A graduation poem (with apologies to Dr. Seuss)

The world’s your oyster. The world’s your stage.
Your time has come. You’ve reached the age.
The Lord will guide you. So, trust his plans.
Just say, “Your wish is my command.”

Look in your heart. What brings delight?
Embrace your gift. Turn on the light.
God made you just the way you are.
So go with that and you’ll go far.

But far begins with one small step.
So lace your shoes and then expect
to run your race at your own speed.
Don’t fret about who’s in the lead.

This thing called life’s a marathon.
It’s not a sprint. So, carry on!
Along the way, you’ll trip and fall.
You’ll bruise your knees and that’s not all.

Your pride will smart, but that’s okay.
That’s how you learn to make your way.
So, each new day look in the mirror.
Confront yourself and what you fear.

Look deep inside at what you see.
Reflect on who you long to be.
Don’t overlook what you don’t like.
Tell bents you hate to take a hike.

Be honest with the one you face
embracing God’s amazing grace.
It covers all you dare confess
and undermines perfection’s stress.

Be sure to give yourself a smile.
It’s good to celebrate each mile.
Along the path that you will go,
who cares if you go fast or slow.

The speed that marks your upward climb
means not so much so never mind.
The trek you take is most unique.
So, too, the plans you aim to seek.

Dream big. Imagine. Go for broke.
While some may laugh, it is no joke.
Remind yourself God’s in control
and He will help you reach your goals.

You will achieve more than you know.
The many places you will go
cannot be seen from where you sit.
You have to move out bit by bit.

Make every day your chance to start
to live your dream and own your part
in what the good Lord longs to bless
including you and your success.

What matters most is making time
to pace yourself and read the signs
of where to go and what to do.
The future does depend on you.

D-Day is more than just A DAY

The beaches of Normandy.
It sounds so ideal.
A vacation destination?
Hardly.

History recalls
it was not a Rick Steves’ piece of paradise.
Far from it.
Far from home,
mothers’ sons stormed ashore
dodging bullets
all the while praying
they’d live to see tomorrow.

This bloody chapter
in the history of World War 2
is not an addendum or an afterword.
If anything,
it is the preface
to the peace in Europe
our grandparents dreamed of.

It recalls a war we know all-too-well.
It was a living Hell that claimed the lives
of countless kids
who died with weapons in their hands
and hope in their hearts
that Hitler would be defeated.

Yes, D-Day is
A DAY
we must never forget
to remember.
It is A DAY
to say thanks.

This reflection of the 75th Anniversary of D-Day is dedicated to Huston Riley from Mercer Island who survived the landing on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944.

http://www.mi-reporter.com/news/a-humble-hero-and-omaha-beach/

With somber gratitude for the Vietnam Memorial

Near to where Mr. Lincoln sits,
a wall stands
bearing witness to a conflict
that claimed countless lives
half a century ago.

Unlike another wall
that divides our nation,
this wall of chiseled names
unites us with gratitude
for those who died
defending democracy
far from home.

It is a wall that protects us
from the possibility
of forgetting those
who dare not be forgotten.
Peace to their memories!

Counting the cost of non-stop tornadoes

The spinning winds have spun again
and left a wake of pain.
The dreams of millions have been dashed
by swaths without a name.

Unlike their cousins hurricanes,
tornadoes are but winds.
Without a name by which they’re known,
they simply churn and spin.

Anonymous, (and yet they cause
such catastrophic loss),
these airborne beasts deserve our wrath
for what their pillage costs.

Let’s pray for those now victimized
by Nature’s “winds of war”
where farmlands became battlefields
and casualties the score.

The abortion debate divides an already divided country once more

The pro-life current still is strong.
The Crimson Tide is proof.
In ‘Bama all abortions are a sin.
A wave of hope has crashed on shore
for those who say they’re right.
And just like that they’re rowing waves again.

But those who take a pro-choice view
are galvanized by rage.
The Alabama ruling fuels their hate.
The outcome of this tug-of-war
remains a mystery
as court decisions vary state by state.

The highest court may yet decide
if Roe v. Wade will stand.
Regardless, there will always be a fight.
For those who hold that life begins
within a woman’s womb
will challenge those who champion their rights.