To Soar Like the Eagle

We are coming up fast on the ending of another year - this time the year is 2010 - and there are some philosophical things I learned this year, perhaps later in my life than for others. I think they are worthy of sharing and it goes like this -
When family life is stranger than fiction you'll be better off to just roll with it. If you feel abandoned let it be - find a church family, find a family of friends. Don't try to resist your feelings and don’t try to change it unless you were the root. Most of us live a reasonably long life if we are healthy. Whatever offended you or caused hurt feelings will either reverse on its own, or truth will throw itself upon you and explain itself better. If you are lucky you may inherit knowledge, and that could be enough to get you to the other side.

When history is stranger than fiction stop what you are doing, give yourself an adequate space to think deep and long, and then wait for the courage to adjust. You might become its friend as you turn it over in your mind, but rushing to conclusions is a fruitless art. No recorded history will ever be the ultimate story and the sides to historical facts may be full of details you did not anticipate. If you feel lost as you meander through bits and pieces, consider the possibility that your analyses may be slanted by bias or just incomplete. Let life bring to you what it wants by its own clock. Logic might become apparent when you are ready to be the student rather than a self-appointed teacher, and life is an ongoing learning experience anyway.

When love becomes stranger than fiction let your heart lead your head. Your head had no right to get involved in the first place. A real love is based on many things, only some of which will stand the test of time. When the body of love leaves the spirit of love, hang on to your feelings from the experience in the way one takes a souvenir from a journey. Never hide or deny sentiments. Memories will change in color and intensity as you walk into what is ahead. You can keep the whole rainbow if you choose. The decision is yours but it may be better to put memories away in a secure place, rather than angrily discarding them in the bin. They are not baggage; they are part of who you are.

When making it through the hard times is stranger than fiction, count your blessings several times a day and not just the gifts from days gone by. Never assume that blessings have run dry. Beautiful things you cannot even imagine are just down the road; there is never a dead end to good times, security, peace. Generosity is what we live by and that virtue will never leave you sitting on the curb. A feeling of well-being is what we share with others, and they with us. Do not isolate; find your peers. Traditional values kick into play when you are living with the same struggles as those around you; new fellowship is fostered in the process by the guidance of faith. You were meant to soar like the eagle. Sometimes a broader patience is mandated, and less personal aspiration is required.

Alice Elizabeth Cagle, October 23, 2010

Alisa Kathryn Baker - Born October 10, 2010

A little girl is born this day - how peaceful the world became.
Gentle is the air today, soft the nighttime everywhere.
Free from the outside world of gloom, free of heartache, free of care.

All I need is being with you to be alive and be renewed.
You are innocence; we are wisdom, concerns, joy.
Sharing each other with every smile and giggle, every toy.

Who knows what you and I will see down this path of ours?
You will learn and grow, make your way, and one day you will lead.
I will love you always, support your ambitions, your plans, your every need.

We want to bring you to the world, and give the world to you.
I knew you first as the expression of a mighty love.
You emphasize its beauty now, the diamond of my heart, the whitest dove.

Come take my hand. Follow me first in things I know, then I will let you lead.
Find the answers for the world, bring them comfort, know your heart's desire.
Grasp your interests by the horns, blaze a path, mold with fire.

When you become the light of someone's life, take with you the things we knew.
Bring them to a child of yours. I will bless the day that she is born when
Gentle is the air and soft the nighttime everywhere.

A Circle of Dreams

I can remember your face as clearly as sunshine and starlight.
It was innocent of pain from time and care,
It was pure and honest, unstained by motives, agendas, reasons,
The day I walked away from love itself, I truly lost the face of love.

Years passed and on a mountain day I looked beyond the window
The stallion stood and drank beside the pond,
Fireflies below and stars above looking for the moonlight girl.
And the circle of dreams began to bloom around the face of love.

Images dreamed since early times were those remaining in the mind.
Unfair to love who we once were, not knowing who we had become,
The search was deep for passion past, but the bridge to bring us home was gone,
The circle of dreams closed again, and for all time, upon the face of love.

Forgive me if I cling to this, as sometimes it was all I had.
I saw you tall and straight and strong. It brought me through the worst of days.
We loved for all these years apart, pursuing paths in separate ways.
Reaching back to days far gone - for me the face of love remains.

If you should see the deepest sky in shades of precious cobalt blue,
Think back to us and know I keep those timeless days as fresh and new.
For it is not who we are now that leads me down a path of pride,
But days back then of loving you that never faded, never died.

A final thought I give to you, as youth you seek and pain you shed.
Youth and beauty first perceived are dreams that thrive upon one's bed.
Ambitions won and missions lost were things long chased at any cost.
Now is the time for you to find deeper beauty, peace of mind.

Do not yield to chance just now, or build your dream on shifting sand.
Influence is purchased by the yard and it changes with advisors lives.
Counsel wise and from your heart alone
To grasp the prize at last and bring it home.

You'll be with someone else, but I will be happy for you,
as I keep the memory from the face of love.