Alec, do you know how to spell C-O-M-P-L-I-A-N-C-E?

Like Alec, I like “Words with Friends.”
It’s Scrabble on-the-run.
With letter-luck and strategy,
this game is loads of fun.

But “Words with Friends” on Alec’s plane
became a war of words.
When told to turn his i-Phone off,
he acted most absurd.

Ignoring pre-flight courtesies,
the actor became crude
which spelled big trouble for A.B.
resulting in a feud.*

His mouth played words I cannot print
(not minding Qs and Ps).
It seems that “Words with Friends” gave way
to “words with enemies.”

But life’s too short to pick a fight.
Can’t we just get along?
Let’s heed the peace and goodwill words
within our Christmas songs.

* http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/alec-baldwin-american-airlines-disagree-on-what-happened-during-words-with-friends-incident/2011/12/08/gIQAKqrEgO_story.html?tid=pm_pop

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