Battle On The Chess Board

Battle On The Chess Board

April 20, 2008

 

Someone said “Winning isn’t everything”

But losing cost so much

It depends what game we are playing.

 A battle on the chess board leaves

Casualties and captives,

Leaves victors and heroes

 Kings rise to lead to victory

Against another king

And victory for one is loss for another

 Decisions on the board

are like decisions in life

With consequences great and small

 Give in to evil passions

Or pursue what’s right

Face life or death

 Winning is everything

Because losing cost too much

Life is the game we’re playing.

 

 

__________

 

 

I have loved playing chess for many years.  Come visit me on gameknot.com or chess.com.  My username on both is "CurtimusMaximus".  Challenge me to a game!  Or, I suppose we could play in person too.  Let's do it.

The Beginning Of Wisdom

The Beginning Of Wisdom

April 20, 2008

 Whoever walks with the wise will himself become wise

Turning to truth rather than what is right in our eyes.

Yet as we make company with fools we become as they are

Pursuing foolishness, opposing truth, and thus suffering harm.

 To the fool, instruction in truth is avoided and mocked,

While the steps of folly become a pattern that is locked.

The end of the days of the fool leads to God’s wrath,

While the wise are led down an eternally rewarding path.

 Do not let kindness and truth leave who you are,

Bind these around you like a necklace or scarf,

Lay your heart in submission to the ways of the Lord,

Let repentance and wisdom on your heart be scored.

 The fool hates knowledge, letting ignorance destroy them,

 While the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

 

 

__________

 

 

A meditation on Proverbs 1:7.

How Are You?

How Are You?

November 9, 2007

 

I looked into the eyes of my son,
unaware of the life he's just begun.
Looking forward to the joy and fun
How are you, my son?
Welcome to our home.

I looked into the eyes of my son,
tentative, wobbly as he made step one
Trying to walk, and yet trying to run.
How are you, my son?
Walk together with me.

I looked into the eyes of my son,
Ready to call Jesus the Christ, the One
As he follows the Lord in waters of baptism,
How are you, my son?
Walk now in newness of life.

I looked into the eyes of my son,
Who stumbled with a bad decision,
My love for him cannot be undone.
How are you, my son?
Can I walk with you through this?

I looked into the eyes of my son,
"She's pregnant, Dad", he's so young 
I cry out with him to God for wisdom,
How are you, my son?
We can walk together through this too.

I looked into the eyes of my grandson,
unaware of the life he's just begun.
Looking forward to the joy and fun
How are you, my son?
Welcome to our home.

I love you, son.

 

 

__________

 

 

My wife and I have four sons:  Gordon, Ben (Renee), Tim & Peter; and, one granddaughter, Novea as of January 2013.

Mama

Mama

By Mineke Audet  - November 9, 2007

 

She sat by her mother’s bed holding her hand.

“Mama, This could be the day

When Your pain and worry go away.

His arms are wide open, He’s waiting, Mama,”

She said as she softly cried.

“I know, Mama, life has not always been great,

We went through rough times, Mama.

But my love has never died.”

She said, as she softly cried,

“I forgive you, Mama.”

“Let go, Mama, It’s okay . . . I will be fine.

Jesus is waiting for you  now.”

She laid her head to sleep as she softly cried.

A few hours later, she woke.  Her Mama had died.

“Jesus,” she said, “Thank You for taking

My Mama from the worry and the pain.”

Its been a year since Mama died.

“I love you, Mama. Happy Mother’s Day,”

she said as she softly cried.

 

 

__________

 

 

Mineke's mother, Alma Gordon died in 1998.  She stayed with her mom in the respite home in Williston, Vermont for a couple weeks before she died.  I have also respected Mineke's committment to her mother, even though there was much turmoil during her growing up years.

The Other Side Of Life

The Other Side Of Life

April 25, 2007

 

When I read the newspaper of life,

I see so much hurt, pain and strife.

Things don't always turn out fun.

 

Life is hard . . .

But God so loved us all He sent His son.

 

It can seem so much of a circle round,

Aimless and meaningless I have found,

When I look at life lived under the sun

But God so loved us all He sent His son.

 

But God called us according to His purpose

But God saved us from eternal hell.

But God so loved us all He sent His son.

 

Paying Respect

Paying Respect

April 25, 2007

 

After work I went to a funeral today,

The sun was bright as I went my way.

So much had transpired this week,

It’s been a relief to get this peace I seek.

Though I thought I might get a ride here.

 While resting, I thought of things I must do

I saw family and friends had come too.

A funeral changes ones schedule and time,

From the important and demanding kind

To this significant reflection on life.

 I came here filled with emotion and pain

And now feelings of concern are giving way,

I see myself a little removed with people all around,

There this awkward, distant feeling I’ve found

Here with family and friends, I’m still alone.

 In some ways, coming and mourning here,

Is more fitting than a wild and joyful cheer.

Here one thinks about life’s eternal value

And what, after death, may happen to you.

Giving us the chance to be ready.

 The part that took me just a little by surprise,

Was that in the casket I looked into my own eyes.

I am here paying respect to the life I live

Providing some reflection of what I give.

Here at my own funeral.

 

 

__________

 

 

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.  Ecclesiastes 7:2

Why Is He Shooting At Me?

April 24, 2007

With the cover of this corner, I can see his face,
As they duck behind cars all over the place.
They scream with anger using words of another tongue.
They speak with blasts from their international gun.

My battle training teaches me to see the spot
On a target--not a man--where I aim the shot.
Yet oddly enough, in this pause not too long,
My mind and my thought sing a different song.

I'm from a town near Chicago, I live in a small ranch home,
I came to this city out here--I wonder where he is from?
My parents are alive, and I've got a sister and a brother,
Does he have any siblings?  How are his father and mother?

The dust that rests on my face is choking my throat,
Smoke from the burning car pains a suffocating note.
He's coughing on the same fumes, finding it hard to breathe.
Through the mist, the dirt, the action, we can hardly see.

Yet our eyes lock for just a minute and we see a man,
With pain in our eyes and tension in our hand,
The trigger is set, and the American and the Iraqi,
Asks the same question--"Why is he shooting at me?"

 

 

__________

 

 

War is a troubling and confusing thing.