Don't say words you're gonna regret.
Don't count chicks that haven't hatched yet.
Give lots of hugs and whenever you can - steal a kiss
and don't put much stock in silly poems like this.
Get out doors as often as you can.
Don't forget to bless the poor among your fellow man.
Listen more than you speak.
Use your strength to help the weak
and don't take yourself too seriously.
Hop a train to somewhere you've never been
and at least once listen to Paul Simon's "Graceland".
Random acts of kindness are always good.
Do something to make yours a better neighborhood.
Surprise your loved ones with pancakes or French toast.
Don't spend much time making boasts.
Share your heart with God above
and He will fill it with such a sweet love.
When others fail - don't kick them when they're down.
Don't gossip about other's failures all over town.
No, give them a hand back up instead.
Don't let praise or criticism go to your head.
Well, a few simple words to live by
from a simple kind of guy....

(also a must - listen to Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk")

There was, in the latter part of a hidden dream
a sliver of wisdom      heretofore unseen

To grasp for it would be to lose it

It was not to be attained but rather gifted
and then - through the purest heart - sifted

Then - spoken only to those without a sow's ears,
for this was a pearl to treasure throughout one's years

The thought -
incandescent in it's beauty,
by those who desire to see Him
in all His glory, anticipated -

"Faith is the marriage bed
   upon which our love
    for God is consummated"

Ah Summer - the season of disc-content
Frisbees, CD's and plates full of goodies
BBQ's - our cues to become satisfied
with each bite we invite inside
We chew each special moment each day brings
spiced with the knowledge we're living
with our hearts open wide, enjoying the moment
with no thought for tomorrow or yesterday -
This is the true gift of childhood
and it is right and it is good.

The sunbeam full of living things
the sand that insists on knowing
what it feels like between our toes
The welcoming, cool spray of a garden hose -
all the kids giggling and pretending
they really don't want to get wet
and yet - never running just out of reach....

The lessons of Summer are no less profound than those learned in a classroom
for truly, the world with all it's wonders waiting to be discovered by the ever inquisitive minds of children is the grandest classroom of all and the greatest lesson of all is this -
Life is a series of endless moments of bliss
if we remember to remain childlike and curious.....

To undo what man has done
you'll have to be a strong one.
To go against the tide,
to refuse the easy ride,
you'll have to resist pride.
While everyone to Babylon flocks -
if you don't, you'll be mocked,
hated, scorned, given in contempt
a crown of thorns -
told you're not of God.
They'll enthusiastically trample
your Holy ephod.
They'll try to kill you
believing they have God's blessing,
all the while confessing

                                        Jesus is Lord!
                                        We love Him so!
                                         But you? You we hate!
                                        To you we just can't relate!
                                        From our midst you must go!

And so - you will know them by their fruit.
It's this simple mate -
do they love you or do they hate     you?
Do they receive you or do they berate you?
Do they relegate you to the place of lepers,
outside the camp - untouched and unloved
and unable to rise above
the label they ply you with?

The fruit of the flesh
tastes like death.
The fruit of the Spirit
is sweet and nourishing, full of life, oh hear it!

For your heart will guide you
for you heart is where He dwells inside you.
Your heart will let you know
should you stay or should you go?

The subway system
spewed forth the train into the twilight
as if indigestion was its plight

and the lonely souls
continued their journey to hapless goals
unable or perhaps unwilling
to even consider fulfilling
the forgotten dreams of their youth

Finding adventure only on screens
they've allowed themselves
to cease to dream
and then                    and rare
an unwilling one appears in their midst
oh!    the stares!
The avant-garde and those who risk
refuse to be bound by mediocrity's detritus
from a society gone numb
blind, deaf and dumb
to originality -  to freedom to be
separate from uniformity.

Can you see?
Can you sense?
Your future's only recompense
in a world that only allows difference
it approves of
is a complete lack of God-like love.....