deedeewisdom

Mist rising
Yet an almost frost
The reds and yellows bounce
The sunlight illumines the November oaks

Glorious!

Raking the leaves a great work out
No gym today
My beloved and I
In sync
the birds at the feeder
Watch as they flutter around us

God is in TODAY
as YESTERDAY
as TOMORROW

Yet in today
Is the grace

Our prayer is to be here
Totally
Absorbing the Divine
And praying
“VOTA TUA
ET NON VOTA MEA”

AMEN

Many walks over many paths
Leading to those who are gone
Many words said to many hearts
Expressing our faith in the hope of each morn

One of the walks with my cherished friend
Through a labyrinth of goodbyes
Brought us so close to our soldiers gone
That tears overwhelmed our eyes

We saw their names engraved on plaques
Our brothers gone too soon
We offered prayers, who knew their fears?
Their absence we now mourn

My friend and I reached out to them
Brave brothers lost to war
In gratitude for their beliefs
Now we honor them, it was their last tour

Written 12/22/15 in reference to walking amongst the
tombstones of our high school friends lost in the Vietnam war

Each day I wake
And gaze upon
Our yard now full
Of Spring

My hubby rakes and hoes
Each day
To help the earth to bring

To help the soil bring forth
Its blooms
To help the earthworms work
He’s there, a midwife
To our yard
with never a negative shard

So I walk softly
Sometimes help
But often cannot do

I’m his companion
At his side
To help him
With a smile

Musings of gardening with Charlie 2022

My cheerleader sits
Her face reveals the suffering
That she endures silently

The face of a fighter
She always fought for me
Her little sister

She was the cheerleader
in my life
Always had my back

Now I strive to have
Just a tiny bit of her courage
To help her
Climb this tedious path

For this is her most
Important journey
I know my cheerleader is strong
vigilant
Faith filled
Loving
Enduring

Now full of the grace
She needs to enter
The place of rest
With Jesus, her Lord

Written as I sat at her bedside in her final days

We loved this man
Somehow it seemed
That when he spoke
The world just beamed

It beamed with knowledge
wit and hope
His lovely mind
Helped us to cope

And so this Irish bard remains
For me, a soul etched
Into the cells of memory
From which the past is fetched

He lingers there
In our hearts
Bill Bent the man
With us in spirit though now apart

Written after Bill died 3/1/2015

As the world sleeps
There are those who labor

They bake the bread
They care for the ill
They nurse the babes
They deliver the milk

Who are these souls?

They are the night workers
They are ministering to us all

As we sleep

Diane Findlen Garrow
10/26/16

Old woman, old woman
Where have you been?
Tell me your story from beginning to end

You’re soft and you’re pleasant
You smile a lot
There’s much life you’ve lived
And there’s secrets you’ve got

Your wisdom gives comfort
To those you surround
You listen with measure
You make stable ground

Your arms become portals
That welcome sad souls
They flock to you needing
Your special hellos

Old woman, old woman
Where are you now?
Your journey’s not over
There’s much you allow

How have you made it?
What have you done?
Surviving’s not easy
There’s rain with the sun

Old woman, old woman
Your face tells the tale
Each furrow and wrinkle
Reflect nature’s toil

I ask you to give me one secret
I pray
“Be yourself”, said the woman
“Make the most of today”

I thanked her with vigor
Then went on my way
Old woman, old woman
Your words with me stay

Diane Findlen Garrow 4/12/09
While commuting home on the train

To you oh Lord I bow
To you oh Lord I sing
For you oh Lord I live
Help me to adore you, our Merciful King!

My liberty I give
My memory I offer
My understanding
I submit
My will is Yours

Less of me
More of You
Your Grace
Your Love
Your Will
Mold me in Your Holy Image

Amen

Diane Findlen Garrow 1/19/21

Before she even spoke
She hugged me with her eyes
Those kind blue eyes
Reflecting her big loving heart

Her laugh was contagious
If we talked about something
difficult
She would always turn it into
something OK

The last phone call included many laughs
She told me about Jesus coming to her
in her dream
There were many declarations of how
much she loved my husband and me

I will miss our not frequent enough
phone calls
She spoke so often of God’s Will

I will miss you, cousin Barbara
Until we meet again

April 23, 2019

Diane Findlen Garrow

I am the woman at the well
I am the paralytic at the pool
I am the blind man
I am the woman on whom the crowd
threatens to throw stones
I am the leper
I am the prodigal son

I come to you, Oh Lord
In my distress
I pray for Your Grace
I need Your Forgiveness
I need Your Love

Today the cross is heavy
Yet I know that carrying it means
salvation
Yet I know that You are there,
Human
Divine
Suffering
Saving
Seeing
Me

In all my frailty and error

Diane Findlen Garrow 3/31/19