God's Daily Gifts

Alma 10:5 -- " . . . for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power . . .

The swarming ants upon the walk, the slanted rays of light,
the budding, bursting, green of life before my blinkered sight;
the sliding mist upon the slopes, the smell of earthen wet,
the babe upon its mother's breast -- how is it I forget?
The wonders and the miracles come at me thick and fast
and at my heedless shallow soul I feel a bit aghast. 
I do not need great miracles, nor voices from the mount;
I only need God's daily gifts to recognize and count!

A friend to the king

Alma 18:3 -- " . . . we know that he is a friend to the king . . . "

Even hardened despots on their thrones of pomp and gold
can be affected by attendants serving them eightfold.
For loyalty is such a thing as gives a servant power
over all the great ones that he serves upon the hour.
I do not know who makes a king or president appear;
I only know that if we serve we ought to be sincere. 

The Hands of a Clown . . .

(Author's Note: I spent 35 years as a circus clown)

A sad moment: I've already stopped playing my musical saw, and now this morning I did a Primary children's activity at church, twisting balloon animals -- but the arthritis in my hands is now so bad that I've decided to retire from balloon sculpting. I'm getting too slow & clumsy, and it hurts too much . . .

The Juice Cleanse

From the New York Times:  "There is no scientific basis to support undergoing juice detoxification or colon cleanses, as trendy as they may be."

There was a young woman whose juicing
she claimed all her toxins were sluicing.
She said she did fine
with grape juice (read: wine),
as she merrily went about goosing.

The Lord is Called by Many Names

Alma 9:17 -- " , , , for the Lord will be merciful unto all who call on his name."

The Lord is called by many names by many people heeding
his love and mercy, grace and strength, his openness to pleading.
We call him Prince and King and God, Good Shepherd and The Lamb.
He called Himself Jehovah in the ears of Abraham. 
I will not cease to call upon his name forevermore . . . 
and hope someday to name him 'friend' when I come to His door. 

Limerick

In fifty years cars will all cease
disturbing our air and our peace.
And no one will fuss
with trains or with bus;
we'll stick in our homes, too obese!

Duty

Alma 4:3 --    "And so great were their afflictions that every soul had cause to mourn; and they believed that it was the judgments of God sent upon them because of their wickedness and their abominations; therefore they were awakened to a remembrance of their duty."

My sense of duty, tarnished by the years so speeding by,

left me unprepared for when catastrophe came nigh.

I suffered more than I thought just; I could not find the hope

of ever climbing up from sorrow on this greasy slope.

When duty woke at last from slumber deep inside my breast,

I kept on slogging up the hill and trusted God knew best.

The journey isn't over and affliction still stands near,

but duty keeps me going with more confidence, less fear.  

Tattoo

Alma 3:18 --   "Now the Amlicites knew not that they were fulfilling the words of God when they began to mark themselves in their foreheads; nevertheless they had come out in open rebellion against God; therefore it was expedient that the curse should fall upon them."

I wonder at the piercings and tattoos of ev'ry kid

branding their own bodies in a kind of desp'rate bid

to show their independence or their macho or their . . . what?

They might as well be dabbing their own foreheads with some smut.

Why should I want to dye my skin all purple, red, or green?

The only needles that I want are strictly for vaccine!

Limerick

From the Los Angeles Times:  With black hoods over their heads, five people trapped in a chain-link enclosure listen to an ominous monologue.

"Hello, my delicious friends," the voice purrs. "I've lived here for five years, and I've spent much of that time collecting delicate morsels like yourselves to help me with my little experiments."

Edward Tandy, the homicidal cannibal who has caged this group in his basement, lays out the rules of his game: They have 45 minutes to solve the puzzles inside and escape. Once time runs out, gas will be pumped in, putting the captives to sleep.

It sounds like the beginning of a horror flick, but these five brave souls have paid $30 each to get locked in an escape room, a fast-growing entertainment where players in elaborately decorated prisons must find clues to free themselves before time runs out. Corporations have discovered escape rooms for team-building and communication exercises.

A fool and his money soon part;

but that is just merely the start.

It seems nowadays 

there's too many ways

to waste all our coin a la carte. 

A heap of bones

Alma 2:38 -- " . . . and their bones have been found, and have been heaped up on the earth."

A heap of bones is all that's left when conflicts end at last;
a brittle monument of follies dreadfully amassed.
The widow and the orphan and the breast of reason torn;
such are the sure harvest of our hatred and our scorn. 
To battle one another unless for our self-defense
is to be a stench and a rude rock of deep offense. 
O, help me bring a little peace into this mortal broil;
I do not want my garments with cross blood to ever soil!