God Works in Strange Ways: Feeling Absent? Get a Puppy

A year ago, I put my son's dog down after 16 years of unconditional love. He was a beautiful chocolate lab who has been missed dearly in the house but the idea of another dog screams more expenses, responsibilities and demands on time.

I am protecting myself from something, this is why I don't get involved at a church or go out with friends or invest in new ones. What am I saving my time for? I find myself wasting more time than I invest in anything.

After ten months of working a job that was quite time consuming, now I have time, lots of time. I am working freelance and there is constant ebb and flow.

Time slips so easily through my fingers, I find myself amazed to see the sun going down again or the weekend approaching. My paintings wait for me to get back to them, my garden grows and so does the expenses, all I am doing well right now is working out, photography and gardening.

What great idea do I have that overwhelms my every day but never quite comes to clarity? Enter my younger son, after a year of threatening to bring home a puppy, he brings home a beautiful puppy.

He says he realizes how the house has been missing something, the fact is we've all been missing something. Suddenly I have a mirror to my laziness and distraction. I suddenly am present in the moment with this little bundle of energy.

When did I get so distracted from moments. I take the puppy out every few hours and we both sit and listen to the birds and the cars. We both notice all the smells and colors and suddenly I'm present in the moment.

This little spectacle of energy, expenses and responsibilities is demanding my time and attention. He's teaching me to be here in the moment even while I'm wrestling with time, dragging myself around lazy, fighting to get back to whatever I need to get back to.

God teaches us in the most abstract ways.  I drag myself around following this little puppy and I realize I have avoided my life, I've been saving moments for the idea of something but never quite put my finger on what.

This little distraction has succeeded in making me present, I see myself as selfish of time, I'm a miser of this free time that mostly gets swept under the bed for another day. Sometime lessons come in the strangest places, thanks God, thanks to my son and this little puppy named Ranger.

Welcome to Trashr Inc. We Will be Hiring Soon!

Attention: All would be drones

Green Sky Plastics is finally hiring!!!

Putting trash in it’s place in a green way

The successful candidate will have a Bachelors of art, science, math, photography,   statistics A masters would be even better, perhaps a doctorate-we like higher learning!!!

Must have a green thumb-we have a corporate garden and that will be part of your daily tasks

Must have a high school education….unless you have a BA or BS than that supercedes the high school education

Must be able to speak spanish, not sure why but we just like multiple languages and besides we like to tell jokes in spanish. Also to be inclusive we have a weekly Mexican heritage lunch-we eat at a local Mexican establishment-Ok it’s taco bell but still….

Must be creative in solving problems but can follow specific directions so as not to be ridiculously creative-we have a brand by the way.

Must think outside the box-you won’t have an office-it’s all cubicles. We also like for all your belongings to be in a box but still be able to navigate outside of said box

We do not discriminate on sex or race but we encourage our employees to use black and Mexican vendors and if they are woman-that’s a plus, must honestly appear inclusive and nondiscriminatory-you will be tested on this one

Must love the color Green and use it in multiple sentences

Must be able to discard trash in a timely manor

Must be a self-starter-a firestarter is even better-we will need someone to start the campfire at our monthly team building campouts-we’ve lost a few employees due to using gas, propane and lighter fluid-all fire starting instruments have been banned from the premises

Must be motivated to ask questions-all answers will be in writing but will be mailed in triplicate as to answer a multitude of questions that need to be answered

Must have a car and be able to buy coffee with all the buzz terms

Must be savy in corporate speak-we will train

Must bring your own pen or pencil-due to budget cuts but we will provide a pen or pencil because we have specific pens and pencils you will be expected to use

We look forward to having you on our team, as long as you fit the criteria and can use

Management and manager in a cohesive sentence that is manageable.

Ghosts in an Autumn Field

Tread lightly through charcoal forests in winter

there are ghosts among dried and brittle vines

there are captured moments of children

lost wonder among gray and dying grasses

there are voices in meadows

whispers innocent and fleeting, all passing

We saved turtles on this path

we caught snakes 

all kinds of road kill

dark sillouettes of owls

in the early mornings on the way to school

it reminded me of New Jersey

deep forests and yellow fields

where teens would drive their trucks

in the mud

that dirt road

where my black car

was always pale

dust

now replaced

with a black asphalt

and metal fences

I can still hear you 

a child barely eight

we laughed about simple things

on that dirt road

far away from everything

tread lightly through memories

charcoal forests

burn in autumn fields

voices of youth in meadows

quiet

ghosts among dry and brittle vines...

A Pale Winter Day

A pale Burnt umber holds all the colors of autumn down

Skeleton twigs reach from murky depths

My lungs are aching, a cold steel breeze

A concrete path

Bone white feathers floating in air

 No sounds of waterfowl or stubborn birds

Anywhere near

A long silent walk across a gray field

Sinking in the grayness of a winter day

Where the body aches

And the eyes crave any color

Even the sunset is sick and pale

The flu is running rampant

Hospital beds and white sheets

The gray steel windows sills

Seeking any hint of spring

Walking along a path by a pond

Alone

Again…

A pale green window

reflects the forest

ghostly limbs

remember being

spring

skeleton fingers

reach a pale gray sky

a ghost in the silence

an empty landscape

a darkness

with no shadows

a landscape with no light

the only color is foreign

the vague scent of decay

stagnation

The only ghost of summers humid days

a pale green pond

moves slowly but steadily

remember being

spring

Raefe Jenkins Podcast (E2E: Starting a part-time business while working ...

Finding God: The Intangible Essence of Faith

I climbed a mountain with an intense need for peace

I was tired, weak in need of rest and rehab

but the devil followed me

mocked every step I took

questioned every flower

and every new shoot

found myself looking through a lens

doubt colored every shadowed form

instead of calm I found questions

I became addicted to knowing

God insisted

trust me and you will see

the whole valley

given up 

but I questioned my path

and I questioned my abilities

even while all the gifts

lay out before me like paradise

I was in need

of something, something that offered

any remnant of calm

I climbed a mountain seeking peace

You will find God in silence, or it would be more correct to say you will reailize God in silence. Earth is loud, we as spiritual beings are constantly fighting to hear silence and know nature while the world and all its distractions fight for our attention.

Add electronic devices that capture our attention and visual interest and God blends into the background. I have recently learned to turn off the radio and intentionally enjoy silence and even than thoughts and ideas scream to be heard. 

When you are trying not to be distracted the distractions get more loud and you start to realize the battle we as spiritual beings fight on a daily basis.

Just like Peace, God is very subtle and intangible, it's very easy to ignore the God winks and stumble right through the miracles that happen every day with little wisdom gained from each experience. 

We need to learn to find God-he is always there-it is our physical selves that easily get distracted. The more you seek him, the stronger his presence becomes and the more regular miracles become. Be still and know he is there.

Let me know where you've found him and what experience and wisdom manifested in the experience.

God is the awe we feel when the sun rises or sets

That moment when a life begins or ends

a silence we are not often comfortable with

we are clumsy earthly beings

God is but a whisper

on a spring day

a subtle fragrance

we imbibe

and always crave

once we know him

we are changed...

Another Same Day: A Pattern of Gray

A day, you wake and immerse, the same day

drowning in a soft faded

shade

of gray

Awareness of a feeling that had touched

so lightly

on gentle wings

insists the day

begin 

that beast in various forms

sits across the table

the day before

as hours meld to days

days to weeks

a dispassionate gray

that sips on all your energy

insists there is no other way

we craft words

to describe

and images to bring to life

this explanation

that has no form

only that it becomes

us

and we

are nothing more

feathers on some poisoned sea

drifting out the grappling tide

all the swollen feelings

kept uncomfortably inside

while the day breaks

it felt so good once

to feel awake

alive

for just one month

or even a day

before we submerge

drowning 

in a soft and violent

shade of gray...