Hopes and Prayers

By John MacDonald

Hopes and Prayers, offers a poetic approach to living, and loving someone. A religious approach to our world is universal, and prayer may offer solace under myriad circumstances. At the same time, we all hope for better days. My pieces offer a different means, and will be interpreted according to individual tastes. I hope and pray everyone who takes the time to meander through my thoughts will find a word or two that applies, and offers a different meaning to every day events.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 24, 2010
• ISBN: 9781462828142

John MacDonald

John Macdonald was a distinguished management theorist, consultant and lecturer who wrote many influential books on management, business and politics. His special interest in the Great War and the fighting on the Italian Front in particular was inspired by a visit to the battlefields in Slovenia and Italy, and he made an in-depth study of the Isonzo battles and the entire campaign. He completed this book shortly before he died in 2011.

Book preview

A Far Pavilion

DEFTLY, ON SILENT DANCING CATPAWS, THE SUBTLE SHADES OF MORNING COME PEERING ACROSS MY WINDOWSILL. ANOTHER MYSTERY, ANOTHER ADVENTURE UNFOLDS. INTO THE ADVANCING RAYS OF DAYLIGHT I RUB MY EYES AND WONDER. WHAT WILL CROSS MY PATH TODAY? WHAT NEW FACES WILL BE REVEALED? QUIETLY IN THE COMFORT OF MY BED, I STRETCH AND YAWN. THEN I ARISE AND APPROACH THE AFORE MENTIONED WINDOW. SUDDENLY A FLASH OF LIGHT, MOMENTARILY ACCOMPANIED BY A CRASH OF THUNDER, ANNOUNCES THE ARRIVAL OF ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM. WAVES OF RAIN BORNE ON HOWLING WINDS AWAIT THE UNEXPECTED BEYOND THE PORTALS OF SAFETY.

CONTENT WITH MY MORNING BREW, I SIT AWHILE WATCHING. AMAZED AT THE STRENGTH AND POWER SO EASILY EXHIBITED. FORCES UNLEASHED SO FAR ABOVE THE POWERLESS CREATURES THAT MUST ENDURE AND HOPEFULLY SURVIVE. THE PARADE OF BIRDS IN NEARBY TREES HAS CEASED. THEIR VIBRANT SONGS BLOWN AWAY PERHAPS TO BE HEARD BY A FOREIGN EAR, BUT NOT MINE, NOT THIS MORNING. THE NESTS OF FAMILIAR SQUIRRELS SEEM VACANT, UNATTENDED. OR ARE YOU THERE, HIDING UNTIL THE STORM CLOUDS PASS? I MISS THE CHATTER YOU SEEM TO RITUALLY POSSESS AND WATCHING YOU CHASE ONE ANOTHER THROUGH MY NEIGHBORS TREES, SO NIMBLE, SO CUNNING. WITH ANOTHER SIP, THE STORM IS GONE. THE CLOUDS BEGIN TO PART AND WITH THE FIRST RAYS OF SUN I SEE A RAINBOW. IN TIME THE MORNING SONG OF A FRIENDLY BIRD FILLS THE AIR. SUCH A BEAUTIFUL SOUND. NOW I MUST ANSWER THE CALL OF MY DAILY ENTERPRISE. WIDE AWAKE, I PASS THROUGH THE DOOR OF YESTERDAY INTO THE PATH OF MYSTERY. I MUST ADMIT, I RELISH EVERY DAY, EVERY MOMENT, EVERY CHANCE ENCOUNTER ALONG THE WAY. WHAT COULD HOLD MORE IMPORTANCE THAN THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF MOTHER NATURE, IN ANY FORM, OR THE POWER AND GLORIOUS VISIONS OF HER EXISTENCE? NOTHING, IN MY MIND, COULD EVER COME CLOSE. THE ROADS OF TOMORROW MAY HOLD OTHER STORMS AND MORE PEACEFULL MORNINGS, BUT I SHALL REMEMBER TODAY. SOMETHING TOUCHED MY HEART AND SOUL. SOMETHING SPOKE TO ME. IT WASN’T THE BIRDS, OR THE THUNDEROUS CLOUDS PASSING OVERHEAD, BUT A QUIET, SUBTLE UNDERSTANDING. I HEARD A VOICE. IT SPOKE TO ME. IN THE MIDST OF THE THUNDER AND LIGHTNING IT SAID, I AM HERE, ALWAYS AND FOREVER. PRAY TO ME AND I WILL PROTECT YOU. THE POWER AND GLORY YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED ARE MINE AND MINE ALONE. WITH ME YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENJOY THESE DEFINED MOMENTS AND A BEAUTY BEYOND YOUR LIMITED IMAGINATION.

IT TOOK MERELY A SECOND, A PAUSE IN TIME AND HISTORY, BUT IT HAS SHAKEN THE VERY FOUNDATION OF MY LIFE. I CAN NEVER LOOK AT THE WORLD QUITE THE SAME. WITH A DAZED REALIZATION, SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE AWAITS IN A PAVILION FAR ABOVE THE CLOUDS, WELL BEYOND THE FORCES OF NATURE, AND HE AWAITS BOTH YOU AND ME. MAYBE SOMEDAY WE WILL PART THE CLOUDS AND SMILE AT THE ENSUING RAINBOW AND FEEL HIS TOUCH, SO WARM AND FULFILLING. YES, I ANXIOUSLY AWAIT THE COMING DAY WHEN I WILL HOLD HIS HAND AND FIND MY FINAL REST.

Come My Children

COME MY CHILDREN, SIT AWHILE. HEARKEN TO ME WELL.

THERE’S SOMETHING I WOULD SAY TO YOU. I HAVE A TALE TO TELL.

LONG AGO, A LONELY SOUL, SEARCHED ACROSS THIS LAND.

HE DIDN’T SEEM MUCH DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER MAN.

HE SPOKE OF ALL HE HAD LEARNED IN A VERY FERVENT TONE.

THOSE WHO CAME TO SHARE HIS WORDS, KNEW WE WEREN’T ALONE.

THEY JOINED HIM ON HIS ENDLESS TREK. THEY WALKED FROM TOWN TO TOWN.

AND WHEN HE HAD SOMETHING TO SAY, THEY WOULD GATHER ALL AROUND.

LISTEN TO ME, LISTEN WELL, I AM MY FATHERS SON,

AND IF YOU WILL BELIEVE IN ME, YOUR LIFE HAS JUST BEGUN.

IN OLDEN TIMES, JUST LIKE TODAY, IT SEEMED HARD TO UNDERSTAND.

BUT WHEN THE BOOK IS OPENED WIDE, IF YOU WILL, YOU CAN.

HIS SEARCH SOMETIMES WAS FRUITLESS, HE HAD A GOAL TO KEEP.

HELP ME FATHER, IF YOU WILL, BEFORE MY FINAL SLEEP.

HE WOULD OFTEN PAUSE AND PRAY FROM DOWN ON BENDED KNEE.

DEAR FATHER, SHOW THE WAY, I KNOW YOU’RE HERE WITH ME.

SOME MEN WOULDN’T KEEP THE FAITH. THEY DIDN’T HEAR THE WORD.

THEY LOCKED HIM UP AND TOLD THE WORLD, WE KNOW THIS IS ABSURD.

THEY MADE HIM WALK THE STREETS ALONE, THEN NAILED HIM TO A CROSS.

A SOLDIER WITH A DEADLY SPEAR, INTO HIS SIDE WAS TOSSED.

JUST BEFORE HIS LIFE HAD PASSED, HE SPOKE TO HIM ABOVE,

FORGIVE THEM FATHER, IF YOU WILL, SHOW THEM WITH YOUR LOVE.

HE WAS TAKEN TO A DARKENED CAVE. THEY SEALED IT WITH A STONE.

BUT IN THAT QUIET MOMENT, HE WAS NOT ALONE.

THOSE HAUNTED MEN, WHO FOLLOWED HIM, ROLLED THE STONE ASIDE,

BUT WHEN THEY WENT TO LOOK FOR HIM, HE WAS NO WHERE INSIDE.

SUDDENLY HE APPEARED TO THEM, BENEATH THE MORNING SUN,

HE SPOKE SOME WORDS TO EACH OF THEM, MY TIME HAS JUST BEGUN.

COME MY CHILDREN, SIT AWHILE, LISTEN TO ME WELL.

NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE ON EARTH, YOU HAVE MY WORDS TO TELL.

AND WHEN YOU ARE AN OLDER MAN, YOU WISH TO GO AND HIDE,

I’LL BE WAITING HERE FOR YOU, COME TO MY FATHERS SIDE.

MY STORY ISN’T OVER. YOU’LL HEAR IT ALL AGAIN.

I PRAY THAT YOU STILL LOVE ME TOO, AND THIS WILL NEVER END.

COME MY CHILDREN

COME MY CHILDREN, SIT AWHILE. HEARKEN