Best Words of the Day

"Self-pity is a death from which there is no resurrection."

- Vicki Griffin

Found in Nature

I thought this was a great statement to share from my devotions.

"Men, in their pride, delight in magnificent and costly edifices and glory in the works of their own hands; but God placed Adam in a garden.....In the surroundings of the holy pair was a lesson for all time - that true happiness is found, not in the indulgence of pride and luxury, but in communion with God through His created works. If men would give less attention to the artificial, and would cultivate greater simplicity, they would come far nearer to answering the purpose of God in their creation. Pride and ambition are never satisfied, but those who are truly wise will find substantial and elevating pleasure in the sources of enjoyment that God has placed within the reach of all." (From the book Patriarchs and Prophets page 45, by Ellen White)

Response is Near

Outside a bird calls,
Low and clear.
An answering response is near.

I hear nature converse as friends.
Their code I cannot break.
Perhaps the message still is there
For those who listen and who wait.

Where man to learn from nature
Each one would call to God in turn,
Then listening he'd hear the answer
For what his soul did yearn.

By Valerie Crosier

Sketches of Life

Sometimes I am a forest,
With secrets held within.

Sometimes I am an ocean wave,
Tossed and turned with sin.

Sometimes I am a desert plain,
Vacant, lost and dry.

Sometimes I am a meadow glen,
Open to the sky.

Sometimes I feel that God is near,
And I am filled with awe.

At other times I see Him not,
And my heart burns hot and raw.

Waves of turmoil wash me,
And I am hung out in the sun.

Then, gradually my forest seed is opened
And a meadow lily begun.

By Valerie Crosier

The Deaf Heart

To some the world is silence
In the din of noisy streets.
The whistle blows
But no one runs
For family to meet.

Lost in familiar places,
Void to familiar faces,
The words they think
They should not hear
Have all become so very clear.

Frogs may sing their symphony
And doves their lonely song,
But the richest tune
Yet to be sung
Is locked and barred, unsold.

How can the walls be broken?
How can the silent speak?
Oh he awaits the Master's touch
To let his spirit leap.

By Valerie Crosier

Hidden Blossoms

Sometimes daffodils peek through the ground
In fall before the ice,
Though frost has warned the little bulbs
Of bitter days and nights.

The heartbeat of the flower
Longs to open up its breast,
It wishes so to free the colors
Encrusted in its chest.

A tiny bit of sunshine,
A quiet autumn shower,
And up it shoots out spires
To set its flaming fires.

Before the buds will bloom,
Before their banners wave,
Frost will come again you know
Pausing blossoms momentarily
Until it's safe for them to grow.

by Valerie Crosier

Reflection on a Caterpillar

Slowly creeping, crawling, growing

The caterpillar fights to live

Then comes the time to halt all work

And rest becomes the test.

Wrapped up in silence and hanging all

Upon a single strand

It gains the weapons to fly free,

The wings to rise and land.

Outward lookers on may say,

"'Tis such an ugly thing!"

Yet when the shackles are cast off,

It soars while they lack wings.

Out of discipline grows freedom,

Out of sorrow depth of love;

It is the habit of His plan

To cause the opposite to stand.

by Valerie Crosier

His Mercy in Our Madness