Scarlet Robe Creations

What do you stand by? Do you stand by a feeling, one that fills you with elation and self worth? Do you stand by the sermon of a priest or minister, who preaches the words you desire to hear? Do you stand by government, paying homage to the power it has given itself? Do you stand by the news anchor  who supports the view of your political idols? Do you stand by the words of entertainers, who insist that your values be like theirs? Or, is it possible that you stand by a statement given over two thousand years ago? A statement spoken on a dark night, one man to another, a Pharisee and a teacher. A statement spoken by creator to created and written on parchment by the hand of the disciple He loved. copyright 2023 - Donald P James Jr

View from Mount Eisenhower. The effort. The climb. The moment of wondering if. Knees are sore. Feet are tired of cresting rock. The trail is wet. A portion becomes a waterfall, here now, but gone when the rains cease. I follow a pace set by a six year old. He scrambles over each boulder with an ease I once knew. It is his first. He is filled with excitement. There are forty-seven more in New Hampshire that he plans to conquer. We reach the top, forty-seven hundred and sixty feet, as clouds open our view, creation is revealed. and Heaven seems almost reachable. Exhaustion has been overcome. He places a rock on the cairn. We take in the glorious view from the top, my daughter, my grandson and gramps. copyright 2023 - Donald P James Jr

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.   Genesis 1:2 Spirit over the waters, without shape or form. The created yet to be made. Love, yet to be poured out.   Spirit over the waters, a breath of life, a touch of love and all emptiness is transformed to beauty.   Spirit over the water, deeper than any thought of my own, for You are my God and I am Your created.   Spirit over the waters, the hovering mist of morning cannot define divinity or the absolute beauty of Your face. copyright 2023 - Donald P James Jr

Cover of the Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning “Maybe you should listen.   I believe God is calling you.” Father William said. “He has been for quite a while.” A priest, a friend, they sat on a wall outside the campus library, one a student with a copy of the ‘Ragamuffin Gospel’ written by Brennan Manning in hand, the other working campus ministry.   The season of spring was encroaching in the Northeast and the April afternoon was warmer than usual.   The sun reached out from the cloudless sky like gentle fingers wanting to caress. “I’ve questioned a lot in the last few years.” “But never your faith,” the priest added. “No I’ve never doubted why Jesus died.   I’ve never doubted who He was… or is.   It’s the law that makes us stumble… makes me stumble.   And some of those laws… I can’t find any basis for them.” “You see them as manmade.” “I see us as modern day Pharisees, honoring laws and dogmas more than we honor the word of God.   Sometimes it feels like we are more conc