Reflections and Reviews

five nine to zeroes
crooning squawks as gentle nudge
shattered dreaming done

My son (daughter): May you wake always with hope and optimism, and take up the weight of the day with pride and voracious appetite. It is easy to instantly say to yourself, “Today I must do this and that and talk to...

flaming night terror
sudden damaging flood stream
salvation we plan

My son (daughter): May you welcome salvation even when it shakes the pride out of you. Rescue and escape from harm or prison does not always look like a storybook ending or a cool dude turning his back on an explosion. May...

step step triple step
turn around do it again
moving together

My son (daughter): A good life is balanced. Not like a table is stable, but like a bicycle. Life is a thing in motion, and balance comes in the moment and its context not strictly from one action or another. May you always...

humidity cursed
raindrops draw shouts from all tongues
in cup a blessing

My son (daughter): May you position yourself for success, and be aware of relationship above all things. The race is not to the swift, and success not to the skilled. May you be like water, fitting the situation you are...

egg left far behind
turns to savage tail with beak
bothersome down gone

My son (daughter): May you shed your irritating childish ways as aggressively as a hatchling escaping its confining shell! Down may be comfortable, but it is unbecoming on the full-fledged champion of light you were born...

mans efforts stand one
a city stand one hundred
one thousand divine

My son (daughter): Nothing made will last forever. May you make things anyway. Even a string of grass can bring joy for a few moments, and that is worthwhile. Still, there are things which last longer than others. Tools of...

violent breakup
birth of nations and adults
apple harvesting

My son (daughter): May you come to understand authority well, the most vital binding in life. With authority comes organization and cooperation, but it is itself subject to corruption just as individuals are. May you know when to...

clover underfoot
soft and gentle between toes
man installs carpet

My son (daughter): May you come to value and cherish discomfort, being stronger when others expect you to slacken and complain. What God gives is often uncomfortable, but you grow in the uncomfortable miles and uncomfortable...

hot sun made gentle
oasis in working grind
umbrella of green

My son (daughter): May you take pride in difficulties, instead of complaining or letting them slow you overmuch. God made open fields to be worked just as surely as he made lovely deep shade under which to drowse and rest. Take...

glass of cool water
table with bread and butter
safe for sleep and rest

My son (daughter): May you find friends wherever you go, and keep up your relationships with sincerity and grace. Good friends, loyal friends, and the power of that time-transcending bond are all gifts of God; may He be...

hold my hand mommy
the dark is here and I’m scared
You can see it, right?

My son (daughter): May you learn to use fear as fuel for righteous anger or scornful laughter instead of its raw, misguided original form. Parents who do not fear the dark still see the dark, experience it, and...