T’was Two Weeks Afore Christmas

T’was two weeks afore Christmas and all through Eff Bee
not a creature was stirring – not a she, he, or me
We were prostrate and spent from the holiday bustle
not a twitch could be seen from the teeniest muscle…

Karen Molenaar Terrell's avatarAdventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist

T’was Two Weeks Afore Christmas

T’was two weeks afore Christmas and all through Eff Bee
not a creature was stirring – not a she, he, or me
We were prostrate and spent from the holiday bustle
not a twitch could be seen from the teeniest muscle.

We lay all unblinking in our respective beds
while visions of gift-wrapping swirled through our heads
And clad in our jammies and our way cool madcaps
we had the vague hopeful hope our bodies would take naps.

Holiday jangles and jingles pinged through our brains –
Presley, Crosby, and Mathis taking us down memory lanes –
and would we remember every member to be gifted?
We mentally went through our lists, hoping none were omitted.

There were homes to be decorated and cards to be sent,
parties, caroling, and cookie-making, and we hadn’t made a dent.
But with a collective sigh we remembered there…

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Can anyone guess today’s theme? :)

“‘Love rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth.’ I have called this Sincerity from the words rendered in the Authorized Version by ‘rejoiceth in the truth.’ And, certainly, were this the real translation, nothing could be more just; for he who loves will love Truth not less than men. He will rejoice in the Truth—rejoice not in what he has been taught to believe; not in this church’s doctrine or in that; not in this ism or in that ism; but ‘in the Truth.’ He will accept only what is real; he will strive to get at facts; he will search for Truth with a humble and unbiased mind, and cherish whatever he finds at any sacrifice.”
– Henry Drummond, The Greatest Thing in the World

Truth

the reach of Truth

come-from-truth

Truth is a revelation

truth cannot be reversed

“Eternal Truth is changing the universe. As mortals drop off their mental swaddling-clothes, thought expands into expression. ‘Let there be light,’ is the perpetual demand of Truth and Love, changing chaos into order and discord into the music of the spheres.”
– Mary Baker Eddy

Dear Legislators:

Dear Legislators:

We, the American people, entrusted you with our lives and livelihoods. When we voted you into office we expected you to represent US, not corporations. You have been a sad disappointment to us. You have not served us well. You are now asking the poorest citizens of this land to pay taxes to support the richest citizens of this land. It is a scene out of Robin Hood, and you are playing the part of the Sheriff of Nottingham. We are putting you on notice. Fix this mess that you have created, or expect to be fired come 2018.

Sincerely,
An Unhappy Employer

half-mast flag

T’was the evening on Friday…

Here are some quick poetic doodles inspired by the latest machinations of the GOP –

T’was the evening on Friday when down Senate’s floor
writhed a greedy-pants tax bill to take from the poor
The middle-class were tucked all quiet in their berths
while the GOP sycophants transformed them to serfs.

On debt! On corporate tax cuts! On breaks for the rich!
Health care insurance just got thrown in the ditch.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell

During the night the middle-class
transformed into serfs in a fiefdom.
It was decreed by law passed
that we’re slaves ’til we die
while the richiest rich eat all of the ripe plums.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell

While the rich get their face lifts
and tummies tucked, too,
the poor work an extra shift,
for basic health care for Baby Sue .
– Karen Molenaar Terrell

 

 

“Truth cannot be reversed…”

Comforting words as I pray for our world..

truth cannot be reversed

“…truth cannot be reversed, but the reverse of error is true.”
– Mary Baker Eddy

“…this so-called mind, from which comes all evil, contradicts itself, and must finally yield to the eternal Truth….”
– Mary Baker Eddy

 

Address Book at Christmas

Flipping through my address book – 
getting my Christmas cards ready to send – 
your name pops out, and it gives me a jolt.
You died last month, but your name
lives on in black ink on a lined page
in my address book. And I want to send
you something – but you’re not there
to receive your mail. 
– Karen Molenaar Terrell

Something Has Changed Inside of Me

Grey, dark, cold – rain pounding
on the streets. Dreariest of dreary
days. I feel myself going under –
filled with worries and fears.
This year has been a rough one –
death has danced around me
and mine, dishonesty seems
in power, grasping greed weaves
its way through our world,
wanting more, wanting ours.

I get in my car for the drive home.
And Mindy Jostyn’s music flowers –
blooms in my auto’s space –
she’s singing of kindness and love
and a new day dawning. And I
stop. I shift. My thoughts rise above
the dark and grey and I smile. I
will stop and see Dad on my way
home and it won’t be a chore –
I’m grateful he’s still here – I’ll
hold his hand and kiss his forehead
and tell him I love him once more.

He asks me if he’s coming home
with me. I tell him his home is here.
He says whenever he tries to get
invited to someone’s home, they
tell him he’s already there.
He grins and tells me he’s lucky
to have me. I tell him I love him
and blow him a kiss.

And back in the car again. The day
is still grey, and the rain still pours,
but I don’t see gloom. I don’t see drear.
Something has shifted in me and I soar
over the road and over the clouds.
Nothing has changed at all outwardly
but something has changed inside of me.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell

Bow Sunrise

Sunrise on the way to work. October 2, 2017. Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell.

“Reason for Unsubscribing”

There were 150 messages waiting for me in my inbox when I woke up – most of them from organizations wanting me to sign things or send money. I can’t live like this…

I do not want you in my email inbox
I do not like your picture that shocks
I can’t keep up with the messages I find
and all the petitions I’m asked to sign,

You automatically signed me up
for monthly donations to fill your cup
and I had to work to make it one-time
– now I find I don’t want to give you a dime.

So don’t ask me for money –
I’ll give when I want
to the causes I choose.
Sorry – felt I had to be blunt.
– Karen the Curmudgeon

“…Love illumines the universe.”

“…the light of ever-present Love illumines the universe.”
– Mary Baker Eddy

illumines the universe

(Photo taken after a storm, 2016, near LaConner, Washington.)

Suggestions for talking with…

I wonder if I might make a few suggestions for conversing with others about religion on a discussion board? I have had some experience with this, and I’d like to share some of what I’ve observed and learned.

The most important thing to know, I think, is that if you ever encounter me on a discussion forum I am always, always right. And if you disagree with me about this you are wrong.

Once we have established that basic and most fundamental of all facts, we can move on to other stuff:

Might I suggest that we never, ever, ever presume to know what other people think, feel, and believe just because they identify themselves as atheist, theist, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, pagan, Christian Scientist, or as a member of any other ideology.
Generalizations, stereotypes, and lumping whole groups of people together as one “type” are not helpful when trying to understand someone else’s perspective.
Don’t tell other people what they think. Let them tell you.
Although pomposity cracks me up, not everyone shares the same reaction as me to puffed-up know-it-allness. Humility is a beautiful thing. Let’s be willing to laugh at our own nonsense before we laugh at someone else’s.
Remember that we’re all human – we all have our own flaws and foibles – none of us is perfect here. Might I suggest that we correct our own flaws before we start trying to correct someone else’s?
Give each other grace.
Listen.
More specifically…

Karen Molenaar Terrell's avatarAdventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist

We should remember that the world is wide; that there are a thousand million different human wills, opinions, ambitions, tastes, and loves; that each person has a different history, constitution, culture, character, from all the rest; that human life is the work, the play, the ceaseless action and reaction upon each other of these different atoms. Then, we should go forth into life with the smallest expectations, but with the largest patience; with a keen relish for and appreciation of everything beautiful, great, and good, but with a temper so genial that the friction of the world shall not wear upon our sensibilities…
– Mary Baker Eddy (Miscellaneous Writings)

I wonder if I might make a few suggestions for conversing with others about religion on a discussion board?   I have had some experience with this, and I’d like to share some of what I’ve observed and learned.

The…

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