Poet, Author, Composer....
Prayer for Earth-Care
312. Prayer For Earth-Care
—
Creator God
who moved around the earth
distributing Monarch butterflies
daffodils and hippopotamuses
—
help us to remember
the charge you gave to us
not to dominate
but to care for creation
—
that it may remain “good”
in your sight
and in ours
—
in the name of the one
who took notice of sparrows
Amen
Times Such As These
311. Times Such As These
We were teaching Bible School in the summer. We did it in the afternoon and ended with supper so we became like this small community. There were five helpers and nine children. The oldest child was 17 and the youngest was 5. Maybe it was more like a family.
The songs that went with the curriculum required reading and that didn’t work for the five-year-old. The Esther story didn’t have a song, so I wrote a round for that story and William learned it easily.
Mordecai was Esther’s uncle and told her that she needed to go to the king to save the Jewish people. Esther said if she went to the king without being called by him, he could kill her. And Mordecai said, “Perhaps you have come to this place for just this act. Speak out.” So Esther did and the Jewish people were saved. The words to the round were:
—
Perhaps you have come to the place where you are,
For just such a time as this!
Perhaps you have come to the place where you are,
For just such a time as this!
Speak out! Don’t keep silence! Be true to God!
Speak out! Don’t keep silence! Be true to God!
—
© Copyright 1997 by Ann Freeman Price
—
One time as they were doing crafts, everyone was working and not even talking. Quietly I heard a little five-year-old voice start to sing—”Perhaps you have come to the place where you are…” And then the others joined in and as they did the craft they sang the song in a round.
The wonder of it is that William’s grandmother told me that on the times when she puts him to bed he says to her “Let’s sing about Esther” and together they sing this song about speaking out and being true to God.
My dream for all my children’s choir work was that the songs that got planted in their musical brains and in their hearts would be there when they needed them in life.
It’s not easy to speak out. But in our world, it seems more dangerous to me to be silent.
The Clown
310. The Clown
—
I sit on the ledge
by chapel windows
bright colors surround me
but I can’t shake the sadness
—
the woman talks of weapons
and finding another way
talks of two bullets
made every year for each person
on the planet
what a waste
—
I’m just a clown
and when the sun pierces through
the red and blue and yellow
and clear panes of glass
I sit and mull it over
—
it should be simpler
it seems to me
to know by now
the killing doesn’t work
—
I felt a woman cry
when she saw me
because there was another
Gentle One who couldn’t
get them to stop either
—
they still think it will work
the guns and the deaths
and a bullet for everyone
—
but that Gentle One
and I know that
what works
is loving
—
we’ll keep sitting here
on the ledge of the
chapel windows
—
maybe others will see us
and know the difference
between the dying
and the loving
—
© Copyright 2012 by Ann Freeman Price
Take Your Peace
309. Take Your Peace
I heard this story about Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk and peace activist. He was visiting the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Nyack, NY, one of the oldest peace groups in the world. It was bustling when he arrived, people rushing around as they worked on places of conflict around the world. There was an urgent energy in the air that was filled with tension. In the few days that he stayed there, the tension calmed down—because of him. He walked slowly. He smiled gently. He loved. And his peace transferred.
I think of myself. Sometimes I go out to lunch with someone, following some activity at the church. I carry with me whatever mood I’m in. I’d never thought about taking my frustrations to a restaurant and infecting this eating place with them. Or—I could take calmness and peace into that place.
But wherever I go, I encounter another community and I take where I am into that place. If I were to follow the model of Thich Nhat Hanh, I would take peace wherever I go.
Apology
A few days ago I wrote a story about the British Navy and the Irish Navy which I had come upon. I presented it as true, and a reader has called to my attention that it is not true. Good story—but not a true one. Sorry.
Spring Song for Earth Day
308. Spring Song for Earth Day
—
God Has Given You a World
(Tune: This Is My Father’s World)
—
God has given you a world
And it is a garden fair
With beauty round and glorious sound
The gift is yours to share.
So scatter seeds of love
Wherever you may go,
Sing songs of grace in every place
And tell the truth you know.
—
God has given you a world
And a chance to plant your days
So water deep, As you sow, you reap,
Now sow in loving ways.
So scatter seeds of love
Wherever you may go,
Sing songs of grace in every place
And tell the truth you know.
—
God has given you a world,
Asking you to make the peace,
Plant sunflowers tall, let cannons fall,
And help the wars to cease.
So scatter seeds of love
Wherever you may go,
Sing songs of grace in every place
And tell the truth you know.
—
© Copyright 2010 by Ann Freeman Price
All the Information
307. All the Information
I can’t remember where I got this story. I know how I laughed at the end. And it reminds me to make sure that I’ve gathered all the information.
This is the transcript of the ACTUAL radio conversation between the British and the Irish Navy, off the coast of Kerry, October 1998, This radio conversation was released by the Chief of Naval Operations October 10, 2001.
IRISH: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the South, to avoid a collision.
BRITISH: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the North, to avoid a collision.
IRISH: Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.
BRITISH: This is the Captain of a British navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.
IRISH: Negative. I say again, you will have to divert YOUR course.
BRITISH: This is the Aircraft Carrier HMS Britannia! The second largest ship in the British Atlantic Fleet. We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers, and numerous support vessels. I demand that you change your course 15 degrees north. I say again, that is 15 degrees north, or counter-measures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship.
IRISH: We are a lighthouse. Your call.
New Words to Old Hymn
306. New Words to Old Hymn
I do love writing new words to old hymns and especially relished doing this one to the tune of “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus.” The other words are a bit too militaristic for me. Don’t just read it—sing it!
—
Sing Out, Sing Out for Jesus
—
Sing out, sing out for Jesus,
The song of love’s not done,
Sing out, sing out for Jesus,
The love goes on and on.
From God to each one present
As we that love receive,
We send it out to neighbors
Who feeling love, believe.
—
Sing out, sing out for Jesus,
He calls to us each day.
Sing out, sing out for Jesus
And follow in his way.
We can be justice people
When wealthy trample poor,
When nations fight with nations,
We’ll stand for no more war.
—
Sing out, sing out for Jesus,
Our voices must be strong,
Sing out, sing out for Jesus,
So others sing along.
The table’s spread and ready,
The invitation’s clear,
We give a hearty welcome
To each one far and near.
—
Sing to tune “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus.”
© Words Copyright 2004 by Ann Freeman Price
Pure Foolishness
305. Pure Foolishness
I came upon this story from my life that I had forgotten—and it is just pure foolishness but sometimes that’s what we live. When I was in the midst of moving from Nyack to Branchville, I had gone back to my apartment to get the last things. And two of those things were two wooden table lamps with their shades on. I put them in the back seat of the car, leaning against the seat, and they looked like they were passengers going for a ride. I stopped at Cathie and Roger Myers house in West Nyack and parked the car in their driveway. When Roger saw the lamps he said, “It is so nice of you to take your lamps out for a ride today—most lamps live such quiet, uneventful lives.”
Well, when I got to Branchville, I took a picture of them before I unloaded them and after I got the picture developed I put it in the folder for February since that’s when Roger’s birthday is. When February rolled around the next year, I put that picture of lamps into a photo-card and inside I wrote, “Roger—I took the lamps out for a ride again in honor of your birthday!”
Poem in Your Pocket Day
304. Poem in Your Pocket Day
April is National Poetry Month and April 18 is Poem in Your Pocket Day. Here’s the poem I’m carrying around all day today and reading whenever I get a chance.
It’s by Lao Tzu who was a philosopher of ancient China.
—
The Uses of Not
—
Thirty spokes
meet in the hub,
Where the wheel isn’t
is where it’s useful.
—
Hollowed out,
clay makes a pot.
Where the pot’s not
is where it’s useful.
—
Cut doors and windows
to make a room.
Where the room isn’t,
there’s room for you.
—
So the profit in what is
is in the use of what isn’t.
—
by Lao Tzu
—
Do you have a poem in your pocket?
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Daybook of Personal Faith
Mama and Me
