Month: December 2024

MY FEELINGS RUN DEEP

I know the feeling of being loved

Forty-six years was not too much

But now that I am alone again

I sometimes feel out of touch

I know that I am kneeling

At the edge of my years

But I am young in spirit

Which endures beyond all fears

I do not need more challenges

Having faced more than my share

I want to dwell on what we call goodness

There is no reason that wouldn’t be fair

I have been abandoned in a snow storm

Left to struggle on my own, but

Know there is much more life to embrace

I am older but I am not worn

So I look for what is lost

Reject most of what is found

Am rejected by what I thought

Were possibilities and in the end

I was left scorned, but

I have hope and trust and

Know the real secret of love

I could draw on linen, a blue print

It would include what is lost and found

If I am left in isolation because

I was the obstacle to my success

I will remember that feeling of being loved

And will savor the feeling of the ultimate caress

Steve Haarman aka Stanski

December 30, 2024^

SO YOU HAVE TIME TO LISTEN

Do you like the “Holmes Brothers”?
Well do you? Or ~~~

“DON’T YOU HAVE TIME TO LISTEN?”

You don’t have time to listen
Sometimes that breaks my heart

I tell you something very important
I ask, when is a good time to start?

You look at me blankly
Say nothing at all

I stand there waiting
But don’t hear your call, non-call

You look out, keep looking out the window
I talk to the wall, narrow minded wall

You start your pacing, racing pacing
I walk down the hall, dark hall

You feel bad and begin to cry
Reach in your drawer and drink from your brandy

Put on the music and start to listen

“What’s so bad about peace, hope and understanding?

You cry, again

Stanski
December 29, 2024 ^

With “a tip of the hat” to the Holmes Brothers

IT IS GONE

The end of December is upon us

We wait for the beginning of the new year.

The snow is about to be gone. Some lament this

While others are glad because the roads are

Safer to drive upon. In a few months it will be

Spring and like the seasons we may spring into

Action and enjoy the follies and earnest times

Of nature. We must thank our Father for the gifts

He gives us and all He asks is for us to take care of

These precious gifts. He is kind and wants us to be

Happy. There are time when He must be disgusted

But He is a forgiving Father and continues to forgive

Us. We are happy when we follow his directives

And usually sad when we neglect them. His plan is

So easy to follow and our reward for doing so is great.

Stanski

December 28, 2024, ^

THE VICTORY MARCH

My friends, I’ll play my chords

But, you don’t understand me

I have gone the gamut for those I love

Some make my every move go askew

I know what I’m about, please listen

Fools try to trump me and then wave flags

They eventually fall down in disgust

I say this, my friends, not just to brag

Listen to the music I strum

What do the vibes do for your soul?

I pick and play my piece for you

A peaceful presentation to achieve your goal

I am here and listen to your cries

Wonder what you expect from me

As I sit here most willingly to

Help you wipe the tears from your eyes

Everything does not appear easy, friends

But not to try would be a sin

I listen to the play on the field

And know our effort will finally win

So, I’ll keep playing my songs for you

And you keep taking the steps

You never win with a single ambush

It takes many, countless reps

You know the chords, you’ve heard them

The message sent is mighty clear

You act for yourself, no one else can do it

After success it will all be so clear

Stanski

December 27, 2024^

MEDITATION FOR DEC 26

Beautiful sunshine, clear roads and

many other things to be thankful for. 

I pray for patience and the ability

to understand the perspective and

lack of urgency in and of others

to give recognition and thanks

to those who have sacrificed for us. 

They are also God’s children and

because of free will, He exists in

many forms to these children. 

It is not for us to judge. 

I pray for my children and friends,

wishing them to be at peace and

prosper as they go through this day. 

Amen.

MEDITATION FOR DEC 26

Beautiful sunshine, clear roads and

many other things to be thankful for. 

I pray for patience and the ability

to understand the perspective and

lack of urgency in and of others

to give recognition and thanks

to those who have sacrificed for us. 

They are also God’s children and

because of free will, He exists in

many forms to these children. 

It is not for us to judge. 

I pray for my children and friends,

wishing them to be at peace and

prosper as they go through this day. 

Amen.

MEDITATION FOR DEC 25

MEDITATION FOR December 25, 2024

Today is a celebration of your birth and

there is reason to celebrate if we can

for you are the key to the reality of

goodness in our lives and without you

we would be lost and abandoned. 

We need you in our lives and pray that

we can keep that thought foremost in our minds. 

Everything we do is by your grace. 

Without you nothing will be done

of any consequence in respect to our salvation. 

We have much to learn about your prophets and

the miracles you performed through them. 

Those teaching us have much to learn and

they can only base their knowledge on

what they have learned about you from

the notes we have on your brief period

of life on this earth.  We pray that you will

deepen our faith in you by the delivering of

your words and works by men who have

studied them and who remain in awe of you

and humble in the knowing that you are

the one and no one of us is as important as you. 

Our records look sad for the most part

in a world that we have cluttered with

our selfish needs to have more and more

at the expense of your loved ones who

must endure with less.  We need constant

reminders of why we are here and must be in prayer,

thanking you for the gift of life and asking for

forgiveness for our evil ways which caused

you to give up your life for us and our sins. 

You are the only gift that really matters this day. 

Steve Haarman, December 25, 2024 ^.

MY MEDITATION ON DEC 24

A beautiful morning is here,

just a different kind of beauty. 

Ice and snow castles are forming

along the shoreline.  Waves are

slapping the shore which seems to

have extended to a football field away. 

Meanwhile conditions on the mainland

continue to be the same with natural

disasters and manmade misery. 

Dictators are persecuting believers

who are willing to die for their faith. 

Such strength is immense. 

Many of us have been blessed. 

We need to give back for all

the gifts we have received. 

We have made many promises and

have kept only a few of them. 

It is so easy to make errors and

then be blasted for them. 

We may forgive the blasters and ourselves. 

We look for new beginnings,

thinking of those who only have one chance. 

Our good fortune brings with it responsibilities. 

We must prepare ourselves

to step up and be accountable. 

Our love for Jesus must be exemplified

by our love for others, including

the least of these, my brothers. 

Then we may be a little more

at peace with ourselves, a little more

like the gentle summer waves

than the frightful winter blasts. 

Steve Haarman aka Stanski

December 24, 2024 ^

WATCHING THE LITTLE ONES

A mother’s delight.

Watching her child in

The preschool class

Celebrating Christmas

Following the music

Embellished by homemade

Tambourines which gave

A silver jingle and it must

Have broken their hearts

Because only yesterday

Their little darling was

Just an infant in swaddling

Cloths totally dependent

On her and now look at

The little one, leading the

Band, all dressed up in

Holiday clothes and happy

To be with all her mates.

It is a wonderful time of

The year, when Christ was

Born. The angels were there

Too, along with the shepherds

And later the wise men and

In the background you could

Hear a hardy, Ho, Ho, Ho. Tears

In her eyes as she held up her

I-phone capturing the event.

Stanski

December 23, 2024, ^