[Faith-talk] Good Night Message for Saturday, July 14 2012

[Paul]

Hello and good day to you all, ladies and gentlemen, children of our heavenly King-Father and saints of the Most High God.  I hope that, for us living in North America, that today was a good one for you and for those of you in other parts of the world, that your Saturday was also good and that you are looking forward to tomorrow.  However, for those of you in Australia and New Zealand, your church services are no doubt finished.  Hope they were good for you in every way.

Mrs. Lyle B. Day of Phillipsburg MT gave us tonight's poem.  This is especially for those of you who are nature lovers.  It's entitled "A Walk in a Montana Forest," and is rendered as follows:

I love to walk in a forest,
Trees so straight and tall.
In a sense, I always feel
I'm walking in a cathedral.

I choose the tallest tree
To serve as my church spire.
Then, enraptured, I stand
Listening to the wild birds' heavenly choir.
Underneath pine needles, leaves and moss
Help muffle each footstep.
Very cautiously I tread
Less I betray myself,
Lest I forget.

The birds cannot see me;
Tree branches hide them from sight.
So perhaps they hide me also
Or the birds would be in flight.

Kinnykinook winds around the trees,
There entwined with Oregon grape leaves.
Now I catch a glimpse of sunlight
Filtering through the trees.
Moss is growing everywhere,
Fragrant in its delicate pink and white.
I find a wide seagull lily
With its deep purple stripe.

The wind in the tree sings a melody
Known only to trees.
The fragrant scent of pine needles
Is wafted on the summer breeze.
Lavender violets embrace the fallen trees,
And then, to please my fancy,
A wild viola peaks through its leaves.;
It is a miniature pansy.

I saw only one little squirrel;
He did not welcome me.
Instead, he ran as fast as he could
And scrambled up a tree.
There, peering down,
His eyes so bright,
He seemed so very rude,
I'm sure I read his thoughts.
They were:
"Why must you intrude?"

Nodding on their tall stems,
Yellow dog-toothed violets smiled at me,
And nestled near an old tree stump
I see a wild strawberry.

I'll feast my eyes on beauty
For soon I must turn home.
I'll remember this walk in the forest
Through winter months to come.

And there you have it for tonight or whenever you read this.  Here's hoping that Mrs. Day's words conveyed somewhat to you what a walk in the forest is like, at least to her.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, throughout the night and especially in these last and evil days in which we live.  Your Christian brother, Paul