The mind takes hold to an idea
Trying to build and populate worlds
Perhaps the mind never fills
Yet, there is no time to start a new one

Every day there is a quota
Words to fill the pages
God only knows if any will read
The heart sinks at both thoughts

What is necessary to build a story?
What would bring someone to read?
Ideas come, perhaps they will be enough
Truth is, expansions can come at a later date

Could a story cover many generations?
Not a person, but a culture?
Could a story cover a place and not a person?
Can we build an epic history?

Possibilities fill the mind,
soon with luck, they will fill the dreams

God only knows how men survive
Seems we consume everything we touch
No one takes more than they need
Yet we all have days when we cannot meet those needs

Sometimes things go better than planned
There are days when we know the future will be good enough
We count, and we see hope ahead
There is enough waiting for tomorrow

At times the heart knows that enough is enough
Dancing at the opportunity to do good
The exhaustion of uncertainty begins to wash away
The time has come to know

Tomorrow is a better day
Even now hope is bringing new energy

A fat monk tacks a stack of papers to the church door
There will be a debate about where faith and practice meet
Seems that sometimes faith is about convenience,
Sometimes God’s mercy is bought and sold

Since this time wars are fought
Arguments continued
At times polite, at time more than words
What form should reformation take?

Why is the debate a symbol?
Simple objections to a common practice
Questions about lines of authority
Perhaps questions exposed corruption

Debate was so common
Publicly posting academic talk was normal
A Doctor of Theology, with a teaching post
Nothing beyond a monk’s squabble

Similar squabbles appeared elsewhere
Sometimes even true breaks
There was both isolation, and connection
No perfection in the world of men

The old arguments are often repeated
Though, these days, we forget who said what!
The writings can be clearly read
Yet who has the time to read everything?

Grebel, Luther, Calvin
They’re arguments lead to bloodshed
Huss, Wycliff, Waldo
Though they were centuries earlier they are forgotten

There were always more than two voices
More than one thing to consider
Have we forgotten there is room for debate?
Perhaps reform is going back to that distant past

Perhaps reforming the structure solves nothing
Instead, Christ must reform our hearts

I remember when people spoke of church history, and Protestants, they always went back to Luther. While Luther is important… he established Protestant Christianity as a viable State religion, there were several groups before him that asked many of the same questions he did. Some remained clearly within Roman Catholicism, others were denounced as heretics. We tend to see Luther as the precursor to Calvin, and Grabel — to both the theocratic puritans, and these ancestors of the Mennonites. Luther may, as a Dr. of Theology been more than a rural priest, or a even a lawyer like Calvin [though Calvin was Luther's junior by a couple decades, all evidence suggests they opposed one another fiercely] — however, there would have been “reformation” with or without Luther.

The night gets later and later
The fingers dance on the keyboard
Finally ideas take form
The heart is excited to begin

The brain cannot sleep
The body trembles with excitement
Knowing that the night will lead to exhaustion
Words pouring out as quickly as the fingers move

The mind has been waiting to begin
Filled with dreams
Sleep disturbed by the urge to write
Sometimes deadlines bring inspiration

Already there is hope
Another month, it will be ready

Resting and rushing
So much to do tomorrow
Hurry up and wait

Still making plans
Recovering yet preparing
Empty shelves need filled
There must even be extra

Hot chocolate for cold days
Coffee for long nights
A fresh pad of paper
Food packaged for convenience

Some say three days is a long time
Three days pass as the blink of an eye
Can one prepare in those days?
A clean desk ready for work!

The house is ready for winter
The hands are almost ready for working
The mind is eager to start telling a story
Now it is time to make a place for work

Sometimes life is about preparation,
And preparation is easy when there are plans

It is time to go
Turn the key, nothing happens
Time to ride my bike

Something I should do more anyways. Fortunately, with a closer look it was something easy — the belt on the alternator is lose. A simple adjustment, and a couple hours on the battery charger — all should be good.

There is too much work
Recovery is needed
To start tomorrow

The president speaks
Afraid the nation will stop
It’s “only the flu”

The ‘blahs’ cause a person to be cluttered, and slow… being cluttered and slow causes the ‘blahs’

Everything is slow
I work, and finish little
But I keep going

The eyes scan book after book
So much to learn from the giants
The spirit is filled with humility
Can a mortal scale such heights?

Locked doors, pen and paper
A housekeeper sending food
Days passing confined to the draft
History tells us this produces

How much time was spent living life?
How much time learning the stories
Creativity mixed with knowledge
Making a mythology over time

The mind wonders if the doors can still be locked
Right now the world is so very close
Patience is no longer known
Everyone is expected at a moments notice

The world is changing
Meditation is becoming a lost art
The mind moving from one thing to another
Perhaps ‘multitasking’ is become a way of life

The mind slows down and focuses on the book
Hoping to learn while there is a chance

I’ve been preparing for NanoWrimo by reading old books. There are so many to read, but one that I have to write. It is time to meditate on what I want my one to look like — but there is still much I must learn from the old masters.

We are overwhelmed with insanity
Living in an unreasonable world
Is there any hope for humanity?
Or will we march with our banners unfurled
There are many who pray to God for peace
Is peace possible, Could we understand?
Would God cause mankind’s hatred to decrease?
If there were peace, could it survive Man’s hand?
The Angels also pray for peace for Men
Saying: “Glory to God in the highest
And on Earth Peace to Men, for Christ loves them.”
Praying with angels should unbiased
God’s messengers should rightly bring God’s Truth
For Christ taught us the way of peace for sooth

The heart and mind are counting days
Deadlines and deadlines
So little time to prepare
So many little things to do

There are dreams and goals
There are tasks to complete
The time comes to focus energy
Moving forward to accomplish

Long nights, short on sleep
Days seeking inspiration
Not knowing how I will accomplish the goals
There is no clear plan

Not enough days to make plans
Even now the days should be busy
Not enough time to make a clean spot
Yet, all things should be clean

Tomorrow must be a day of preparation
Praying and preparing for success

Have a lot of tasks to do, and some difficult deadlines. Until January 5, the blog is low priority. Consider this a light vacation announcement.

Are we united?
Must we agree to be one?
Is debate allowed?

While thinking of unity and partisan division, one important question is how much diversity is allowed within a group. Is it possible to be united, yet seem to disagree on almost everything, conversely how do you establish which points the group has in common, and which points are unimportant. Much division comes from the debate of whether or not agreeing to something is important. Even if we were able to step away from politics, we would have some difficulty establishing common ground. Perhaps, though, in this world we need to establish the common ground that we believe that disagreement does not have to be hostile.