This is the poem I wrote as a child,
when I was meeting with my grandmother
to say our goodbyes.
She was in bed, at home,
not going to last the night,
due to cancer.

To The Terminally Ill
(Delta Magazine Fall 1996)

One who creates beauty
is a poet.

The truth of the world
lies in the secrets of happiness
which comes from the heart;
where would one start
to make love's inner rhythms unfurl
into explainable thoughts
that show what is bliss
even when our lifeline has knots?

When people stray as they progress
they must back up and repress
the problem which is a sign
of a need for specific improvement.

It is wise to be happy
and to hold on to what o ne has--
to be thankful for wisdom
and the importance it casts,
for whatever knowledge we gain
in each of our lives
there are always surprises
and changes to be prized.

When something is missing
or something goes wrong
that is our opportunity
to make ourselves strong.

In the Bible, the first will be last and the last will be first. God served us by sacrificing Himself in the most drastic way in His time on earth, and will lead us in heaven. Our sufferings give us greater elation when we reach heaven in contrast to the temporary palanca we endure honorably for others and ourselves in our first lives.

To be a leader is to follow. Jesus asked Peter to feed His lambs. That is to lead. Jesus said that we must follow His example of serving. He even submitted Himself to the governing authorities of the worldly organizations instead of being a worldly messiah--He choose the eternal heavenly reward first over the work to get there.

To give everything and follow Him. We cannot serve two masters--it is either a worldly master or a heavenly master.

In choosing to lead, we must seek where God leads us, where we may serve Him.

Following the voice of my son through the rushing waves of our group singing, I navigated for but a moment in the listening to what was being sung in a search for Jesus in others. That is how this world's civilizations will get along, as I had hoped even before finding my faith. That serving search to find that love between us, closing those gaps to no longer judge but to listen with the ears of looking for the mentor inside, that voice of each of us in the body of Christ.