Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world.

August 7, 2006

Today’s Queue Stories

~**~**~

 ValueSpeak

A Weekly Column

By Joseph Walker

valuespeak@msn.com

I’M GOOD

            There are serious disadvantages to living with someone who writes for a living.

            For one thing, it isn’t much of a living unless your name happens to be Dave Barry or Tom Clancy or J.K. Rowling or Garrison Keillor or Stephen King or  . . . well, OK – it isn’t much of a living for me.  For another, there’s that nagging understanding that if you ever say or do anything remotely interesting, clever, funny or dumb, it will probably end up on newspaper pages around the county.  With your name spelled correctly.

            Like the time I wrote that our youngest son, Jon (note: no “h”), is at that awkward, in-between age: one minute he’s watching cartoons, and the next minute he’s online looking at pictures of Poppy Montgomery.

            What?  I didn’t write that column yet?

            Oops.

            The other thing is, sometimes stuff like this happens: the other night we went out for dinner and the waitress stopped by our table to ask if anyone wanted a soda refill.

            “I’m good,” Beth said.

            I looked at Beth.  Evidently this is a look Beth has come to know and dread during the nearly 17 years she has been our youngest daughter.  She rolled her eyes and started bracing herself for what she knew was coming.

            “That’s right, Beth,” I said.  “You’re good.  We’re very proud of that.  You are a good girl, and I’m sure the waitress is pleased to know that.  But perhaps you should . . ”

            “No, thank you,” Beth said pointedly, smiling at the waitress and then glaring at me.

            “Well, I just think it’s good to be good,” I said, suddenly feeling the need to justify my appreciation for words and their meaning.  “You should be proud of being good, and you shouldn’t diminish it by saying ‘I’m good’ when you really mean ‘No, thank you.’”

            “But everybody says it today, Dad,” Beth said, continuing her ongoing struggle to drag her father kicking and screaming into the 21^st Century. “It’s just the way people talk.”

            “Which is all the more reason to fight to protect the integrity of certain words,” I said, warming to the subject.  “I don’t want just anyone saying ‘I’m good.’  This is not a phrase you should be allowed to use unless you ARE good. I don’t want to go to some restaurant in Constantinople and overhear Osama bin Laden telling a waitress ‘I’m good.’  He’s NOT good, for Pete’s sake!  He’s Osama bin freaking Laden!”

            “Joe,” my wife Anita said, calmly, “people are beginning to stare.”

            “Besides, Dad,” Beth added, “there’s no such place as Constantinople anymore.  It’s Istanbul.  And as much as you hate to travel, the only way you’re going to overhear Osama bin Laden saying anything is if you bump into him getting a Slurpee at 7-11.”

            “Hey, as long as he doesn’t say ‘I’m good,’” I said, “I’m good.”

            Journalistic ethics (yes, I still have a few around here somewhere) require that I point out that I may have taken some artistic liberties within the last four paragraphs.  In other words, I pretty much made them up.  And I should probably give credit to They Might Be Giants for the Istanbul-Constantinople bit.  I didn’t intentionally steal it from their song, “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” – which, truth be told, was actually not theirs, but was written by Jimmy Kennedy and Nat Simon and recorded by The Four Lads in 1953.  But I’ve always liked that song and it was probably lurking somewhere in the back of my mind when I wrote that.

            There.  I feel better.  Cleaner.  Worthier.  More virtuous.

            You know . . . good.

            Even though it probably doesn’t help my kids feel any better about living with a writer.

~**~**~

 ~ Be at Rest ~

 Joyce Lock

And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove!

for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Psalm 55:6

I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying,

Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew,

and my locks with the drops of the night. Song 5:2

The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.  And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.

Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.  Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.  Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.  Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.  Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.  She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.  Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.  I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.  When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.  Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.  Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.  Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

© 2005 by Joyce C. Lock

http://our.homewithgod.com/heavenlyinspirations/
This writing may be used in its entirety, with credits in tact,
for non-profit ministering purposes.

~**~**~

Poetry Section

~**~**~

So Many Masks

Mary Carter Mizrany

So many masks
to hide the pain
often too hard to bear . . .
subtle, yet convincing,
the different masks we wear ~



Breaking hearts need
smiling masks to
camouflage the tears . . .
sculpt'd smiles express the joy
not felt for years and years ~



Masks of courage
to belie fear
how these can deceive . . .
yet longing are the wearers for
an antidote that will relieve ~


Masks hiding indifference
concealing feelings of
jealousy and hate . . .
pridefulness, lust and greed
OH, what a sad estate ~


"Exchange your masks"
the Saviour pleads
His voice we hear today . . .
I'm JESUS CHRIST, King of Kings
The Truth ~ The Life ~ The Way ~


"You'll need no masks
or camouflage, disguise
nor f~a~k~e~r~y . . .
transformed ~ transparent
my precious child, forever you shall be"!

Mary Carter Mizrany
August 29, 2005
Copyrighted. All rights reserved.

musingByMary@aol.com

~**~**~

*^*S*O*N*S*H*I*N*E*^*
Mary Carter Mizrany

Is the "SON" shining in your hearts today? Or has some
awful circumstance stolen the Joy of the Lord from your
heart? Has the enemy crept in unaware and laid a snare?

Has someone you love and trust disappointed you? Has one
of those special dreams you've yearned to see fulfilled been
crushed by unexpected disaster?

Ah, my dear one, take courage, for this may just be the
very day Father intervenes and rearranges your life;
restores your joy; opens a brand new door for you: answers
that prayer; gives you one of His unexpected wonderful
surprises:-) YES ~ it's TRUE! Even in our darkest hours
Father is planning improvements for our lives. Folks arepraying for us when we weren't even aware of it.

Together we can help one another be lifted from a dark valley
to a place of victory. Encouragement sometimes comes from
the least expected sources. That circumstance we thought
would be our undoing ~ Father can change for a great
opportunity in our lives. He can change our testimony in the
twinkling of an eye:-) God opens doors that no one can close:
closes doors that no one can open! We CAN make lemonade
out of those lemons ~ with just a drop of the sweetness of
our precious WAY~MAKER, Jesus!

I WILL bless the Lord at ALL times: his praises shall continually
be in my mouth!!! JESUS CHRIST is always causing us to
TRIUMPH ~ HALLELUJAH !!!

**********

I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall
continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble
shall hear thereof, and be glad.
O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name
together. Psalm 34:1~3
musingByMary@aol.com

~**~**~

*^*More S*O*N*S*H*I*N*E*
Mary Carter Mizrany

SONSHINE is not just
for "fair~weather" days
when blue skies are all we see . . .
when everything's coming up roses
and we're happy as we'd want to be ~

SONSHINE is not just for
cool summer breezes when
our skin needs refreshin' from a burn . . .
when dreams that we're dreamin'
are the ones coming true
every lil' thing for which our hearts yearn ~

Ahhh~ No, my dear friends
it's those times we're alosin'
and bearly stragglin' in for last place . . .
when answers to prayers
seem slow in the comin'
we're hangin' by a thread to HIS grace ~

It's refusing the lies that
ole' slewfoot is spewin'
and facin' him down with a stare . . .
using God's WORD our weapon
of warfare~ SHIELD of FAITH
SWORD OF THE SPIRIT ~ savoir ~ faire ~

SONSHINE'S for EVERY DAY
good ~ bad and in~between
e'en when faith seems to no avail . . .
SONSHINE is JESUS
same YESTERDAY~TODAY~FOREVER
whose MERCIES   NEVER   FAIL!

H A L L E L U Y A H !!!

Mary Carter Mizrany©
July 7, 2004

musingByMary@aol.com

Senior Writers

Chief writer: Sharon Bryant

Chief researcher/historian: Hartson Dowd

Agee, Vance; Apted, Violet; Baker, Kathy; Batt, Al; Berry, Nell; Blaine, Pamela; Boda, Ginger; Booher, Paula; Buhagiar, Victor; Cassady, B.J.; Costner, Joan Clifton; Cavalera, Robyn; Crider, Mark; Dees, Mary; Deming, Barb; Doherty, Maria;  Dowd, Hartson; Dowd, Helen; Gilbert, Robert, Jr.; Gold, Ron; Goodier, Steve; Grisham, Mary-Ellen; Braun-Haley, Ellie; Harris, Kathy Anne; Henry, Linda Ann; Hunt, Sharlett; Hymes, Christina; Jacobson, Gary; Kiser, Roger Dean; Kerens, Claudia; Kevin, Tim; Jenkins, Pamela; Liles, Norma; Lily Jodi Flesberg; Lock, Joyce; Marlor, Janice Bumbalough; Mazzella, Joe; Mizrany, Mary Carter; Morris, Deepak; Ojeibge, Georgewaters; Petry, Dianna Doles; Roberts, Susan; Shiveley, Debra; Shaw, Bob; Sims, Richard; Streidel, Saskia; Swarner, Ken; Vaknin, Sam; Verhoeff, Jan; Walker, Bill; Walker, Joe; Warner, Gordon, K; Walsh, Sue; Weymouth, Barbara J.; Whirity, Kathy;

Wainland, David; Westerfer, Clara; White Robert;

Storytime Tapestry Staff

Carol Roach - Founder/publisher

Thelma Hartselle - Co-Founder, Moderator

Clara Westerfer – moderator

Bob Johnston - moderator