Rock on

What is the best seat in the house? I think a rocker. My name is Bob Ritchie

A day off, well sort of, a morning off, well sort of, at least until ten.

What does it matter, as long as there are moments to write and read.

Each day holds promises of connection, and I have already connected

to the sunrise.



This time of year the sun first hits the tops of the trees and then slowly

climbs down their trunks into the pond. A pond that is of such beauty

that it gives me pause to wonder why one of our neighbors plots to destroy

it. Especially since all they seem to want is access to a barbecue grill they haven't used for ten years.

Morning Meditation

Morning Scripture

He taught me, and said lay hold of my words with all your heart;
keep my commands and you may live. Get wisdom, get understanding;
do not forget my words or swerve from them. (Proverbs 4:4-5)

PB Writes

There seems to be a tension in the instructions. The present and the
future contain memories of a past that gives the instructions intensity.
There is a feeling the speaker is not suggesting things that are to be followed
only on sunny days, but rather on the dark and stormy nights of our souls.

Morning Prayer

Lord, we pray to lay hold of your words with all our heart and not swerve from
your commands. We want a life that treasures wisdom and understanding, a life that enables us to combine free will with obedience. Amen.

Relationship

To have a relationship is to invite rejection
And in that thought, there is room for inspection
Why should we have one?
Rather a thought than a question.

What is the worth of having something that must depart?
Those who have one can’t be presumed to be too smart.
It was in the beginning that relationship began
All before God formed even one hand

Beside Still Waters

I could feel it
I was in a room I had been long before
A smaller me, but the room remained
As it had been
Long ago.

I felt stifled, breathing came hard,
Something happened here
To stifle creativity
My person had been drowned
Beside still waters

Let It Snow

First real snow today. Perfect timing as this is my first day of fall/winter vacation from classes. I like classes, but by the end of ten weeks, even with only three classes to the usual five, a break is welcome. Something about ending a semester, that at least on the day of their demise, I can think of nothing else to write about. It is a relief to be able to read only what I want to read, and not have a paper due. For the next seven weeks, I only have sermons. Not bad. Maybe I should start those Christmas cards; cards that looked so unappealing this morning. A little snow on a day that a semester ends is snow appealing!

Fall Roads

Why do they put those little strips of tar in the road? Those snakelike swirls that wander drunkenly in any direction except straight. Is it to give us traction? Is it physics? Do uneven random surfaces painted here and there across an asphalt surface save the road?

Between these squiggels of tar and the single leaves that blow across the road, I can hardly concentrate on my cell phone. Each leaf appears in my peripheral vision as mouse or a frog or a turtle belatedly gliding home. They all make it unsafe at any speed and the conversations difficult.