Month: November 2024

SITTING WAITING AND WATCHING

Sitting by the window, I looked over

the waters of the lake and watched spindrift.

The wind was blowing so there was no

shortage of it on this gray day. A slight

chill accompanied the breeze, and the

nearby trees were swaying. Sometimes

they entangled themselves seemingly

made one of two. It was amazing to sit

and watch and every now and then

Spindrift could be seen. It is not every

day that this occurs. I put on a jacket

and began to stroll along the shoreline

hoping to see this wonder up close or

at least closer. The wind picked up and

I  wish I had added a sweater to my wardrobe.

One doesn’t always remember the mysteries

of nature. The waves splashed upon the shore,

and I was destined to get wet. I saw several

displays of spindrift and then decided to turn

around and head back to my perch on the deck.

By the time I arrived I was half-frozen, so I did

not linger on the deck but went inside where it

was warmer. It was a great encounter with nature.

I am glad that I made the journey.

STANSKI

November 14, 2024, ^

WHAT TO DO

We have many friends

We see their trouble

Unlike the weather

We can make some moves

They won’t always work

But at least we tried

Some refuse to change

It is no use they say

Don’t want to put forth the effort

Would rather sulk or play

I say shake them up

Work hard for their attention

Give examples of life worth living

Versus life with no expectations

Take them along with you and

Let them see your operation

How helping others lifts you up

Ignoring them just leaves sorrow

Life is a mystery to behold

Accomplishments come by ordinary people

You do not have to be a hero

Once you taste a victory, there will be

No holding you down

You said you couldn’t do it, but

Now you wear a crown.

Stanski

November 12, 2024,, ^

NOVEMBER SUNDAY

Day was bright

Ready for adventure

But that thought

Was a bit premature.

First the Church

Where bells were ringing

Inside the Church

The choir was singing

People filled the pews

Began their prayers

They had thoughts of forgiveness

And they forgave to be fair

The service began

With prayers and songs

The march to communion

Would begin before long

Heads were bowed in thanksgiving

People connecting with their King

Thanking Him for His sacrifice

Then waited for the bells to ring

The organ playing was a delight

Parishioners joined in the singing

They would be exiting in a moment

Only to hear more bells ringing

Stanski

November 10, 2024, ^

ONE WONDERS WHY

I turned the TV onto Newsmax. I heard that all

the mainstream stations were lamenting the loss

of the election. They just couldn’t get over it.

I guess they wanted four more years of border invasion

and high prices which were hurting the

young and old. They apparently wanted

high interest rates, high unemployment,

lower wages, high energy costs and fuel

costs. The rapes and murders didn’t seem

to bother them, and they forgot that in the

preamble to the constitution it stated that

we were endowed with unalienable rights

to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Abortion took away that right to life from the

unborn. Those entertainers and other

bigshots who vowed to leave the country

if Donald Trump won are still here. Kamala

spent a billion dollars and still is 20 million

in debt. I don’t know if she can turn the page

on that. Her running mate’s home district

voted for Trump. The liberals are wondering

what went wrong, but it is easy to explain.

The people woke up to their lies and slanders.

They are in disarray and are vowing to block

Trump in every way they can. They might be

 better off working with him and helping him

 make America Great again.

Stanski on November 9, 2024, ^

A BRIGHT DAY

We have been blessed with bright days this month.

The first five days dragged by and then election day

came and was nerve racking. It lasted until early

hours of the next day and there was a calm which

was needed for over 70 million nervous systems

to settle down and heart palpitations to restore to normal.

On the other hand, there were many million disappointed

souls who felt that their vote wasn’t enough to carry their

candidate to victory. A concession speech was planned and

the loyal constituents waited, standing for up to seven hours,

to hear it, only to be told that it was cancelled until tomorrow

although this was already tomorrow. They walked away with

their heads down, disappointed again. It finally came later that

day in the late afternoon. It sounded more like a campaign speech

then a concession, but she did not call the President-Elect any names.

She received very nice applause and then the crowd dispersed

once again. Today the sun is shining and the bright glare off the

lake is blinding. And you must look away. Our border will remain

open, I guess, until sometime in January. Then the President can

put back in lace the many things which were cancelled out by

the 46yh President. With God’s grace we will be headed in the

right direction. As Leonarde Cohen said, “Ring the bells that still

can ring, forget your perfect offering; there is a crack, a crack in

everything. That is how the light gets in.”

Stanski

November 7, 2024, ^


The Fellowship of the Weak

November 7, 2024

Fear, shame, and guilt often make us stay in our isolation and prevent us from realizing that our handicap, whatever it is, can always become the way to an intimate and healing fellowship in which we come to know one another as humans. After all, everyone shares the handicap of mortality. Our individual, physical, emotional, and spiritual failures are but symptoms of this disease. Only when we use these symptoms of mortality to form a fellowship of the weak can hope emerge. It is in the confession of our brokenness that the real strength of new and everlasting life can be affirmed and made visible.

Explore All Meditations

JUST THINKING ON A WINDY NOVEMBER DAY

This is not a poem or a muse, but a meditation on

What we should be doing if we desire to be united

in God’s work.  The poorest of us in this country

live in luxury compared to the rest of the poor in

the world and solutions belong to us as we are

inspired by our heavenly Father.  We attempt to

feed the hungry and homeless in our area.  It is

good to do this and unfortunately necessary.

Our pain is nothing compared to the Hattians

who have suffered through two hurricanes and

an earthquake in the last several years. 

Home to over a million, many thousand lives

were lost and many left with no shelter. 

The earthquake alone claimed 200,000 lives.

If we are servants dedicated to walk through

the storm together then we must abandon

our own interests, pick up the cross and walk

with Jesus.  We must not give until it hurts,

but until it feels good.  Each of our blessings

is a gift from God.  He has a purpose for us just

as He does for the starving, homeless Hattians. 

It is up to us to answer His call.  In the end

we will not have to hang our heads in shame.

Steve Haarman aka Stanski

November 2, 2024, ^

Published in 1884/1885, Huckleberry Finn is about a racist boy’s realization of the full humanity of a fugitive slave. Ten years later, in Pudd’nhead Wilson, Twain would deconstruct the very idea of race itself as nothing more than “a fiction of law and custom” without any basis in biology. As Toni Morrison stated, “Mark Twain talked about racial ideology in the most powerful, eloquent, and instructive way I have ever read.”