The Preacher Says

Ecclesiastes says there's a time for all things.

3:2 says a time to be born and to die.

Chapter 12 tells what will happen as onward we age.

Can't stop it no matter how hard we may try.

Personally, I'm not sick, but I'm falling apart,

just as wise Solomon said,

but I still plug along and do what I can,

until ''this ol' house'' of mine is dead.

My ''windows'' became bad in 2003,

but I still have some usable sight.

And I need aids for my ears, but I still can hear some,

But I often enjoy the quiet.

A congenital problem I have with my feet

has become worse, but I can still walk.

And a real old grinder recently had to come out,

but I can still eat and can talk.

So what that I'm slower, don't see or hear well,

and my speech is no longer real clear.

I'm still above ground and I'm mostly OK.

I guess God's got things for me yet to do here.

God gave His Son and I know I am saved.

I'm waiting for my Heavenly rest!

So even though I have problems - and don't we all! -

here on earth, O how richly I'm blest.

- by Netagene, written in about an hour this afternoon, Tuesday, May 15, 2013, while sitting on my porch. The word: "Ecclesiastes" is the Greek word for "gatherer", "teacher", or "preacher".

Growing Old and Going Crazy

“Growing old and going crazy” –

Something most of us have heard.

Old wives’ tale, I guess that that is –

Maybe real, more likely – absurd.

Some die young, but most grow older.

We’re not promised how long our life.

Each of us will face some problems –

Many good times, sometimes strife.

Sometimes “crazy” is simply meanness.

Aging’s not the problem here.

Bound up in bad is some folks’ habits.

Like dirt, it’s sin that some will wear.

Some act crazy, silly, pompous – 

Nothing that has to do with age.

A crazy rant might be emoting.

The actor might be quite a sage.

Be godly, gracious. Don’t become grouchy.

It’s possible, whether young or old.

Yes, it takes work but I can do it

I aim – and live in the Good Shepherd’s fold.

- by Netagene. I wrote this in a few minutes the evening of April 23, 2013, during worship (shame on me!), using a couple of lines I had scribbled, said by preacher David Holder, during another of his sermons, at the Huffman church of Christ, Birmingham, Alabama. David is from Nashville but has lived and preached for the Castleberry church in Fort Worth, Texas, for years.

LOOKING for a RAINBOW

I'm looking for a rainbow
during a raging storm's lull.
The sun's behind the clouds now.
The sky's overcast and dull.
The air is whispery, eerie calm.
following after blowing wind.
Only pitter-patter droplets
where downpour just has been.

I'm still looking for a rainbow,
but more dark clouds are moving in.
Listen! Distant thunder!
The stillness becomes wind.
Even though it's only mid-day,
street lights are coming on.
School buses are running early,
bringing children safely home.

The clock says it is day-time,
but the sky's near black again.
The storm's calm eye's passed over.
Here comes more howling wind.
Whether weather, whether life,
I prefer the calm, the sun,
but it take rain to make a rainbow,
and Heaven waits when this life's done.

- by Netagene. I wrote that on this day, in about 30 minutes, while sitting on my porch during the storm. Prayers going to people in other areas in a few other states, which got the brunt of the eastward moving storm. There were a few deaths and a good bit of destruction in some places.

Sing Me Home

When I am close to dying,
don't put me in a dark room.
Open the curtains to creation –
God's sun or the light of the moon.

Though temporary, while I'm alive,
don't hide me away from my friends.
Let me talk on the phone to the callers.
If visitors, let them come in.

I know that God made music.
I really want to hear
the songs and psalms of the Bible.
Sing them loud and clear.

If the nurses and doctors don't like it,
I'm telling you now really straight:
I want phone calls and visits and music
while I'm alive, not when it's too late.

So when I'm about to cross over,
don't hide me away, all alone.
Hold my hands and pray and love me, and
Sing me home.

- by Netagene. I wrote this in about 15 minutes on September 25, 2011. I found it today. Mother had passed from this life on August 11, 2011. -

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

... or "Extreme Places" ...

Tourism is rising in Antarctica,

That's NOT where I want to go.

Heaven's MY "tourist" attraction,

I'm working on that while below.

No trips to Mount Everest or the Dead Sea –

No trips to the highest or lowest.

No trips to Death Valley or Antarctica –

No trips to the hottest or coldest.

God made me to live somewhere better,

not this alien land called the earth.

I'm working my way to LIVE there,

ever since I had my new birth!

My house down here's on solid land –

No sinkholes I can see,.

I'm pressing on to higher ground, where
God's preparing a mansion for me!

I won't have some step-on-the-bus guide person.

My guide will be much better than that.

My guide on my flight will be God's messenger –

an angel to God's "Welcome" mat!

Might as well spend your money here, traveling –

Can't take it with you when you're not here!

My treasures – laid up forever in Heaven –

With God and all things lovely and dear!

- by Netagene, March 16 and 17, 2013 -

A friend sent me a link about tourism in Antarctica, having had a brain burp and thinking Antarctica rather than Alaska for my hoped-for upcoming trip. But she got me to thinking, and I wrote back to her: "I SURE don't want to go to Antarctica! I also don't want to go to Mount Everest, etc., nor to Death Valley - solid land, not the highest or lowest ... or hottest or coldest!" 

I looked on line and found another place which is higher than Everest, depending if you measure from sea level or from where. And there are other places about as cold as Antarctica – a couple places in Russia, Greenland, and Canada. And I know –  but haven't looked this up recently, that there's a trench in the Indian Ocean or some such, that is as deep below sea level as Everest is as high ABOVE sea level - also somewhere I don't want to go!

Food Poem

CARBS and CAFFEINE

I like beef and potatoes,
chicken and pasta, too.
I've learned what foods that I can eat
to stay awake, or to sleep the night through.

Caffeine is a stimulant.
It really gets me wired.
I wish there was an ''off'' switch.
Can't stop though my body is tired.

I fade in a carbohydrate coma,
thanks to some good ol' mac' and cheese.
Just a bowlful, and I'd fall over
From a weather or a real light breeze.

Most of the time I am careful
of what and when I eat through the day,
but some foods are so very tempting 
That it's hard to turn them away.

So no carbs for me in the morning ...
No caffeine for me after lunch.

I've learned what foods I can eat when

I want to doze or when I need a punch.

And here where I am living -

in the good ol' U.S. of A.,

I have more than my share of good things.

I am so very blessed today.

- by Netagene Kirkpatrick, March 10 & 11, 2013.

ALL I CAN DO IS PRAY

The weather is hot, and then it is cold.

The day is too bright. The night’s a black hole.

From Abel and Cain, from good and from bad,

today's children often make their parents sad.

Couples pout or fight. Some part. Some thrive.

Follow Satan or God. Give up or survive.

The political scene ... the people rage.

Some are kind. Some are cruel.

Some are dumb. Some are sage.

So the world’s gone crazy? It’s always been this way.

From Adam and Eve until today.

Some wring their hands and whine and moan,

but I know I am not alone.

Though I'm here on earth, it's not my home.

When things aren't perfect, and don't go my way,

I'll keep on doing what I can ...

ALL I CAN DO IS PRAY.

It gets tiresome, hearing how bad things are.
I'm thankful for all I have today.
I can't change most things, not in any great way,
so I'll do what I can ...

ALL I CAN DO … IS PRAY.

Can you do more? Does crying help?

Stand and scream? Hide on some shelf?

What more can you do? What more can you say?

Try to stay calm. There’s help for today.

I’m confident my God is on the way.

I’ll keep doing what I can …

ALL I CAN DO IS PRAY.

ALL I CAN DO IS PRAY.

(You can put those 6 words anywhere you want to, after every line if you want to.)

- by Netagene Kirkpatrick, March 3, 2013 -