Thank God the state of my house doesn’t determine the state of my soul,
because no matter how hard I try, they both are beyond my control.
Interior design wouldn’t make me more alive, righteous or wise.
I think I’ll label this shelf “random” just so I feel organized.
The Highest Shelf
We put the Bibles on the highest shelf,
a place of honor we can hardly reach.
But when God gave His Word and gave Himself,
he stooped down low to heal and save and teach.
Relatively Easy
Would it be easier for you to build bookshelves
or to get rid of books?
Getting rid of books is harder than it looks.
But keeping them means shelving them
and dusting them
and moving them
and sometimes even using them
as decor upon the mantel
when you have more books than you can handle.
Reading them?
Well, that can wait
until we move to a place
more than half a city block from the library.
Get rid of them?
We already have.
What we have is already half
of what we had had. Yes. Scary.
We only kept our favorite books–
books about God, theology, linguistics, Middle Earth,
cooking, metallurgy, Mt. Rainier, Spanish…
and we kept a few good books on woodworking,
but we didn’t consult them before building the bookshelves
because building bookshelves is relatively easy.
Bright-Eyed Chickens
We made the chickens’ ladder steep–
the length too short, the drop too deep.
But in the morning, it is fun
to see the chickens jump and run.
And the clouds are pink and gray
as bright-eyed chickens greet the day.
Benefit of the Doubt
I know I’m s’posed to love my neighbor,
but how’m I s’posed to love these strangers?
I see their cars; they come and go,
but the people I don’t know.
So while I figure this one out,
I’ll give the benefit of the doubt
to these neighbors I can’t name
and hope that they’ll give back the same.
Flow Meter
I think I need one of those
flow meters for my nose
so I can measure all this snot
’cause all I know is there’s a lot.
Feeling Young
Oh yes, there are days
when I ask, “What have I done?”
and the answer is so little,
but I’m still feeling young.
Oh yes, there are days
when I ask, “What are we doing?”
Like a midlife crisis,
except I’m feeling young.
I’m feeling like I’ve done enough for my age.
I’m feeling like I’m on the right track for this stage.
I’m feeling strengthened, though I stumble and fall.
Even youths do that, after all.
Oh yes, there are years
I ask “What was that for?”
And I know that someday
I won’t feel young anymore.
But I’m not discouraged.
When it’s all said and done,
I’ve got a long ways to go
and I’m still feeling young.