide you & help others?

People are afraid of what they cannot logically spiritually conceive…but that is only because our earthly instincts cloud our ability to think beyond our known horizons.

I have given three very basic examples that certainly could be written off as mere coincidence.  Examples of how my simple acts of kindness were rewarded with simple objects that came into my vision.  But they got there somehow…I didn’t put them there in some staged reenactment…no sir…it is God’s work & God’s timing & in God I give the glory for using simple acts to demonstrate His greatness & timing.

Remember Martin?  His son also loved guns & birds.  On the right side of his headstone his father had a pistol & bird engraved…I know kind of strange having a small pistol on your headstone.  Who knows why people do what they do?  Anyway, my vehicle was parked by his site and as I went to leave something caught my eye.  It was a mostly buried 9 MM pistol clip.  It was from a 9MM Kimber with four hollow point shells in it.  Trinket number four as the skies began to darken & rain approached.

I know there are people that will read this and say that spiritual matters related to those that have passed are an abomination.  I agree with that in this degree:

I do not reach out to those that have passed in any way to communicate with them somehow.  Sure, like many of us I may say prayers in silence to passed loved ones & I even say prayers for all those that have passed in faith, that they have comfort in whatever paradise they are in.  My acts of kindness & effort are not ill willed. 

Doing some research, I found a Biblical account of a “spiritual medium.”  In the Old Testament, 1st Samuel Chapter 28 depicts the king of Israel, Saul, consulting a medium in secret as he was in fear of the raiding Philistines.  King Saul wanted the council of his predecessor King Samuel.  The medium unwillingly obliged Saul’s request and summoned the soul of Samuel, who wasn’t to happy about it.  This is the communication of abomination the Lord despises, & the Apostle Paul refers to in the New Testament, Galatians 5: 16-26.  Here’s a modern day reflection of evil’s pull on our society:

Yesterday, as I got some groceries, in the magazine rack right at the check out aisle there was a magazine on prominent display…from Time magazine I think…all about witches.  Supposed hard facts on the lives past, present & future of witches.  You could not, not see this.  I thought to myself…what impact does this have on innocent young girls and mothers as they go thru this line.  Most probably don’t even see it or pay any attention to it.  But the shame is… what if just one girl out of a hundred sees that magazine and some interest sparks.  You know that little dark side in all of us.  Now you have an innocent child who has had evil seeds planted in her head.  Pray that she has more faithful seeds to overcome.

I do not take the spiritual realm lightly or for granted & neither should you.  It exists, it is real, there are far, far too many examples throughout the history of this world to argue against it.  The list is endless & it started so long ago it is beyond our perception.  But every day even in our modern world we can see spiritual forces at work.  Some dark, some light, but we all know who ultimately wins this fight.  🐝

The Bible says we are created in God’s image.  That had always puzzled me…until I realized the image is not of a physical body, but of a Shining Spirit, that we are blessed to have just a small piece of inside us.  What you do with that blessing…is up to you.  Go with peace in your soul, & Love’s Spirit will conquer. ✨✝️🕊️

Mark 9: 14-29.  AMEN 

Tending your nest

 I struggle with what to say, while I keep demons at bay.  So I watch & listen for the new day’s dew to glisten.

This morning as the mockingbird sings, one of my favorite sounds to my ears it brings.

She is strong & swift in her defense, I’ve watched her closely she mocks in perfect sense.

You watch this time & notice her ploy, she builds more than one nest, her enemies her toy.

I’ve seen this before, she mocks in tone & action, all in an effort to her adversaries a distraction.

The osprey can not bluff with their cards.  Their nests so big & set on high, only defense is to set constant guards.

The vultures, crows & raven will land & have their fill of yet to be or new born hatches, the nest now barren as  new life the evil snatches.

The osprey stand guard on the nest & take turns to hunt, always close with a  graceful diving stunt.

These are just two of natures winged wonders, all my life I’ve wondered what in flight a bird ponders.

Flying high, screeching & singing their mystical tune, protecting their young who will be flying soon.

I close my eyes & say a prayer of thanks for bringing me to this place, to share with the birds in flightless space.

You see when I face the evil’s of today…I listen to my mind, body, heart, soul & spirit…& it tells me what those birds just might have to say.

Sing your tune, tend your nest, fly on high, defend your young & a new day’s song will always be sung. ✨✝️🕊️

Job 39…Psalm 124…Psalm 25…AMEN

Lost City

Along a coast of a shimmering sea, the city lights glisten for all to see.

With bridges that connect the monster sky line, everyone in a hurry to work, shop or dine.

Once a rolling wave of forested hills, now there’s someone on the corner selling pills.

A city once thriving with commerce & living, now dead & abandoned except for beggars in need of giving.

The crime abounds as property value falls, who will hear when the final victim calls?

Tents of homeless with more on the way, there’s no more room for those that don’t pay.

So what’s the answer for these buildings left empty?  Real estate for the homeless it seems a plenty.

At what cost our society has had to pay, for city leaders who never do what they say.  

Working from home, not on the roads congesting, all the while delivered food they’re ingesting.

No more to the city to shop, instead order on-line & off the couch to the delivery door they hop.  

Don’t you see that with the cities decline, our society is also being shut down, shut in & walking a fine line.

Sad truth is the decay won’t stop there, it will seep into the suburbs & country, it’s almost too late to care.

If we don’t do something to help our cities recover, they’ll end up graves of ash & bone…forever.

Habakkuk Chapter 3…Revelations Chapter 18 

A Blank Page

In front of you, another blank page

It’s all the same in any age

We wonder what this day may hold

It seems to repeat times of old

But each day is different & the same

We wake & have to play this silly game

What would you do with your blank page

For many they can’t get out of their own cage

Trapped they are in a useless rage

They devise evil plans born of evil thought

But in a cage they’ve already been caught

Today I heard a man tell another not to pray

This is the result of a society in decay

For others the blank page has a faint impression

Look closely & you’ll see hints of compassion

A silent prayer starts the day

No man can restrict what you say

But if they try & muzzle your thoughts

Just remember everyday their soul rots

So, what to do with this page left blank

Be strong knowing if made to walk the plank 

You’d fall into the floating arms of an angel

While others sink to the bottom at a steep angle

There’s a blank page in front of all of us

What we do with it is ultimately up to us

Where do we start to right all that’s wrong 

We’ve already been told in prophetic song

So, what will your page say at the end of the day

For me….I wrote this as something to say.

Happiness

So where does your pursuit of happiness end?  Does it have limits?  Are we free to do whatever makes us happy?  Do you ever consider another’s happiness?

We do have the right to pursue happiness, but not at the expense or unhappiness of others.  You may ask how is that possible…if I’m happy how can it effect others?

Well think about these examples:

It may make a kleptomaniac happy to steal…but he’s effecting the happiness of the shop owner.

It may make a pyromaniac happy to start fires…but he breaks the law starting fires as an arsonist.

It may make a man happy to compete as a woman…but not at the expense of women athletes.

It may make a man happy to father 8 kids by different women he doesn’t support…but who suffers, the kids.

The list goes on & on…so to answer the opening questions:

Your pursuit of happiness ends when it negatively affects others. Happiness is boundless, but has limits contained in our laws. We are not free to do whatever makes us happy.  That is a false utopia.  We should always consider & put others ahead of ourselves.  

If we simply consider others in our pursuits, if we are not selfish in our desire for happiness…happiness will expand…why…because the consideration of another's happiness in an unselfish pursuit of your own happiness…is called Love. 🐝

Seeds of Faith

Yesterday I reposted “Planting Seeds.”  It can be a confusing topic, our relationship with God, how we fight godless temptations & the spiritual & worldly forces that influence us…both good & bad.

It is often very hard to express & even harder for some to understand.  So, to further explain here is an actual event from just yesterday…that proves how your relationship with God can impact others, in the most profound & unexpected of ways.

There is a cemetery along a road I often travel not far from my home.  I have stopped there numerous times, it is not a large cemetery, just three dirt roads and one water spicket, but it has its history.

I shared some of that history on this blog several months ago.  There is a section of around 18 teeny tiny graves I tend.  They are all in the same area, and they are all infant graves.  The markers detail less than one day of life for many of these babes…and the water spicket is right by this site, that’s how I was first attracted to that area, not knowing the emotions that lay quietly in the earth.

I was on my way home from my softball game and had not stopped at the site for a couple weeks so I pulled into my spot just past the water spicket so others could use it if needed.  Sure enough after a few minutes a white Toyota pick-up pulls in and a man gets out to fill up his water jugs.  Now, keep in mind I have randomly chosen to stop at this site this day, this time for a reason.  I could have stopped any number of the dozens of times I’ve past this site…but today I was compelled to stop…even though I was hungry & tired & just wanted to get home.

We struck up a conversation, him thinking I was tending to a relative.  I told him no; I just tend to an area most have forgotten.  I initially thought this fifty- or so-year old man of Mexican heritage was a worker for the cemetery…but he was not.  His son was buried in the cemetery & he stops by every week to water & tend to his son’s grave site.  We continued our talk and every once in awhile he would get upset about what he called “these god dammed people” I really didn’t know what was bothering him but after he said this several times I asked what was bothering him.  He said look come over here I want to show you something.  I walked over & on the other side of his truck by the water spicket there was a white trash bag…I hadn’t noticed it earlier.  He said…” these dammed people put these dead chickens out here to bring bad spirits to these graves or try to release them.”  I said, “what there’s some kind of sacrifice in that bag that someone left out here?”  “Yes, he said, I have seen them out here before.”

Well, he was speaking the truth & I had personal proof.  A couple months ago as I was leaving the cemetery on the center dirt road, I saw some fallen & turned over flower erns at one site.  I stopped & straightened them & the whole time I smelled a foul odor.  As I turned to go back to the vehicle, I saw a white trash bag pressed up against the center of a distant headstone.  It was a nice site with a small bench.  I sat down and looked at that bag and there was an eye staring back at me.  There was a dead owl in the bag & it was the source of the foul odor.  I usually have an extra trash bag in the vehicle, so I got it, put the dead owl bag in there and drove quickly to the trash area…just across from the water spicket & the mostly forgotten infant grave sites.  So, I know this man is telling the truth, I’ve seen it.  

This man is unnerved, he’s angry at the people who do this & for good reason.  He doesn’t want to touch it & he’s upset he has to even be near it…but it is right by the water spicket.  I look at this man & this is exactly what I said to him…”Sir, I believe in God & my Savior Jesus Christ & the powers of the Holy Spirit, this bag of chickens means nothing to me…it is just another person's misguided foolishness, it has no power over me or any one living in true Faith, I will dispose of this bag sir…I have no fears of it as Christ directs my steps.”

With that I felt and saw a change come over this man…he was relieved & grateful.  He turned off the water & backed out of the site, but before he did, he seen me get my own trash bag and remove what was so troubling him…a stupid bag of chickens that he believed held bad juju or evil spirits.  Evil spirits have no power over you if in Faith & Godly Spirits you believe & have a relationship with.

I trashed the chickens & finished tending the infant sites & again was leaving down the center dirt road & I saw his white Toyota truck near the center exit.  I stopped and got out & we continued our conversation.  He showed me his son’s grave site.  It was beautiful with several potted small trees & such.  His son was 26 years old when he died in 2017…heroin overdose.  This man, Martin, had raised three sons since the oldest was seven, his wife walked out on the family.  He was a painter and often worked out of town, but every week since 2017 he has been to his son’s grave site, to water the trees & tend to the site.  His son was just starting classes to get a degree in architecture.  He was very smart & talented.  He showed me some of his drawings, one had special meaning to him.  It was a very complex drawing with a crucifix, the trees of life & death & numerical symbology relating to his death as if he knew he would die at a young age.  I told this man that he understood his son’s drawings better than anybody, because of their blood & spiritual connection.  Noone could look at that drawing & see what that man sees, but after he explained what he felt his son was trying to express in the drawing, it made much more sense to me.  I thanked him for sharing his son’s vision of life with me in this drawing.

I gave him my card and told him I live just 10 minutes away & if he is ever away from the area & needs me to water the trees on his son’s gravesite…to give me a call, I’d be happy to.

His son was very talented in art & structure.  He had dreams like all of us.  He also had bad influences & temptations all around him.  He had faith on one shoulder and failure on the other.  We are all torn with good & bad decisions.  Sometimes good decisions hurt a bit, but bad decisions can lead to your death & heartache for those around you.  It is so often the creative soul within us that struggles the most.  This young man had struggles with casting out temptation & letting his faith see him thru it.  I firmly believe that had his faith been even a bit stronger he may very well still be alive today.

That is the goal of this blog & what you are reading…if anything I have ever wrote has saved even one life, one soul…I glory in God with that savior.  But I have no proof until I meet a man like Martin & hear his story about his son & have the Faith to share some of mine in the hope of easing a father’s pain. 

The Lord plants seeds for a reason.  That reason is for you to see the ultimate outcome of His Grace.  It often happens in the most unexpected of ways, but that is the profound timing of God’s Love.

You see when you have the belt of truth, the body armor of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation & the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s Word, nothing can stand against you in this physical world.  Evil forces & temptations will run & hide from you, while Godly intensions will guide & find you.  Devout yourself to the Words & Ways of Jesus & the devil will fade.

We have been & continue to be in a spiritual battle.  You may or may not believe that, but I don’t think you’ve read this far into this message if there isn’t some measure of true Faith in you.  If so, please seek it, find it, believe it, share it…because in this battle you don’t want to be on the godless & losing side. ✨✝️🕊️

Go in Peace & Love will Follow.  Be strong & humble in Faith knowing your inner self will find that Peace.

Revelations 19: 11-16…Psalm 125…Proverbs 24: 1-6   AMEN     🙏🇺🇸.  🐝

Cloudless Star

The night sky beckons its lonely call

I can not resist… I can not stall

In me rests a will to be called

Where others have toiled & stalled

I sit & wonder where is my old friend

No one to hear…no one to send

I look to a cloudless September sky

No stars this night reflect my eye

Alone in this fight for what’s right

No, never ever alone when cast in His Light

I say a prayer for strength & sight

That thru His Glory I just might

Again, I look to the night sky

Where is my old friend Gemini

A cloudless night and no stars in sight

Surely the Heavens have not lost light

I struggle to see as the moon is behind me

And then it is there for all to see

Out of nowhere a single star do I see

Just a faint twinkle but my heart fills with glee

Could it be my old friend shining from a distant home

Not a shooting & dying star, but alive with its welcome

Which brought me to this conclusion…

What we see is only limited by ourselves & is no illusion

Although clouds may cover & darkness may hide

The stars in the Heavens, like angels to confide

For the Light of the Heavens forever shines & is never dim

On those who stand firm in the dark & never forsake Him.

Jeremiah 31:17