A recipe for ongoing gratitude

Thanksgiving dinner tops my list.
Leftovers are right under.
I love reheating what remains.
So is it any wonder

the Thursday meal goes on and on
as does my gratitude
for giving thanks is not a day?
It is an attitude

that sees containers as half-full
and notices what’s right,
that values colors found in truth
resisting black and white.

Thanksgiving is a year-long feast.
Each day is ours to seize.
Try counting blessings from God’s hand
as well as calories.

Gratitude is based on memory

Memory loss and memory lapses
can wreak havoc with your plans
if the White House is the focus of your goal.
But forgetting is our nature.
Facts and figures slip away.
In the press of life much stress can take its toll.

And we’re prone to be ungrateful
when we cannot quite recall
all the things on our behalf the Lord has done.
We complain and start to worry
when our rewind function fails
and we can’t replay the victories we have won.

So perhaps what Mother told us
is the key to giving thanks.
But do you recall the words she’d often say?
“Now remember to say thank you
for the things that you’ve received.
Being grateful is a debt you have to pay.”

Gratitude is based on memory.*
So remember, to give thanks.
Mother’s wise advice we’d all do well to mind.
When reminded of our blessings,
we recall how blessed we are
and began to seek what God intends we find.

* Even St. Paul understood the correlation between memory and thanksgiving. In a letter delivered to his friends at Philippi, the apostle wrote, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” (Philippians 1:3 NIV)

The cadence of a grateful heart;
Sadness in Happy Valley and Herman “Raisin” Cain

Marking Time on Veterans’ Day
The cadence of a grateful heart

A grassy field of markers and a multitude of flags
call attention to those veterans who are gone.
‘Neath the sod they sleep in silence waiting for the reveille
when old Gabriel trumpets resurrection’s dawn.

As I wander through a graveyard on this cold November day,
I am warmed by countless names that catch my eye.
They belong to men and women who obeyed their Uncle’s call
and then served our nation proudly till they died.

Each (in uniform allegiance) pledged unflaggingly to serve
freedom’s cause no matter where that need might be.
And because they did, we’re vested in both rights and privileges
that define the fabric of democracy.

Without speaking I bear witness to these heroes of the past
through the cadence of my grateful beating heart.
Marking time I count my blessings for the legacy they left
as I hear their plea for me to do my part.

Sadness in Happy Valley
Why State College is in an unhappy state

Happy Valley’s rather sad.
Paterno’ fans are stunned and mad.
The patriarch of college ball
has coached his final game.

But think of those Sandusky sacked.
The innocent whom he attacked.
Are not the crimes that make God weep
more cause to make them sad?

And while they grieve that Joe Pa’s gone,
let’s pray this scandal prompts the dawn
when blindside sins and blind-eyes turned
are labeled what they are.

Herman “Raisin” Cane
How the accused reacts to the “grapes of wrath”

He’s taken off. He’s gaining lift.
His fans are raising Cain.
And as he sails to heights unknown
his critics take their aim.

They pounded pavement for some dirt.
With mud they try to smear
a man who claims he’s innocent
while looking in the mirror.

But “grapes of wrath’ don’t make him whine.
Not Herman “Raisin” Cain.
He knows they’re really sour grapes
that come with gaining fame.

This pepperoni Godfather
has learned the square of pi.
He’s been around enough to know
your critics often lie.

But if the “grapes of wrath” prove true
and Cain admits to wrong,
I think I know what he will sing
when he breaks out in song!

* “Amazing Grace will always be my song of praise…” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqn-xkyQ_RA

The low down on love and storybook romance

The fairytale’s over!
The glass slipper cracked!
The coach is a pumpkin again!
But Kimmie, you’re grown up.
A marriage takes work.
So why divorce Kris on a whim?

Real life isn’t easy.
Commitment’s the key.
It takes all you have to hold on.
Prince Charming’s for children.
You need more than him
when Hollywood romance is gone.

Bad breath in the morning
and socks on the floor
and dishes stacked up in the sink.
There’re chinks in the armor
and dents in the car.
More often than not life can stink.

And feelings are fleeting.
And passion (like fruit)
has its season. But true love’s like wine.
It’s best when time passes
and memories age
as vows stand the long test of time.

A tribute to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation;
Seattle’s Long-Awaited Facelift

The Gates are Open
A tribute to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

The Gates are wide open to the plight of the poor,
to children too hungry to hope.
The Gates are not closed to the victims of A.I.D.S.
and because they are not such can cope.

Open Gates reveal windows of mercy
never shuttered or draped to real need.
And a glance at the Gates strong foundations
calls attention to love’s greatest deed…

Generosity fueled by compassion.
Wealth that matches the gifts it inspires.
Wealth that knows it can heal human heartache.
Generosity bred by desire.

Seattle’s Long-Awaited Facelift
The historic Alaskan Way viaduct is a memory

A new wrinkle’s appeared
on the face of our town.
To some, though, it’s more like a scar.
Can surgery fix it
reconstructing what’s wrong
for those stuck in traffic in cars?

The skyline is different.
The viaduct’s gone.
That two-level highway’s no more.
A facelift (some call it)
on one who’s grown old
leaves rubble resembling a war.

But when she’s recovered
(her countenance healed)
the pain will at last seem worthwhile.
Seattle’s demeanor
will blush with young pride
as she boasts a new three-mile smile.

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaskan_Way_Viaduct

** http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2011/10/24/video-alaskan-way-viaduct-falls/