Who is Free?

Wolf wanders to and fro

searching food for pack.

Eagle flies above his prey

searching for moment right.

Man wanders like the wolf

looking for his next claim.

Who among the three is

fullest in outward strength?

Which one has the most

Inner fortitude to compete?

What honor is bestowed

to each wolf, eagle, man?

Are they each free in

their commonality?

I see not much difference.

The wolf freely searches earth.

The eagle freely soars searching.

Man the most predatory, freely stalks

seeking to destroy anything not 

of use nor of any value to him.

What do you observe here?

Who is free if not man to destroy.

Susans Soul...

98 words © 7 hours ago, Susan Langer    freedom • nature • society

Honor and What It Means

I was thinking about the word honor and how we as individuals view it. Wikipedia states honour (American spelling honor) is an abstract concept entailing a perceived quality of worthiness and respectability that affects both the social standing and the self-evaluation of an individual or institution such as a family, school, regiment or nation.I felt honor even when my daughter was graduated with Honors, receiving her Masters Degree last year. I felt honor because I had instilled the characteristics that she needed throughout her lifetime to achieve honor. 

Honor can be used as a noun, adjective, and verb so it has multiple uses but these all point to high regard or esteem that you recognize or bestow to someone. Honor has a close relationship with the word, integrity,an honorable word showing character. According to Wikipedia, "integrity is the qualification of being honest and having strong moral principles, or moral uprightness. It is generally a personal choice to hold oneself to consistent moral and ethical standards." It is my opinion that we as a society use the words honor and integrity, frivolously not bestowing the honor due these words.  The poem was written yesterday to honor Earth Day.   Susans Soul...

Dance of Trust

Dance of Trust

The sun rises as does my love for thee.
Machinations wander the valley pathway.
What is our purpose together? Apart?
Thou lead and I follow until the sun's
abandonment gives way to the moon.
Random thoughts impede me as darkness
diminishes my vision beyond today.

Arise my love to sun's daybreak rejoicing.
Begin anew thy journey's full purpose.
I follow where thou lead emboldened
by thy willingness to possess all of me.
Remember naught paths without me.

Celebrate my leading and everpresence.
Those thou mourn suffocate thy splendor.
I am with thee throughout thy journey.
Do not ask for visions, future or past.
Envision all things through my eyes only.

Embrace me as thou would'st thy lover.
Forget the past memories of thy pain.
Drink from this well that gives thou life.
I am thy past, present, and future.
Turn thy fickle heart toward the truth.
If not, be on thy way until thou see light.
When thou tire of life's lost dreams then
turn to the one everpresent in thy life.

Behold thy one true love's beckoning.
Be still my love. Trust my words spoken.
Behold my deeds shown through my eyes.
Come and rest thy weary brow upon me.
I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
I am thy one true love within thy fate
awaiting thy complicity and consent.

Susans Soul

Just Imagine

Just Imagine

Just imagine a world full of peace. No wars, no terrorists, no bombings or shooting. No violence of any kind against man, beast, or nature. Just imagine the world like this. Is it possible?

Not as long as the world is run by Satan and Evil. But just imagine it. Peaceful leaders, peaceful politicians, peaceful bosses, peaceful families. No infighting or abuse of any kind. Just peace and joy and happiness and rejoicing.

Communities that love other communities and share amongst themselves the resources each has. Just imagine no poverty, no discrimination, no evil competition.

Just imagine that we could live in the world like this. Is it possible? If we each try to impact one other person with kindness and love rather than indifference and hatred, it is possible. But the first step has to come from you.

You see, it's a mindset, an attitude, a life of peace. It's all inclusive. Will you join me? Doesn't it sound enticing? Don't you long for peace, happiness, kindness, joy, rejoicing? Who could show us the way? Could God show it to us?

Are you willing to risk coming to know God so that you can see if He and His Word are real, living in peace and harmony. Loving and unity are part of the equation.

Just imagine that you wake up tomorrow and find all this to be true. Just imagine. Can you?

Susans Soul...

---

Butterflies in Grandmother's Garden

Butterflies in Grandmother's Garden

8-year-old Katy wanted to catch butterflies. She had a net and a plastic jar to store the butterflies in. She entered her grandmother's garden where she knew she would find many specimens to catch.

She saw a white butterfly close to her grasp. As she swung her net, the butterfly flew away. She crept up to the butterfly again and slowly lowered her net over him. He was trapped or so she thought. Katy moved her jar close to the net trying to force the butterfly into the jar.

The butterfly escaped from the net and flew further away toward the far end of the garden. He hid among some plants and leaves that camouflaged him so that Katy could not easily see him.

As she moved close to where the butterfly was hiding, Katy heard her grandmother call her for lunch. She turned toward the house and left the butterfly free to fly and pollinate grandmother's flowers.

Score one for the butterfly and zero for Katy this round.

Susan Langer

Genre: Flash Fiction

A White Woman's Thoughts on Martin Luther King Jr. and Rights

" I have a dream..."

Today is the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. April 4th 1968. He was two years younger than me being born in 1953. He truly was a great man striving to bring equal rights to all people including the African Americans living then and today. If you have never heard the "I have a dream..." speech by Dr. King, please do so. It will shake you and bring you to tears but also let you know about Martin Luther King Jr.

Being of Caucasian race, I never experienced prejudice for my skin color that I was born with. I didn't choose to be white. And African Americans did not choose their dark skin. Yet for centuries ,even today, people have discriminated against people of brown and black color. Why? Not an easy question to answer. The black and brown skinned people were brought to America as slaves. They did not wake up and say, "Let's go to America today." They were sold into slavery for profit so that white people could have cheap/free labor for their agriculture, their farms. Other ethnicities migrated to America for freedom and opportunity. All have been mistreated by those who feel they are superior to these people.

And even after President Abraham Lincoln freed the slave and ended the Civil War, prejudice continues. We are a country of people who are all races, all colors and should have equal rights. Yet we do not. We, as whites were raised to think the black and brown races are inferior to us and even dangerous to us. I grew up during the 50's and 60's when Martin Luther King Jr. was actively fighting for the black race to be treated as an equal race to whites. But even today, in 2018 there is a difference made my some people.

Just ask yourself, "Do I have the right to treat others of different skin color, ethnicity, gender as though they do not have the same rights as me?" "What am I doing right now, today, to ensure that all people have equal rights?" If you can honestly answer those two questions, then I give you credit for helping Martin Luther King Jr. spread his legacy of equal rights for all mankind and I applaud you.

I leave you with five quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. and a poem by Susans Soul. Susan...

Jesus and the Cross

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:3-4 NIV

These two verses have been continually present in my conscious thoughts since Holy Week began. Today, more so as it is Good Friday. Even as I slept, I saw your sacrifice again and again.

Privacy and Amethyst

courtesy of Pexels.com

My right to privacy ended
the day you came into my life.
All those nurses gawking as I 
birthed you, met you, first time,
daughter of mine, so precious.

After that more exams, less privacy
with no attention to proper prudence
nor politeness as you came first on
your birthday, everyday as should be.
You were my sweet June amethyst.

As I watched your growth from infant
to child, my privacy loss was routine.
Never lock the door on any toddler!
Love and safety always over my privacy.

After that, privacy, a myth, only a wish
was thrust back upon me as you go.
Time fast-forwards from child to adult.
Your adulthood and two precious gems
A generational myth relived through you.
And my sought-after privacy returned.

Susans Soul

Prompt was “right to privacy in first line. © 2 days ago, Susan Langer