Randal Paul. One "l" not two, like mine. Was called Randy before his wife prompted him to shorten it to Rand.

There's a subscriber to one of my lists that used to call me Rand. Coincidence, I guess.

But Mr. Rand Paul doesn't have my politics, nor my faith, nor, probably, my vote. (Probably nobody will.)

It's the recent work, "Where Faith Will Turn to Sight." Here's the PDF file, their bulletin for Mar. 15.

Has the pace picked up too quickly? Then this prayer might be the one for you.

I'm testing the quote feature, pay no mind.

Writers and poets often make words and actions their topic, I among their number, and this poem also devoted to the subject. Two stanzas of five lines each, with a rhyme scheme of ABABA, makes for an interesting arrangement. (You already know I love chiastic structures.) The unstressed feet vary between the two stanzas, and the second uses enjambment, furthering the contrast between the irony of the first and the plain declaration of the second.

The last line alludes to James 1.26-27. James, Proverbs, Jesus, Paul, all have much to say about the use of the tongue. Peter talks about how ignorance is not silent — on the contrary, and the first stanza alludes to this fact. "For it is God's will that by doing right you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people" 1Pt 2.15 ISV.

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Enjoy the poem in your inbox, and chime in with a comment below, if you would, to further motivate the poet.

Glory to God for man's imagination and creativity, for his engineering ability to manipulate his surroundings and invent machines and technologies that serve good and make life more comfortable.

Glory to God for another year of life, for this day to learn more of his gracious will, worship his eternal name, serve his holy purpose.

If you've been a subscriber of the email list for long, you know I'm not a melancholy writer. Usually. Today's offering, then, strikes a more wistful tone than normal. Chalk it up to being home alone, with The Missus off with family.

So today you get imperfect rhyme in places. The second stanza could well serve as a refrain if somebody were minded to write music for it.

So here's the question for the list subscribers: Did the poem leave you feeling a bit sad? What note most caught your attention?

This piece is part of a work, Choose Love, that I hope to make into a second volume, following my book Choose!. Who knows if it will ever get finished. But perhaps you'll be uplifted by this installment.

Some have considered 1 Corinthians 13 as a parenthesis in the discussion about the use of gifts. In truth, it is the center and peak of the whole discussion, with the discussion in chapter 12 on gifts and chapter 14 on edification as the slopes of the peak. It all comes down to love. Or rather, it is up to love at the peak where we must climb.

Not everyone has the same gift. But every single saint must have the same motivation of love. Here, Paul personifies love. Some think he has the Lord Jesus Christ in mind. If so, he will move quickly from Jesus as love to the disciple as love. But perhaps he seeks to pass on the idea that wherever love is present, this is how it will act.

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The deluge of news in the world, via our constant connectedness to the Internet, depresses the soul with the perverseness and maliciousness of man. The disciple of Christ protects his mind. He guards his soul from corrupting influences. He keeps away from the negativity. While he engages the people of the world, he raises high barriers against its perspective.

So today's poem focuses on the things — shall we be more precise? — on the One from whom all good and righteousness flow.

The meter is unusual for me, seven feet, which connotes the crowded negative and twisted media that presses in upon us.

Three stanzas were written some days ago. The third, below, was added this morning.

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This poem was somewhat inspired by the big news of the last couple of days. Perhaps you can see tints of it in these two short stanzas.

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The old iambic pentameter and variations came in handy today, as I picked up a start of two lines made months back. From those two I sustained an AABB rhyme scheme. It finally resolved into 12 robust lines.

This post is a safe environment created for Cloudburst Poetry subscribers to chime in their opinions.

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This newest poem is a bit longer than usual, but not by much. A different rhyme scheme as well. A different sound to the topic.

Here are the first two stanzas, of seven.

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The background behind the three-stanza poem going to the email list today is, of course, the drubbing that the Brazil soccer team suffered on Tuesday at the hands of Germany in the World-Cup semi-finals.

Costa Rica lost a few days earlier, too, but I'm sure they went home with heads held high. Our team couldn't do that.

The poem is a simple one, an AABB rhyme scheme with four-foot meter. Doesn't get much simpler than that, nor does the truth it contains.

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Better too much a plan than little,
Actions overflow from thinking,
Finer plans give visions their mettle,
Clear details keep dreams from sinking.

—J. Randal Matheny

http://yourdaytoshine.com/

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Enjambment, rhyme, varied meter, a touch of alliteration, this poem doesn't have it all, but it's got a lot. And more stanzas than usual, six that move fast to the end. Just like life.

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"I share your pain," we often say —
A friend stands side by side —
But pleasure shared, like children's play,
Swells the gladding tide.

What greater joy or deeper delight
Among the halls of man,
To share the key to human plight,
In God's salvation plan?

The big ones get mentioned in this seven-line poem: blogs, Pinterest, Kindle/Nook, Twitter, and Facebook. The ABABCBC rhyme scheme holds it together.

Scrolling down goes late at night,

So says the third line, four meters like the rest. We are too busy online, are we not? That's the point of this poem. I should know.

I was able to get this poem out tonight, thanks to my new writing plan.

The background to this Cloudburst poem got placed here rather than on the website because Tumblr has a lousy interface and Cloudburst is going to move away from there before long.

Human beings disappoint, so we become wary and find it hard to trust. Politicians aren't the only ones who fail to carry through with promises. Friends, colleagues, and family members also let us down.

For the latter groups, we need large doses of forgiveness and, sometimes, confrontation about their perfidy, in order to give them opportunity to change.

Looking inward, we discover we ourselves have also made promises that we couldn't keep or that we decided to disregard.

So the following truth about God and his word provides us hope.

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Yet another novel, published 1990, declares in a character's viewpoint, "Poetry was dead, or at the very least, breathing its last gasp."

Poetry has always had a hard time of it. It is the neglected child of literature. But not a few death notices have been announced prematurely, and this one fails to recognize the few underground souls who mumble their verses in the shadows and feed upon the scraps of approbation they throw to one another.

"It is the height of hypocrisy to stand behind the pulpit and make God say something He did not say" -Dan Winkler

He who sets out to do the will of God completely and follow the Lord Jesus wholly, soon discovers he is not only out of step with the world, but often at odds with the religiously complacent, the doctrinally sloven progressives, and the defenders of tradition.

Time to do some major stuff today. Sunday, three meetings, no time. (Guest speaking at Jardim Esplanada in the morning.) Saturday, one meeting in the afternoon, in Taubaté. Lots to prepare for.

Have got a number of things done this morning. The Missus and I split a plate of chicken stroganoff for lunch up at Roberto's. She's off on errands, I'm buckling down to do lessons and bulletin/order of worship.

I just read about a WV town with nothing electronic. They're in some sort of kill zone for a space telescope. A number of people have moved there, who have electronic hypersensitivity. Bad syndrome for today.

Hard verse, Mt 11.12. But Jesus wants us to know the conflict is fierce. I mentioned it yesterday in Corollaries: http://wp.me/pIFLD-6sD I think I'll use it Sunday for my guest sermon at Jd Esplanada.

I asked sr. Benedito if he had something he wanted me to preach on. He mentioned John the Baptist. So this is close.