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.”

THE LAST DAY OF OCTOBER

I sit at a table in the sunshine

The warmth it gives me is nice

It shines through the window and

The glare if you should look out is amazing

Yesterday we marked a trail for snowshoeing

When breadcrumbs were recommended about

The fairy-tale of Hansel and Gretel

Many times new trails in life are pursued

Some take too many and are confused until

The right one for them is found

Then there is no stopping his growth and potential

I put on a baseball cap to cut back the sun glare

I think of the road not taken.  The only reason

Was because of the ware.  The traveler took the

Other because it was grassy and wanted ware

The other road will never be taken and one

Wonders what life may have been had it been

We often think about our own lives and how

Fate or serendipity moved us this way or that

One might have been a minister rather then

The electrician he turned out to be

Between the two choices the soul and the body

Are taken care of and care is very important

Choices are often difficult to make and

Making the wrong one could be costly while

Life if the other road had been taken is sublime

A fine, final, October mist lifts from the lake

It settles on the thirsty dry ground.  As I

Watch I notice a path in the woods and

Decide to travel it.  The ground has many

Leaves covering it.  I look for trash and empty

Drink containers, but there are none.  I take this

As a good sign and return to where I started

I am thankful for the clean woods but also for

The beautiful day which I will not forget

Tonight is Halloween and the evil ones may

Plan on doing things that are harsh, but mostly

Little children will be happy even though it is a pagan day

We can make up for it by praying on November 1 and 2

These are All Saints Dan and all Souls Day

Stanski

October 31, 2024, ^

OCTOBER DAYS

A new October morning

Finds us in the gray days

Of the year.  Fields of pumpkins

Waiting to become Jack-O-Lanterns

Corn stalks groomed to form tents

Leaf burning gives us clouds

Which remind us of Indians dancing

There is enough room for spirituality

The colorful leaves, each different

As are we and are the Saints in Heaven

We wait for Halloween, Thanksgiving,

Advent and Christmas as well

It is a commercial world and much

Emphasis will be placed on what

We think are the wrong things

We are awake and know where

Our focus should be.  We have bold

Intentions, but to carry them out

We need the help of the Lord.

It is easy to be distracted from the

Things we wish to do so we double

Down in prayer and good works

When these days are past we may

Judge ourselves and look forward

To our next challenge

Stanski

October 29, 2024, ^