Tracker: Notebook 2024

Poetry, May 2024

5/9/24

find your wings (poem)

One of those things:
look around
maybe breathe

Don't forget to find your wings:
spread them hard
fly, believe

Talent (poem)

The things that work
Can often be so easily forgot
The things that work
So easily are things that can't be taught
Talents granted
From the King
By heaven, they were bought
Then graciously Were given to me Without my having sought

Road (poem)

Been a while
I know
Been a terrible road
The things that you don't know
Before you're called to go

hard (poem)

Is it that hard
to speak in a rhythm
in a rhyme
with a boom
with a bang

Is it that hard
to feel in a prism
with a sigh
with a laugh
with a pang

Is it that hard
to fall in a chasm
in the air
do not care
'til I'm there

Is it that hard
to turn like a schism
hand on stone
from the bone
don't let go

planting (poem)

wisdom is the color of my heart
as I want it to be
so I'll plant my sight on wisdom
until I am a tree

The Presence (poem)

Joy is in the presence of the Lord
Where is it I'm living, by that word?
Where am I, adrift on endless clouds
When this painful living gets too loud?
Ah, find me, Spirit! Find me, Prince of Peace
Make this inner chaos finally cease
I praise You: may I enter at the gates
And finally find the joy in Your embrace?

Eye Be Single (poem)

Find a song in my heart
And a light on my steps
My eyes towards the heavens
To see what is next

5/13/24

Brightness Arrayed (poem)

Ah, another grand day!
My eyes see the light, I pray
That my heart is also swayed
By the brightness now arrayed
Before my waking face
When I look toward Your grace

me (poem)

awkward, sometimes
it would be nice to be
another person
yet still me

may happiness (poem)

may happiness precede and follow you
and always walk with you
may the rains shower on you
and bring new life to you
may the sun shine brightly
and the moon glow nightly
lighting your way
for you I will pray

Prose, May 2024

5/9/24

Focus on God Who Bears our Burdens

From the Old Testament to the New, God promises to bear our burdens, if we will just come to Him.

"Blessed be the Lord God, who daily bears our burdens, God who is our salvation." – Psalm 68:19 NJV (verify)

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." – Matthew 11:28 NKJV

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." – I Peter 5:6-7 NKJV

Every day, when the sorrows of this world press down upon me, when I'm missing the loved ones I have lost, when my failures and mistakes weigh on me, I have such a tendency to berate myself or struggle under the weary heaviness of it all, forgetting that these are burdens! All I need do is come to Him. I can cast away my burdens and give them into His hands, and He will care for me and give me rest.

It is so often my heart that is my greatest burden, every time my humanity or this world in all its imperfections seems to much to bear. But God promises His strength in our weakness and His peace in our hearts.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." – Philippians 4:2 NKJV

5/13/24

Notes on Worldbuilding: World-Growing

Worldbuilding appears to be much like conlanging. Before one goes making up a wild new detail, perhaps one ought to revisit the material already present and "grow" a new detail. In the case of developing modern banking, for example, one should look at the original methods of long-distance trade and commerce one has already developed and determine how this people would solve that problem, rather than turning solely to how Earth peoples have.