Mothers

If hearts could be gold

The treasure to be found

Within a mother’s love

Would vast coffers make quite sound

Her words speak hope and confidence

They lift and build and grow

Each one so blessed to be called her child

Does such inspiring words surely know

Her prayers do rally heaven

When in fear her children flee

The Lord dispatches legions

Each time she raises need

Her songs bring peace to troubled hearts

The melody she raises, so sweet

Each tune, each strain, each heartfelt note

With no worldly verse competes

Her devotion is divine

Her affections are sure true

Consistency her haulmark

All things she appears to do

With nothing less than teary eyes

I thank those mothers kind

Who, like angels, have shared their hearts with me

And in whom I can God’s love find

- K. Arthur

Popularity: 25% [?]

Beauty in a Rose

A rose is a sign of beauty, but why is there none in death?
The flower brought joy in life, but why is there none in death?

The memory’s there to carry on the spirit of the rose
But all in all memories fade and understanding blooms & grows.
Now the precious flow’s gone back to join w/ earth
And now you see that beauty comes in death & not just birth.

(August 1996)

Popularity: 23% [?]

Power of The Word

Through the mists of darkness
there shines a perfect light
To those who hold fast the rod
and seek to follow right

Day by day and hour by hour
we choose our paths, our fate
Joy awaits the faithful
their souls to liberate

Each step we take towards His love
each moment we endure
We’re given strength to lengthen strides
our destiny’s made sure

Within God’s word we find a power -
the truth our heats can see
And through His Son’s atonement
the gift of being free

(Written December 9, 2006 by R.M.)

Popularity: 30% [?]

Just Remember Jesus Christ

When things don’t work out like you planned
When tears fall on your cheek
When all your fears but one have died
And your heart is feeling weak

When the toughest choice you’ll make is made
When you’ve given all that you’ve got
When the heavens seem utterly still
And inside you hope they’re not

When all these things are pressing down
And you need courage to go on
Just remember Jesus Christ
Have faith and carry on

When you loved that one so dearly
Like no one you ever have
But in your heart that door has closed
And there’s reason to be sad

Just remember Jesus Christ
And give your pain to him
For he suffered for your sadness
Not only for your sin

The plan for you is mighty grand
His love for you divine
So just remember Jesus Christ
And trust his love sublime

(Written November 14, 2002)

Popularity: 27% [?]

Do We Forgive Our Fathers?

Do we forgive our fathers?
Or do we take upon ourselves their blame?
Do we recognize them as our makers?
Or do we hide our faces when they’ve chosen poorly?

When the wind whispers acts of anger
Do we willingly enrage?
Or do we acknowledge the wind
And choose instead our hearts to believe?

Do we forgive our fathers
When the bitterness of their past bites and pains us so?
Or do we give them our loyalty
And let pass their short comings?

For they too are like us
With times that are best unseen
And they too are like us
Worthy of our love

So do we forgive our fathers
And in so doing forgive ourselves?
Do we drop the bottles
That keep inside our hurt?

Do we go forward and live
And in doing show we forgave?
And do we forgive our fathers
And in so doing set ourselves free?

(Written October 6, 2002)

Popularity: 22% [?]

The Mirror

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a55/rosebud_05_/DickseeTheMirror.jpg

I am made up of so many people
My experiences are such
That when I look into the mirror
There’s no face I cannot touch

I see the people wondering
What I have become
There has to be an answer there
But searching, I find none

(Written April 6, 1996)

Popularity: 39% [?]

The Runners High

briskly and swift travels the aging man

ascending the mount to see God’s beacon shine

focused on words that illuminate his soul

grateful for the quickening of mercies divine

Tonight I ran for the second time this week and the second time in perhaps 6 months or more. After the St. George in 2005 I haven’t trained much. I did run the Wasatch Back Relay, but I pretty much ran that straight up without forethought…and my legs sure thanked me for it!

Today I had been having a brain cloud, as I’ve come to recognize as a fairly common part of Ryan’s existence. I almost didn’t run today because I’ve been feeling “almost sick” lately. Ya know that feeling of fatigue, muscle soreness, hot/cold “make up your mind” stuff? Well, I’ve been having that but guess what? Here’s what I experienced upon returning from a 15 minute run, 5 minute walk, then repeat session:

• My mind felt clear and focused
• I had more energy
• I noticed patience came easier
• Gratitude filled my being
• (From the textbook) Overall sense of well being

I enjoy noticing the effects of my actions more these days. I haven’t always done that and it’s quite interesting and refreshing.

Popularity: 36% [?]

Simplicity

Storms & struggles

Sadness & strife

These are but gifts

Blessings of life

We ride the cycles of happiness and sorrow. With every rotation we learn more of what it is to be human, to have strains, to have challenges, to have difficulties. To recognize that these down times are but part of the whole allows us to let hope into our hearts and understand, as my grandmother used to say, “this too shall pass.”

At times we run faster than we’re able. We fill our lives, and rightly so, with good activities. But there comes a point when the busyness of life robs from us the precious gift of reflection. In quiet moments we can look back on our behavior, let the solemnity of special moments sink in and we can assess our thinking on important topics. Simplifying our lives can provide us with many such opportunities. In these sacred times we can come to accept & love ourselves as well as see life more clearly.

Shelter, food, clothes and heat. These are the few basic things that Henry David Thoreau determined were necessaries for man while he lived a simplified life on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Walden Pond. I am thankful for my meager apartment and cramped room. I am grateful that I have clothes to wear, including my cowboy boots. I am pleased that my house is warm when the weather outside has other plans. I am grateful for my 5 pound bag of pretzels and chocolate milk that sustain somehow my life.

Breaking from philosophy and entering practicality: In considering a shelter Dave Ramsey counsels to spend no more than 25% of your monthly take home pay on your monthly home payments. Also, providing at least 20% in down payment on a 15 year loan will allow you the most flexibility if you need to immediately sale the home.

Thrift, industry, economy and frugality are traits that I seek. At present time I think I’m running about 50/50 on most of them. Hopefully my kids someday will be able to learn these from their bearded father.

Finally, I’m grateful for my agency. I needn’t choose simplicity because that’s what I was advised to do. Rather, I choose simplicity because I can conceive of its benefits in a busy and rushed world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thoughts taken from Let Him Do It with Simplicity, a talk by Elder L. Tom Perry in the October 2008 LDS General Conference.

Popularity: 25% [?]

To a Dear Friend

In all my days I’ve sought my best
And on that journey you bettered me

When I walked off course and to the left
You straightened my path with love

When you laughed, I couldn’t help but smile
And that compassion made my burdens light

At times to listen is all one needs
You did so and I felt understood

I wasn’t always true to you
But as time passes I learn devotion

In all ways and in deep sincerity
I hope one day to embrace you again

Thank you for your loving support
It’s just that simple to heal a soul

Popularity: 13% [?]

The Confident Little Grasshopper

There was once a little grasshopper who liked to rest in the path where humans walk. Sure there were other places to contemplate life and bask in the warmth of the sun, but he liked this place best.

Occasionally a human would walk by and with the quickness the grasshopper had come to pride himself on, he would hop out of the danger’s way. However, once the trouble was gone he would always return to the path where the humans walk.

After this the little grasshopper’s first encounter with a human he considered briefly finding a safer place to rest from the troubles of the day. But just as speedily as that thought had come, he also had another, and then another. They went something like this:

“The danger is gone now. You needn’t worry. You can now return to your favorite spot on the path where humans walk. Besides, it was quite some time before you ever saw even one human and when you did, you were quick to remove yourself from danger. If danger comes again, I am able. No harm will come to me.”

So return he did to his favorite spot where humans walk and continued to bask in the sun’s warmth.

After a few times of being called to alarm by the presence of a human walking by and one close call, the grasshopper had enjoyed some time without any cause for worry. Smiling at this newly experienced peace from danger’s threat, the little insect grew very accustomed to life on the path where humans once walked.

Time passed and the grasshopper forgot what it was like to move for danger. He grew tired one sunny morning and without warning, as is often the case when one is careful to not make a sound, a lone human strolled down the path where the grasshopper lay slumbering.

Without attention to the tiny life on the path the human walked where it was taught to walk and without even noticing, stepped on the little grasshopper and on its way it went.

Now friends, the life of the tiny grasshopper may be gone, but yours is not. What paths that now seem safe to you will one day bring danger? Where do you now slumber and what strengths do you use to justify that that sleep? Be careful to give attention to the tale of the confident grasshopper.

Popularity: 23% [?]