A Spark from another...

A Spark from another, originally uploaded by mitchcraft II

At times our own light goes out
and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude
of those who have lighted the flame within us.

~Albert Schweitzer

But i know my Father loves me...

Little Sparrow, originally uploaded by Lindsayrdean

I'm just a little Sparrow
I have no pedigree
I'm rarely ever noticed
But the Lord is watching me

He gave me a coat of feathers
'tis very plain I know
Without a speck of color
For it wasn't made for show

It keeps me warm in winter
protects me from the rain
were it trimmed in gold or silver
Perhaps, would make vain

I have no barn or store house
I neither sow nor reap
God gives me my daily portion
with not a seed to keep

There are many other Sparrows
All over the world they're found
And my Father always knows
When one of us falls to the ground

I'm only a little Sparrow
A bird of low degree
But I know my Father loves me
Dost thou know His love for Thee?


A Sparrow's Faith
by Yolanda Cohen

Don't forget there was one caused by you...

As the water ripples, originally uploaded by Flowers4zoe
Photo taken by Sean Montreal
Canberra, Australia

The young man spoke to the elder one,
"I'm just not important," he said.
I haven't accomplished a notable deed,
To be remembered for after I'm dead.

The old man took pebbles of varying size,
And one-by-one tossed in the pond.
Each pebble created a splash as it hit,
And the ripples spread far and beyond.

Individual pebbles from smallest to large,
Create their own ripples to send.
As each capability dictates,
Then finally, each ripple will end.

Some ripples last longer than others,
But finally all disappear.
Leaving the pond surface tranquil,
Just quiet, peaceful and clear."

"The pebbles are likened to people," he said,
And the water a symbol for earth,
The ripple is each person's presence in life.
It measures not value nor worth.

The size matters not of the ripple we make,
In time all are gone from the view.
Of all of the ripples that formed in the pond,
Don't forget there was one caused by you.

In the final analysis, your impact on life,
Be the magnitude greater or small.
In the memory of someone you always will be,
No one is remembered by all.

The Ripples dont have to be large
.

Fear me...

Flames I challenge you don’t look so proud...
Even if your blazes scream out loud...
I am the chill that you fear…
I am from tales you hear…
You can’t scare me with that heat…
I am someone you can’t beat…
Fear me flames you’ve met your match…
Flames I challenge you…you’re lights I’ll catch…

I Challenge You
Photo and words by: دبه كتكوته

Life's Treasures...

glitter-graphics.com

As she stood in moons light, she whispered to him.
What, treasures have you, to show me your love?

He answered her softly, almost a "coo"..
I have diamonds, and gold, I have silver for you.

I have lands, and buildings a home most divine
You'll never know wanting with me by your side.

I have wealth to indulge, your every hearts whim
What ever your desires I can buy them.

You can spend all your time in the sun on a yacht
Shopping, or chatting, what ever you'd like.

She turns to go, and he shifts his weight
What else could she want?, he thinks to himself..

He's angered now by her lack of response
"How dare you defy me, I have promised you wealth".

She turns and looks back, and whisper's again.
The question's, she asks, are answers for "him"..

What is it you see, that your heart desires?
Why is it me, you wish to acquire?

~Your beauty,Your grace
~Your poise and your stature
~The way that you smile,
~Your eyes, how they sparkle..

And what is it in me, you wish so to grasp
What for yourself, for this would you ask?

~I wish for your beauty
~To be by my side,
~For meetings, or pleasure
~What ever the time.

She steps towards him, so she is sure he can hear her
Her voice like music, still just a whisper..

For all of your wealth, your diamonds and gold
You have not a clue the true value of love.

For all of my lacking in material things
I am far richer, than you'll ever be.

I know the joy's of walking this earth
Our "true " life's treasures. They, can never be bought.

For life, is so full of riches. You can not touch,
but yet you will feel them. With in the depths of your heart.

The pains and the joys, the fears or the shame,
The laughter or tears or all the times in between.

The Oceans, the mountains, the sun, or the stars
The moons light, a stream or a valley of flowers

The pure joy of another that shares just a smile,
The laughter and playing, that of a child..

Treasure's you offer? I think not
The "treasure" I wish for is Love from the heart.

What more could I give you? I have offered the world!
I don't understand this, not one single word.

As she smiled at him she gave him an answer
For one day he'd know what really to treasure

To give of your self, is to give without thought
Of what you would want just for yourself.

To see with your heart "who" someone is,
To share""of" yourself not "what" you can give..

To give with your heart, if just a smile,
To see others here with equal value.

With that she turned and was out of his sight
All he could see..soft rays of moons light.


D.Enise
TRUE TREASURES
Copyright ~2002

Not Enough Darkness...

Not enough darkness, originally uploaded by mitchcraft II

There is not enough darkness in the world
to snuff out the light of even one small candle...

- Marian Wright Edelman

The Art of Life...

Painting of Paradise, originally uploaded by Flowers4zoe
Photo taken by Sean Montreal
Canberra, Australia

You hold the brush..
Your emotions the colors...
The way you paint your sky is the art of life...
Paint it brightly with cheerfulness
And let the shine casts upon the others..

©Stacey Phillip

A Lifelong Commitment...

A Mother's Love , originally uploaded by The Sage of Shadowdale

What is a Mother's love?

It is something that is very, very special.

It is something that no one can really explain.

It's something that is made up of much deep
devotion, joy, pain and sacrifice.

It is endless and unselfish and it endures
whatever may come.

It is full of hopes, dreams, tears and pleasure.

Nothing can ever destroy it or take that
special love away.

It is very patient and forgiving.

A Mother's love is a lifelong commitment
to selflessness.

More often than not, it requires much more
giving than receiving.

But it is something that is given with delight,
gratitude, enthusiasm and much satisfaction.

A Mother's love never fails or falters even
though the heart is breaking.

It is always believing when all the rest of the
world is condemning.

A Mother's love is a splendored miracle that man
cannot understand.

It is something that cannot be measured,
for it has no beginning or no end.

A MOTHER'S LOVE

.

Wondrous Evidence...

New Love, originally uploaded by The Sage of Shadowdale

A Mother's love is something
that no on can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish
and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it
or take that love away . . .
It is patient and forgiving
when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters
even though the heart is breaking . . .
It believes beyond believing
when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty
of the rarest, brightest gems . . .
It is far beyond defining,
it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret
like the mysteries of creation . . .
A many splendoured miracle
man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
of God's tender guiding hand.

A Mother's Love
~Helen Steiner Rice~

When was the last time...

glitter-graphics.com

When was the last time you...

Had a conversation with the moon?
Or made wish on a falling star?

Held hope from a string of delicate things?

When was the last time you got lost...
In an enchanted woods?
Or were kissed by prince
Who turned into a frog?
Consulted a caterpillar?
Or kidnapped a myth?
Had a visit from your faery godmother
Who turned pumpkins into coaches
And wishes into wings?

When was the last time you...
Cried lost tears in to the lake of longing
Or sipped inspiration from the pool of wonder?
Or rose, victorious, like phoenix from the ashes?

When did you last...
Lay your head in the lap of awe
And listen a song
From a distant shore...
Called home?

The time is now
Leap, Soar, Explore
Remember your dreams
And unseen things
Sing with rapture
And dance...dance
Dance like a Dervish
And when imagination knocks
Open the door...

A Knock on The Door by duirwaigh

A little bit of magic, originally uploaded by Talis

.

A letter...

glitter-graphics.com

"I cannot exist without you.
I am forgetful of everything but seeing you again.
My life seems to stop there, I see no further.
You have absorb'd me.
I have a sensation at the present moment
as though I were dissolving.
I have been astonished that men
could die martyrs for religion...
I have shudder'd at it... I shudder no more.
I could be martyr'd for my religion: Love is my religion.
I could die for that. I could die for you.
My creed is love, and you are its only tenet.
You have ravish'd me away by a power I cannot resist."

- letter written by John Keats

glitter-graphics.com

The Rain...

glitter-graphics.com

All night the sound had
come back again
and again falls
this quite persistent rain.
What am I to myself
that must be remembered,
insisted upon
so often? Is it
that never the ease,
even the hardness,
of the rain falling
will have for me
something other than this,
something not so insistent ---
am I to be locked in this
final uneasiness.
Love, if you love me,
lie next to me.
Be for me, like rain,
the getting out
of the tiredness,
the fatuousness,
the semi-lust of
intentional indifference.
Be wet
With a decent happiness.

- Robert Creeley

You can't be ugly...

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
(for Plot Summary of the story)

I Believe...

Untitled, originally uploaded by Fayebatka

I believe in the sun even when it is not shining…
in love even when I am alone…
and in God even when He is silent.

~ Inscription found on a wall in Germany
by someone hiding from Nazi concentration camps.

If Music be the Food of Love...

glitter-graphics.com

If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.

That strain again; it had a dying fall;
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south,
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour.

Enough; no more;
'Tis not so sweet now as it was before.
O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou!

That, notwithstanding thy capacity
Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,
Of what validity and pitch soever,
But falls into abatement and low price

Even in a minute! so full of shapes is fancie,
That it alone is high-fantastical.

William Shakespeare

glitter-graphics.com

Autumn..

Autumn Fairy, available at Terra Maga

Falling leaves slowly drifting
The wind comes along and then it goes swifting
Conkers crashing on the ground
Making a lovely crispy sound
Brown leaves spiraling together
Gentle breezes in the wood
Evergreen trees staying green which is very, very good.

"An Autumn Poem " by Catherine "Cat"

Keep the fire burning...

Burning Logs, originally uploaded by Ursina Calouri

To keep the fire burning brightly theres 1 easy rule:
Keep the two logs together,
near enough to keep each other warm
and far enough apart about a fingers breadth-for breathing room.
Good fire, good marriage, same rule.

~Marnie Reed Crowell~
.

A Bag of Nails...

Bag of Nails, originally uploaded by mao zhou

Once upon a time there was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he should hammer a nail in the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. But gradually, the number of daily nails dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the first day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He proudly told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.

"You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out, it won't matter how many times you say 'I'm sorry', the wound is still there."

Empty Box...

Hold my hand Daddy, originally uploaded by naya girl

The story goes that some time ago a man punished his 5-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of expensive gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became even more upset when the child pasted the gold paper so as to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.

Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift box to her father the next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy." The father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found the box was empty. He spoke to her in a harsh manner, "Don't you know, young lady, when you give someone a present there’s supposed to be something inside the package?" The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said, "Oh, Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was full." The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arm around his little girl, and he begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.

An accident took the life of the child only a short time later and it is told that the father kept that gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. And whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems he would open the box and take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.

In her Mother's Love...

IMG_0728, originally uploaded by jembitz
OUZIZBOO#21, End Times, Jenny Greenberg Studio: The Manipulator

"Do you like my dress?" she asked of a passing stranger..
"My mommy made it just for me."She said with a tear in her eye.
"Well, I think it's very pretty, so tell me little one, why are you crying?"

With a quiver in her voice the little girl answered.
"After Mommy made me this dress, she had to go away."

"Well, now," said the lady,
"with a little girl like you waiting for her, I'm sure she'll be right back."

"No ma'am, you don't understand," said the child through her tears,
"my Daddy said that she's up in heaven now with Grandfather."

Finally the woman realized what the child meant,
and why she was crying.
Kneeling down she gently cradled the child in her arms
and together they cried for the mommy that was gone.

Then suddenly the little girl did something
that the woman thought was a bit strange.
She stopped crying, stepped back from the woman and began to sing.

She sang so softly that it was almost a whisper.
It was the sweetest sound the woman had ever heard,
almost like the song of a very small bird.

After the child stopped singing she explained to the lady,
"My mommy used to sing that song to me before she went away,
and she made me promise to sing it whenever I started crying
and it would make me stop."
"See," she exclaimed, "it did, and now my eyes are dry!"

As the woman turned to go, the little girl grabbed her sleeve,
"Lady, can you stay just a minute? I want to show you something."
"Of course," she answered, "what do you want me to see?"

Pointing to a spot on her dress, she said,
"Right here is where my Mommy kissed my dress, and here,"
pointing to another spot, "and here is another kiss, and here, and here,"
"Mommy said that she put all those kisses on my dress
so that I would have her kisses for every boo-boo that made me cry."

Then the lady realized that she wasn't just looking at a dress,
no, she was looking at a Mother...
Who knew that she was going away
and would not be there to kiss away the hurts
that she knew her daughter would get.

So she took all the love she had for her beautiful little girl
and put them into this dress, that her child now so proudly wore.
She no longer saw a little girl in a simple dress.
She saw a child wrapped... in her Mother's love.

~the dress, winters child~