ImportantThings

The Leaving Train    by Danny C. Wash                                                     We are always leaving from something. When we’re born we leave our mother. When we are about six we leave for school. When we are grown we leave our parent’s home. I grew up & left my parents to marry my wife. We had children and they left us for their lives. When my mother was old she was the first to leave. When my father was old, part of his mind had left already. He was in a nursing home and I would visit him and we would talk. One day he said, “they were taking up   a load down there on a train to leave the other night, but I  didn’t leave with them.” And then one day he got his ticket to leave on that train. He still struggled with it, but then  finally left on the train that was taking up folks. We don’t  always decide when to leave and be taken up on that train. But, some day we all will get our ticket and ride on the Leaving Train.

No Sleep for Me                                                           by Danny C. Wash It is the darkest part of the night when the worrisome thoughts appear and in my bed try, try as I might the fears, they will not disappear. What is that clicking noise so strange could it be that old kitchen range or something worse like an evil rat. My mind is whirling like Casey at the bat. Did I pay the last electric and water bill or will the tub to bathe in the morning not fill? Why did I agree to take the job at that store, when I knew that I can’t work well anymore. My mind from all this oppression is such a mess from thinking about all this I must confess. Tick, tick, tick the old hall clock will not hurry to the morning when I will arise to the flurry of kids & breakfast and no more worrisome thoughts. But back to now & why can’t I get some much needed sleep? I know, I will use the tried and true remedy of counting sheep. One, two, three, fo

  The Cup of Bitterness                                                      by Danny C. Wash         I invited one in who I thought was a friend. We sat at table to enjoy the meal and to talk. We ate our meal together in apparent harmony. But, the one was most false and not true. A lie was found in him and corruption inside was discovered. Betrayal was in his heart. Mammon led him astray and he did follow. At the end of the meal I was left alone with the deep and dark cup of bitterness to drink. The one’s price was mammon’s brief reward. And, I was left with only betrayal for which I must endure & drink it’s evil bitterness to the bottom of the cup, which is most foul; drink it down from this false one so that I may be free of it and live on much wiser from the pain and sadness of the suffering. Only love & grace from above can give the strength to endure the drinking of this cup, so  that bitterness be transformed to the sweetness  of that love from above for others as life

The Turtle and the Squirrel                                          (a Poem for Young and Old Children)      by Danny C. Wash The squirrel boasted to the turtle, “can you climb a tree like me?” The turtle thought and then replied, “can you hide in a shell like me?” The squirrel bragged to the turtle, “can you hop around the meadow most free?” The turtle retorted to the squirrel, “can you swim in the pond or the sea?” The squirrel said to the turtle, “can you bury pecans in the garden of flowers?” The turtle replied to the squirrel, “can you stay under water for hours?”  Okay, Okay said the squirrel, “we can both do different things and not the same.” The turtle thought, as he does, and said, “Okay, I agree but for this we are not to blame.” The squirrel then said, “well then who is to blame for the way we were done?” The turtle thought and said, “whoever made us this way, it is the fault of that one.” The wise old watching owl interrupted, “Who, who has caused all this foolish talk?”

  The Light of the World                                                 by Danny C. Wash   “... Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” John 8:12 “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 1John 1: 5-10 Light is a remarkable and interesting part of our world. Have you noticed how flying

The First Tree in Eden                                                                       by Danny C. Wash I am so tired thought the tree These leaves are killing me. I’ve carried this load much too long And I need now to be most free Wait, what is this, one leaf fell And now another has dropped from me What is happening I cannot tell  But, I think there is a trend My limbs are beginning to unbend Freedom is in the air And now my shape is not so fair Leaves, leaves all of gold  On the ground and in the air Wait, it’s getting very cold And my limbs are looking bare Without the cover of the leaves out there And, anyway I am going to sleep As my roots are covered now by snow so deep But after a great while I feel something rising in me Up, up it comes from down below Out from underneath the melting snow And causing buds on my limbs to show I feel the warm air causing them to grow My lovely leaves are coming out that I now love so Welcome back and do not again soon go Green leav

                              The Storm       by Danny C. Wash It was a dark and stormy night, as the familiar cliched opening line of many mystery books go. Well, it was a dark and stormy night, but it had nothing to do with the weather. The storm was in my mind as I thought about all the worrisome wind and darkness  of the questions and fear surrounding me. In a storm in the atmosphere, you try to find shelter and I thought the same might be true in my mind. The shelter is usually deep in the middle, so I  looked inside and deep in my mind for peace but there was none, the storm roared even more. Accusations, “what ifs,” and, “if only’s” blew even harder. And then, the water from the mental  rain begin to rise against the foundations of my life. The flood water washed away all my foundation of money, things, and the worldly protections. Down I went into the whirlpool of sadness, loss, fear of the future, and trust in my human remedies. And then as I felt like I was going under for th

 Call Upon the Name of the Lord (A Sinner’s Prayer)     by Danny C. Wash                                                                                                                         O Lord Jesus, O Lord Jesus, My soul cries out to You to be rescued by Your mercy and grace. My soul is troubled. It is disturbed. I have no rest. My heart is turned over. I have sinned. I have erred. My guilty thoughts  and accusations are like ravens cawing and circling  around my head. I have fallen short of Your laws and  principles. My conscience is troubled, disturbed by my deeds. Should I have to appear now before Your judgment seat, I would be judged as wanting and sinful. My heart seems far from You and I cannot see You. O Lord  Jesus save me for Your word says that, “whoever calls  upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” O Lord, am I not within the group of the “whoever” sinners? May I be removed from the presence of the devil and my own selfish flesh, lustful thoughts and desires; fro

The Two Trees        by Danny C. Wash                                      “God planted a garden in Eden...and caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Genesis 2: 8-9 The garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, and the two trees were all real in time and place but they also had spiritual significance for us in many ways. Spiritually, the tree of life represents spiritual eternal life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents spiritual death (which we will call the “tree of death”). 1   God set Adam in the Garden with the tree of life and the tree of death as a test and in order for Adam and Eve to have free will. God was giving them the choice to choose to eat of the tree of life, which would mean eternal life in dependence on God in a love relationship with Him forever. However, the tree of death would mean that man would exercise his free will to choose independen

  The Mirror      by Danny C. Wash                                                                                   Mirror, mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all? The mirror laughs and laughs until it nearly cracks, And says, “person, oh you person in my thrall, you’re as fair as a muddy old wall. Crash, crash went the lying mirror onto the floor I will look at you no more Out you go, you faithless (you know the rhymed word), I will look and see you no more. When you reach a “certain age” The mirror becomes an old sage. One that will not lie and tells us the truth And says, "you have lost your youth.” Oh, you truthful enemy that steals my joy When we are no longer a young girl or boy. Could I but yet for one moment more See the young person I was once before. But no, truth must out and leave me to shout “Come back, my youthful face where have you gone and left this disgrace.” Who is that unfamiliar visage In the mirror, who is