reality

Slay On, My Friend

/ The WheatandTares
(Google)

The common slogan in our modern culture seems to be, “Make love not war.”

…No, maybe that was more of the 60s, but it is definitely a “Make peace, not war” desire.

Yet, peace is not always possible except on the other side of war.

Had we claimed peace on the day of Pearl Harbor, where would we be today?

Had we put down our weapons and declared all was well in the middle of Hitler’s regime, what would our nation look like in 2021?

Had we allowed the towers to fall with no retribution, would we really have a world of calm from chaos?

There will enter giants in this life that we must pursue as David pursued Goliath on the battlefield.

There will be lions that step out to devour, and we had best draw our swords first as Baniah did in that pit on the snowy day.

If we don’t, we will only be taunted, pursued and eaten viciously while we say, “We just want to live in harmony.”

Our enemy has no mercy for us.

He cares not for our troubles, pains or weakness.

Reality proves he seeks our demise and strategically plans for our destruction.

So, lest you become confused by the lull of the common welfare state.

Lest you become seduced by the brazen agenda of those who secretly desire you to fall,

Pick up your shield, dear one.

Not one moment for the drama.

None of it for a show.

Simply for survival and for life renewal.

Stand your ground and fight for what is rightfully yours.

Do not back up, hesitate or surrender.

Fight that giant and take him down.

Slice through that dragon and render him a heap.

Stomp that foe into the ground from which he came.

And slay on, my friend. Slay on.

The Quest for Christmas

/ The WheatandTares

Sometimes, it’s almost mind-boggling to think how, throughout the year before, we long for Christmas to get here. We dream of it, talk about it, plan for it and prepare so many things to perfectly progress for the precise moment it will arrive, and then, the day itself seems to pass almost as quickly as it arrives.

Yet, for those of us who claim to be Christians, it does make me wonder, do we do the same for the coming of our eternal King?

For He IS coming, and we will be with Him for so much longer than Christmas Day will ever have been.

Are we getting ready?

And are we urging others to be ready?

Just as we’ve asked, “Do you have your tree up?” Maybe we should also ask, “ Do you have your heart ready?”

Maybe just as we’ve asked, “Do you have all your presents bought?” We should also ask, “Did you know, your soul has already been purchased with a price?”

Just as we inquire, “Are your family members coming?” Maybe we follow that with, “Are they headed toward heaven as well?”

Because if we are ready for all the Christmases we could ever live through, but we miss the one event that only happens once in a lifetime, we will regret it forever.

If we have all the presents in the world bought and perfectly wrapped, yet we miss the very present that has been provided to us for free, then in comparison, all the rest is just trash.

And if we enjoy company with our family and friends during the season, but we fail to show them the way to Christ, all those seasons will fade for the eternity in which we will miss them.

Let us not lose a moment.

Let us not miss an opportunity.

Let us never ignore the Hope.

Our time is too short, and their lives are too precious to lose…and so are ours.

Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

James 4:14

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 5:20

Merry Christmas to You and Yours!

/ The WheatandTares / 6 Comments

I’ve been a little slack in my writing again. Life just seems to get busy, and the days begin to slip by too quickly. I’m working on that…again. Lol.

But I didn’t want the day to end without posting to say,

Merry Christmas to you all!!

I hope it’s been a wonderful day of celebration and joy for you and yours.

But if it’s not, just sit back and take a moment to breathe it all in.

Because even if you’re all alone, and all hades has broken loose in your life, you can rest assured that there is still HOPE!

If you still have a beating heart, no matter where you are, no matter what has happened, what will happen, or what you have said or done, or experienced, there is still HOPE!!

All you have to do is believe.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Let It Live Elsewhere

/ The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

I read this, and it settled in like a long awaited truth to my soul.

This idea of letting go of pain, of allowing it to be placed somewhere outside our body, outside our mind, can be so healing.

When we hold pain and sorrow, it only brings more agony and anxiety.

When we constrain the heartache we’ve lived, it only brings more shattered dreams.

It only brings more grief and breathlessness.

Don’t restrain the tears.

Don’t stop the weeping.

Don’t halt the search for peace and joy.

But do allow that gut wrenching, earth shattering, all consuming knife within your soul to be let go.

If pen and paper bring an ease, then let the words fly as if being chased by a cobra.

If paint and canvas bring a breath of fresh air, then create the masterpiece of a lifetime.

If a song can be sung or a lyric be written, then allow the harmony to find it’s way as a raindrop finds the groove in a muddy hillside.

But clear that affliction from your thoughts.

Issue that grievance a pardon or prison sentence to far away lands.

Surrender that anguish from your heart and begin to breathe again.

Freedom comes with the release.

Now, go live.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:4

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partakeof the consolation.

2 Corinthians 1:3-8

The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

Psalm 23:1-3

We Need Each Other

/ The WheatandTares

Sometimes, it’s quicker to just finish the project solo.

Less instructions, less redirection, less headache.

Sometimes, it’s quicker to just deal with the issue on the fly.

Less confrontations, less explanation, less mistranslations

Yet, a partner brings double time finished and a companion in the battle.

Sometimes, it’s easier to live life single in the distance.

Less expectations, less missed opportunities, less disappointments

Sometimes, it’s easier to survive away and alone.

Less conversations, less misspoken, less overdone

Yet, a friend brings laughter and a lightened load.

Whether we see it as truth or not, we need each other.

We need one who is sunshine and one who is rain.

We need one who is the ocean and one who is the shore.

We need one who is the mountain top and one who is the valley.

For if we are all the same, where is the growth?

Where is the challenge?

Where is the change?

It’s not for me that I live, and it’s not for you that I die.

It is for Him and Him alone.

And He created a ‘we’ to fulfill His purpose and plan.

So, let’s get to it.

Penned -MG – 12/17/21

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:12

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

Proverbs 27:17

One Year Later

/ The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

Sat down to write Christmas cards tonight

Only to realize, I had to make a transfer to create more room

As I rewrote each name and address, one change kept coming up

So many things are different one year later

A friendship that has been washed out

A wife who decided to walk away

A grandparent has left for the other side

A husband who said goodbye forever

My heart broke after I wrote one name and not the other

My eyes shed tears as I remembered what was lost

My inhale grew a little deeper and the exhale a little longer

So many things have changed just one year later

A bond forgotten for brighter days

A dream shattered beyond recognition

A once in a lifetime sliced beyond repair

A light that grew dimmer until it smoldered

Oh, how I wish I could wave a little wand

Make wronged things right and old things anew

Oh, how I pray You’d come back sooner

Make desolate times dissipate with a feverish hope

You can change so many unraveled in so much less than one year later…

An Old Friend

/ The WheatandTares

Some days, I simply awake with a sadness, a longing I can’t explain.

It’s not like I’ve had a bad day.

I’ve only just awakened.

Yet, the weight of pain creates tears that threatened to overflow.

I searched my thoughts to see if it’s a dream I may have had, a lack of sleep, or something that was said.

Some days, it’s just simply a feeling I must fight to see the sunshine again.

It’s not anyone’s fault.

I can’t find the one to blame.

It’s not a fitful night.

Yet, it’s like a fog that threatens to overcome my musings to darken my day.

I search for words that cannot be found and listen for comfort that cannot be grasped.

And then, I remember.

This is grief, an old but sneaky friend.

He slips in when you least expect it to settle into your morning routine like a weathered but comfy cloak.

Once his name has been revealed, I can open the blinds and let the sun beams warm my face and watch as it chases away the rain.

For grief isn’t here to crush my soul.

It is only here to remind me to feel deeply, to breathe slowly, and to focus my heart on what is to come.

And when Hope is what is to come, grief can no longer consume my exhale.

Penned – MG – 12/1/21

Those who sow in tears

Shall reap in joy.

He who continually goes forth weeping,

Bearing seed for sowing,

Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,

Bringing his sheaves with him.

Psalm 126:5-6

https://youtu.be/YNqo4Un2uZI

I do not own or posses this song, except via Apple music.

How Grateful Are You?

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment
I do not own or possess this pic. (Google search)

It’s that season when everyone is “supposed to be grateful.”

There are commercials, radio broadcasts, and talk shows proclaiming who’s grateful and why.

There are magazine articles and social media posts sharing the gratitude of the heart or how to show it.

But it always makes me wonder, “Why do we have to show our gratefulness only at this time of year?”

That may sound like a ridiculous question, but let me take a moment to explain…

Gratefulness is not simply a coat we should take out of the closet one season a year.

It’s not something we should dig out if the winter clothes to cover our shivering hearts.

It’s not a trinket we should wrap around our necks for the he holidays for all to see so beautifully.

Gratefulness should be a chosen lifestyle.

It should be an attitude we allow to arise in our souls with the sunshine and to glow through the night as the moonlight.

It should be as a keepsake with which we can’t depart.

Something we must carry with us at all times, whether there is someone to see the display or not.

Gratefulness should be a lifeline that sustains us on the highest mountain tops and the darkest valleys below.

It should be the countenance of our face that glitters in every season.

It should be our very heartbeats that remind us of every blessings, every beauty, and every gracious moment that has touched our lives.

It should be the very breath we breathe for every day we remain on this revolving planet.

…in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving…

1 Timothy 4:4

A merry heart does good, like medicine,

But a broken spirit dries the bones.

Proverbs 17:22

As Our Children Grow

/ The WheatandTares

As our children grow, we can learn so much, and we ourselves can grow

If we will only listen.

We can learn to love freely, to speak kindly and to forgive graciously

While we structure consistently, discipline conditionally and disciple unrepentantly.

Mercy must always be balanced with justice.

Wisdom must always be stretched with faith.

Grace must always be enveloped in truth.

One cannot live without the other, and the other cannot thrive without the first.

Our children can bring light to our weary souls, and we can bring comfort and security to theirs.

As our children grow, we can learn so much, and we ourselves can grow

If we will only listen.

We can learn to laugh without limits, seek without fear and be consumed with wonder

While we instill honor for the past, respect for the future and gratitude for the present.

Progressiveness is forfeited when yesterday is forgotten.

Tradition is failed when the future is ignored.

Existence is sacrificed when reality is shunned.

One cannot succeed without the other, and one cannot flourish without the origin.

As our children grow, we can grow, too.

As our children learn, we can learn, too.

As our children spread their wings to fly, we can soar alongside them

If we will only instill truths from the beginning and step aside for their liberation.

Train up a child in the way he should go,

And when he is old he will not depart from it.

Psalm 22:6

What A Death Can Bring

/ The WheatandTares / 5 Comments

A death can bring so many lessons of life full circle.

It can remind you of a love that was never present and the broken heart with which you lived.

It can remind you of the laughter of fleeting moments you tried to grasp like grains of sand.

It can remind you of the shattered dreams you struggled to repair but never won.

A death can reach back to the recesses of your mind and coax the darkest memories to life.

It can replay the hours of abandonment and tears that fell like rain.

It can replay the joy of a child captured in fields of grace now covered with an early fog.

It can replay spouts of anger that burst forth like hidden minefields yet receded with the wind.

A death can teach so many miraculous things that only grief can ingrain.

It can instill confidence of who you once were and who you have become.

It can instill a wonder for your destiny and a yearning to travel a faster path.

It can instill a settling peace that confirms your life was meant to be.

A death can open the windows to the soul and draw the embers to build a flame.

A death can slam the door on the heart and smolder the very passion left to breathe.

The choice is yours to make in the midst of your sorrow, and only you can choose.

Penned – 11/8/22 – MG

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

Revelation 21:4

Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.

He who continually goes forth weeping,

Bearing seed for sowing,

Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,

Bringing his sheaves with him.

Psalm 126:5-6