The God Perspective

“You know,” he mused, “Some folks don’t believe there is a God. They get all tangled up with religion and theological arguments about who is right and who is wrong, and miss the bigger picture.”

Grandpa always did have a unique perspective on life. He was wise beyond his years, but only shared his wisdom if asked.

“Aren’t your afraid of catching Covid and dying,” I asked?

“You know son, there are a lot worse things in living than in dying. Death is knocking on all of our doors!”

“I believe there is a God who is the source of all life, and that my life will continue on long after this old pain-ridden body is gone.”

I thought about what he said, as he continued, ‘We look at him through the wrong end of the long telescope of Time’.

“God’s Love is eternal!”

***********

Painting By Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse, Kim is having us do Prosery. This is when we write a prose piece of flash fiction (144 words) that includes a random line form a poem she chooses for us. She gave us this line from the D. H. Lawerence poem, Hummingbird: ‘We look at him through the wrong end of the long telescope of Time’. I decided to write my piece as a conversation.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Our Own Truth

Perhaps I should have added this as an addendum to my Selfie poem yesterday, on d’Verse! It is not hard to become jaded as we grow older, especially in the political climate of today. I can identify with many of the attitudes shown here.

Seems the only room we have for truth

is for our own

We know we are right

with answers to change the world

Through biased eyes we look // we judge

unable to understand any divergent thinking

Even when reality stares us in the face

we close our mind’s eyes and fail to listen

We lash out proclaiming our kindness

while demanding others believe our truth

How could they not // after all we are right

Seems so clear to us

Why do they not see and fall in line

How could they possibly question our truth

especially when we are demanding care

and compassion in the name of love

Why would we listen to a second opinion

When we know we are right

**********

Self-portrait: Dwight L. Roth

Seeing Clearly

Looking in mind’s mirror of cracked broken glass

I see myself as cracked and broken as well

Peering through hammered glass, I see

images and shapes through cataracts clouded

Looking out through tinted windows, I see

The world around me clearly // unglaring

“Carrying on” as usual, as it cycles on and on

As though looking in a mirror of clear glass

reflecting my image in true perspective…

Whole // an eternal soul in an aging body

Created in the image of God!

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

A View From My Window

Perspective is everything when it comes to a buying a home.

We said we wanted a house with trees // but there was only one on our lot

When we walked in,  it was the window view out the back that sold us

A woods filled with trees reaching for the sky joined our barren lot

Since then, much was added to the ever changing seen.

Two wild willows,  now thirty feet tall,  shade our Shangri-La

There’s a lilac and a crape myrtle,  and a garden lush and green

The bird feeder entertains me all day long it seems

and not just the birds, but squirrels and chipmunks too

So when I look out the window my heart thrills with the view

Now in this summer heat, I’ll go back to my reclining chair 

Drink some ice tea, prop up my feet, and enjoy the view from there!

The view of our back yard in February 2011 when we saw it for the first time. We knew it had potential to become something more than this!!

Photos: Dwight L. Roth

Today at d’Verse, Peter asked to to take a photo from our window and then write a poem about it. When I look at the early photos of our back yard, and then at the ones I took this evening, It is amazing how much the view changed. Vision and perspective change everything.

Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

 

Ant Universe

The first spring flowers appear yellow gold along the creek. As I looked closer, I saw a tiny ant crawling on a petals. I wonder what drives ants. Is it simply instinct or do they actually think about what they are doing. Are they just robots of the creator, or do they like we, think beyond themselves and wonder, “What else is out there?”

Tiny ant explores

its own little universe

Spring flower petals

***

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Feeling Rejected

On Good Friday Christians reflect on the death of Christ on the cross, and what his sacrifice means for us. The human side of Jesus suffered unspeakable physical pain. Some say that God will give you strength in your time of need. But it is my experience that when that time comes, it is very difficult to feel that presence. Even Jesus cried out on the cross, wondering why God had forsaken him in his darkest hour. Pain and rejection seem to be Siamese Twins! It is very hard to have your whole world collapse and not feel rejected. This is why it is so important to have persons who will walk with you and help you regain your perspective once more, understanding that God loves you even when you don’t feel it.

Dark night of the soul
Feelings rejection’s pain
Forsaken // alone
Stretched out on life’s cruel cross
Has God turned his face from us?

In His pain he cried
“My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me!?”
Feeling rejection’s pain
In that dark night of the soul

*****

Painting: Dwight L. Roth

Plague

How quickly our perspective changes;
Like fighting children on the playground
arguing over insolent remarks;
Now lined up before the school master
waiting to be disciplined;
Wondering if // and when…
How hard // or how little?
Who even remembers
what the fuss was about?
When we are facing the chalk board
with our life written on it
our past…
our present…
our future…

For now the plague has come.
We all are Egyptians
with no blood on our doorposts;
Waiting to see
if the death angel
will pass us by…

And when this dark night is past
we have a Red Sea to cross.
The promised land awaits

Photo: Dwight L. Roth
At d’Verse, Bjorn asked us to face our present reality of quarantine along with our reflection of past epidemics and the Black Plague of years gone by. Today we are writing a poem using the prompt plague!
Join us at: https://dversepoets.com

Happiness and Joy

In this time of uncertainty we soon find out who we really are as people. Some go into a tail spin and become fearful of every little thing. Others try in vain to stock up hoards of stuff to satisfy their manic tendencies. Some believe God is in control and all will work out in time for our good.  For many, happiness is gone; replaced with anxiety. I am sure we all experience some of these tendencies. How we approach a crisis is much the same as we approach our every day life. Happiness is like the weather; sunny one day and raining the next. Joy goes to the core of our being and sustains us through the bad weather that will come in our lives. Remember what is important in life.

Happiness and Joy
Happiness is a little bird
Perched on the rail
Right within my grasp
Only to fly away
The moment
I reach out to take hold of it.

Joy is the blood
Pumping through my veins
A constant rhythm of rejuvenation
Not something to be possessed
Rather something to be
Joy is what keeps my soul alive

 

I posted this back in December, but feel it might be helpful to post it again.

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

Down the Road

There are times in our life when things happen the we don’t understand. Life can be put in a turmoil, making us feel like we have completely lost control. It makes us question everything we thought we believed or planned for our life. But in time we see those things were just bumps in the road. I thought perhaps this poem I wrote a couple of years ago might give us a little perspective.

Down the road
a few years,
you will look back
and realize
although the vista
was desired,
it’s really the journey
that is most rewarding.

Photo: Dwight L. Roth

What Sustains Me

Is it knowledge and understanding that keeps me strong
Or perhaps the intellectual freedom
To pursue my thoughts and expand my mind
Some say knowledge is truth and nothing more
But for me it is faith that sustains me

For most of us perspective is truth
Those things we heard from our mother’s knee
The sermons preached from the Holy Book
Or perhaps the trauma and turmoil of life
Eats and gnaws its truth into our soul
But for me faith is what sustains me

Many believe they have a handle on truth
And all others are wrong who disagree
How small heaven must be
How few there must be who find the way
But for me my faith sustains me

To believe in God’s unfailing Love
Beyond knowledge and understanding
To see that Word made flesh in human form
Sharing His love all around me
It may be truth or it may be perspective
But for me it is this faith that sustains me.

Photo: Dwight L. Roth