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Showing posts from May, 2024

Rocking Chair

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This story includes a couple characters from 'Afternoons With Mister D'. Monica, a nurse from the convalescent home, and Lloyd, her pianist fiancĂ©. Afternoons With Mister D He looked around the wallpapered room.  The pattern was dated, like something his own grandmother would have had on her walls.   The whole idea of papering walls seemed ancient.   Still, he liked the room, as it was.   The oldness made him feel comfortable. He’d been here before, with Monica.  She was his girlfriend and fiancĂ© then.  Now she was his wife, and this was the living room of her grandmother’s house. This was the first time Lloyd had ever come here alone.  On his first visit, with Monica holding his hand in hers, he felt scrutinized.  He knew he didn’t belong.  He and Monica, theirs were two worlds with conflicting histories. The coffee table in front of him, which might have pre-dated his parents, was decorated with matching tea cups, a bouquet of fresh cut flowers and a Bible.  The furnitu

The Eye of the Needle

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It is Easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle  than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God Mark 10:25 Luke 18:25 Good teacher what must I do...? Have I succeeded along this road at any time? Have I followed your footsteps for just a moment along a beach? Have I been weary and turned to you without condition? Good teacher what must I do...? I have not taken a life. I have been faithful to my spouse. I have asked pardon for my offenses. Good teacher what must I do...? How do I give all that I've earned? How do I embrace a poverty I've never known? How am I to lay down my life for other? Good teacher what must I do...? I am the young man whose face has fallen. I am the young man who turns away saddened. Still, Good teacher, I am a child who seeks to pass through the eye of a needle. copyright 2024- Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Man of Folly (James 5:1-6)

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We don't heed these warnings. We count our pieces of gold and silver. I am as guilty as the richest. My sums are not nearly as elaborate but there is little difference in the eyes of He who we will stand before. Don't let this become your God. It will rot and become a testimony against you. Gold and silver, coins, are for this world. Embrace them and condemn yourself. Remember the rich man, the young fool, who chose not to follow Christ. One heart wept at that decision. The heart of He who came to die that the man of folly might choose wealth. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Wherever You Go

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Wherever you go, Ruth sang to Naomi. It is what we sing to each other, given and received through the fount of holiness.   Dedicated on the day we promised God and each other, unity. Renewed whenever your hand is within mine.   Wherever you go I shall go. My tears and my laughter will be there beside you. My embrace will be about you.   Whenever we are distant, along the road, we draw each other close, always waiting around the bend for the one we promised to walk beside. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Different and the Same (Matthew 19:4-6)

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Ciro Ferri - Biblical Wedding (1670-1680 ) In His image we are made. Male and female, made to be in His image, different and the same. Have you not read. It has been said, when those around were listening for answers to other questions, and deaf  to His words. In the beginning He made them male and female that they might come together, inseparable, and be one. In His image we are made. Temples to be glorified without error, different and the same. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author

Hear (Listen)

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Temptation in the Wilderness - Briton Riviere (1840-1920) Hear the silence. Is it a breeze with a voice heard only when all else is quiet.   Hear the song. A sequence of notes sung in praise, heard without the chaos of the world’s concussions.   Hear what can only be heard, when hearts seek to pray and souls seek to worship. copyright 2024 - Donald P James Jr https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donald-P.-James-Jr./author