One Man’S Life and Thoughts: In Good Times and Bad -Volume 3

By Charles T. Johnson

There is no one that can promise that tomorrow will even come,
And there is no guarantee at all that we will see tomorrows sun.
The promise of another day is not a guarantee things will change,
In fact there is no guarantee that there are any days that remain.

Then what value is there in today if tomorrow may never come,
Why worry about a day not here when our present one isnt done.
We should focus on the present and treat each hour as if the best,
For times a gift he loans to us when it is gone we have none left.

For once its gone its truly lost, not one minute can be returned,
The values in how we used it, and most important what we learned.
So if were frugal with our time, and use it to learn about his way,
He will reward us with additional time in the form of another day.

But remember time is still Gods gift; it has value and great worth,
A tool hed have us use to learn about his wisdom here on earth.
So each moment that he gives to u, is ours to try to be like him.
But if we squander what he gives, well not have that time again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Jun 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466938007

Charles T. Johnson

I grew up in the copper mines of Arizona and graduated from Arizona State University at Tempe, Arizona. My degree is bachelor of science in electrical engineering. My major job was director of world marketing for the Quartz Watch Program for Motorola. I left the engineering field and went into the financial newsletter business. Due to the return of polio in the form of postpolio syndrome, I had to accept disability and retire. I did not have any experience writing poetry. Then one night our next-door neighbor’s son was killed in an accident. I lay in bed that night, and for the first time in my life, a poem came to me. I got up and went to my computer and, in twenty minutes, wrote “He’s My Son Too.” With this, I started to write for several years until I ran out of any new ideas. So I just stopped, and after several years, I was encouraged to publish some of the 1,600 poems that I have written. I have gone through many different problems that I have put into the poems I have written. I hope that these poems are enjoyed each of you, some basics in life that I had never recognized myself.

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Copyright 2012 Charles T. Johnson.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

isbn: 978-1-4669-3799-4 (sc)

isbn: 978-1-4669-3801-4 (hc)

isbn: 978-1-4669-3800-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012904840

Trafford rev. 05/10/2012

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Contents

Let It Go

Casting Stones

The Lines Of Time

The Longest Distance

The Cathedral

Patience Or Faith?

Conflict In The Mind

The Project

Welcome

But I Accepted Jesus!

The Easter Promise

Picking Up The Pieces

The Chameleon

Lord, I’m Waiting

Addictions And Depression

True Friendship

Forgiveness

Advice For Relationships

Facing The Unknown

The Mighty Oak

Does God Ignore The Faithful?

Did God Love Doubting Thomas?

The Scripture On Divorce

The Search For Truth

Rick Linamen On The Future Plans For Sbc

When A Marriage Ends

Mistreated And Rejected

Seeking Life’s Answers

The Last Time I Saw Her

Conditional Vows

Jerusalem

On This Wedding Day

Of All My Prayers, Lord, Grant This One

Gizmo

When Sexual Intimacy Is Not Love

The Western Wall

Grandfather’s Birthday

The Good Doctor

I Remember Mother

Happiness

The End

Who’s Bed Is It?

God’s Tool

The Graveyard

Puppies For Sale

The Outlaws

Loneliness

Anthony Petrone

The Bullfrog

To Suffer Is A Blessing

A Week Before Christmas

Love Builds Traditions

I Wonder If She Likes Me

White Lies

The Crystal Heart

Schedules

Opinions And Perceptions

Compromise

The Street Preacher

The Concert

The Keepers Of The Truth

The Pillars Of Love

Depression

My Lost Library

A Dog’s Life

Welcome To My Home

Depression

Love And Compassion

Feelings Have A Cost

Good Friday, 1999

A Hill To Die For

Let God Be Your Timekeeper

Old Jake’s Happy Hour

Cost—Value—Worth

Time

Mean What You Say

The Green Man’s Potion

The Sermon

When They’re Lonely

Satan’s Poison

A Donkey’s Revenge

When Those You Love—Don’t

Yes, I Loved Her—

Who Wouldn’t?

A Miner’s Life

Pain

Mentors Are Everywhere

Sixty—I Quit!

Conditional Faith

In The Beginning

The Bouquet

Fear

The Caterpillar

God’s Special Servant

There’s Something You Can’t Lose

I Need To Have An Answer

The Question

John’s Judgment

The Trunk

A Smart Marriage

Fifty Years Of Wisdom

LET IT GO

An Old Man knelt and bowed his head and began to softly pray,

Dear Lord, I need your guidance and your understanding way.

My problems are quite common, much the same as any man,

And the hurts and disappointments are all ones you understand.

All my trials and tribulations have been burdens to my soul,

And my spirit has been broken, only you can make it whole.

I have struggled with my problems, I have tried all that I know,

But I just can’t turn it over or move ahead and let it go.

I hold on despite all warnings because my feelings won’t let go,

For to feel good is my demon, this of course I’m sure you know.

I am saddened and discouraged, I’m without your inner peace,

And despite my best advisors, none can help me to release.

Lord, I’m ready to surrender, I’ll submit to what you say,

Teach me how to turn it over, here’s my hand show me the way.

Then he took my hand in kindness, with a love that all can know,

And he said, I’ll hold you tightly, now it’s OK if you let go.

Charles T. Johnson

2/22/98

I pray that Christ will give me the strength to trust in him and believe that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love him.

CASTING STONES

A wife and a husband ask a judge to divorce them for good cause,

They ask he uses his wisdom and the knowledge of man’s laws.

Their reasons were presented so that he would understand,

That their marriage now was over, and to end it was their plan.

Perhaps you would enlighten me on the problems that exist,

For most problems have solutions, unless one chooses to resist.

The husband spoke of nagging and her complaining every day,

The wife in turn described his moods and the things he didn’t say.

I feel neglected, said the wife, and for the most part all alone.

And I, the husband grumbled, rarely have affection shown.

Your Honor, I have known this man, and can predict what he will say,

He’ll blame me for not caring and will deny his errant ways.

The judge acknowledged that he’d heard, all he needed to decide,

And he would give his judgment based on inputs from both sides.

You both have been persuasive, and I see your points of view,

But I feel that it’s important to offer some advice to you.

I’ve observed you both are focused on what the other does,

And as such you have neglected to show each other care or love.

Now you each are bound by feelings that have driven you apart,

And you’ve overlooked the basics that can bind each other’s hearts.

If you’ll only try some kindness and avoid the need to blame,

Your feelings will be different, and in fact they will be changed.

It is patience, love, and kindness that bind the marriage vow,

And to judge your marriage over is something I just can’t allow.

You have both blamed one another, and no kindness have you shown,

And you’ve cast about cruel insults, just as one would cast a stone.

So my advice to you is simple, and if you want your love to last,

Make sure the words you throw about aren’t in a house of glass.

Your words like stones are hurtful, and you’ve cast them without care,

Both forgetting what you promised and long neglecting to be fair.

So my judgment is as follows: pick up your stones and broken glass,

And use them as the cornerstones to build a bridge of love that lasts.

Charles T. Johnson

3/7/98

Casting Stones is a poem about the problems in a marriage that are conveniently used to justify a divorce. In this poem, the judge wisely assesses the real problems and offers a solution to save the marriage.

THE LINES OF TIME

I saw an old and weathered face that was etched by father time,

That told the story of its life, in every wrinkle, scar, and line.

And like the pages of a book, no two lines there were the same,

For some lines told of good times, while some others told of pain.

Though the face was old and wrinkled, it expressed a love for life,

For with age there comes the wisdom, that good can come from strife.

But despite its weathered features, it was a beauty to behold,

For in every line and wrinkle, one could see Gods’ perfect mold.

Inspired by a Photo of Mother Teresa

Charles T. Johnson

3/12/98

Lines of Time, is a poem that was inspired by a photo of the late Mother Teresa in a news magazine I was reading while in a doctors office.

THE LONGEST DISTANCE

When our problems are so serious that we lose our peace of mind,

We’ll search our thoughts and feelings for any answer we can find.

Now our logic is the usual place, that is where we often look at first,

Then our feelings are examined, which can often make things worse.

For our feelings can distort the truth and confuse what God reveals,

And we lose his true perspective, which is the only one that’s real.

It is our logic and our feelings that are at times light-years apart,

Yet it’s only twelve short inches that’s between our head and heart.

Now it’s the longest distance traveled when two people can’t agree,

Yet the distance is the shortest when it’s his truth that we can see.

Though it’s only twelve short inches, we can make it seem as none,

If we let our thoughts and feelings both submit to Christ, his Son.

Charles T. Johnson

3/13/98

The Longest Distance was written with the thought in mind that we have a difficult time resolving our thoughts and logic with our feelings. It is said the longest distance between two points is the six inches between our head and our heart.

THE CATHEDRAL

I once walked through an old cathedral that was built in ages past,

With its altar bathed in sunlight from its windows of stained glass.

From each window light was streaming from the subject it contained,

And each apostle and the prophets and the Virgin Mary had a pane.

As the light poured through each window, every color could be seen,

And all the figures out of scripture seemed to dance about the scene.

And in awe I watched their action, seeing scripture live through them,

And for the twelve that dined with Jesus, all reclined to eat with him.

There were little children smiling as he let them sit upon his knee,

And you could almost hear him saying, Let the children come to me.

There were angels guarding heaven and Roman soldiers at the cross,

While his mother knelt, there weeping at her cruel and personal loss.

But one pane of glass was special, for every color known was there,

And its radiance was so brilliant that I could only stand and stare.

For it was a picture of our Savior as he hung there from the cross,

And I finally knew the debt he’d paid was for me—at such a cost.

As I turned to leave that morning, one more picture caught my eye,

And it brought me tears of gladness as I bowed my head and cried.

Just a picture of an empty tomb that was carved from rock and clay,

Christ as promised had arisen, so through him we could be saved.

Charles T. Johnson

3/24/98

The Cathedral was inspired as I was attending the Revelation Class at the chapel at Scottsdale Bible Church. The lights were on on the stained glass window behind the altar. It reminded me of the magnificent cathedrals that I’ve seen in Rome, Spain, and Europe. Every church tells the story of Christ in its own unique, pictorial way, but the story is the same,