By the time we’re in our fifties and sixties
we’ve still not arrived at The Gate Of Meaning.
It remains locked and the Gatekeeper
is on coffee break with the keys for sugar.
There’s a bench to sit on for the infirm
if we dare to admit we are.
The wind arises to keep us company,
blowing in unchanging memories
that love their haunting.
We notice holes in the dirt,
still waiting for seeds not planted long ago
for that something more we were here to grow.
Through the gate the garden’s full,
it became what it wanted to be when it grew up.
Could we, too, if the gate we passed through?
Isaac’s Treasure Friends (A Children’s Story)
Somewhere in a forest far, far away there is a treasure.
The birds know what it is,
The deer know what it is,
Even the fish in the river know what it is.
The treasure belonged to everybody.
High on a mountain and deep in a forest lived Isaac.
His name meant laughter, and Isaac was always laughing.
He laughed when he got up in the morning.
He laughed when he ate his meals.
He even laughed when he cleaned up his cabin.
But mostly, Isaac laughed because he was always happy.
The Crazy Old Cat Guy, Chapter 1, “Catching A Cat”
It was quiet, but I knew something was hiding. The silence was perfect because I would be able to hear the critter move. I crawled my old body painfully further under the wild ferns. I grinned. The wild thing would soon be mine. A black foot padded by, only five feet away. I heard its fur brush against dry leaves.
“Not quite as sneaky as me, are you?” I inched forward just a bit more, very close to the striking position I knew I needed to be in.
I wiggled the fingers on my extended hand just a little. Enough to be noticed but not enough to frighten. Curiosity was my best weapon to catch a cat. A light pounce and a victorious meow, plus new scratches on my fingers, told me the cat thought it had won.
Words for Living – Part 1
I trust these words will inspire and encourage you to become and live your best self. The music is written and produced by my son, Graham Jantz, for his grandpa. Thanks for watching.
Live Your Honest Self
You may not know
the answers you seek.
You may not live
from your heart out.
But you do know
that you wish to be happy
and you know
self-honesty and self-being
are your ways.
Wish to know
your hidden spirit.
Wish to live
your heart calling.
Then you will be
who you must be.
Then you will live
you for others.
On This Coming Day
Each day we strive for self and home
to make our lives complete.
But on one day, a coming day,
our hearts for others beat.
It is a day we know as Christmas
that we wish happiness for others.
As this day comes we act from love
and think and do, one for another.
And if once a year we can do so much
what about the remaining days?
Could we not do one for all
and give each other praise?
On this coming day, this day of hope
I wish each of you happiness
for each day you live this coming year
and I wish for you to be blessed.
Doing Your Work Is Becoming You
Becoming who you know you are and want to be is not something that happens with the flick of a light switch and “Ta-Da, here I am.” It involves daily work (sometimes every single minute) and must have intention and determination.
It is the work itself that is the journey, the person you intend to be.
And how you carry out that work shows who you are becoming and who you intend to be.
Your Spirit Heart Is Calling
We get busy living our lives and doing and gaining those things that we believe we must do and get. Yet buried beneath the busyness lies our spirit heart, the quiet beating of our higher self that waits to be called and listened to.
I attained the things in life that were important to me as a young man: marriage and kids, a good career that ultimately allowed me to retire in comfort, and the possession of things I “needed” to make my life comfortable and accepted.
I had done everything right on the outside but had forgotten to pay attention to the inside.