I Blog Poetry and Prose

Words form images in my mind,
pictures representing
the landscapes
of my mind and soul--
landscapes that merge to create
my concept of reality.

I got the idea for part of the title of this entry after reading the latest editorial in {x/ink:http://www.elixir-journal.org/issue11/}e*lix*ir issue #11, autumn 2020{/xlink}. The editorial, Looking with the Eyes of Faith   by SLH (Sandra Lynn Hutchisen) mentioned "God's creation." After finishing the article, I realized that would go better with the prompt "Autumn Flowers" than the flower I had first considered.

Small and/or random acts of kindness help bring people together, but they won't bring about World Peace. The one thing that will establish World Peace is the complete acceptance--from the grass roots level on up--of the oneness, the unity, of the human race. It doesn't matter what the nationality, religion, gender, color, etc. all human beings are of the same species. All were created by the same God. All are entitled to the same rights. The Creator loves all human beings, even those who doubt the existence of God.

I'm considered changing the name of my NaNoWriMo project from Letters From My Soul to Epistles From My Soul. According to dictionary.com, epistle means "a letter, especially a formal or didactic one; written communication."8 I don't want the letters to sound didactic, I do want them to be formal rather than informal. I also want them to focus on the spiritual path and beliefs, which--to me--suggests an epistle and not a normal long or formal letter.

O Lord,
Thank you for chocolate!
Thank you for the sweet or bitter taste
that makes life
on the physical plane
more enjoyable.

I attended the Zoom meeting of the Feast of Ilm (Knowledge) last night. The Feast opened with a video of a man singing Amazing Grace. After the song there was a prayer, followed by another song, Have You Heard. The next reading was the one (see above) by 'Abd'u-Baha from Paris Talks. There were two more songs and a scripture reading before we proceeded to the consultation-business portion of the Feast. The Feast ended with a healing prayer.

I look at the prompt quote or suggestion, I consider how I'm going to answer, and my mind is blank. I don't think I have writer's block, although that is a possibility. I suspect the problem is just that I'm overthinking the theme or subject of the prompt. I'm also having difficulty coming up with prompts, which isn't a big deal because there are dozens of websites that I can turn to for prompts. I've decided to try something different for my blog entries for the next 26 days. Starting on Wednesday, October 14, and ending on Sunday, November 8, all of my blog entries will begin with consecutive letters of the alphabet.

I'm caught up with the NaNo Prep challenge exercise I was behind on. Last night, I read two articles in the Would You Vote for Science or God?   series by Maya Bohnhoff. The articles I read are A Debate: Does Science Refute God?   and Life, Matter and the God Particle  . I finished "A Cabin in the Woods"  and submitted it to "Stormy's poetry newsletter & contest" .

The old church--
abandoned by all except
the echoes of the Holy Spirit,
the ghosts memories,
and tourist
that now and then stopped
to kneel in its empty sanctuary
and intone prayers
to one of God's ancient names--
stood facing the east.

I write poem and short stories about Halloween, no longer celebrate or commemorate it. If I need to use it in a short story or poem, I do research on its origins and its myths. I stopped celebrating it, when I realized it no longer held excited me. As a child, I love to dress up and go trick or treating with my sibling, and, as an adult, I sometimes attended Halloween parties at the places I worked. I attended the Halloween parties to be sociable or because friend were attending them. Now I use Halloween as an inspiration to write, but for no other reason.

I am a "mystical aspirant"11--
a poet with mystical aspirations--
who knows that union
with the Unknowable Divine Essence
is impossible.

Sometimes in autumn,
when the leaves begin to fall
and a cold wind blows out of the north,
I remember
the amber leaves
of the cottonwood tree growing
in my Grandparent's front yard.

Welcome to October 2020,
beautiful and scary
with falling leaves,
glowing pumpkins,
and two full moons.

I'm not going to attempt to get my spooky on. If I think of a good or scary start to a story or poem, I'll enter a couple of contests. My focus in October is preparing for NaNoWriMo and keeping doctors appointments. I have a followup with one specialist on October 6 and I'm scheduled for an ultrasound on October 19. I will celebrate the Birth of The Bab on October 18 and the Birth of Baha'u'llah on October 19. I will make entries in "I Blog Poetry and Prose"  and "Snow's Space Blog"  either everyday or every-other-day.