“Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light.”
– Mary Baker Eddy
A rainbow arches over Padilla Bay in Skagit County, Washington. (photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell)
“…bathes all in beauty and light.”
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The Power to Transform the World
My dear Humoristian hooligans,
I’ve found that just when I’m feeling the most discouraged, the most battle-weary, the most ready to slip into morosity (I’m pretty sure that’s a word, right?) something or someone will suddenly appear to remind me that the world is still full of magic and beauty. Yesterday it was snow geese, trumpeter swans, a reflection in a flooded field, and a son appearing unexpectedly at the door with a grin on his face and a caring heart. Today it was a drive I hadn’t been planning to take with Dad. And some days it’s YOU. Yes, YOU. I wonder if you realize all the times a kind word or a moment of shared laughter has brought me back from the brink. There is such power in kindness. There is such power in a loving gesture. You have the power to transform the world.
May your kindness reach the desolate and lonely; May your sense of humor light on those in desperate need of a good laugh; May your good-natured love of life transform the stodgy, stingy, and stuffy.
Amen.
Karen
Mount Baker reflected in a flooded field in Bow, Washington. (photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell)
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…
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
“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
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, 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
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
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 