Long Shadows........

The long shadow of my house travels across a very busy street to shade half of my neighbors yard. They can move their chairs to use that shade to sit on a hot muggy summer's night, to escape those last blinding rays of sunshine. I never realized how much my houses shadow was cast upon their world. As I snapped this picture and the realization of how large my houses shadow was on their world, the whispers I know so well started.

How much does my HOME cast a shadow on my neighbors and on the lives of those around me? Is the shadow cast by the actions of myself and my children a shadow that is welcomed by my neighbors and those around me? Do they watch our comings and goings and find joy in the shadow we cast, or do they wish our shadow was not on their world? Do they see anger and unhappiness and dysfunction that makes the shadow of our lives a hulking presence, or do they see joy and peace that makes the shadow of our lives a comforting part of their world? When the shadow of my children's lives invade their world by what they see and hear, are they more apt to say  to their own children, " I wish you were more like THOSE children"... or instead are we the family that is their precautionary tale. Are they more apt to say, " thank God you are not like THOSE children." When I am parenting my children is the shadow one that makes a young new mother stop and say, " I want to be like her someday" .. .or does she watch and think, " Oh my , never let me get to be like SHE is"......

The shadow we cast on our neighbors and to those in our lives are huge. We might not be aware of the shadow, we might not realize that no matter where we go we leave our mark... but we do.

What does your shadow leave with the people you pass everyday? Who is welcoming the shade you bring and who is wishing your shadow would pass so that the warmth of sunshine can come back? Is your shadow a welcoming coolness from the heat of their hectic stressed life? Or is your shadow the barrier between them and the warmth they need from a cold harsh world?

Think about the shadow you cast and who it effects and live your life in a way that the shadow you cast is a welcome shadow that gives life to everyone you meet.

TJ James 2011

Yes we can

Even though the bus is nearly empty
   the only seat open to me in in the back.
Even though there is no line of people waiting for water
   I can not quench my thirst at that fountain.
Even though I love my country and want to defend it,
   there is no plain in this man's army that I am allowed to serve in.
Even though I am bright, a child eager to learn
   There is no place in that school for me.
Even though I am just a young man who has done no wrong
   A tree branch and rope await my neck.
Even though I love my children , I can not stop my master
   from selling them off to a far away place.
Even though I just want to run and play on a field of grass
   That park is not a place I am allowed to enter.
Even though the polls are open and the law says I can vote,
   I will not be able to because of poll taxes and tests that exclude me.
                                                                                                        
Can we remember these things?
Can we fall on our faces before a Creator who watched these injustices,
   and can we cry out how sorry we are?
Can we make it right?
Can we start fresh?
Can we restore the rights of every man to what they were meant to be?
YES         WE          CAN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TJ 2008

My Plan...

My plan is plain
   Spilled out on a list
I will bow just right
   I will spell out my needs
I will follow the verses
   that guarantee results
I will remember every sermon
   and follow every rule.
And with this plan
   I will have everything I want.

And so I begin
   I thank Him for what He does for me.
I begin to remember all the ways
   He has changed my life.
I reminisce about the times His voice
   spoke to me and nothing else mattered.

I begin to realize
   it has been too long since I heard Him .
I find my bow becoming a desire
   to curl up , to be in His lap.
I start to speak , attempting to follow the plan
   but instead I drift as a child being rocked
   by the gentlest parent ever.

And the plan dissolves
   He takes over and speaks
   of His Love and His plans.
Suddenly I dont want anything at all...
   In the lap of my Creator
   I have everything
   I need........

TJ 2011

The new world.........

The New World The light glares harshly Too bright, much too defined. No friendly curtains to soften the brilliance, They are packed away in the boxes. The usual shadows are gone. No furniture, no pictures, no knick-knacks To cast shadows into the room. The starkness of the light pierces my soul. I hate the hungry truck Watching it gobble up boxes And tables and beds. That monster on wheels is taking Away a part of my life And driving away much too quickly. The driveway where year after year I watched a man come and go daily to work and back, Is now a driveway filled with that same man’s things. Young people, full of dreams Had unlocked doors to brand new homes Knowing life would be good Neighbors sharing new beginnings New friendship, Life…… full steam ahead! Young people don’t imagine death, And sickness, lay offs and foreclosures. Beginnings don’t whisper those words in their ears. But they happen. The working man walks down the drive To comfort a young widow who is frightened and crushed. His hug and words bring a sense of security To her shaky world. The widow walks up the drive to say," I’ll pray" When the working man is ill, jobs are lost, When life brings challenges. The neighbors walk the path From doorway to driveway And stay connected in the middle. They laugh; they share grumblings about the world. They share tools and advice. Somehow they know that whatever life brings The meetings in the middle get them thru. But the new world, the foreign world of mass lay offs And bank closures and a scary word called recession Brings change. So tonight I remember the hungry truck, I stare at the bright light in the empty living room And I grieve my loss. I will never meet my neighbor In the middle ground again. The next harsh turn in my life, I will face alone. Without the comfort of the hugs, the smiles, the words. Inside I am screaming, "bring back the years!" Deep inside I hear myself shriek like a child "I want a re-do!" But the words stay locked within For this is the new world and the truck is gone The harsh light has now been blackened The young people I loved are gone. They left older They left scarred from life’s hard battles They drove from the home of their new beginnings Into a new world of harsh uncertainties. They left with my tears on their shoulders My hugs imprinted on their bodies And my youth buried in their lives. Tina James 12/05/2009

the power of Creator's beauty

I see in nature the reality
   of how Creator's beauty
   overshadows ugly sin.
When an hour's worth of snow
   can blanket a street of discarded trash
I see
   How His touch can cover my mistakes.

When one beautiful blossom
   trails up a rusty drainpipe
   and turns even  that into a backdrop of beauty
I see
   How His touch can soften
   Even the rough scars of my wounded life.

TJ2011

They Were All Perfect

The perfect day..
   From childhood to old age,
We strive.

Working, Planning, Scheduling...
   We labor to produce it.
The perfect party,
   the perfect holiday gathering.

Baking , arranging, reservations...
   at a fancy motel, or in the forest
In our home,
   or on the road.

Years go by.. some days are so close,
   We think almost...... almost we attained it.
Other days we see sickness , grief
   Heartache that we think we don't come close at all.

But on that day
   when we feel our eyes close for that last time
When we reach hard for that one last breath
   and wait for that one last beat of our heart

One thought inhabits each man..
   One reality at that moment, makes us reach back
to any day that we lived... and we realize
   That each day we lived before this last day...

Each day before that last day
   had one thing in common....
They were all perfect.

TJ 2010

Hope...Joy.. Power... Peace...

Hope...
   It comes on the Wings
   of an eagle sent by your Creator
Joy....
   It fills your spirit
   as the scent of the sweet prayers fill the air
Power...
   It settles on your being
   as you receive the signs that the Master sends into your life
Peace...
   As you realize that The Master, Creator and loving Grandfather
   truly does hold you in the Palm of His Hands.

TJ2011

Man of Steel

His pride has been his body
   Hard lean and strong ..
      Made of Steel.
He believes with it he can find
   Joy , strength,
      and Love...
But as you walk with him
   You find the sad truth.
      His heart is made of the same steel
Cold...
Unbending...
And incredibly hardened.
Unable to love,
  unable to give,
unwilling to bend
   incapable of every truly melting
into anyone's world..
TJ 2006

Shadow Man

He walks in the World
   a shadow....
When he chooses , his shadow
   covers your life.
It covers all parts filling your life
   with laughter
   with joy, with fellowship.
Like the shadow of the afternoon
   it covers all of your world.

But when he chooses, he also leaves
   as quickly as he appeared
And all that is left is a memory
   of the shadow he cast
For he is the shadow man.

TJ 2006