Went for a walk in the moonlight and starlight and immediately felt Moz with me. And a couple of musings passed through my thoughts: I don’t need to die to be with the people I love who have passed beyond my seeing them – because they’re already with me right now; I don’t need to die to have heaven – everything that will bring me joy on the “other side” is with me right here, in this moment. If I can’t find my joy here, I’m not going to find it “there,” either. If I can’t be grateful for now, what makes me think I’m going to be grateful for whatever comes after this?
“Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” – Luke 17:21
It’s dark outside, and cold, and the rain is on the offensive. Last summer I craved the rain – I missed the sound of gentle pattering on the roof, and the smell of clean green fields after a cooling drizzle. So I guess I should be grateful for this rain. But I just feel drenched inside and out, soggy-headed, and worn down by the relentless downpour – the watery refrain.
My heart is low. My instinct wants me to jolly myself along – put in a funny movie and laugh my way out of this pain. But another voice tells me it’s okay to feel this way – to just sit in this and feel whatever I’m feeling and accept it – maybe learn something from it. It will pass – what I’m feeling, and the rain. And, after it’s gone, what’s eternal will remain. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
I apologize. I have no excuse for this. What you see here is an English teacher with some extra time on her hands.
Figurative Language
A poem is like a simile. A poem is a metaphor – stepping, stretching, strolling, striding, sliding until you soar. A poem can sing or cry or wail – it can BOOM or it can ROARRR – a poem can lift your heart to the sky or be the biggest bombastic bore. A poem can shatter you and make you cry or carry you to a distant shore. And you can find within THIS poem personification, alliteration, and more. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
Here’s another poem from my latest book, Since Then – when I remember this day I still get a smile on my face:
Cosmic Give and Take
He was waiting outside the store when I came out with my groceries and I said hi. He smiled and said hi back. Give and take. Who taught him to smile? Who taught me?
I started to wheel my cart to my car mentally scrolling through my shopping list to see if I had anything to share with him. Tangerines! I rolled my cart back towards him. You want an orange? Sure! Can you catch it? Yeah! And he smiled at the idea of a game of catch. I tossed. He caught. Who taught me how to throw? Who taught him how to catch? My dad? His dad? And now our dads are connected in our give and take.
As Scott drove west, a train engine went west in reverse. Our car passed the train as the engineer sat facing me and I smiled across the tracks at him and he smiled and waved back to me. I caught his wave and returned it. Who taught him how to wave? Who taught me?
All the cosmos connected in a giant give and take. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
Hi everyone! I just published another collection of poems. This one is titled “Since Then” and is a collection of poems I’ve written since my mom’s passing in 2017. The book contains poems about home and our kinship with others; poems from the pandemic; poems praising our connection to earth; and poems that celebrate the joy of being alive.Here’s a quick sample:
Can I Take Your Picture?
“Can I take your picture?” I ask the folks who sit in a line of rocking chairs in front of a Cracker Barrel store in Indiana. And they grin for me and I click. “Can I take your picture?” I ask Joanna and Mitch in the Anoka Independent Grain and Feed and they give me broad midwestern smiles and I click. “Can I take your picture?” I ask the international students in front of Mount Rushmore and they quickly line up in rows for me and beam and give me hope for the world – maybe we’ll survive after all – and I click. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
I am vaccinated. Half of my extended family is vaccinated; and half is not. I don’t love and respect the unvaccinated members of my family any less than I love and respect those who are vaccinated. I don’t think the unvaccinated people in my family are selfish – in fact, given today’s divisive and shaming culture, I think they are very brave for choosing to take an unpopular path. Of those who are vaccinated in my extended family, some identify as Democrats and some as Republicans. Of those who are unvaccinated, some of them identify as Democrats and some as Republicans. The choice to get vaccinated, or not, had nothing to do with political leanings – at least in my family.
I wish Aaron Rodgers hadn’t lied about his vaccination status – but, like the rest of us, he’s human and no human is perfect. To paraphrase Jesus, “Let whoever is perfect among us, cast the first stone.” I’m not going to join in shaming Rodgers because he chose not to get vaccinated. I hope he has a speedy recovery from COVID-19, and I hope he comes back to play football in time to be crushed by the Seattle Seahawks. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
My dear Humoristian hooligans – When Humoristianity was established in 2007, I founded our one true fallacious faith on these tenets: 1) You must be able to laugh at yourself. 2) You must be able to recognize how ludicrous your beliefs might appear to others. 3) You must want nothing but good for everyone, everywhere in the universe. 4) You must have a natural aversion to meetings, committees, and scheduled events (as we will be having none of those). 5) You must enjoy the humor of… (I’m not going to even bother to name names here – what was true in 2007 isn’t necessarily true in 2021 – but I believe Monty Python might ALWAYS be included on the list.)
The last several years have been testing times for our faith. There have been times when I’ve found it very hard to laugh. There have been times when the ludicrous has seemed more sinister than laughable. There have been times when it felt it would have been inappropriate to ask people to laugh at their beliefs. Life took a very dark turn at some point, and what might have seemed laughable in 2007 didn’t seem so funny ten years later.
But this much HASN’T changed: The world still needs you. The world still needs your caring, kindness, and courage. The world still needs your irrepressible joy and irresistible good will to humankind. May the bullies, bigots, and busybodies be transformed by your good-humored, unruffled peace. May the stodgy, stuffy, and stingy be transformed by your generous hearts. May those inclined to shame, blame, and divide, see a better way in the way you live your lives.
You have the power to do incredible good. You are making the world a better place. Go out there and work your magic! Karen
Some photos from autumn in the northwest corner of Washington State: flooded fields; autumn reflections; piles of golden leaves; and the return of the snow geese… (Photos by Karen Molenaar Terrell.)
all we can be is what Life-Truth-Love made us for and wants us to be -Karen Molenaar Terrell
“Man is idea, the image, of Love; he is not physique. He is the compound idea of God, including all right ideas; the generic term for all that reflects God’s image and likeness; theconscious identity of being as found in Science, in which man is the reflection of God, or Mind, and therefore is eternal; that which has no separate mind from God; that which has not a single quality underived from Deity; that which possesses no life, intelligence, nor creative power of his own, but reflects spiritually all that belongs to his Maker.” -Mary Baker Eddy
An alpine butterfly flits among the flowers on Table Mountain. Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell.
Everyone is a part of my humanity – him and her and them and you. We are connected in our beauty and flaws; what we feel and what we do; our mourning and joy; our hopes and fears; our struggles; our victories; our laughter and tears. That’s why we can forgive others and rejoice with others, too. We are all one – sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, fathers, mothers – family. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 