Every Day Life

Every day life

Is like an open wound

Without you, I say

Regret and pain define me

Life goes on in spite of everything,

Until I kneel to pray.

Then,

I see why

Life becomes a window

Shining in darkness

Open to a bright blue morning sky.

Every day life

As each day

Regret and pain define me

Life goes on in spite of everything,

Until I kneel to pray.

Then,

Life becomes a winding road

Without you

Choices lead in all directions

But only one light load.

This is my church

A forest cathedral

In which to trod

That tells me

Who you are

My God.

Eternal life

Is like an open door

With you

My Savior, above

Who knocks and beckons;

“Come follow me,

and be the way of love."

                                 - D. Wittler 8/2013

Peace of Mind in Nature

Please bare with me this intellectual pursuit, but I must from time to time explore other options besides the depression and anxiety for which I have been plagued these past long months.

William Wordsworth commented on the intrusion of the industrial age with a disdainful eye as a hindrance to the connection of man to nature. To me, this does not merely say that we gain solely from a walk in the park the perspective on life that feeds our desire for meaning and order, rather, it implies also our interaction with one another as members of a community who are naturally bound by physical locale and allegiance to a common purpose. We find evidence for this perspective within the confines of a religious fraternity where all members share in the inheritance of the founder god who supplies all the necessary needs above and beyond creature comforts. Herein there lies the interconnection of reality, spirituality and rational thought. And so, we begin our transcendence from mere animal instinct towards a higher plain of understanding where moral character and standards of conduct lift us above the natural world. The following is my attempt to transcend all the fears of life lived on the inside by surrendering the selfish for the selfless on the outside. 

Outside Myself

Outside myself

Where wind and trees collide

And God abides

I find great wealth.

In turn a wellspring

Of memory and child-like innocence

Comes calling

To ease my man made plight

Where despair and strife

Turn out the light

And knowledge put back

Upon a shelf

Recedes with age

To gather dust

And return no more

As without a glimpse out doors

Where pine and spruce proclaim a holiday

from all dissonance.

To find joy is to mingle freely

And take the path of least resistance.

Untitled

I wrote this after watching the film: The Perks Of Being A Wall Flower. And then I found a web site that lists many of the stand out lines from the film and book. I wrote on my Good Reads page that I am a perpetual wall flower; I wonder if that makes me immortal in some strange way. Maybe I have never grown up, but there are no excuses left and I still find myself firmly planted in the awkward zone. I apologize for the shoddy poetry and lapses in posts lately; I'm still in mourning. Your patience is greatly appreciated.  

To Joyce.

I have no photographs to post,
just ancient ones hidden under my bed.
Of you,
only memories you cannot see.
But I have feelings to share,
if only you would believe
I am a human being.

So sorry,
that sorry will never be enough,
to heal the hole
I carved into your heart.

Forgiveness,
it sounds so funny now,
but something you cannot ask for
because it must be freely given.

Sorrow,
it is my middle name,
hidden between the pages
of a distant dream;
In the mean time,
I share fragments of time
with those I love most:
children, parents
and the Holy Ghost.

                          - Dale A. Wittler

It is the nature of souls to escape once in a while and go beyond the realm of flesh and blood. And it is the nature of flesh to sink deeper into the marrow of life here on earth. There are days like today when I feel as though I could walk forever down a country back road and never return home again. There are nights when all I can do is pray for the end to come so I can just fade away and leave this pitiful rotting corpse in the dust that it was drawn from. Tonight, I write it down so I don't forget that somewhere in all of this mess is a meaning and purpose just screaming to emerge, and all I have to do is wait it out for the sun to rise again on paradise lost...

Reconciled by Hope

 Woke up this morning

With this feeling

There was purpose

To my dreaming

All through the night

Heading in the wrong direction;

Now things seem right.

Reconciled by hope

At the end of my rope

Looking for a sign

A grand design

To bring me home

When the world says:

You’re all alone.

Working so hard

Sweat of my brow

It’s easy some how

To believe in nothing

And take all you can

While the getting is good;

But I’m a simple man.

God, I know it’s time

Down to my last dime

To get moving again

Come up with a plan

For turning right

Instead of going astray;

Oh lord I pray.

Reconciled by hope

At the end of my rope

Looking for a sign

A grand design

To bring me home

When the world says:

You’re all alone.

Facing the dark

Creating a spark

A fire to light my way

On a distant shore today

To warm my heart

Come what may,

And death do us part.

Reconciled by hope

At the end of my rope

Looking for a sign

A grand design

To bring me home

When the world says:

You’re all alone.

                      -D. Wittler 6/19/13

D- Day

I want to thank my good Friend Steve Walker for posting on facebook  this reminder of the anniversary of June 6, 1945, D-Day. It marks in the annals of history the beginning of the end to a conflict where countless lives were spent needlesly by the evil in men's hearts who were determined to rule by an iron boot rather than by the even hand of freedom and liberty. And so, my commentary:

The Longest Day in history for some; those who boarded the landing craft, saw their comrades die in waves of bloodshed and who survived to be haunted by the blank stares and missing extremities of strangers who never got the chance to see tyranny avenged by freedom's might. And to the crews who drove them to their doom and some who died under shell fire before they reached the beach head. What hell they must have endured; we can only imagine and be forever grateful for the sacrifice of so many. I can still hear Mitch Miller's theme song from the film: The Longest Day. In any fight for liberty,we cannot be fixated on counting the cost, for freedom is not free and to the casualties of war, eternal glory. D. Wittler 6/6/13

Transformed for My Father’s Sake

I woke up this morning thinking of the night before. Lying in bed all alone in the dark made me wonder why there are so many problems in the world, especially right here at home. And then I picked up the book I have been reading for the past three weeks or so: The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. Wouldn’t you know chapter twenty five is titled: Transformed by Trouble. As I read it, the fear and anxiety of my life was affirmed as a test and a trial of faith with a purpose; to be Christ-like.

I know that God has a purpose for my life and I must put aside my child-like ways and finally become the grown up he intended me to be. We are planted on this earth and we emerge from the darkness of our mother’s womb into the light of creation. And like the crops in the fields, the trees in the forests and the fruit ripening in the orchard, we must grow upwards in order to see the purpose for which our creator placed us here on earth. The only real way to do this is to experience life as it is here, unpredictable and harsh as it can sometimes be. And so I must look upon problems in the way that Floyd Starr defined as “opportunities” rather than as a hindrance or an obstacle to my happiness. How else does the diamond form if it were not for millennial amounts of constant pressure? How else does gold and silver become refined if not through the purification of fire?

And so, today I read a piece of scripture and take to heart what Romans 8:28 (NIV) states: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. I am also challenged by Rick Warren who asks the question: “What problem in my life has caused the greatest growth in me?” I have seen and heard what a spring rain can produce in the form of flood, lightening and thunder, and yet, I can take in the sweet smell of lilac and the serene vista of a quiet lake after a storm and feel the presence of God all around me in a sunset reflected upon its glistening surface. Like clouds which accumulate, spill their contents and dissipate into thin air, I must absorb my tears like a rain soaked field that has the potential to produce a bountiful yield… for my Father’s sake. Amen.