The Other Side of the Fence

photo by Linda

Why is it that any time we walk by a fence or a wall we wonder what is on the other side? We look for a knot hole or a crack so we can look in and see what is there or what is going on. Cheap periscopes have been made and sold as toys so kids can see over fences or walls or even around corners. We are all like little kids at times. I believe we have all wished we had a periscope at one time or another. And did it ever occur to you that someone on the other side of the fence or wall may wonder what is on the side you are on? What if when you find the hole to look through and peek in, you see someone looking back at you?

photo by Les

Could it be, that we all have a deep internal desire to know what is "on the other side" whether it is just a fence or a wall, or whether it is the future, or whether it is on the other side of life...or death? What is easier? To know what is on the other side of the wall, or what is on the other side of life? Is it easier to believe what we see on the other side of the fence by looking through the hole, or is it easier to believe what God has told us in the Bible about what is on the other side of life or death, and what is in the future?

We may see through the hole in the fence, but is what we see real, or is it an illusion? We can never be sure. What we see and "know" may actually not be real. Things can be made to look like what they are not, just an illusion. But what we learn from the Bible is God's word. It is the word of the Creator, the One who knows everything. What He says is no illusion. We can trust it more than we, as humans, can trust what we think is true and real, even if we see it with our own eyes.

Think about this the next time you see a hole in a fence you want to look through.

photo by Linda

Two Roads

Robert Frost wrote in a poem, "Two roads diverged..., and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." Well, here are "Two Roads" that diverged. Guess which one I took? Yep, the one less traveled. And that has made all the difference. The "road" ended far too soon and then there was no place to go. What a strange way to make a road. If, when I took the road less traveled, I could see that it was a dead end, maybe I would have taken a different "road". But then, maybe not. It depends on how it is viewed. The road less traveled is either a dead end as it appears, or it is left to look like the end so you can make your own road from there on--not following in an other's rut. Make your own road, a do-it-yourself-road, that is what it is!! And that WILL make all the difference, and has.

photo by les

It's gonna be a long winter

Well, I guess we will all just have to wait!
I saw this while taking a walk in the park a couple weeks ago. Don't they know there are just some things that should not close for the winter?

Photo by les

Leaves

Well, it is the present now. How profound and philosophical for an old codger, right? Anyway, it is, whether we like it or not.

Did you ever stop to think about the transition from summer to winter? It is called fall. And that is appropriate because the leaves fall down. (now you would not expect them to fall up, would you?) That, is MOST leaves fall. Some are on evergreen trees so their leaves do not fall, but all deciduous trees loose their leaves in the fall. That is, they are supposed to. Our two trees in the back yard cooperate very nicely, but our tree in front yard does not. It thinks it is supposed to hang on to all the leaves it can until sometime in winter. I keep waiting for the leaves to fall so I can rake them up and put them into the trash. But, even though the wind blows, the leaves just hang on! And, I am NOT going to climb up and pick them all off!

Maybe we are like trees. Maybe leaves are our habits--our lives. Some of us never want to let them go and we keep them all the time, like an evergreen tree that will not give up it's leaves until it dies. Some of us are like the tree in our front yard that will not give up it's leaves without a fight, and then only reluctantly. Some of us are like the trees in our back yard that give up their leaves as soon as they recognize fall is near.

I wonder what kind of tree am I? When the end of summer is here and winter is on the way--when God is close and the end is near--do I hang on to my life as I like it to be, as the evergreen tree? Or do I hold onto my ways until the winds of life blow so hard that I must give them up? Or am I like the trees in the back yard who willingly give up their lives as soon as they sense summer is over and fall is on the way. When God asks me to turn over my life to Him do I hang onto it with all my power, of do I readily surrender my life to Him? Do I give Him my leaves so He can dispose of them and give me new ones in the spring? So I can spring forth with new life from Him and blossom with beauty? Do I expect Him to pick each leaf off one at a time?

photo by les

And, why do some leaves turn wonderful colors of orange and red and yellow before they fall, but others just shrivel up, turn brown and fall? I wonder.

photo by Google

Beginning at the end

Well, I guess this old codger must get with the times and have a blog. This way I will have someone to talk to even if no one wants to listen. First I have to figure out how to use this thing and how to make a blog. I never knew what a blog was until just a few moons ago. Now it seems everyone who is anyone has a blog. Even though I am not "anyone" I will have a blog anyway. Maybe that will help me to become "someone".

Thought you might enjoy a picture of my home. As you can see, it is not too modern. I have to run a long extension cord (when my neighbor is not home) just to get my computer to run. In the winter it gets hard to use the computer because it is hard to type with gloves on. As you can see, there are no windows and there is no heat in my house.

photo by les