ONE OF THE TWELVE - JAMES THE LESSER

 

One of the twelve

James the lesser

Son of Alphaeus

A tax collector

Witness of the ascension

Who then spread the Gospels

Far and wide

James’s son of Alphaeus

Was beaten, stoned

And clubbed to death

 

Feast Day 1^st May

THE FOURTEEN HOLY HELPERS – GEORGE

The Fourteen Holy Helpers are a group of saints venerated together in Roman Catholicism because their intercession was believed to be particularly effective against various diseases.

This group of “helpers in need” originated in 14th century Rhineland, due largely as a result of the epidemic that grew to become the Black Death, but their veneration spread almost as quickly as the plague

Saint George was a Greek who became an officer in the Roman army.

His father was the Greek Gerondios from Cappadocia, Asia Minor, while his mother was from the city Lydda, which was a Greek city in Palestine dating from the times of the conquest of Alexander the Great.

It was ironic that George became an officer in the Roman army in the Guard of Diocletian who was ultimately the emperor who put him to death for his beliefs.

He has a great many Patronages around the world, as well as a wide range of professions, organizations and disease sufferers and domestic animals.

St Georges Day is celebrated on April 23rd.

DESIGN FOR LIFE

 

When you look out

Across the cityscape

The first impression is one of planning

With order and method

A systematic landscape

Above a thriving community

Running as a well-oiled machine

Every element doing its part

A symbiotic relationship

Every person a cog in the machine

A perpetual entity

Evolving and changing

Redesigning itself

Outside the conurbation

As if in stark contrast

The countryside and nature

Appear chaotic and haphazard

Without order or method

Simple and ordinary

Lacking the sophistication of civilization

But in reality, the urbanites live in chaos

Dysfunctional and self-destructive

While in nature there is structure and order

And the closer you observe it

The more of its complexities

And intricate structures are revealed

Everything precision engineered

With order and purpose

Every organism contains nature’s code

The building blocks of our world

And of our universe

True sophistication exists at every level

Complex and extraordinary

So let man builds his cities

While God builds everything else

THE SAINTS AND THE ANGELS

 

The Saints and the Angels

Watch over us all the year round

You never know they are there

For they never make a sound

 

But they are there nonetheless

Watching over us everyday

And they are there to listen

When you have a need to pray

 

And should some weary soul

Let slip their earthly bonds

They have angelic company

On their way to the great beyond

I WENT TO A FUNERAL TODAY

 

I went to a funeral today

What a totally depressing day

In was a humanist service

Cold and utterly soulless

With some mumbling buffoon

Waffling on in monotone

A couple of poorly read poems

From some well-thumbed tomes

And ended in a fit of irony

To the tune of “stay with me”

He was not religious I will concede

But even a man lacking a creed

Should be launched into oblivion

To the sound of a rousing requiem

YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE

 

He lived his life in the shadows

Hiding from Gods light

Not acknowledging his existence

Thinking he was out of sight

He thought he walked the road alone

Without the Lord by his side

But at the hour of his death

His faith could no longer be denied

On the darkness of this death

God lights a light to show his way

Shining his light of love

To comfort those left in disarray

As he walks in God’s light

Within the sound of Heavens bells

God illuminating his path

Now he walks with the angels

I WILL BE THERE

 

Do not grieve for me

Do not mourn my passing

Remember me with a smile

Don’t think of me as gone

Remember what we had

Think of our life like a favourite book

Do not close it and put it on the shelf

Never to be read again

Just because you hate the ending

Start to write the next chapter

Enjoy it like all the others

And don’t be sad

I will be there with you always

 

I will be there when the wildflowers

Dance in the spring meadow

When the summer breeze moves through

A field of ripening wheat

When the morning mist of autumn

Softens the landscape

And when the winter sun

Sparkles and glints on the snow

And I will be by your side

Through your loneliest hours

 

I will be there in the dawn

Rising with the sun

You will see me again

When the sun sets at the days end

And in the twilight hours

I will be that gentle breeze

That caress’s your cheek

On a warm summer evening

And I will be that tingle on your skin

As you lie in the quiet hours

 

I will be there when you retrace our steps

And when you stand on the lake shore

My reflection will not be on the water

By I am still with you

When you walk in the autumn

Through the golden carpet

I will be in the dancing leaves

And when the snow lays

Though I will leave no footprints

I am there for these moments that were ours

 

I will be there in the quietness of winter

Among the falling snowflakes

I will be in the dew drops

On the grassy meadow

I will be there in the warm sunlight

Of a summer’s day

I will be with you when the storm

Quickens your heartbeat

And you will feel me on your skin

And in the April showers