Posts Tagged With: Poem
Taking a PE Class
There are times
when my pedagogic versatility
is limited.
As when
I am asked to take
a PE class.
My age,
hand-eye coordination
and
my lack of passion
all conspire against me.
To run, jump
throw and kick
without any evident purpose
inspire no joy –
no thrill
in my soul.
The scores,
cheers,
shots for goal,
dashes to the finish and
shouts of elation,
leave me,
deflated.
But when a perfect word,
articulate phrase or
beautiful sentence
springs to life
in a student’s hand,
my heart rises and
soul sings.
This IS life!
This IS being truly human!
Animals can run faster,
fish swim further and
birds fly higher,
But only we,
bring ideas,
and thoughts,
abstractions,
wisdom and dreams
to vibrant life …
with Words.
Categories: christian, Devotional, Poem, poetry
Tags: Christian, Christianity, Poem, poems, poetry
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Compass
The needle quavers,
and haltingly points
northward.
Magnetic North
not
True North.
We all need to follow,
take a path,
begin a journey.
There are different “truths”
with degrees of difference.
Choosing one
or
the other
can have
magnified results
miles into our journey.
Destinations lost,
journeys wasted,
hope not realised.
What needle do you follow?
What pointer guides you?
Is it an
approximation
or truth?
Will it lead to
promised hope
or disillusion?
Fulfillment
or emptiness?
Joy or
despair?
Your journey,
is it directed
by a cross shaped
compass?
Categories: christian, Christianity, Devotional, Faith, Poem, poetry
Tags: Christian, Christianity, Devotion, Faith, Poem, poems, poetry
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Activate Sim
Insert Sim in device.
Change access point
Modify settings.
Ensure carrier selected.
Switch data roaming “on”.
Go to website.
Enter code
… and personal details.
Test settings.
Congratulations
Your Sim is activated.
You are now connected.
But life
is not that straight forward.
The number is sometimes smudged
on its plastic case
and the code hard to enter.
Testing the settings,
and activating
Life
and achieving high data rates
and clear reception is not always
that easy,
or clear.
But Lord,
thankfully
your “helpline”
is always available!
Categories: Devotional, Faith, Poem, poetry
Tags: Devotion, Faith, Poem, poems, poetry
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Answers
There was a time
I had an answer for everything.
Theology, Life,
the “right” thing to do,
and I had an
“informed” opinion.
I was quick,
(now I say, hasty)
to bless others with
my astute and “learned” mind.
And then life came.
Real life.
With dilemmas and conundrums
grey areas,
tough and impossible choices.
And life came with
death, and pain,
sorrow and grief,
parting and separation.
My earlier answers didn’t fit,
or work
or fulfill.
The words just added to the
emptiness.
Now I find that
faith and hope
contentment and security
family and friends
outweigh
past certainties.
Childlike faith
outshines
adult arrogance.
Categories: christian, Christianity, Devotional, Faith, Poem, poetry, Uncategorized
Tags: Christian, Christianity, Devotion, Faith, Poem, poems, poetry
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It’s Windy Today!
It’s windy today.
Very windy.
Trees are buffeted,
with branches flailing about.
Leaves scurrying.
Walking home
(I’m on a fitness binge)
I was thrown about
by its punchy fury
feeling like a rag doll
in the hands of an angry child.
It is strange
how
the wind
causes unease and discomfort.
Not just physical
but also emotional.
Dare I say,
“Spiritual?”
For no apparent reason
uncertainty
and paranoia
creep about
in my heart and mind.
Wild winds
like wild waves
make me feel small
and frail in the world.
But then I remember a wind
and flames
that said,
“God is here!”
It calms me
once again.
Categories: christian, Christianity, Devotional, Faith, Poem, poetry
Tags: Christianity, Devotion, Faith, Poem, poems, poetry
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Sorting Through Memories
My brother and I
sorted through our mother’s things today.
The big things,
not that there were many after years in a home,
were irrelevant.
The brooch I fiddled with as a child,
the picture that had always been
on the wall at home,
the tapestry sewn with arthritic fingers,
made me take notice.
My brother,
six years younger.
had memories with a different skew,
but memories all the same,
of times, events, words and warmth.
The photos and cards were carefully kept,
of birthdays, anniversaries and
other people’s holidays.
The precious letters
set aside, revealed so much,
about mum
… and us.
Categories: Family, Poem, poetry, Reflections, Uncategorized
Tags: family, Poem, poems, poetry
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A Week Before School Starts
It is a week before school starts,
So the cogs are slowly winding up,
Gearing up for the business/busyness
that is a “school year”.
“Curricula,” check.
“Course Outlines” (nearly) check.
“Resources”, always looking.
“Class lists”, check.
“Ah! ‘X’ is in my class.
That will interesting for him
and me.
The time table,
Yard duty,
The marking,
The discipline,
Those annoying sports days and
assemblies …
and parent meetings.
Diaries and homeroom.
Uniforms and chewing gum.
Is that what the new school year is about?
Or is it …
mentoring and example,
words of encouragement
and correction;
Growth and matuity
for both student and teacher.
Discovering gifts, talents and purpose
and crucially,
a destiny.
In all,
revealing our place
in God’s kingdom
and under His rule.
Categories: christian, Christianity, Education, Faith, Poem, poetry, Uncategorized
Tags: Christian, Christian Education, Christianity, Devotion, Faith, Poem, poems, poetry
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That Last Step
This journey
as long as it seems,
is only a pilgrimage.
We can try
to set our roots
deep in the ground
and hold fast
and tight.
The tighter we hold
the greater the wrench
when the journey
continues
into the
eternal future
of heaven
or hell.
If we journey
with a new
Christ bought
future life,
as a vision before us,
that last step on earth
will be far more gentle,
more hope filled,
and glorious.
as long as it seems,
is only a pilgrimage.
We can try
to set our roots
deep in the ground
and hold fast
and tight.
The tighter we hold
the greater the wrench
when the journey
continues
into the
eternal future
of heaven
or hell.
If we journey
with a new
Christ bought
future life,
as a vision before us,
that last step on earth
will be far more gentle,
more hope filled,
and glorious.
Categories: christian, Christianity, Devotional, Faith, Poem, poetry, Uncategorized
Tags: Christian, Christianity, Devotion, Faith, Poem, poems, poetry
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Waking Up In A New Year
After partying
eating and drinking,
and after the hugs
and good wishes
I went to bed.
When I woke
the feeling of unrestrained joy
was tempered.
This was another year,
there would be pain and loss
as well as joy and laughter.
Frustration and failure
would sit beside
success and satisfaction.
Self doubt and confidence
would still play
ping pong in the soul.
Lord,
Carry me another year,
through the good and the bad.
Urge me, once again,
to walk a path
that honours You.
Teach me anew,
of your greatness and love.
In the darker moments
gently take my face in your hands
and call me, “My child.”
Then, and only then
can I make my tentative steps
once again.
eating and drinking,
and after the hugs
and good wishes
I went to bed.
When I woke
the feeling of unrestrained joy
was tempered.
This was another year,
there would be pain and loss
as well as joy and laughter.
Frustration and failure
would sit beside
success and satisfaction.
Self doubt and confidence
would still play
ping pong in the soul.
Lord,
Carry me another year,
through the good and the bad.
Urge me, once again,
to walk a path
that honours You.
Teach me anew,
of your greatness and love.
In the darker moments
gently take my face in your hands
and call me, “My child.”
Then, and only then
can I make my tentative steps
once again.
Categories: christian, Christianity, Devotional, Faith, Poem
Tags: Christian, Christianity, Devotion, Faith, Poem, Poem on Sunday, poems, poetry
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As the Year Winds Down
As the year winds down
memories flutter in the breeze
like forgotten leaves
darting and spinning
along the park grass.
The hopeful start has met
reality.
The aspirations have,
once again,
collided with human frailty.
The daily news has regurgitated
another 12 months
of human foolishness,
vanity, greed, lust and anger,
with only the odd spark of hope
leaping momentarily –
a glow of life in a dark morass.
A kindly gesture,
a noble deed,
a generous gift have been witnessed
here and there;
Alerting hope and future.
As each year passes,
a certainty grows,
whether in my life or death
the Messiah will come again.
The cycle will stop.
Eternity will begin.
Categories: christian, Christianity, Devotional, Poem, poetry, Reflections
Tags: Poem, poems, poetry
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Travels from Ur 