Midweek Reflections: Writing Poetry – A Poem

It is Wednesday, 

And I'm writing poetry 

Dedicated to the Blessed Beauty. 

Each day my  prayers are answered 

Either with another idea 

Or a completed poem. 

As of today 

At 5:01 PM 

Pacific Daylight Time, 

I have 65 poems planned 

And approximately 40 completed. 

By sunset on Sunday, 

October 22, 2017, 

I plan to have 

Two hundred poems completed. 

Midweek Reflections on Sparking my Imagination

Today, Wednesday, May 23, the writing.com newsletters hit my inbox. The subject for the Contests & Activities newsletter was "Sparking your imagination". This week's editor discussed quotes as a means of igniting a writer's imagination. The author used quote to show that writers need to stay positive about their writing. I know, from personal experience, that quotes encourage me to remain positive while giving me ideas for poem. 

If you find yourself becoming despondent, which can lead to writer's block, find an inspiring quote. Once you find the quote, read it, and meditation or think about it before sitting down to write. Have a dictionary nearby, in case you come across a word you don't know.  These are just some things I've found that help me. I encourage you to find your own methods to overcome your self-doubt. Remember the important thing is to meditate on the quote after your read it. 

Midweek Reflections: A Poem

Gazing back 

Across the past seven days 

I contemplate the mysterious ways 

God has revealed 

Himself 

In my life. 

Gazing back 

Across the proceeding stanza 

I contemplate the reason 

I always refer 

To the Unknowable Essence as 

Him. 

Gazing forward 

Across the next seven days 

I wonder about the ways 

The Unknowable Creator 

Will shed blessing 

Upon me. 

Midweek Reflections on Coffee

'Idál (Justice), 16 Mulk (Dominion), 173 BE - Wednesday, February 22, 2017 CE about 3:06 PM 

Coffee 

Folgers black silk 

A morning full of joy 

Sip by sip I consume the day 

Success 

Midweek Reflections on Making Changes

'Idál (Justice), 3 Mulk (Dominion), 173 BE - Wednesday, February 8, 2017 CE about 11:34 AM Pacific Standard Time 

It's the second month of 2017 so it's about time I considered making some changes to my blog entries. I know that it seems strange to start considering this changes this late in 2017 and it would be for most people, but not for me. I celebrate Naw-Ruz as the New Year and it occurs on March 20 this year. Therefore, I've decided to make some changes in the way I make blog entries. 

The first change I'm making is in the date. Instead of using AD, which means Anno Domini (the year of our Lord), for the Gregorian date I'll be using CE (Common Era or Current Era). The second change I'm making is to the theme for the daily entries. I haven't been focusing on different themes for different weekdays. I think I started the daily themes several years ago, but I stopped for some reason. The daily themes helps me focus on subjects for the entries. 

I've decided on four themes for three different days. Thankful Thursday, Form Friday, Midweek Reflections (Wednesday) and Website Wednesday. The Wednesday prompts I plan to alternate during the month. I still have to decide on themes for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday. I will have those finalized by the end of February. I think that's all I have to write for now so I will close this entry and post it. 

Midweek Reflections on Letting Go

'Idál (Justice), 8 Sulṭán (Sovereignty), 173 BE - Wednesday, January 25, 2017 AD about 11:07 AM Pacific Standard Time 

O Lord, 

Help me to let go 

Of yesterday's fears 

And mistakes. 

This morning I seem to be having difficulties letting go of yesterday's bad decisions and fears. I'm not sure precisely what is causing this problem today. I'm tired so it could be I didn't get enough sleep last night. I had a problem with my allergies last night so the coughing could have interfered with my rest.  I have some meds my doctor prescribed for the allergies which I didn't take last night. I take one of those meds tonight and see if that helps. I may have to call my doctor to get another prescription for those meds or a referral to a specialist. I'll deal with that after I see how many of those allergy talbets I have left. 

O Lord, 

Help me to let go 

To focus on your strength 

And forgiveness. 

I'm attempting to remember which prayer I said last night. I know I recited the evening prayer, but I don't remember reading anything from The Hidden Words or any other scripture. That could be one reason I'm having problems letting go this morning. I have put reading The Hidden Words on my daily To Do List that way I know I'll read a scripture verse. I may not get everything done on my To Do List, but I do get over 95% of the list accomplished. 

Midweek Reflections on My Purpose in Life

'Idál (Justice), 13 Sharaf (Honor), 173 BE - Wednesday, January 11, 2017 AD about 9:12 AM Pacific Standard Time 

It's said that there are two great days in a person's life. The first is birth and the second is when the person finds out why they were born. Many of us go through life never knowing why we were born because we don't know our purpose in life. I didn't find out my purpose until after I was thirty years old. In fact I had to move from Oklahoma to Nevada to find my purpose in life. 

My purpose in life is to know and love God. This wasn't something I was taught as a child. Indeed I grew up thinking that God was someone you addressed at meal time and on Sundays. There rest of the time we were free to do whatever we wanted without considering God's purpose for our lives. Only after thirty years old did I encounter anyone who had another viewpoint. 

I had a couple of dreams when I was in Blackwell that implied I needed to search for truth and my purpose. I didn't realize the significance of these dreams until after I left Oklahoma and begin my search in earnest. I discovered my purpose in Las Vegas and I found that to express that purpose, I had to write. I had to write either poetry or stories to express my purpose. My purpose is to know and love God. My work, when done in the proper attitude, is equivalent with worship of God. 

Midweek Reflections on the Effect of Music on my mood

'Idál (Justice), 6 Sharaf (Honor), 173 BE - Wednesday, January 4, 2017 AD about 11:16 AM Pacific Standard Time 

To say that I started out the morning a bit depressed is an understatement.  I was descending into my normal January brown study and blogging about it in my writing.com blog. Two of the blog prompts I responded to today lent themselves to the subject. After I responded and posted those entries to the proper blog groups I checked the wirting.com newsfeed. There was a community challenge to listen to the song Celebration by Cool & The Gang and then write a response of some type. I chose to put my response, which was a free verse poem, in my writing.com blog. 

As I listened to the music, I realized that my mood was changing. The fog of my January depression was lifting. I write the poem Celebration: Scattering the Darkness and posted it in my writing.com blog. After listening to the music and writing the poem, I'm feeling much more confident and a lot happier. I still have the same problems I did before I listened to the music, but now I can see clearly enough to figure out a solution. Depression doesn't help finding a solution to anything, in fact it makes the depressing situation worse because it hides the solution behind the fog of fear. 

Midweek Reflections on 2016

'Idál (Justice), 17, Masá’il (Questions), 173 BE - Wednesday, December 28, 2016 AD about 7:01 AM Pacific Standard Time 

As I look back over the past year, I realize that it's been an interest, stressful, and polarizing. This year humanity seems to be divided into two groups which consist as them and us. Them is defined as anyone of a different color, nationality, religion, political persuasion, etc. While us refers to a group of people that have several of these things in common. These perceived divisions divide humanity into warring factions and encourage separation into armed camps. 

No matter what an individual's politics, religion, color, or nationality we all have more in common than we realize. We need to take a broader view. Instead of focusing on the difference, which separate us, we need to focus on the things that unite us. If we don't know what these are then we have to look for them and this means we have to get out of the cubicles we've placed ourselves in. We can do this by communicating with those of different colors, religions, political persuasions, and nationalities honestly. By honestly I mean putting aside any preconceived ideas we have about what other people believe or think. 

We can't meet others on common ground if we hold onto our prejudices and preconceived ideas about them. Humanity is moving into a new stage of social and spiritual evolution in which we need to meet other human beings on the common ground we share rather than behind the wall that separate our human species into them and us.