Bloom where you are planted

We struggle in our day to day life, we try to be better people but find ourselves mired down in the muck of our daily existance. We fail to realize that our goal is to bloom and be the best person we can possible be right where we find ourselves at the current moment. It is by doing this that we are able to move on and become closer in our existance to our creator. However, we often find ourselves complaining and bitter about all that goes wron in our lives instead of leanring from those experiances, and we tend to take credit personally for all that goes right instead of shiwing gratitude. I struggle with this on a daily basis but am learning that not only should I show gratitude for those things that go right for us, but for those things that go wrong, for it is in the trials and tribulations that we gain the most learning and growth in our spiritual lives. You can learn more about my journey both on here and on my Facebook page A Spiritual Journey: a common man's reflections found at https://www.facebook.com/spiritualjourneyacommonmansreflections. Please join me in this phenominal journey we call life.

Clear Conscience

Broad Horizons

The Walking Stick

Alost noone uses old fashioned wood walking sticks anyore, but if you look out on my porch, you will see four or five of them leaning up against the railing at any given time. There is something about the feeling of of the wood in my hand, as I swing it back and forth while I walk. It is comforting and familiar.

Oh sure people use the new high tech poles that resemble ski poles with the impact absorption tips, and at one point I thought I would like a set of those, but once I tried a set they felt foregn and out of place in the woods.. The people I see using them always seem to be rushing someplace, as if the walk is a chore to get done before they go someplace more interesting. To me the walk is the interesting thing.

To me the walk is part of the journey, a chance to get out in nature and see what mysteries God wishes to reveal to me at that time. In my journies out in the back forty, I have leaned against my walkign stick and gazed back over the field at a mist shrouded Green Mountain. I have looked down at amazement at moose prints, or coyote tracks. I have seen bear, deer and moose. I have used it as a brace while I have watched squirrels and chipmunks scurrying across the leaves. My walking stick is like an old friend, it fits comfortably in my hand. If you stop by the farm for a visit, chances are I will offer you a walking stick. I walk in the woods in search of the perfect sapling, and cut it by hand, and rough size it right there in the spot. I then bring them down tot he house to work on, and usually sit in the driveway while i strip the bark off with a knife I had bought in Norway many years ago.Once the bark is off I'll sand down any rough spots that could possibly irritate the hands, and give the stick a nice smooth finish where your hand could possibly rest. I will also burn in a quote such as "Walk Daily WIth God" or "Life is a journey not a destination". After that is done, lately I have taken hand rubbing a tung oil finish into the stick to help keep it looking nice as long as it can.

My favorite stick say to Walk Daily with God", which is taken from a poem I have written, for it reminds me to be with Him always, and to give thanks for all the little blessings in my life.

So the next time you take a walk, hang up the high tech poles, pick up a trusty wooden staff, fit it to your hand like a glove, and really take a walk in nature, and notice truly notice what it has to offer.


Walk Daily with God


When life has you down,
And hardships pile up.
When the world is blue,
And you are depressed.
This advice I give to you,
Take a walk with God.

When you feel forsaken,
And the mountains high.
When the path you are on,
Seems to lead nowhere.
Heed this advice,
Take a walk with God.

When times are good,
And life is happy.
When the sun does shine,
And the birds are singing.
Give your thanks,
And take a walk with God.

Share with Him,
All your sorrows.
Share with Him,
All your fears.
Talk with Him as a friend,
As you walk with God.

Laugh with Him,
As the jays do play.
Give thanks to Him,
For the tranquil sunsets.
Do all this my friend,
As you walk with God.

Remember this, that God
Is here from start to end.
And we are but a dash,
between two years.
So take the time,
And walk with God.

He has the time,
To spend with you.
He has the desire,
To commune with you.
My friend in good and bad,
Remember to walk daily with God.

Paul Bartoswicz

212 degrees

This is from a sermon I preached on Sunday 27 September 2009. It reflects on the power of turning up the heat in our lives in everything we do. 212Degrees Judges 16:23-30 Have you ever seen the screws also known as the propellers on a large ship? They are immense. I had the opportunity to stand beside a pair for an LPD in a dry dock and they dwarfed me as I stood next to them.. I don’t remember the weight on them but it was a very heavy amount, and the shafts that they attach to aren’t just toothpicks either. While I was in the Navy I was always amazed at the engineering types. They lived most of their lives below decks in the bowels of the ship working their magic that made the ship work. When you did see them above deck they always looked like their eyes were closed in a permanent squint in the foreign sun. I always thought they preferred to emerge from their catacombs in the peaceful serenity of the new moon so the sky was as foreign to them.. They sequestered themselves for hours on end in the nether reaches of the ship in such places as the boiler room, shaft alley, and the machine rooms. When they did emerge they always had this oily dinginess about them that never did quite come out. They were the givers of life to the ship. Without them working their magic in the black hole of the engine spaces, the ship wouldn’t move, the guns couldn’t aim, the radios wouldn’t work once the batteries died. In short without the engineers our glorious Navy would basically be a bunch of big piles of steel rusting away in the ocean. One of the things that the purveyors of Naval life understand is the difference that one extra degree can make. Many people talk of the advantages of going to the Celsius scale where water freezes at zero and boils at 100 degrees. How many of you know the Fahrenheit scale is based on the comfort range of the human body 0 was commonly thought to be the lower end of the comfort range for a moderately dressed man and 100 degrees is the upper range of that scale where the human body is comfortable. Of course we know now that there are other factors such as wind and humidity that play into the equation., as well as length of exposure. But using this premise as a basis, water at 100 degrees is fairly comfortable for the human body for a period of time. I have been told because I am not a coffee drinker that 180 degrees is the ideal temperature for a cup of coffee, so we could safely say 180 degrees is hot. Water at 211 degrees would be very hot, wouldn’t you agree? But we know from basic chemistry, not one of my better subjects, and basic physics, which I enjoyed more, that water boils at 212 degrees, and boiling water transforms the water from a liquid to a gas we call steam.. Steam under the right circumstances can be used to produce a power that drives the huge propellers that move a ship through the water. Without going into it the steam is heated even higher than 212 degrees under pressure to become superheated steam, but it requires that 212 degrees to become the steam in the first place, and steam is required to turn the massive shafts that drive the propeller that pushes the ship through the water. If there are any naval engineering types out there I apologize for the simplicity of my explanation here, but it is the essence of how the system works that illustrates my point. It is that one degree that takes the water from the very hot, or scalding hot, to the driving force turning not only those massive propellers, but driving many tons of steel though the ocean at very impressive speeds. Aircraft carriers for example The USS RONALD REAGAN displaces 104,000 tons, ONE HUNDRED FOUR THOUSAND TONS. Think about that for a moment how heavy that ship is….ONE HUNDRED FOUR THOUSAND TONS. And it is propelled by steam. The vaporous form of lowly water that we all take for granted. It is nuclear powered but the nuclear power is just a way to heat the water and bring it to steam. Think of the power that one extra degree can produce. Can you imagine one hundred four thousand tons driving though the water at over 30 knots? 30 knots being a nautical mile is the same as driving your car at 34 miles per hour. The actual top speed is more than that but is classified. ONE HUNDRED FOUR THOUSAND TONS OF STEEL, with six thousand give or take men, and almost one hundred aircraft driven by steam. Not only does steam drive that massive ship though the water, it is also used to launch aircraft form a standing start to flying speed in an amazingly short distance. I once was told that the catapult of a carrier could launch a Cadillac up to one half a mile , now that is power. Steams launch those wonders of Naval aviation so they can ply the sky above the seas. One extra degree takes plain water and produces not only power, but mighty power, impressive power, unstoppable power. I saw a film once while I was in the navy, of a high pressure steam leak. You couldn’t see the steam leaking out of the pipe, but you could hear it hissing it’s deadly warning. The instructor waved a broom handle through the path of the steam leak, and it cut the handle cleanly through as if it had been cut by an invisible saw. Now that is power. It is the power that that extra degree gives you. In our passage today Samson summoned up that extra degree when he asked God to help him one last time. He summoned that extra degree that God gave him and brought the temple down on the Philistines. Samson could have just given up and let himself be put to death but he summoned that extra degree and went down in a blaze of glory. Abraham summoned up that extra degree of courage when he put his pride and joy son on the alter to sacrifice. Noah showed the extra degree when even though he was probably subject to tons of ridicule and jeers while he was building the ark in preparation to the flood. Daniel showed the extra degree and tolerated the extra degree when he was cast into the fiery furnace with Meshach, Shadrech and Abednego. They all showed that extra degree of confidence that God would take care of them. Moses wavered but did show the extra degree in trusting God by leading the Israelites out of Egypt. In the sermons I have been listening to the pastor was preaching on the book of Nehemiah, in this book Nehemiah turned up the extra degree and rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. What can we do if we apply that extra degree. We work on a daily basis some of you in an office, some in a factory, my wife works in a grocery store, and my 18 year old daughter Hs been working in a restaurant. Both of them show that extra degree in their jobs. My daughter is respected and well liked by the people she works with because she puts her all into the job. She doesn’t treat it as a lowly job of bussing or waiting tables she looks at as an opportunity to grow in responsibility, and in herself. My wife Janet works at Valuland as a cashier. People I run into all the time tell me how lucky I am to have her as a wife, and I am truly very thankful for that. What makes her special is she smiles and greets people, she makes them feel very special when they are at her register. She makes them feel like they are the most important person in the store when she is dealing with them. She goes the extra mile to remember what they like and how they like their groceries bagged. When she can she helps those who are struggling out with their groceries. I have had people tell me how upset they are when they go into the store and learn that Janet is not working on that day. Janet turns up the heat that extra degree and goes from being hot to being a driving force in what she does. She tries not to drag people down, even on days when I have seen her drag herself out of bed in excruciating pain, and come home in so much pain she was in tears; she still makes her customers the most important feature in the store. I have worked on the road in sales, and I meet all kinds of people, from the ones that make you feel like you are an imposition on them for being a salesman to the ones who make you feel like you are their long lost brother. I know how hard it is to keep that smile on you face and work to get the person the right product of their needs, and it is not always what I have to sell. I struggle to find that extra degree, yet I know how important it is. Jesus shows us examples of turning up the heat that extra degree all over the gospels. From the feeding of the multitudes at the Sermon on the Mount, He could have just packed it in and told the disciples they didn’t have enough food to take care of all those people. No he dug right in and worked his miracles. He raised Lazarus from the dead. He healed the lepers. Where in the Gospels can you not find an example of Christ turning up the heat. Right to the end of his earthly ministry when he was nailed to the cross and sacrificed for our sins. And guess what, he didn’t stop there, he rose again and overcame the bounds of death, he walked with and talked with His disciples and prepared them for the trials and the work ahead so they could in turn, turn up the heat to become a driving force in society. They were the steam that got the mighty juggernaut of Christianity going, and we are the steam that keeps it moving forward instead of becoming a rusting hulk in the ocean of society as many churches have a tendency to do. God is always asking us to turn up the heat and put out that extra degree. He wants us to be a driving force in society instead of society being a driving force on us. Many churches have gone from being a hot churches to being a superheated churches. Does God want this church constrained to the confines of this lovely valley? The extra degree that God demands of us can take this church beyond Carroll County, beyond the borders of New Hampshire. That driving force can take us out of Northern New England, and even out of New England overall. God’s driving power will break the bounds of the nation’s borders. God wants to be a driving force in the world. By applying that extra degree that God has demanded of us. It has driven a now deceased friend of mine, Paul Dorian and his group that went down to help rebuild after Katrina. It has manifested itself in the dedication of Rusty Reinhold of Brooks Auto and Doug Kimball of Kimballs Power Equipment and others who travel to Haiti regularly to help minister to those in need in that country. That extra degree manifests itself in a fellow Gordon Alumnae Janet Hammar and her husband Oscar while they labor in love in Peru, teaching and spreading God’s word. That extra degree manifested itself in the new Bible they were able to provide to the people they serve. That extra degree drives churches to assist missionaries in South Africa, as well as other African countries. It drives Christian missionaries into the Muslim strongholds of the Middle East. That driving force drives churches to support missionaries all over the world. That driving force drives churches to support the missionaries in our own back yard who go into the halls of Kingswood to work with our teens and help them find their own driving force in the world, and to mentor them into that force being a positive rather than negative force. The Moving Wall is in Wolfeboro at the Nick this weekend, on that wall are the names of 16 chaplains who didn’t come home, tow of those chaplains were awarded the Medal of Honor Major Charles Watters, his citation reads, For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Chaplain Watters distinguished himself during an assault in the vicinity of Dak To. Chaplain Watters was moving with one of the companies when it engaged a heavily armed enemy battalion. As the battle raged and the casualties mounted, Chaplain Watters, with complete disregard for his safety, rushed forward to the line of contact. Unarmed and completely exposed, he moved among, as well as in front of the advancing troops, giving aid to the wounded, assisting in their evacuation, giving words of encouragement, and administering the last rites to the dying. When a wounded paratrooper was standing in shock in front of the assaulting forces, Chaplain Watters ran forward, picked the man up on his shoulders and carried him to safety. As the troopers battled to the first enemy entrenchment, Chaplain Watters ran through the intense enemy fire to the front of the entrenchment to aid a fallen comrade. A short time later, the paratroopers pulled back in preparation for a second assault. Chaplain Watters exposed himself to both friendly and enemy fire between the two forces in order to recover two wounded soldiers. Later, when the battalion was forced to pull back into a perimeter, Chaplain Watters noticed that several wounded soldiers were lying outside the newly formed perimeter. Without hesitation and ignoring attempts to restrain him, Chaplain Watters left the perimeter three times in the face of small arms, automatic weapons, and mortar fire to carry and to assist the injured troopers to safety. Satisfied that all of the wounded were inside the perimeter, he began aiding the medics ... applying field bandages to open wounds, obtaining and serving food and water, giving spiritual and mental strength and comfort. During his ministering, he moved out to the perimeter from position to position redistributing food and water, and tending to the needs of his men. Chaplain Watters was giving aid to the wounded when he himself was mortally wounded. Chaplain Watters' unyielding perseverance and selfless devotion to his comrades was in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army. Do you think Major Watters turned up the heat that extra degree, and did God’s work protecting and comforting the soldiers he was to serve? I think he did. If that driving force can take a plain quiet, unassuming woman, like my wife and make her a bright spot in many peoples day, how can it change you? By asking God to apply that one extra degree to your life, could it make you the life change force for that one co-worker, or friend who is looking for something more? By adding that one degree could it make you the shining example that would attract people to church through your example. By adding that one extra degree could you help even one person break the shackles of a destructive life, of alcohol or drug addiction? By adding that one degree could you bring the pillars of Satan’s temple down that had been built up around someone? What driving force does God want you to be in today’s society?

Conversation With God

I sat down in my quiet place, and let my breathing settle and my heart slow down. I had read my Bible at home, then took my dog out for her walk into the upper field. I let her run chasing unseen scents from where various animals crossed in barely perceptable trails. The mist softly rose off Green Mountain across the street. That morning mistthat clings to the mountain always seems to settle me down, it has a calming effect on me.

I sit on my rock, taking in the sounds of nature, the rustling of the breeze through the grass, the occasional soft neighing of the neighbors horses, and even the sound of the trucks out on the main road past the end of our property. I take a deep breath and try to clear my mind and then begin my daily ritual of prayer. I should say it is more like a one sided conversation with God. Money has been tight, and I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders. Our savings has been completely drained, and we live day to day off my job in Internet Sales at a car dealership, where sales has been dreadfully slow. My wife works two part time jobs, one she loves and lives to go to on Fridays and Saturdays, ond one she hates and drags herself to 3 days a week. I start my monologue, “Dear God, I have faith you exist, and that you watch over us, but why do you let me suffer soand not answer my prayers. I need so much and you are very capable of providing, but you seem to turn a deaf ear to me.You don't answer and always seem to leave me hanging.”

A stirring inside of me and a warmth seemed to eminate from within, rising from my toes, up my legs into my stomach and chest, despite the morning chill in the air. My head spun and a dull ache in my heart stirred to life. I heard, or I should more aptly say I felt a voice stirring deep inside of me. I can't quite explain it, I didn't hear the voice in my ears, but rather heard it with my heart, but could understand it just the same.

“What troubles you my son,” it said to me, and I realized it was God speaking to me. It wasn't the deep booming voice from heaven we think of when we see movies like The Ten Commandments, but a soft whisper, neither male nor female.

“Abba,” I responded, “Why don't I hear youwith my ears?”

“Because, my son,” the voice responded, “I speak to you through the Spirit, for when I breathed life into Adam, the life I instilled in him was that of the Holy Spirit, which is in place in all of you my children. It is there before you were born into this world, and it will be ther long after you pass from it. It is what sets you apart from the animals in my kingdom. You have a piece of me dwelling inside you, and I am with you always.”

I felt at peace, and instantly realized this was true, and I started, “so the Trinity...”

“Yes my son, the Trinity does exist,” the voice responded. “I am God the father as I have been called, but more accurately I am God the Creator. Look around you my son, everything you see was created by me. I set the world in motion right down to the great glaciers that set this stone in place that you sit upon and talk to me. Before you Willis Willis would sit upon this rock and rest from his tiring work in this very field, and as a boy he would climb upon this rock as he watched his father toil in the summer heat.” I realized he was talking about Willis Gale and his father Daniel Gale. Willis was my wife's great uncle, and Daniel his father. They owned this farm before I bought it from my in-laws., but this was no secret. They left it to my mother in law, and were very well known in the area, people to this day talk fondly of old Willis Gale.

The voice went on, “So I am God the father and creator of all that was, is, and is to be. I am the common ground that unites all of existance. Inside each of you is your soul, the inner you, the part of you that wasbefore you were. It dwells inside of you, and always will be even after your body passes on to become the dust I created you from. Along with the soul that exists inside of you I have instilled a part of me , that man has come to call the Holy Spirit. The Spirit talks to you on a daily basis, even though mankind has lost the ears to hear it, but you feel it. It is that tugging at your heart, trying to get you on the right path, trying to guide you past the pitfalls in life, and to my heavenly purpose. But you as man through the original defiance you have come to call the original sin, have allowed another to dwell inside of you, and that being controls you through the EGO, and tells you how great you can be, by worshiping things that do not matter, like money and possessions. Essentially when you follow ego, you edge God out of you life and let the dark power take over, aqnd control the direction you take in your life.

Look at the mess in this world, the collapsed economies, the lost jobs, the devalued properties, it is all a result of greed. Man wanting more than he truly needs, houses were getting bigger and bigger, as were the mortgages, and deceptive ways were devised to cover up the debt incurred. Things are considered neccesities that aren't necessary at all. They ar enice to haves and it would make my life easier if...but not necessary at all to live. Cars had to be fancier and bigger.Things considered neccesities may be nice but truly not neccessitie to live. Things had to be bigge, fancier, more economical. All because the one who controls the ego said it should be. You as a society have strayed from your roots. You government fills your headwith lies and like the rest of you, lives well outside of its means, but no one wants to sufer the hard cuts because of a sense of entitlement. You learned nothing from my earthly incarnation in the form of the Christ. He came to earth as an example of how to lead your life, and howit should be lead, and to hopefully awaken you to the existance of the Spirit inside of each of you. He was sent to be the part of me that exeperienced what you experience. He was sent to be the Rabbi of all Rabbi's. I have listened my son, not only to you but to generation upon generations who were like you.” the voice said unto me.

“How do I know you listened my Lord, I mean my life is so messed up and seemingly empty.” I cried.

Is it now? Empty you say, I would say just the opposite, your life is rich and full. I have instilled in you a purpose to minister to your fellow man, and you have found your niche in caring for your fellow warriors. You warriors hold a special place in my heart because for the most part you fight the evil in this world. You put you lives on the line to fight tyranny and hatred, but you also pay the price with your thousand yard stares, and metal anguish from experiencing the horros that man can inflict on their fellow man. This is a result of evil getting inside and messing with the EGO, and filling the mind with self centered thoughts which result in Edging God Out of your lives.” the voice inside my heart continues, “ now to your original prayer, when have I not answered your prayers? You prayed for help in heating your house and I arranged for one receptive to delivering wood and accepting payment over time, then I went a step further and got you a load delivered free of charge from another source. You prayed for relief of a car loan...”

“Now wait a minute God,” I say,, “ I got out from under the car payment because my daughter totaled her mothers car, now that can't be the same thing.”

“Now my son,” God went on,” why does it have to work out exactly as YOU want? Yes she was in an accident, and totaled the car, but didn't I protect her from injury, as well as the other driver? Didn't you get exactly enough to pay off the loan on the car? I would say it all worked out for you.” “You Prayed for money to pay for truck repairs, and didn't I provide work that paid enough to cover those expenses, as well as provide a lady you have become friendly with and is a huge fan of yours?You prayed fervently for a job when your unemployemtn ran out and I provided one. Ialso provided finacial help whn you needed it to pay your bills. When you though Christmases were going to be dismal, didn't I provide money for you to buy presents for your girls, and you admitted yourself tha those were two of the best Christmas's of your life.”

“So okay God,” I ask, “Why do you let bad things happen to good people?”

My son,” God responded, “I don't let bad things happen to good people, you people alone allow bad things to happen to yourselves. Again you rely on EGO to sort things out, and rely on your own understanding. You Edge Me Out, even when you come to me in prayer, rather than listening to the stirring in your heart, and the murmeurs of the Spirit, you rely more on your own intuition and the direction of the EGO. Yes I created the EGO as an instrument for you to develop some pride in your accomplishments, but you have pushed it furhter and further ahead in your life, and placed it above me. Many people worship themselves above me and fail to acknowledge any control I have over their lives. They turn only to themsleves for answers, and take credit for all the good things that happen in ther lives, but blame me when things go wrong. There are two things and two things only I ask of you as humans, and that is to love your fellow man as you love yourself, and two is to in all ways acknowledge me. You must remember that Gratitude is an attitude, and that it is catchy. Just as you like your children to be grateful for the things you do for them, I like all my children to be grateful for the things I do for them. Just as when your children are grateful , you are willing to give them and trust them more, I am also. However, just as you are dismayed when all your children do is come to you with their hands out looking for more without acknowledging what you have already done for them, I get upset when people come to me in prayer and just ask for blessings in their lives. It is totally within my power to make everyman wealthy in ways you can only imagine, but I do not do so because if you are not to be thankful for the small things in your lives, you will never be for the big things either.. Additionally with the benefits of my treasures comes the awesome responsibility of sharing the treasure with those around you as I share them with you. Do you understand what I am saying? You give so freely of yourself and that which I have entrusted in you, but others do not. They think the amassing of gold and jewels make them rich, they fail to realize it is not the ability to amass the vast amount of riches, but the ability to share what I have trusted to you with others that makes you truly rich..”

“My big fear my Lord,” I muse, “is that I am not praying properly.”

“My son,” my heart murmurs, “is there a proper way to pray? You tell me.”

“I don't know Lord,” I reply, “So many people in the Bible seem to have it wired, with the right amount of formality, even people at church, yo uknow the pious ones that use the flowery words and kneel with their heads bowed. That just doesn't feel right to me, I don't know, I just want to do it right.”

“There is no right way, and there is no wrong way to pray,” the voice assures me. “There is only what is comfortable to you. How do you talk to your friends? Are you all formal and correct when you talk to them? If you are comfortable on your knees, then by all means do that. If you are more comfortable sitting on a rock in the middle of a beautiful field with the sounds of nature all around you, then by all means do that. I really don't care, what I do care is that you share with me and come to me with your joys as well as your fears. I care that you have a sense of gratitude for what you have. Talk to me as you wold your wife and kids. What is right for you is right for me.”

“Okay, I say,”I can see that, but it seems that you don't hear me or care to answer.”

“I always answer you Paul,” the voice assures me, You just have to remember, your time is not my time. To me a day is like a millenium, and a millenium is like a day. I answer you when the time is right, in my time, not yours.

“But God,” I cry, “How do I know that if I don't hear you?”

“Paul, Paul, Paul,” He goes on, “You also have to remember man has forgotten how to hear me. I didn't stop communicating with you, you stopped learning how to listen. Abraham, Enoch, Daniel, David, and even Paul learned how to listen to the murmur in their soul just as you are doing right now, that is how I communicate with you. I also send you messages through your surroundings and nature. Remember when you decided it was right to start a ministry, you were talking to me in a garden. What happened then?”

“I remember,” I said, “A hummingbird landed on abranch right next to me and sat there looking at me. I felt so peaceful and everyhting felt so right.”

“And was that not an answer to you?”

“I see what you mean my Lord, I see what you mean.”

“My son just because I don't ensure you have all the things you think are the finest in the world, I have entrusted you with some of the most precious gifts life has to offer. A good woman at your side, the sound of giggling children at play, the beauty of a sunrise and sunset over the mountains. And you do show gratitude for these, and I am appreciative of that, for many don't and just grumble about what they don't have even when I have given them so much. So go forth my son and enjoy the pleasures I have given you, and remember this, the most precious gift is time, for even though it goes on eternally, your time in this physical body is limited and finite,and you can't replace any of it once it is gone, so spend it wisely, and enjoy every second of it.”

With that the voice subsided and my heart went quiet, but the glow remained and I knew my conversation with God was over, for now. But I also felt if I continued to speak, God would be ther listening. I walked back to the house a few minutes later with a new fresh perspective on life, and my relationship with my Creator.

A Matter of Perspective

It has been said that a weed is a desirable plant that has just grown in the wrong place. This is very true in many cases. During the summer I was working out in the field and my wife made the comment to me, that she wishes we could get rid of the milkweed that grows in places around the field. Ilooked at her and said I would like to see a half acre of the field covered in nothing but milkweed. Janet asked me why, and I told her, when I look at milkweed I can smell the sweet aroma of the flowers as they bloom in the summer. I look and I can see the monarch butterflies flitting from flower to flower as they feed (Monarchs love milkweed and it protects them from many predators as the predators do not like the taste of the monarch as it takes on the flavor of the milkweed) Ialso see my children standing in the field as youngsters picking the pods and pulling the seeds out and blowing them into the wind and then saying "Look daddy angels floating over us" Yes when some people look at the milkweed they see a noxious plant that seemingly has nothing to offer, but they don't look beyond the plant to the beauty it brings with it, and the wonderment of children at play. What a boring world it would be if we didn't have children watching the "angels" floating on the breeze. Yes things may appear as weeds in our lives, noxious and unneeded, but if you dig deeper and look at them deeper you may see the beauty they put into your life because they are there. An illness or medical condition may be a pain, but it may make you slow down enough in your life that you actually take time to smell the roses. A layoff from work may give you the time to lay on your back with your children and see the animals that float over head in the clouds. These weeds, may also be God's way of leading us on to greater things and becoming more elegant and beautiful humans as the milkweed helps create and protect the monarch butterfly. Life is all a matter of perspective, and hwo we look at it determines how we react to it. Be positive and understanding and life becomes positive and understanding to you.