And They Lived Happily Ever after

A few thoughts: "And they lived happily ever after."

Many of us adults grew up with someone reading us a story; whether at bed time by a parent, grand parent, or in school. I remember Mrs. Kortokrax reading to our class Charlotte's Web in second grade I believe, and listening to Disney classics like Pinocchio on vynil LP records. My younger sisters, and I would follow along with the enclosed story book. Ah, what memories, especially at happy endings.

Well, some years later I remember hearing Paul Harvey on the radio telling us "the rest of the story." Usually about the humble beginnings of a well known person or celebrity. On Saturday mornings Casey Kasem would play Amercas Top Forty songs. He would always share a long distance dedication at some point during his broadcast. It was normally a true story about everday people; long lost, and found romance, overcoming adversity, or some other human interest story with a song associated with it. And yes, usually with a happy ending.

Today, as my years of experience have taught me is that there are always two sides to every story. We take the good, and bad as either a positive, negative or learning experience. We see the good guy, the bad guy, or the circumstances that lead to a happy, sad or moral teaching. Sometimes the moral part gets left out, and we are left wondering what the whole point was. Anyhow, the important thing to remember is that stories either teach us something; or give us a certain perspective on life. One thing leads to another, yet we must realize that any story can be viewed from different points by those who are a part of the story itself. One side may get the gold while the other is left impoverished. One may get the love of their life while the other is left alone. 

Either way, in life it is important to consider both sides of a story to truly appreciate the whole picture, and how every story allows for revisions. "Happily ever after" is not always the  point, sometimes there is a lesson, sometimes not, and sometimes we just have to wonder. 

Good day, and God bless!

The Siege

A Few Thoughts: The Siege.

Perhaps it is time to come out again.

The gates were locked. The drawbridge chains wound. To the ramparts archers gathered, and knights rallied for the siege ahead.

That's my analogy for the fight against the covid virus. It creeps in unannounced like a Trojan horse. It masks itself as innocently as the common cold, and then jumps you like a thief in the night. 

The Siege begins, and all your energy is somehow drawn out of you. The fires are lit, and your lungs begin to fail. It is all you can do to focus on one breath at a time through your nose, and out through your mouth. In... out.... In... out. 

With great care nurses, and doctors rush in. They are the reinforcements who sure up the castle walls, and plan a counter attack. In their hands you trust, but it takes the fighter in you to help them with their task. 

And so they gather tools of siege warfare. Boiling oil in vials of blood. Gauntlets of steroids, and probing the enemy outside to find the weakest point to counter the blow within.

You hope you have enough reserves to outlast the long haul. Each day you fight, pray, and survive; that's all you can do as hour upon hour passes.

And finally the enemy weakens. Your body gains the advantage, and you have the virus on the run. Fires are extinguished, towers toppled; time to heal wounds of war. Rebuilding weakend walls takes time, but you can claim victory for today, and tomorrow is another day. I cannot say why some survive while others answer the final call, all I know is that there is no such thing as luck as long as you believe, pray, and are reassured that an army is behind you all the way!  

God bless you all.

D.A. Wittler 4/25/21

The Things We Leave Behind

A few thoughts: A work in progress in troubled times.

The Things We Leave Behind

Naked, and crying

Our trail of tears begins at birth

Light, and sound prepare us

For the best, and worst

With everything in between

Just learning, growing

Following, and leading

Rising, descending

Like a sunrise

A sunset falling

Spectacular in living color

Fading into twilight

Leaving mere breadcrumbs

For the next generation.

So now I'm asking

What are these things

We leave behind?

Memories, clothing

Trinkets in a desk drawer?

Love, caring

Hugs behind a closet door?

Make the longing linger

The pain of passing simmer

Like a stew on a stovetop.

These things we leave behind

Like a spirit hovering

A prayer confessing

All in a day's work

And hopefully we can say

We lived, we loved

We overcame, and conquered

And never forgot to live 

Along the way.

D.A. Wittler 9/23/20,, ,.

Early to Rise

I remember those first days in Army basic training oh so clearly. The morning sounds of drill sergeants coming down the hallway of our barracks yelling and carrying on about getting out to first formation still fill my ears. As time went on I would wake up a few minutes early and be ready for the flash of fluorescent lights and clanging trash cans. But there were mornings when I stood out in first squad of third platoon, A company, fourth battalion, third training brigade with eyes closed; hoping to catch a few more precious moments of sleep before calisthenics and two mile run. I did not realize then how much the experience would influence my life down the road. I can now say I know the meaning of the phrase “early to rise…”

A few days ago my spiritual director challenged me to see myself as the son of a loving Father God. This awakening acknowledgement that I was his son, loved and cared for just as Christ Jesus stirred in me like a clanging trash can or drill sergeant’s voice in an early Missouri morning. Stunned, I sat emotionless and quiet as a deer caught in headlights. Then, I heard a voice say again, “you are that son.” Imagine for a moment that you are his beloved son or daughter. Does it ring true or is there a sense of denial echoing somewhere in the past? Is there a painful experience gnawing at you like a child’s crude remark or a parent’s booming voice causing you to shrink into seeming oblivion? Let it go and rest assured he knows your pain just like he accepted the nails and scourging of his passion and death on the cross.

You do not have to be a soldier to realize at one point in your life that in order to be a responsible adult, a tearing down and building up is what you need. I sight my own experience now because it was brought back to me by the soft and caring voice of someone who knew what I needed to hear. I sit here today wondering how the bills are going to get paid or when a new job will come along. It is the unknowing of uncertain times that burdens me, but I cannot let this down turn keep me from realizing I have a purpose and meaning to fulfill in this world. Yes, I have two sons who depend on me and a wife who needs my support now more than ever, but there is another calling. I must be ready to answer it at any hour of the day or night. The father never reveals his purpose too soon, for he knows best our hearts and when he needs us most. We must pray unceasing and allow that purpose to arise in us just as the rising sun greets the dawn. So, early to bed, early to rise really does make us healthy, wealthy and wise. Witt.

View from the Rooftop

I recently was given the opportunity to assist my brother in law with his business. He was short handed one day and asked if I could help out; little did I know what this entailed as I drove over to a nearby town where the job site was located. It was a food processing plant that utilized numerous filtration units to cool and circulate clean air throughout the plant. Of course these units were located on the roof and it was my brother in law’s task to change the filters in many of the units; a job some might consider too much of a hassle to mess with as it required climbing up to the rooftop and lugging boxes of replacement filters to several locations. You would have a good understanding of the life of a mountain goat after spending a couple of days of this and I got first hand experience. It did not take long for me to realize how different things look when viewed from a different angle. High above the noise and common place sights gave me a perspective of the world I rarely see and so I feel compelled to share.

Funny, how your thinking can be broadened by a view from the rooftop. For me, it only confirms what I already have been trying to do in my daily life as it pertains to faith and personal integrity. You see, I find it troubling that the world is so caught up in hoarding wealth, power and control over people. It seems like many people just want to get out of life what they can get for themselves and the heck with everybody else. It is so self evident in the labor movement, the so called new “equal rights” agenda and even in our government run amok with wasteful spending of tax payer money. What they fail to see is the ripple effect this attitude will have on future generations and the impact it has on the younger generation of today. When a child is given everything it desires, more than not, all you end up with is a spoiled child demanding more of your time, talent and treasure. What should be the focus is teaching the child over time to be disciplined in fulfilling needs, wants and desires; not in seeing how much can be squeezed out of the patience of a desperate parent.

The rooftop not only gives us a new perspective, but it provides the additional light and fresh air we need to appreciate what God promises every day; a new beginning and a second chance to “get right” with him; to put straight our path and view his creation in a way far from the reaches of selfishness and the need for power. The “big picture” is what God sees and most often what we fail to notice in our own small space upon the ground. And so I challenge anyone who happens by this page today to take a moment and seek the rooftop; to put their trust in faith that God will provide all their earthly needs no matter the course life seems to be leading them to. It is truly amazing what a change in perspective can do once you are willing to put fear aside and just climb to the heights of new life. Witt.