STORYTIME TAPESTRY

The Newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world

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Sept 1, 2005? 

A very special happy birthday goes out to Victor Buhagiar , our poet laureate.

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Congratulations goes out to Maria Doherty who has now become our newest senior writer.?  Maria joined us on Dec 26, 2004 as the 167^th writer to grace our wonderful newsletter.

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Heide Long, the lady with cancer if you remember, had lost her address book and all the wonderful people she had been corresponding with.?  She has asked that I announce her new email address so that her wonderful email friends can once again get in touch with her.

Here it is: heidelong1@gmail.com

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Now on to the good stuff..........

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Today's Queue Stories
~**~**~**~

ValueSpeak

A Weekly Column

By Joseph Walker

valuespeak@msn.net

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NOWHERE ELSE TO GO

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? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  I have never actually been to Belle Chasse, La.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  At least, not in person.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  But it feels like I have.?  This column has appeared there for a number of years in both of its weekly newspapers, The Plaquemines Watchman and The Plaquemines Gazette, so I know a few people there.

Well, OK, I have corresponded from time to time with Theresa, who works with the two papers.?  That??™s sort of like knowing someone, isn??™t it?

In fact, I just received a note from Theresa.?  I read it the same day I heard that they were evacuating New Orleans because of Hurricane Katrina.?  Since Belle Chasse is only about nine miles from New Orleans, I naturally started worrying about Theresa and the rest of the Watchman and Gazette teams.

At first, it all seemed a little surreal and disjointed.?  It was a still, clear, balmy late summer day where I live, so it was difficult to picture the meteorological chaos that was raging half a continent away.?  But the news footage convinced me that there was every reason to be concerned about Theresa and her colleagues in Belle Chase.?  I wanted to do something, to reach out in a meaningful way to people who had stood by me and supported me and showed and infinite amount of patience with me through the years.

But how?

Even with all of the technological wonders of our times, there are severe limitations on our ability to be as instantly benevolent as we??™d like to be in times of crisis and need.?  Remember how we felt last year during the Malaysian tsunami, when it turned out to be ever so much easier to transmit to us the horrifying photographic evidence of natural disaster than it was to transport to them the rescue equipment and relief supplies that were so sorely needed??  We felt that same feeling again this week, as we helplessly watched live television coverage of what was just the most recent illustration of how puny and impotent humankind is in the face of Mother Nature??™s boundless capacity for devastation and destruction.

Meteorologists identified Katrina and tracked her as she made her way across the Atlantic.?  They warned citizens as the storm bore down on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of the United States.?  A remarkably safe and efficient evacuation moved hundreds of thousands out of the storm??™s path and probably saved many thousands of lives.?  Homes and businesses were boarded up and protected insofar as it was possible.

And yet, for all of the advance warning that modern science and communications could provide, lives were still lost and billions of dollars in damages were inflicted.?  Technology allowed us to watch it happen live and in HDTV, but it couldn??™t provide us with a way stop it from happening.?  It was like living that nightmare I??™ve had about a million times during which I see terrible things happening ??“ usually to my children or grandchildren ??“ that I am absolutely powerless to prevent.

So in the middle of all of the news coverage that held America transfixed last Monday, I stepped away from CNN and roamed around the office to find a quiet place where I could do the only thing I could do for my friends in Belle Chasse: pray.?  I couldn??™t help but be reminded of the sobering words of President Abraham Lincoln nearly a century and a half ago: ???I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.?  My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.???

Especially if it was a day like this one in Belle Chasse.

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~**~**~? 

Our Gift

Joyce C. Lock

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? ? ?  If you knew you were going to stand before God, today (not in judgment, but meeting your very best friend) ... is there a gift you would like to present Him with??  Do you plan to meet Him empty handed??  Maybe you have a gift for God already.?  Perhaps, you never thought about it and would like to.
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? ? ?  What would be the truest statement of your love??  What type of service are you passionate about??  Find the answer.?  Then, head in that direction.?  And if you still do not know, walk in the direction your heart leads and God will take you there.
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? ? ?  It does not matter if God calls you to little or a lot.?  (Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it.?  Let the weak say, "I am strong," the most necessary part.?  He meant it!)?  What brings inner completeness is serving in the center of God's perfect will (Lu. 12:50), wherein there is joy in that He empowers us to do so much more.

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Consider His promise ...
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"And every one that hath forsaken houses (churches), or brethren (religion), or sisters (family), or father (leader), or mother (counselor), or wife (soul mate), or children (followers), or lands (positions), for my name's sake (when He calls you), shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life."

Matthew 19:29
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Would you suffer persecution from those you love,

if necessary, in order to follow God?

Micah 7:6
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God never promised it would be easy.
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Though, consider the price of such gods ...
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"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it:

and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."

Matthew 16:25
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Rewards for choosing God ...

"But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren,

and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions;

and in the world to come eternal life."

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Mark 10:30

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Wouldn't you enjoy discovering the joys, blessings,
and rewards in completing your race?

It isn't too late.

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?© by Joyce C. Lock
http://our.homewithgod.com/heavenlyinspirations/

? ? ~**~**~

? A Footprint

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Sharon Bryant

Maybe it's because I'm getting older.?  Maybe because I know I've lived over half my life.?  Maybe it's because I feel my birth was for a purpose, but I am doing a lot of thinking lately.

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I was involved in a conversation the other day between two other women.?  Both are well to do, both live in wealthy homes, and both don't work outside the home.?  They have maids, gardeners, and nanny's.?  I tried to imagine a life as such, but I can't.?  I wondered what I would do with my time if I didn't work, something I've always done.

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One was talking about getting a second refrigerator in her new home.?  I was thinking, "Isn't one enough?"?  One was talking about the sale at one of the rich stores in town.?  I was thinking, "I never go into that store."

And yet, listening to the two women talk, I began thinking of my life.?  My birth, my life, and when it will end and how it will end.

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I suppose some would think I'm not "normal" because materialistic things just never impressed me.?  I've never been one to "keep up with the Jones'.?  I've never cared to have more money than enough to pay my bills, have a dry roof over my head, some heat in winter and air conditioning in summer, and food on my table.?  I can't imagine spending $300.00 on flowers for a garden party.?  Instead, I would think of how much food I could buy with the money.

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I wondered just what has been the purpose of my birth.?  Then I took a look at my life, things I'd done, people I've met, places I've been, and still wondering, "What else can I do."? 

One of the women said, "Money can buy ANYTHING."?  I replied, "No, not everything.?  Get terminal cancer and see how much the money means."

The other stated, "Money buys you EVERYTHING you wish for."?  I replied, "No, money buys you luxuries, extra things in life, but can it buy you happiness and love?"

They both looked at me like I was insane.

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I then told them I believe we are all here for a purpose.?  I believe what we do while we are here paves the road for the one just around the corner.?  I told them if death came into their lives like a thief in the night and robbed them of one of their children, their money could never return their child.?  I noticed the frowns both wore at that point.?  I also did not tell them I've lost a child.

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I planted three trees.?  Three colorful ones.?  As I put each one into the ground, my thoughts were, "My son will one day enjoy looking at these, and it will bring him beauty and peace one life."?  I told him that when I'm gone, just look at the trees and always remember me.?  He stood there not speaking, just shaking his head.?  I said, "What?"?  He told me he didn't want to talk about things like this.?  I told him we HAVE to talk about things like this because I can't live forever and one day I'll be gone.

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I think about what I can leave behind.?  Like a footprint, I hope I've done enough good things in my life that some will remember me.?  I hope I have touched lives on all my travels all my life.?  I hope I've touched the life of a child somewhere along the way.?  And most of all, I hope I've helped someone out there who has buried their child.

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Tomorrow I will be planting a Japanese Maple on the hill.?  I know that one day it will grow tall and the colors it will give in fall will be breathtaking.?  I can picture my son having coffee mornings, looking out the window?  seeing the tree if full bloom...thinking of me.

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And the two women who think money is everything.......it's not.?  I believe it's what we scatter rather than we gather, that shows the kind of life we have lived.?  I would gladly scatter than gather any day on this earth.?  I hope I leave a footprint somewhere along the way.

I believe that's what God put us here for.?  No matter how small something may seem to us, to reach out and help another who is struggling, who does not know where to go, to me, is what it's all about.

And now I must close.?  I'm working on a "footprint" that hopefully will help someone tomorrow.

God Bless,
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Sharon Bryant

1946 @bellsouth.net

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About Me:

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? I am Sharon Bryant,? 59 years old and reside in Alabama.

I lost my child in 1977 when he was five and I write
articles on bereavement often.

I am a chocolate/candy maker and also a wood crafter and knitter.

I am married to a wonderful man, and have two remaining children, a daughter 25,
Amy, and a second son, Randy, age 22.

My main goal in life is to help those who
have lost a child. My website is: www.angelsremembered.tk

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Poetry Section

~**~**~

Snapshot From Hell

Maria Doherty

This was written the day after we took my schizophrenic brother back to psychiatric care for the 11th time in 14 years. David is one of the people whose use of cannabis in early adolescence permanently altered the dopamine receptors of his brain, creating the doorway to his madness. A little more than one in five of the world population carry the gene which allows this nightmare. Look?  it up on Google under "cannabis psychosis" and let your children understand that they play Russian Roulette with their sanity when they light up for the first time. This is not known to affect adults in the same way, only the still developing brain, ? but if you ever experience even slightly paranoid feelings after smoking, stop and don't take the risk, especially if you started using this drug early in life.

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We are writers. Our words can change lives. Our pain can reach out and save others from the same pain or worse. Please use your words.

Last night as I was sleeping,
You walked the streets half naked,
A ranting, raving wild eyed man,
Scrawny body, pain wracked mind,
Exposed to eyes that cannot understand.

All are enemy who chance to enter,
Your darkened nightmare shadowed mind,
Where demonic delusions madly dwell.
You drive away the caring people,
Chasing cars, demented, cursing.

Blue lights flash, sirens scream,
Legions from hell force you down;
Rings of steel bind you tight,
Biting deep into your arms,
In your futile struggle to escape.

This morning I led you from one cell
To a safer, gentler incarceration,
Within the walls of kinder chemicals
That dull the roaring of your mind
And strip away all other feeling.

You travel where I will not follow,
To the unmaking place of broken minds,
Beyond the reach of love or reason.
And we can only wait and sorrow,
Devoid of power to bring you back.

You held my hand and came so quietly,
Trusting me as I fear to trust myself,
And I am forever torn.

This is our sad, tear stained story,
With no miracle or happy ending.

Maria Doherty

mariadoherty@blueyonder.co.uk

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Childhood Revisited

Maria Doherty

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Little girl stares at me with hooded eyes
Hiding away the light within.
What secrets lie inside that soul,
What longings unexpressed?

In the still quiet centre of your universe
What cries out to be fulfilled?
What love lack wraps itself around your heart
Suffocating, subjugating, blotting out the light

Speak to me silent child, tell me how it felt.
Talk to me of kisses, hugs and listening withheld
Tell me the sadness of your soul
The emptiness inside, your longing to be filled

I look into those hooded eyes
And finally I see.
I give my love to that little girl
The girl that once was me.

? Maria Doherty

mariadoherty@blueyonder.co.uk

? ~**~**~

Water is so Spiritual

David Vincent Dec

Humans are made of mostly water
In our mother's womb we lived in water
We need to be a gift to nature, now
Not just to take gifts from this place

I float on my back as I feel the sun
A dragon fly lands on my left shoulder
It is the Spirit??™s way to tell me this:
That I am on the right path in life

The trees sway softly in a warm summer wind
The ripples turn my body slowly
The sense of floating takes my soul away
And I rest the rest of a holy Light
dave@davedec.com

David Vincent Dec

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Affectionately known as dvd, David is a real renaissance man. He is an adult educator, singer, songwriter, and story teller. His real passion is writing poetry. Not only does he write poems, he writes prose to explain to his readers the stories behind the poetry.

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Writers Feedback

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Announcements

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Melba Moore will be on the air with me live! Tune in
www.artistfirst.com 7pm est today Monday 29,2005. It seemed so far off
but the time has come, listen to my show First Cut and find out what
this song bird has been up too! You don't want to miss this interview.


Regards,
Nicole Stevenson

Stevenson15n@aol.com
Radio Host First Cut

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Prayer Requests and Updates

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? My husband, Jerry, will be leaving in the morning with the Arkansas Baptist Relief Team to help with those who have met with the horror of Hurricane Katrina.?  He will be driving the Mt. Zion Association Disaster Shower Trailer Unit.

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This is a massive effort of volunteerism from the Arkansas Southern Baptists in conjunction with the Red Cross and Southern Baptist Convention.? 

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He and the Arkansas team will be headquartered in Laurel, Mississippi, a small town a few miles north of Hattiesburg.?  I understand there is some destruction in Hattiesburg.?  Others will be going closer to the coast when the roads are passable.

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Please pray for their safety and that all of their equipment will work well.?  In addition to the shower unit they will be feeding literally thousands of meals a day.?  A tree trimming crew will also be going.

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Pray that others will see Jesus in them as they feed and give some comfort to those ravaged by the huge storm.?  Pray that many will see and understand the faithfulness of our God as they minister to them.

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Thank you so much.

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Melva Cooper

www.melvacooper.com

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? SENIOR WRITERS

Chief Writer: Sharon Bryant

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? Agee, Vance;?  Apted, Violet;?  Baker, Kathy;?  Batt, Al;?  Berry, Nell;

Boda, Ginger;? ?  Buhagiar, Victor; Cassady, B.J.;?  Cavalera, Robyn; Crider, Mark;? 

Deming, Barb; Goodier, Steve;?  Halley, Ellie Braun; Harris, Kathy Anne;? 

Hunt, Sharlette;? 

Jacobson, Gary;?  Kiser, Roger Dean; Kerens, Claudia; Jenkins, Pamela;

Liles, Norma;?  Mazzella, Joe;? Ojeigbe, Georgewaters;

?  Petry, Dianna Doles; Roberts, Susan;?  Shiveley, Debra; Shaw, Bob; Sims, Richard; Swarner, Ken; Vaknin, Sam; Verhoeff, Jan

Walker, Bill;?  Walker, Joe;? Warner, Gorden K;

Whirity, Kathy;?  White, Robert;

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STORYTIME TAPESTRY STAFF

Publisher: Carol Roach-founder

Moderator: Thelma Hartselle-co founder

Moderator: Clara Westerfer

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