“to live in this world

you must be able
to do three things
to love what is mortal;
to hold it

against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go”
― Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poems, Vol. 1

PezfulEZFeelin’@U ††† jlawrence

“Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree;

And only God who makes the tree
Also makes the fools like me.

But only fools like me, you see,
Can make a God, who makes a tree.”
― Yip Harburg

My absolute favorite song has always been Somewhere Over the Rainbow (the Judy Garland version) . Call me a fool, but I just this morning found that the author of the lyrics was an amazing man; Yip Harburg. To hear him speak, with the bonus of hearing him sing his song, go to:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNiXnzh3abk

Find your rainbow ††† en theos ††† jlawrence

Okay, I enjoy a walk as much as the next guy. But as a man who fights depression and anxiety, I have to be mindful of ruminating, and it is one of my biggest battles. I often replay a baseball pitch from a little league baseball game from 50 years ago. Still trying to hit that ball out of the park in the big game, bottom of the last inning, two out, and bases loaded. The mighty Casey hits a long fly-out to end the game. How many times I have replayed it trying to hit that damn ball out of the park.

So walking is one of my ways of staying away from falling into the rumination pit. It works. And then I come around a corner and find myself walking along side a building that is just full of things I could get stuck chewing on for hours. Makes me feel like a am walking in a nightmare.

So what did you get stuck on today ? pezfulezfeelin’@U ††† en theos ††† jlawrence

Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. 2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent 3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.      Psalm 104:1-3

PezfulEZfeelin’@U ††† en theos ††† jlawrence

Ah, the signature plant of West Texas. There is probably no other weed, other than perhaps the dandelion, that has been paid so much attention.

I found that the tumbleweed has been used as the name for: bars, saloons, songs, movies, a comic strip, dance halls, newspapers, people’s name, commercial farm, a gymnastic club, musical group, restaurants, youth center, bookstore, and the title of a book. There is even a heath center in Arizona named after the tumbleweed albeit defined as “Arizona’s Premier Medical Cannabis Education Center” so perhaps it is a “twist” on the name.

Honest to God, as a child growing up in west Texas, my parents gathered them, painted them gold ,silver, green or red, then piled them pyramid stye in a corner of the house, hung decorations on them and we called it  a “Christmas” tree. I thought we were just innovative, not poor.

They were either a cause or a product of the dust bowl. The saddest use I heard was in the Ken Burn’s documentary on the Dust Bowl. An older lady described that while growing up on a farm trying to eek out life in the bowl, she and her sister were given the painful task of gathering the weeds and then with their bare feet having to crush them for use as fodder for beast and family. Now, that was someone who was indeed poor, innovative and desperate.

Peaceout †††en theos ††† jlawrence

Toby Mac – Lose My Soul

Play “Lose My Soul” video (http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=DGZZG7NX)

Father God, I am clay in your hands

’Cause they chip, and they nag, and they pull at me

And every little thing I make up my mind to be

Like I’m a be a daddy whose in the mix

And I’m a be a husband who stays legit

And I pray that I’m an artist who rises above

The road that is wide and filled with self love

Everything that I see draws me

Though it’s only in you that I can truly see that it’s a feast for the eyes

A low-blow to purpose

And I’m a little kid at a three-ring circus

CHORUS

I don’t want to gain the whole world and lose my soul

(Don’t wanna walk away, let me hear the people say)

(repeat 1x)

(Mr. Franklin, step up to the mic, sir)

(Kirk Franklin rap)

Check it out

The paparazzi flashes, and they think think that it’s you

But they don’t know that who you are is not what you do

True, we get it twisted when we peak at the charts

Yo, before we part from the start

Where’s your heart?

You a pimp? Hustler?

Tell me what’s your title?

America has no more stars, now we call them idols

You sit idle while we teach prosperity

The first thing to prosper should be inside of me

(We’re free!)

Not because of 22s on the range

But Christ came in range, we said yes now we changed

Not the same, even though I made a fall

Since I got that call, no more Saul, now I’m Paul
(Yup!)
Ah to turn from the gains of this world, to be a Paul not a Saul…..sweet ††† peaceout ††† en theos ††† jlawrence

Some days, I question what the hell am I planting ?

What am I growing?

Do I even produce fruit from which to be judged?

Sometimes it feels that the best option is to grow nothing and then, do you avoid being judged?

Peace out, Praying for a calm week and to at least prepare the soil. ††† en theos ††† jim

Did you eat your greens today ?

When I first saw this jackrabbit, I thought it was a small deer. He was  2 1/2 feet tall not counting the ears. He would stretch himself up on his hind legs and pull off a stick of greens and munch away

So why did the dog cross the road ? Best answer I could find was he was a Robert Frost trained dog and just had to travel the road less traveled. (insert laughter)

We were passing through the the struggling metropolis of Sierra Blanca, Tx (pop 500+or-) when we encountered this dog in the middle of a crosswalk . I swear it was one of those encounters you have at a four way stop sign where the two of you keep signaling ” no, you go”. He politely stopped half way across the street as if he could see that I had my right turn signal a blinking. We both shared a “deer in the headlight” moment then he made an illegal u turn and went back the way he came.

When you come to a fork in the road, take it and save it. Eventually you will have a complete place-setting, even if the patterns don’t match ††† peace PLEASE ††† en theos †††jim

A Tree in the Desert