Visions of Poetry

Monday August 3 2015  BE YOUR OWNSELF

 

From The New Lexicon Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language (Encyclopedia Edition):

WISDOM:  n. the quality of being wise//intelligence drawing on experience and governed by prudence//a store of knowledge//such knowledge converted into teaching, the wisdom of the East

PRUDENCE:  n. foresight leading a person to avoid error or danger//the virtue by which the practical reason distinguishes the things useful for salvation (*CARDINAL VIRTUES)//PRACTICAL DISCRETION

 

So…when I ask someone for their “wisdom”, what exactly am I asking?  I asked Betts what her wisdom to the world would be, thinking, that she would have at her fingertips the most profound statement I’ve yet to hear.  And what she replied was probably even more profound than I thought possible.  She told me that when asked that questions one cannot be expected to just have something at their fingertips to rattle off (my interpretation of her words), but rather the wisdom should come out naturally in conversation.  But, if she had to be put on the spot she did have one thought to share.  Here is Betts’ on the spot  wisdom:  BE YOUR OWN SELF AT YOUR VERY BEST ALL THE TIME”.

As I re-read her first statement I realize that perhaps that is the best wisdom for me to learn.  “WISDOM SHOULD COME OUT NATURALLY IN CONVERSATION”.  I think I like that wisdom the best.  Here I have been asking people what their wisdom is and all along I should have just been listening to what they were saying to decipher the wisdom that came from natural conversation.  I think I shall start listening more closely to what people are saying and decipher the wisdom that they are sharing when they might not even realize they are speaking wisdom.  I especially like the Webster definition that Wisdom is governed by prudence.  And I love the definition of prudence that states “foresight leading a person to avoid error or danger”.  So in essence, Wisdom is using our own experiences to teach you to avoid error or danger.  I like that.

I am currently listening  to a series of sermons from Calvary Chapel Modesto, online, studying the book of Proverbs.  Proverbs is actually referred to as THE BOOK OF WISDOM.  I am so amazed at this study.  I am listening to each verse with an elaboration of what it means, how it affects our lives, and how we should use it.  It is amazing.  Verses I have read so many times before are becoming alive and taking on a clearer meaning as to what they really mean.  I am almost through with chapter 16.  As I listen, the truth of the wisdom on those pages becomes more clear to me.  I recommend this study to any who really want to see what practical guidelines of life are written on those pages.  A verse I read in today’s study is Proverbs 16:21  “The wise in heart will be called prudent, And sweetness of the lips increases learning.”  This goes right along with the definition found in Webster’s Dictionary.  Another aspect of this scripture that I had never understood before is the phrase “And sweetness of the lips increases learning.”  I thought if I talked sweet I’d learn more.  How it was explained was, if we present our teachings with sweetness, or a winsome spirit, then the one who is listening will be all the more receptive of the words we are speaking, and thus will learn more easily what we are teaching to them.  I find that to be so true when listening to others teaching me.  Perhaps we should all listen to ourselves and how our words are delivered to others.  Are our words coming across in a nice way as we are instructing others, or are our words coming across harsh and condemning?  We should especially think about it when we are speaking to our children.

So, Betts’ response started the questions in my head.  Should I be asking other’s for their wisdom or just listen to their conversations and seek their wisdom?  Or, should I continue to ask for wisdom so I can include it in my blog?  I think I shall use my store of knowledge and continue asking because otherwise I may miss out on some pretty amazing “spur of the moment” wisdom(s).  Besides, I like to find out what is upper most important in the minds of those who answer.  I try to ask daily, at least one person, what their wisdom is.  I think people liked to be asked too.

Sunday while at Paoli I also asked two ladies what their wisdom was.  One lady was so full of things to say, one was hesitant.  I couldn’t get my recording device to work so I will paraphrase what the first lady told me.  I can’t remember her name but I think her wisdom is worth repeating.  Anonymous lady:  “Go around to all the older people in your family and record their stories and find out what they can tell you about the history of your family.  When they are gone the history of your family dies with them.  I regret that I did not do that.”

And one last piece of wisdom comes from my daughter Rebecca:  “There are so many amazing foods in the world…if you don’t like something leave it for someone who does.”  This was following a conversation of her seeing a picture of my vegetable strata on the blog and telling her husband that Mom is starving her Father to death.  Rebecca recognized that squash was in the recipe and just knew that her Dad would just hate it!  Well, the funny thing is, I make it because Dave loves it so.  Believe me, I am not starving him to death!  Just for the record, Rebecca has always abhorred summer squash and still does.  Perhaps she was born that way!  And I can’t take the credit for that!  I’ll claim all the good attributes and for anything on the other side of the spectrum I’ll just chock it up to birth traits.  (Carole…I’m just teasing).  Besides, surely there is nothing negative to say about my darling daughter????

Betts finally arrived last evening at about 8:00 p.m.  I had dinner on the table (vegetable strata) and she ate every bit.  The dislike of squash must not have come from Rebecca’s birth grandmother.  We had a later than usual night but it was worth every minute of our visiting.  Today has been a low key day.  Leisurely breakfast, work out at the gym, a great lunch (no vegetable strata), then I took time to practice retirement (laid down for one hour and talked to my kids on the phone), then up to write this blog.  Betts has been and still is working on computer work all afternoon getting life organized for those she left in California as well as a guest who will be in town when she is not there.  Sounds complicated to me!

Oops, I do have one more last wisdom to tack on the end of the other last wisdom.  This is taken from Zig Ziglar’s book “INSPIRATION” August 3^rd:

“Watch your thoughts, they become words.

Watch your words, they become actions

Watch your actions, they become habits.

Watch your habits, they become character

Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”

Quote by Frank Outlaw

Thought I was done but I have forgotten to write my poem again.

 

SO MUCH WISDOM TO BE LEARNED

By Kathleen Martens

August 3 2015

 

So much wisdom to be learned

Where is it you must turn?

Where are the words you need to know?

God’s word is where they show.

 

Look them up, truth to see,

How to live to be free.

Wisdom written for our health

As well as for our wealth.

 

Words that tell you what to do,

Words that speak with just a few

Follow the plan so you’ll not fall

Read them well to hear God’s call.

 

Never be  proud in heart,

Not the way a day to start.

It is an abomination before God,

When punishment comes don’t think it odd.

 

In mercy and truth atonement provided,

Let not your awe be divided.

Having fear of the Lord the way to start

To have evil totally depart.

 

Please the Lord in all ways

And peace will be in your days.

Even your enemies will be tame

When you call out, the Lord’s name.

 

Go ahead and make your plans,

But allow God to help you stand

For His way will be right

He will direct both day and night.

 

How much better is wisdom than gold?

For wisdom cannot be bought or sold.

And seek understanding to the end,

And better than silver it will be your friend.

 

Trust in the Lord and happy you’ll be.

When you heed God’s Word, good you’ll see.

Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,

Sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

 

And silver hair is a crown of glory

And you will find in the gospel story

Most among the godly, is where it lives

Because to the godly more life God gives.

 

These words but a small portion

Of the most fantastic fortune

Found in Proverbs, such a great book!

Take some time! And take a look!

 

Good night to one and all!

Later….

One more addendum:

Finished the blog at 6:00 p.m.  Left to go get corn for dinner.  I added some pictures which will be at the front of this blog as I had already published it before I left (without a proof read).  A few interesting facts about the farm where we have bought our corn for the last 29 years.

Stoneman Corn is in its 53rd year.  The farm sits atop a hill with the sloping fields surrounding the homestead.  This has been a family business and now the grandchildren are working the fields to keep the tradition going.  This morning two rows of corn were picked.  Each row is 750 feet long.  Extra ears were picked today so they would have enough to send to the local food pantry in the morning.  Because they have so much already ordered for tomorrow they will need to be in the fields by 6:30 a.m. in the morning and plan to pick three, 750 foot rows.  This is dedication!  The farm now closes at 6:30 p.m. daily as they discovered that otherwise they would be working until 9:30 every night.  Stoneman corn is an icon in this area.  It is the most delicious corn you will ever eat and is NOT A GMO product.  It is a hybrid, as it is a blend of white and yellow kernels, but IT HAS NOT BEEN GENETICALLY MODIFIED.  That is a good thing to know.  Health wise it is preferable to not eat GMO foods.  If you are in the area and have not heard of Stoneman’s corn it is located on Seyene Road in Fitchburgh just north of Lacy Road.

By the way, by the time I am writing this last line, dinner is over and the corn was even more wonderful than I remembered!  YUM….(more food obsession!)

Sunday Sabbath August 2 2015  HUSBANDS AND BRUSSEL SPROUTS

I am so thankful for both.  Husbands and Brussel sprouts that is.   I love my husband.  I love Brussel sprouts.  My husband abhors Brussel sprouts, but…he is in the kitchen right now slicing a whole bag of fresh sprouts for me so I can sauté them later in my stir fry.  Now that is true love!  At least on his part.  Perhaps the truer love would be not be to ask him to handle something he so dislikes.  Once they are in the recipe he will no longer even notice them.  That’s because the coconut oil that I cook them in he dislikes even more.  It’s all about micro-nutrient rich foods.  It really does taste good.  I think I wrote the recipe on the blog somewhere about the end of March.

Today has been a lovely day.  A great sermon at church, a wonderful time of ministering God’s love, a reconnection at Costco of a long ago friend/acquaintance, (which was a God ordained meeting), a lovely lunch at home with just Dave and I (no Brussel sprouts), a one hour nap for me, and now, just waiting for Betts to arrive so I can quickly do last minutes details for dinner and have everything ready within ½ hour after her arrival.

My table glass is still propped up against the dining room window frame, the base stands alone on a little rug so as not to soil the carpet with metal marks, the metal top leans against the garage wall awaiting a good scrubbing with a stiff metal brush to debris of any rust or chipped paint.  Sounds like a lovely table for a formal dining room, doesn’t it?  Having time to do the task reconditioning it appropriately is the key to getting it done.  And of course one thing leads to another.  Now I want to learn how to do some painting antiquing on a buffet that I bought at a garage sale before I left on my trip.  When we gave our furniture to our son and family it left me without a place for all that was in the buffet.   The piece of furniture I purchased at the garage sale is quite ugly because of the dark wood.  It has an interesting art-deco look but needs a little creative juices applied to it to become what I want it to become.  Rather than pay to have someone else do it I think I would like to learn how to do it myself.  Perhaps practice on a smaller piece of furniture first.  And that is how I always have so much to do.  I have too many ideas constantly swirling around in my head.

While I was in “downtown” Paoli (a one horse town) I talked with several people.  Two men having lunch, minding their own business, just seemed like targets to glean some wisdom from.  I had spoken with them earlier as we waited in line for our orders in the Bread and Brats House so I felt a little acquainted already.  They were both recently retired and were practicing what it felt like to be retired, just as Dave and I were doing.  So it came down to the nitty gritty time of asking them for their wisdom.  They both had immediate thoughts and readily shared them with me.  The first man named Topf shared this:  “Go outside at least one hour every day”.   Amazing wisdom, especially when you live is Wisconsin which is winter about half the year.  The other gentleman I interrupted was Jim.  Here is his wisdom that he borrowed from a book by Rachael Carson, THE SENSE OF WONDER:  “So every day I think this, what if I’d never seen this before what if I knew I’d never see it again”.  I found this bit of wisdom hit a chord in my soul.  So many times while I traveled I thought those exact words though I have never read the book, THE SENSE OF WONDER.  That bit of wisdom entices me to get the book.  I remember one event that stands out in my mind.  I was in Wyoming, approaching a mountain range in the distance.  It was so awesome and magnificent that I actually spoke the words, “Oh, what if I had missed this and never had the chance to see what I am seeing.”  I think there would have been a part of me forever missing.  I included a few pics for you.  There is another picture I took at Glacier National Park that I also posted for you to see.  It is another one of those moments of knowing that because I have experienced this moment and breathed in the beauty of God’s creation that I am somehow more complete.  It is still amazing to me that just a comment that someone speaks, a bit of wisdom, and I am catapulted back in time to the memories that live within me.  When those memories flash before me it’s as if I am actually there again, experiencing all the beauty and wonder of the moment I lived.  It is a wonderful part of me that I hope I never lose.

Later, as I was purchasing my table from the Cottage Goddess, Lori, the owner gave me this wisdom:   “Never feel guilty about skipping out, take pleasure in the treat.  It’s not worth it if you have to feel guilty about it.”  Hmmm,  I wish I had that insight earlier in life.  Perhaps I would have done some “skipping out”.  My problem was that I would always feel guilty and not enjoy it.  I look back now and realize I missed a lot of precious moments, especially with my children, because I didn’t feel like I could ask for the time off work to go see a little kindergarten school play or other events they were performing in.  If I had it to do over, you bet I would have taken the time off.  If you have young children, give this wisdom a great bit of thought.  Sometimes it pays to “skip out” so you can enjoy a bit of life, making memories to share later, that will never come around again.  Ask yourself Rachael Carson’s wisdom that Jim shared, “Oh what if I had missed this and never had the chance to see what I am seeing”.  You will be glad you “skipped out” or better put, took the time to go even though you are docked the pay.  The pay you can make up, missing an event that is special and only once in a lifetime, can never be made up.

I am so thankful that I meet such wonderful, spectacular, one of a kind people every day that I venture out.  Give away your smile to a stranger and see what happens.  I love to do just that.

Who knows, you may just be the angel that day to someone who needs one.  I think God uses us in mysterious ways.  Be willing to be used of God and see what happens in your life.  It is amazing!  And just think of the times when others have been an angel to you.

My friend Betts is late.  It is 7:00 p.m.  I was expecting her about 6:00 p.m.  I pray that all is well.  Perhaps a phone call is in order.  If she is not here by the time I publish this I will give her a call.  I so look forward to our time together.  Now it is my turn to be the hostess.  I will put into practice all I have learned in my travels.  So many wonderful places I stayed.  So many unbelievable experiences.  I hope to pass it on.

Good night and God bless you.

Oops, I forgot to write a poem.  Better do that now.

 

ALL THAT TODAY HAS TO LEND

By Kathleen Martens

August 2, 2015

 

Places that we’ve been in life

Have a way of touching our souls,

Memories full of wonderful thoughts

But the future should be our goal.

 

Where we’ve been is our past,

Where we are going is our pleasure.

Everyday a new experience,

A new memory it will make to treasure.

 

Never fear the unknown,

Look forward to what each day holds.

Cherish the past like nuggets of gold,

They give you the courage to be bold.

 

Some experiences may be sad,

Lay them at the Master’s feet.

Fill your heart with peace and joy

And never allow defeat.

 

For God is with you at all times,

Through the good and the bad.

Not only is He our Heavenly Father,

He is also our very best Dad.

 

You may never again walk this way,

Be thankful for these moments forever.

For this is a part of our eternity,

Each day we are to endeavor.

 

So look forward, while savoring the past,

And see today what you may never see again.

Fill your heart with each new happening

Of all that today has to lend.

 

Okay, so now I say good night and God bless you. 7:19 p.m.