Clanging Halyards

By Donald D. McCall

This is a book of poetry written by a 90 year old grandfather who is not a poet but who wanted to use the intimacy of poetry and the delicacy of its language as well as the depth of its feelings to express his thankfulness for the many ways in which his life has been enriched by the presence of his grandchildren throughout his life. In the words of the Psalmist, he quotes “You make him glad with the joy of your presence.” (Psalm 21:6 NRSV) and indeed they have.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781973684053

Donald D. McCall

Dr. McCall was born of Presbyterian missionary parents in Lebanon. Educated at Hastings College, Princeton, Glasgow, Yale, Edinburgh and Oxford. Member, AKD National Honorary Sociological Society. He was for19 years the Sr. Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Rochester, MN. Member of the Mayo Clinic IRB. Served as Vice Chm. of the Nebraska State Board of Parole. A Retired Commander in the U.S. Navy and a Korean War veteran. Adjunct professor of Homiletics. Author of six previous books. Member of the MN Governor’s Commission on Suicide. Rotary Club President and an Honorary Admiral in the Nebraska Navy. Twice tennis champion of the Navy’s Captains Cup in Honolulu. Barbara Blazek McCall is also an alumnus of Hastings College who holds a Masters Degree from the Univ. of Nebraska and a Juris Doctor from the Univ. of Nebraska College of Law. Upon graduation she served as an Adjunct Professor at the Law College. Barbara is the Mother of four adult children and the Grandmother of the twelve grandchildren to whom this book is dedicated. Barbara recently retired from the practice of Law in Lincoln, Nebraska where she also served as the Director of the Foundation for People’s City Mission, a large homeless shelter in Lincoln. Barbara has served leadership roles in the Presbyterian Church including: Ruling Elder, Moderator of Deacons (twice).

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Copyright © 2020 Donald D. McCall.

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 author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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[Scripture quotations are] from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-8406-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-8407-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-8405-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020901574

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/11/2020

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Contents

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Acknowledgement

Why Use ‘Clanging Halyards’ for a Title

Preface

Destiny

Two Sailors with the Same Visions and Dreams

Thoughts After a Brief Morning Spat

Sloth

Remembering Our Roots

Crossing the River Styx

The Sahara of the Soul

They Roofed Her Once Too Often

A Beggar in Rajipur

A Communion Prayer

Minister Appreciation Month

Love Never Ends

Who Is My Neighbor?

The Best Medicine

My First Car

On Love and Marriage

A Spider’s Web

Sitting in My Backyard by the Pool

A Quiet Place

God’s Prevenient Grace

The Three Amigos

Training a Child

Sanctus Benedictus

Sursum Corda

Thoughts on a College Graduate Who Still Lives at Home

A Realm Too Deep for Human Thought

The Last Robin of Summer

Que Sera, Sera

Amazing Grace

Casting My Mantle

Elan Vital

Suffering from the Dwindles

The Smiling Dragon that Lives in Our Pool

When the Cows Come Home

High Anxiety

Christmas Eve at the State Penitentiary

The ‘Ritual of Friendship’ in the Bulletin

A prayer for our newly elected Pastor Nominating Committee

At The Helm

When I Go to Spain

A Lesson Learned Early in Life

My Quiver Is Full

A Fist Bump Benediction

From the South Side of Mt. Sinai

My Life’s Greatest Fear

The End

Dedicated to my wife

Barbara Blazek McCall

coniugi dilectissimae et amantissimae

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Acknowledgement

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(She without whom none of these lines

would never have been written)

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‘’You shall hear a whisper behind you, saying,

This is the way; walk in it."

Isaiah 30:21 KJV

Love lies not, as all fatalists think, in the luck of the draw,

Nor as the Predestined believe, in what they think they foresaw;

But rather, Love is in an inner voice that only the heart can hear