Sunday, February 9, 2020

The True Gift of Prayer


Image result for book of mormon



“The true gift of prayer is knowing we are not alone when the world literally brings us to our knees."
Bonnie H. Cordon

No prayer stops short of heaven,
not from sinner, saint, or child.
They all come to the Father,
who is powerful, and mild.
A few words prayed in sorrow,
or a symphony of praise --
He has regard for all of us,
no matter how we phrase.
Remember, in your darkest days,
you never kneel apart;
The Lord God always hears you
and will take your words to heart.


Photo Essay: The Forecast -- Blank, with a chance of nullity.

02/09/2020

The forecast:
Blank,
with a chance of nullity.



02/08/2020

Clouds
on their way
to the gym.




02/07/2020

Despair
never looked so
noble.


02/05/2020

The mountain brings
iron resolve
or rust.




02/04/2020

The light
descends upon
my mountain.




02/03/2020

Today you
draw the
blinds.

Saturday, February 8, 2020

The Ballad of Ed McGinty.

😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈💬💬😇😡😐👿👿👿👿


There was a man, a single man,
who couldn't stands no more.
And so he marched around the town
with signs that said he's sore.

It was a peaceful kind of burg,
where nothing much occurred,
until old Ed McGinty got things
muddled up and stirred.

His signs proclaimed that Trump was nuts,
or that he was a liar;
and you can't do that anymore,
without you start a fire.

His neighbors turned their backs on him;
his children even wept.
But brave McGinty kept it up;
no guff did he accept.

The cops came knocking on his door,
and asked him please to cease.
He told them earthy things you don't
too often tell police.

The mayor of the village called 
a session to decide
how to shut McGinty up,
and all his signs to hide.

The counsel had the zoning board
find something petty, which
they used to bulldoze his poor shack
into a nearby ditch.

But still McGinty carried on;
you couldn't stop this man.
Possessions in a shopping cart,
around the town he ran.

"Impeach Again!" his sign now read;
he held it high and proud.
And that is why he was strung up
at last by some mad crowd.

McGinty's neck was very stiff;
it wouldn't snap at all.
And so the insane mob did try
to nail him to a wall.

The wall collapsed; McGinty lived.
You cannot stop a guy
when he gets old and adamant,
no matter how you try.

At last the town gave up on him
and washed their hands in wrath.
They let the great McGinty strut
around on his warpath.

I wish that I could say that he
continued to protest --
but when the spotlight disappeared,
he gave the thing a rest.

He took up golf and scrabble
and he bought a small RV.
He visits many grand kids
all around this big country.

When Ed McGinty passed away,
they called him a 'nice guy.'
And only Trump, in exile,
still was hoping he would fry . . . 





R.I.P., Orson Bean.


Orson Bean, the free-spirited television, stage and film comedian who stepped out of his storybook life to found a progressive school, move to Australia, give away his possessions and wander around a turbulent America in the 1970s as a late-blooming hippie, was killed in a traffic accident on Friday in Venice, Calif. He was 91.
In 1964, Mr. Bean . . .  helped found the Sons of the Desert, an international fraternal organization devoted to the films and lives of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Named for the duo’s 1933 movie, it has a Latin motto: “Duae tabulae rasae in quibus nihil scriptum est” (“Two blank slates on which nothing has been written”).
Robert D. McFadden. NYT.

Now above the mortal fray,
with Stan and Ollie he might stay --
for just an eon, and not more,
to see if they still make 'em roar;
for clowns in heaven, I've no doubt,
make angels with much laughter shout.
The devils, too, just might sneak in,
while Orson meets 'em with a grin!


And in him shall they glory

Image result for book of mormon

And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
Jeremiah 4:2

Alive in truth, the Lord commands
we break our sinful, doubting bands.
In righteousness shall nations rise
to praise his name unto the skies.
And I, in this exciting scene,
have but to keep my conscience clean,
and then with saints and wise men I
am counted as the Lord's ally.

Friday, February 7, 2020

Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again.

Image result for buster keaton one week

The Trump administration is now considering a draft executive order, “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again,” that would direct the use of traditional or classical architectural styles for nearly all new federal buildings and renovations . . .   The order would take aim at various forms of modernism and seeks to undo the widely admired Design Excellence Program of the General Service Administration . . . The program’s director, David Insinga, resigned last week . . . 
Michael Kimmelman. NYT. 


Stretching forth his godlike hand,
Trump proclaims his great command:
When you build a Fed eyesore
build it like a big box store.
Make it broad and make it crass,
and don't skimp on the plexiglass!
It must twinkle in the night,
and use a lot of Samsonite.
Keep it strong and raise it tall --
just like my dreamy Border Wall!


Holy men that ye know not of

Image result for book of mormon

 Wherefore, I will that all men shall repent, for all are under sin, except those which I have reserved unto myself, holy men that ye know not of.
Doctrine & Covenants. 49:8


As I study holy scripture, 
I find wonders all throughout.
Some of them are clear and simple;
others take a deeper route.
When the Lord sees fit to open
all the doors he now keeps sealed
seraphim will be our tutors
as all ignorance is healed!




Thursday, February 6, 2020

And ye shall eat in plenty

Image result for book of mormon

 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
Joel 2:26



Never shall I be ashamed
that the Lord of Hosts I named
in my prayers and daily talk,
in my thoughts and daily walk.
Plenteous my life has been,
saved from sorrow and from sin
by thy wondrous hand, O King --
thou who makes my heart to sing.
Tribute to thy name is sweet,
altogether just and meet.




Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Google now has mapped the world.





Google Maps, Apple Maps and Waze have done their share of shaping society since coming to smartphones in the early 2000s. In trying to help drivers get around faster, they’ve transformed once-quiet residential streets into bustling cut-through routes. They also may have made overall traffic worse, burdening some routes with congestion they weren’t built to support, some researchers say.
Brittany Shammas. Washington Post.
Google now has mapped the world;
there is no place to hide --
no matter if you're in Nepal
or on the River Clyde.
The satellites will spot you
and transmit locality;
the whole world then can track you
as you swig some cheap Chablis.
But I think I can fool 'em
and elude their broad dragnet 
by dressing up in spinach
with a little vinaigrette.
They'll think I am a salad
and ignore me like a shrub
(unless,of course, I'm spotted
by somebody like Grubhub!)