In Memory of my Godfather Bernard Callihan

Ode to Uncle Bean:

“No More, I’m Ready”

“No more, I’m ready,” the old racehorse groaned;

No tubes and no needles, the prize he would claim.

Possessing the courage to face all the odds,

He would die as he lived, bearing the pain.

No more, I’m ready!” he firmly repeated.

Refusing to scratch from the ultimate win;

No paddock would hold this champion in. 

He bucked at the protests, until all conceded. 

“No more! I’m ready!” he was charging to go.

With the blinkers he’d run a lifetime of races,

His handicap taught him: trust in God’s graces,

Go for the distance. It was time. He did know.

One last request, “No more! I am ready!” 

Past the home turn with his heart in home straight,

His pace didn’t falter, not once did he wince

For he saw the true crown and the heavenly gate.

The old racehorse left us behind on the track

No more, he was ready. There was no looking back.

By Tammy Christine Smith

Niece and godchild of the “Old Racehorse”

May 6, 2019

In Memory of Bernard Callihan

Like the morning sun at dawn

He rises on this day

To greet the saints and angels

Of whose prayers will guide the way.

Clothed in white and purified

By the sacrament anointed

For entrance into heaven’s gate,

His savior has appointed.

No longer will he bear the burdens;

His cross he’s left behind.

His eyes now see the finish line;

Now, eternal life he’ll find.

This day begins forever spring

For now he’s with the Christ, our King!

By Tammy Christine Smith

Niece and godchild of Bernard Callihan

May 6, 2019

The Blessing of Two Planets by Tammy C. Smith 22 January 2019

This morning, I awoke, as my custom, at the predawn hours. It was approximately 4:30 A.M.. As my bed faces south east, my attention was drawn immediately to a brilliant light in the starlit sky. It was the brightest star, by far, that I had ever seen in my lifetime. Low on the horizon, it pulsed so brightly, I wasn't even certain if it was natural. UFO's, space stations, and other images crossed my mind before I set about solving the mystery. Referring to a daily subscription I receive in my email, I checked the earthsky.org website which keeps me informed on sky activity. Sure enough, the bright light was a celestial phenomena. It was a conjunction of Jupiter and Venus. Their timely angles to one another and the elongation of Venus's position to the sun, made the two planets appear as one, in conjunction. As Jupiter and Venus are the two brightest points in our sky next to the moon and sun, together the light they projected was stunning, otherworldly. While watching the event take place in the dark moonlit sky (a super blood wolf full lunar eclipse moon only hours before), to watching the planets sparkle through the blue of dawn above the orange glow of the skyline, I was mystified.

Certainly, I had to wake Tim up for the interstellar show. We admired the planets' conjunction through his binoculars and saw it as doubly awesome. This degree of brilliance from Jupiter and Venus joining will not occur again until January 29, 2043. By then we will both most certainly be dead, so I felt a need to share the experience with him. I even group texted my family, waking them all up with text alerts at 5 A.M.! Lori responded immediately with a "Wow!" Rachel responded later with a picture of the planet conjunction taken from her kitchen window.

What a true blessing this early morning sight was to witness. Dear, Father in Heaven, thank you for the opportunity to see such a marvelous celestial event. Thank you for prompting me to share it with those I love, as next time we see the planets join to produce such a brilliant light, many of us will be sharing the radiant view with you in Your most Holy Kingdom.

"A Blessing of Two Planets"

When Jupiter and Venus shine
Together like a diamond mine
And if as one these planets view
May fortune's flame alight on you.

by Tammy C. Smith
Copyright: 22 January 2019

The Exodus of January by Tammy C. Smith, 20 January 2019

"The Exodus of January"

by Tammy C. Smith

20 January 2019

The dreary days of January

drag

like the forty years in the

desert

when the Israelite's saw no

end.

Thirty-one days the winter

month

confines us inside insulated

walls

surviving by eating days old

manna.

But as Moses promised God’s

people

a light to lead them out of the

darkness,

we sit before our TV sets

awaiting

prophecies of sunshine from

forecasters.

To find joy in the gray of

January

is like finding the Arc of the

Covenant

from the calendar start

life

tastes as blandly as unleavened

bread.

So slow and thick January snow

falls

in inconvenient heaps as if

maggots

mounting on leftovers

clogging

streets and parking lots. 

Until the pressure builds from 

sub-zero 

cold, and potholes part like the 

Red Sea

testing patience on commutes as

snowplows

shovel salt, flakes of frost, on the

earth.

As undead, we face January’s

contagions.

Soot from forced air furnaces

release

dust mites, the plague of

gnats.

The perfect storm of allergens,

January

leaves no unbelievers untouched

biting

cold and hardened hearts to let

go.

Noah's Trust in God

In starting the new year, I am back to the beginning of another year reading the Bible through its completion, the alpha to the omega. I look forward to going deeper into my understanding of the word of God and expressing the holy messages contained in my day to day living.

In rereading Genesis, I'm struck by how quickly the world had become so evil in such a short amount of time, nine generations I counted from Adam to Noah's sons. God's masterpiece corroded quickly after Eve was tempted in the Garden of Eden. In fact, the world must have become an abominable place for God to have felt the need to destroy it by Noah's time. Luckily, God chose Noah as the world's one last chance. Described in the Bible as a man who was blameless among the people and who walked with God, Noah followed God's commands.  He trusted that God would guide him, his family, and the creatures of the earth who boarded the ark to safety in spite of the massive destruction that surrounded them.

Why had people become so evil? It would seem that God's people had everything they could possibly need by the Biblical evidence that people were living to the ages of 700 to 900 years old! However, in Genesis 8: 21, God says that every inclination of man's heart is evil from childhood. But despite the world's corruption, God in his ultimate forgiveness stated never to destroy "all living creatures" as he had done again.

Noah had great faith. It is clear by his willingness to create the mammoth ark and obey God's unconventional ultimatum. Living in apocalyptic times, Noah literally became the caretaker for the future of the earth. With great courage, beyond any courage that I could ever imagine, since I am the veritable cowardly lioness, Noah stepped out into the unfamiliar. He placed greater trust than is ever called upon in God and God's promise to guide him.

Ergo, Noah was given the unfamiliar task of mastering a colossal ship through torrential storms into uncharted territory. During the long months adrift at sea, Noah continued to wait for the signs from God that their journey had ended. The white dove is symbolic here; just as it was the messenger for Noah of God's faithfulness to bring the ark to dry land, several thousand years later the dove once again became the messenger of God's faithfulness when the Holy Spirit in the image of a dove descended upon Jesus at His Baptism (Matthew 3:16). Here we see once again, God's promise in the sign of a dove to deliver us from sin, this time through His only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. At the core of our faith is this message of the dove. Noah trusted in it, and we are to trust in it.

Why can't I have half the faith of Noah? When life becomes unfamiliar, I cling tooth and nail to what I know. My trust in God is weak as I fail to release my grip on the things that have a hold on me . . . I fear letting go of my current lifestyle to fulfill a greater purpose God has for me. It is clear that there are habits, as all of us have, which I need to let go - generally wasting the precious time I have on this earth on meaningless activities. Like Noah, I must trust in the Lord, move from my current state of paralysis, and walk with God to wherever He may lead me.

Through prayer, I ask You, Father in Heaven, take my hand and escort me over the ramparts of my fear. Help me to commit myself to Your will in all things as did Your faithful son Noah. Give me the wisdom, understanding, and courage for the mission You have for me on this earth. As I follow Your path, Lord, remind me always to reach out to others with love, encouragement, and solace. Allow Your joy to shine through me in all my interactions with others, even when I'm shown unpleasantness in return. 

As we are all called to discipleship, in this mission let me begin each day recalling Your words, dear Jesus, "How many burdens can you lighten this year?  How many hearts can you cheer? How many souls can you help?" (God Calling, Two Listeners,16).

New Year Message from “God Calling”

I have probably shared with you all before that I have been reading the same daily devotional for over 20 years. It never ceases to astound me with its spot on messages which seem always to align perfectly for what I need to hear in my life. The devotional came into my hands strangely on two different occasions. My first copy, I picked up in 1994 at a garage sale. While I was rummaging through a cardboard box of carelessly stacked books, the title spoke to me “God Calling,” so I picked it up and for years I have been reading the daily messages of Jesus speaking to my heart in first person.

As the book became yellowed and worn, the pages brittle, it became clear I needed to locate a new copy. About ten years later, I was at a library book sale in Punxatawney, PA. (We were visiting Phil the groundhog!) Lo and behold, while looking through another cardboard box, didn’t I find another copy! God called to me again from another random pile of discarded books! ... Great irony, God, because I pretty much am a random pile of discarded books!

Everyone, this devotional is unusually special. I attest to its messages. The author’s are anonymous; they simply call themselves “Two Listeners” for the messages they claim to have received were through apparitions they were given from Jesus. The editor, A. J. Russell, first published the book in 1899 as he found God’s words to the Listener’s to be both spiritually sound and highly inspirational, so he compiled the messages into a daily devotional. It has now seen over 50 publications.

Now to get to the point of this post. Today’s message from “God Calling” is one that prepares us for the New Year. I posted a picture of the book’s page for December 31 for you to read. It is titled “Jesus the Conqueror.” From here I will allow God’s words, if you choose to read them, speak for themselves. Consequently, today, having just completed a year of reading the Bible in its entirety, beginning to end, I find no fallacies in the messages of “God Calling.”

Christmas True

 

“Christmas True”
by Tammy C. Smith
December 29, 2018

Seek the worth of Christmas true

- Christ, to Him we owe the name.

As round the world we celebrate

His Sacred Heart’s eternal flame,

The treasure’s near, a Saviors’s birth,

Dwell on the evening star so bright.

It shines from heaven down to earth

Pulsing through the darkest night.

Like a compass guide it leads

Toward a crib the wise men found.

In lies the infant Prince of Peace

As angels, seraphim, surround.

Lift each breath up high in praise

To Him the sleeping infant sing

Piercing silence, Christmas Day!

Let hymns arise from earth and ring!

Emmanuel, a package small,

An unassuming present we

Anticipate like children do

Gifts from underneath a tree.

Believe in all that’s Christmas true;  

Noel, the Christ child’s born for you!

John 8: I was blind but now I see!

Have you ever talked to someone who just refused to listen to your side of an issue. No matter what you said, no matter how solid your case, they just were unwilling to see your perspective. My husband, my children, my students... usually they are the people closest to us who refuse to concede to our views. In Jesus day, the pharisees must have frustrated him to no end. No matter how hard he tried to explain to them who he was, the son of God, the Jews could not and would not reprocess the dusty doctrine of their forefathers in order to see the words of old in a new light.

Using the Jew's own sacred words to reveal himself to the Pharisees, Jesus struggled to secure their acceptance of his professed identity. In John 8:17-19, Jesus reminds the pharisees, "In your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true; I bear witness to myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness to me."

"Where is your Father?" they challenge him.

The words Jesus utters next nearly lead to his arrest. He accuses them, "You know neither me nor my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father also."

The Jews are appalled by Jesus and what they perceive as blasphemy, and when they continue to doubt him, Jesus warns the Jews, "You will die in your sins." Unless they resolved to believe that he was sent by the Father, Jesus charged the Pharisees, they would never truly know his Father.

Next, Jesus calls out the Pharisees for planning to kill him. In John 8:39-40, Jesus again uses the Old Testament to support his words, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do what Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I hear from God; this is not what Abraham did."

The familiarity Jesus claims to have with the prophet Abraham does not help his case. In fact, the Jews condemn Jesus even more for his references to their sainted hero. When Jesus advises, "If any one keeps my word, he will never see death," John 8:51, the Jews are right on him, ready and willing to take Jesus down. How dare he claim everlasting life when even Abraham, who knew the Father, died in the end.  But Jesus goes even further and states that he existed long before Abraham and that Abraham was present to see him in all his glory as the son of the Father, and that Abraham rejoiced in him. The Jews are certain at this point that Jesus is possessed with the devil. Consequently, as heated arguments sometimes lead to anger and anger can lead to violence; the Jews began throwing rocks at Jesus believing him to be a heretic. Jesus retreats, however, understanding that the minds of these men are closed.

Opening up a mind to new truths is very difficult, especially when generation upon generation of families and people have always believed a certain way. I am also guilty of standing my ground on more than one occasion, in fact, the older I get the more I find myself clinging to old truths that I rationalize are more right and more God centered than those of today's culture. As the Jews in the temple, I lack tolerance for what appears to me as ungodly. If Jesus were to return in flesh and challenge my views on some of my guarded convictions, would I be just as stubborn? This chapter of John confronts us with our own narrow-mindedness, our own spiritual blindness. Years ago I read the Joshua series. These novels written by the author Joseph Girzone characterize Jesus, returning to live among us, as a man who calls himself Joshua. Joshua travels to various communities and lives among the people. He arrives in places in need of a spiritual revival, places where because of cultural, social, and family struggles, the people have closed their minds to the living Word of God. If Joshua appears on my doorstep, would I accept him, his views? It is a series worth rereading especially in this season of Lent. God's word is alive, we must remember. It is not meant to gather dust or to function only in strict and refined circumstances. It breathes, it exists, it is present, new, and everlasting.

The message of John 8, therefore, is this. If we choose to stay tied and chained to the past, then the life God has planned for us will not be realized. "He who is of God hears the words of God," John 8:47.