Life Seems Simple: On the Surface

By Joyce Basso

Short Stories with moral lessons: some humorous, others serious; all with supporting scriptures.

There are times when words make us feel, peaceful, like were home again. We sit back and the words radiate through us like a warm sun rising through a screen porch lulling us to be still and witness Gods creations. At other times words cause us to bear witness to the fact that things are also chaotic, unknowable, anxiety producing. Being stillin the midst of this chaos, finding the beauty in Gods creationcan be a Herculean effort. It takes humility, knowing that we dont always have the answers, knowing that only divine guidance lead us back home. Life Seems Simple on the Surface illustrates this beautifully. Joyce Basso takes us on a journey: her voice, soft or raised, happy or cantankerous, is always seeking out that space of tranquility, the peace of Gods grace that one can only find when pretenses fall away and like an onion, layers of truth are angrily exposed forcing us to be still and bare witness. Basso wants to quickly make three things very clear: She is devoted to God, always seeking to be led by Him; she is fallible, daily she seeks grace; and she spends a lot fabricating conversations for animals. If youre having a bad day, or are in need of a quick change of perspective, pick up Life Seems Simple on the Surface and allow Basso to take you back home.

Gary Matthews

Assistant Professor, English, Tougaloo

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Oct 13, 2014
• ISBN: 9781452522609

Joyce Basso

Joyce Basso has been putting her thoughts in writing for years with no thought of how she would use it; publishing was never on the radar. She has volunteered to facilitate Bible study classes for senior citizens at her local library, and at Crossroads Ministry, a home for women needing a safe place to live while getting their lives back on track. It was during this time she began to share some of her writings. The response was “you need to write a book, and if you write it, we will buy it.” Life Seems Simple – On The Surface is her first book and it is dedicated to women who said she could, and should write a book. Joyce lives in Brandon, Mississippi with Calvin The Cat, the cat she vowed she would not get.

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Copyright © 2014 Joyce Basso.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-4525-2259-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-2260-9 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 10/08/2014

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Contents

Words Are Powerful – Use With Care

Wisdom For Both Of Us

Rejoice

Unusual Friendships

New Song

Agravation

Comfort Zone

Humor And Healing

Worn Out Bible

I Was In A Pit

Bigger Than Me

Bad Things Do Happen To Good People

Conditional Supper Invitation

Whining!

Worthy Of Thought

Peace And Security

Healing And Hope

Judging

LIFE SEEMS

Simple

JOYCE BASSO

WORDS ARE POWERFUL – USE WITH CARE

At some point in my life I was told, if a person makes a habit of using swear words it is an indication they have a limited vocabulary. I’ve never been a big user of swear words, but let’s face the facts; occasionally a person needs to express their feelings strongly - without sufficient time to examine their vocabulary to find an acceptable word. My philosophy is be prepared. Over the years I’ve collected words and phrases that appear to sufficiently express a person’s strong feelings where the use of real swear words would be inappropriate, or would most likely create a problem.

My friend, Gladys, has a limited supply of substitute swear words, but what she has works well for her. Her word of choice is flitter, or if thoroughly provoked, she steps it up a notch to Oh flitter.

Friend, Carol inherited her favorite phrase from her mother. The phrase, Shoot a monkey; was new to me, but I’ve heard it many times since becoming her friend. Shoot was my childhood word, but what was being shot was never specified. Another favorite of mine was John Brown It. A minister told me it wasn’t nice to say things like that, but my granddaddy said it a lot. If it was good enough for granddaddy, it was good enough for me.

My grandmother was a woman of few of words, but her body language could have written a book. Granddaddy was bad about coming home from town, and talking about some pretty woman he had seen. Grandmother never said a word. I would hear the back door slam, and see her stomping off to the garden with her hoe. If the weeds had been granddaddy’s neck he would have been headless! The crazy part is that granddaddy never learned to keep his mouth shut, and grandmother continued chopping