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Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Poet's Place  Open in new Window.
Rated: E | (5.0)
Thanks, Rhychus, for a fun trip through a Most Excellent poem!

Looks like this was intended to be a song. Three verses of 8 lines each with a 5 line chorus in between the verses. Every chorus shares the same words.

Charity, advertising, and fashion shows have a common thread, depending on the personality behind them. They can all be great successes or serious flops because they are consistently niche markets.

The format of the verses are consistent as best I can tell. Rhythmically, each verse of 8 lines has the first seven lines using tetrameter, and #8 is trimeter. Each line is some combination of iambic and anapestic meter.

The five-line choruses range rhythmically from dimeter to trimeter and tetrameter.

The rhyme schemes are as follows: Verses are a-a-x-b-c-c-x-b; Choruses are a-b-a-c-c

Nicely done. WRITE ON!
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Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Poet's Place  Open in new Window.
Rated: E | (4.5)
Great poem, Viv. What a friend, and companion this Bella has been for you. The Lord provided you with such a gift.

As for the poem, the lines appear to be pentameter (5 feet each). There are some rhymes, but I couldn't identify a rhyme scheme.

WOW! Rescue dog. What a helper. I'm so happy for your time together.

Blessings Always. WRITE ON!
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Review of Monday Madness  Open in new Window.
Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Poet's Place  Open in new Window.
Rated: E | (5.0)
Nicely done, Tim. I completely understand. The work week began for me, and I would say most people as the school week of youth. "Five days of school in a row. How will we ever get through that?" Friday afternoon after school was my favorite moment of the entire week. No school for two whole days.

As a man with a job, it was very much the same, since I was a schoolteacher right out of college.

Then as your poem indicates, "Five days of work in a row. How will we ever get through that?" Friday afternoon after work was my favorite moment of the entire week. No work for two whole days.

This great free verse poem tackles the subject that most of us experience: Work. Great poem. WRITE ON!
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Review of La Bene Vita  Open in new Window.
for entry "Recital Time!" Open in new Window.
Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with disABILITY WRITERS GROUP  Open in new Window.
Rated: 18+ | (5.0)
Much Respect, Battywyn🎶Prep! Author Icon! What you are doing as a teacher is such a gift to the world! Teaching children and adults to play an instrument strengthens minds.

I can never thank my piano teachers enough for the gift they helped me to hone. I started with lessons in the summer after first grade, continuing with lessons, until the summer before the 11th grade when I believed my skill was ready to learn more on my own. Recitals were always scary because I wanted to do my best, but they helped me to play in public. By the Grace of God, I continue to share this gifting every Sunday morning as our church pianist.

A weekend full of activities and opportunities to encourage your music school, full of amazingly skilled musicians! How wonderful! Have a great time!

This is a great blogpost! It brought a tear to my eye, just thinking about how strengthened the students will be when they realize all they have accomplished, due to your good mentoring.

Blessings Always! WRITE ON!
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Review of Auditions  Open in new Window.
Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with disABILITY WRITERS GROUP  Open in new Window.
Rated: 13+ | (5.0)
Spud, this very short story has landed its purpose. The ending is in keeping with the character of Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king.

Stylistically, it reads like a Shakespearean tragedy in which no one wins with the climax of the story being a great release of emotion or dramatic expression.

I see the reference to The Nightmare Before Christmas. To me, Tim Burton presents as Jack Skellington himself, someone you want to like, but who is so avant-garde as to make the mind start to tilt.

Having participated in a number of auditions myself in community theater, I think I would have responded as the auditioner did, if the person trying out for a part was "few of words", but long in emotional response. Running "to the emergency exit" is a clearly logical response.

Again, Spud your story is well-written, and lands as I would expect it is supposed to land. WRITE ON!
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Review of Death Bed Promise  Open in new Window.
Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Poet's Place  Open in new Window.
Rated: 18+ | (4.0)
Dude,... my words,... what to write?

Sorry, Ken, but I don't like you very well right, now. I had to punch the Read & Review button about four times to get a poem, and this was what I got. I got the humor, and I don't like, that I kinda laughed at something so inappropriate.

Ergo, I'm giving you 4 stars for bad taste. (*Wink*tee, hee, hee,...so sad)

Now, let me hasten to the part I can review with a clear conscience. 14 tercets, 42 lines, rhyme scheme of a-a-b c-c-b with every two tercets in tandem, and the rhythms are mixed throughout the poem with trimeter and tetrameter as well as iambic and anapestic meter included.

I know you're a great writer, Ken, but I must confess, "This was a difficult read for me." Obviously, I could have written the word, but I think you get the _____



I'm leaving, now. Where does one find soap for the mind.
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Review of Angel Feathers  Open in new Window.
for entry "Imperfect Facsimile" Open in new Window.
Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Poet's Place  Open in new Window.
Rated: 18+ | (5.0)
"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." (I Corinthians 13:12, KJV) I wonder if Lewis Carroll was a Bible reader because his book, Through the Looking Glass and this poem seem to be expanding upon the Apostle Paul's concept in I Cor. 13:12.

Nicely put. All too often our self-perception is the perception of others "backwards." That's profound. This is quite similar to my standing concern over internet communication. My standing thought is this. "It seems like other people are taking my words as though they were speaking them when an entirely different nuance was intended."

Amethyst Angel, you are most perceptive in the words of this poem. Great insights! I believe we both see the hope that is available to us.

You wrote, "If I escape the Looking Glass world
I will see myself with clear eyes." That is I Corinthians 13:12, KJV. One day we shall both leave this "Looking Glass world,...seeing (ourselves) with clear eyes" "face to face."

Well done. WRITE ON!
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Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Poet's Place  Open in new Window.
Rated: E | (5.0)
WOW, Mary Ann! This is so touching and personal. How wonderful to remember such sweet times with a dearly departed loved one.

You've chosen to use an interesting arrangement of verses: a couplet, a quatrain, a sixain, and an octave. The rhymes are often couplet rhymes, but not always. I'm seeing multiple feet on the various lines, including dimeter, trimeter, and tetrameter.

Great poem! WRITE ON!
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Review of Mortality  Open in new Window.
Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Poet's Place  Open in new Window.
Rated: ASR | (5.0)
Excellent, Huntersmoon. I like the rhyme scheme. The rhythm is good, too. Mostly tetrameter, though the last line is trimeter. Mostly iambic feet with some anapest thrown in for good measure. The form is followed nicely.

It is a challenging subject, but as I've heard preachers says for much of my life, so far, "Until you're ready to die, you're not ready to live."

You have the good perspective, according to this couple,
"Celebrate life; do not grieve
for our hope lies beyond death."
I'm so glad that is your testimony. (John 3:3; John 6:37,44; John 14:6; Romans 9:15-16; Philippians 2:13, KJV)

Well-written. WRITE ON!
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Review of Angel Feathers  Open in new Window.
for entry "Faith vs Fear" Open in new Window.
Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Poet's Place  Open in new Window.
Rated: 18+ | (5.0)
Autumn is captured marvelously in this 16-line free-verse poem, that could be a mash-up of two octaves or four quatrains or eight couplets.

The first six lines describe the seasonal environment, which causes physical & mental lethargy.

Confession is made in line #7, "I fail to optimize my time."

Line #8 causes me to think of fireflies.

Line #9 is a big item on the fall to-do list: "Cleaning out the gutters."

Lines #10 & 11 face Fear's temptation to self-deprecation and depression.

Lines #12 & 13 try to redirect the focus to the Lord, the Author and Finisher of our faith, while still wrestling with fear.

Line #14 confesses to fear of the unknown.

Lines #15 & 16 end the poem with the cry of the heart to the Lord, The Only One, Who can cause us to succeed in spite of our human frailties.

Nicely done, Amethyst Angel. WRITE ON!
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Review of My Hate For You  Open in new Window.
Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Poet's Place  Open in new Window.
Rated: ASR | (5.0)
WOW, Bernie, I'm not sure where to begin with this review. Since the date on this poem shows October (same month) 2002, I'm praying you have recovered quite a bit in 23 years. I kept reading this poem, hoping for the same kind of twist at the end, like Julia Stiles' class presentation in 10 Things I Hate About You. It never came, but you wrote "My hate for you" eight times. That was almost as many times.

You wrote the poem as one long stanza, which has the presentation of a rant without a breath.

The "My hate for you"s come in pairs, which are each four lines apart. This makes the whole poem feel like four stanzas mashed together. "The darker it gets/the stronger it becomes" stands as the opening salvo or wind-up for each of the stanzas with the final one being the shortest.

The more I analyze this rant poem the more I see.

The six lines of
"The darker it gets
the stronger it becomes
My hate for you
I've tried so hard to shove
it away deep inside
My hate for you" gives the presentation of bookends and/or cement pylons in the choppy waters of a storm-filled lake.

It reminded me of the oft-repeated phrase from Linda Ronstadt's 1974 song, "You're No Good." Though she didn't write, she made it a #1 hit because I can still hear her voice in my head.

Bottom Line: You're point is seared into the reader's mind. Well-written. WRITE ON!
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Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Poet's Place  Open in new Window.
Rated: E | N/A (Review only item.)
Thank you, Carol. A Christmas-themed poem is welcome in my heart every day of the year. What a gift!

I love this free verse poem in the shape of a Christmas tree. Snaps on your ability to measure out the words of each line with such precision.

Excellent story. I can hear the singing in my heart of hearts. Your character, Chris, who braves the dark of night to enter a barn, hints very loudly of the Christ Child, Who was born in a manger.

Oh, to live on a farm in a northern clime with a horse barn, and the opportunity to ride through the snow in a sleigh!

Again, thank you for this Christmas gift in October, the doorway to the holidays. Blessings Always! WRITE ON!
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Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with disABILITY WRITERS GROUP  Open in new Window.
Rated: E | (5.0)
Thank you, Ms. Marilyn Mackenzie, for this amazing devotional thought. "We are one of a kind," and Matthew 10:30-31 are such encouraging words right now. It's hard to keep pace with my little world and the world at large. So many voices! So many expectations!

You love to eat. I must say that your list of favorites is very different from mine, which shows that our taste buds are similar to our fingerprints, unique to each individual.

I think one of the most amazing things I've learned in the Gospels' chapters of the resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, is the fact of Jesus asking for food when He met the disciples on the beach of the Sea of Galilee as I recall. Jesus did not need to eat for sustenance. He ate for fellowship. That gives me hope, that because of the Merits of Jesus, providing for righteousness I do not possess in myself, I can both stand in the Presence of the Lord, forever, and sit down at fellowship meals.

One of my favorite flavors, Southern sweet tea, (which could pass for pancake syrup), could be on the menu in Eternity. Is that great or what? *Smile*

This is well-written, by the way. It's a style of writing that is always needed to encourage the reader.
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Review of Fate  Open in new Window.
Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Poet's Place  Open in new Window.
Rated: E | (5.0)
Thank you, W0lfbane, for this interesting exploration of one of Life's most challenging questions, "Why am I here?" The form is a 16-line free verse poem.

We start with the beauty in life, moving on to its misery, landing on the hope of finding the way home with courage. Paradox, wonder, pawns, unanswered questions are all observed, but none gives the poet any acceptable answers.

The last two lines hold the key to the whole poem, "Life holds many secrets, And it takes them to the grave."

May I offer the hope found in John 14:6, KJV, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." I know that not all understand or accept this belief, but it is the best hope, that I have to offer.

Great poem! WRITE ON!
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Review of Ride of Terror  Open in new Window.
Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with disABILITY WRITERS GROUP  Open in new Window.
Rated: 18+ | (5.0)
MyLadyDragon, this is an exciting vignette. It captures the emotions, making the heart beat faster. I'm having a hard time getting my mind around that much life flashing before the eyes in that short of an amount of time.

I'm incredulous. He came out of that one unscathed. HOW?

The policeman's easy demeanor in this incident indicates to me that he may be a cyclist himself during his off-duty hours. I think that's what left me hanging just a little bit. If the officer was a cyclist, too, then I think he might have indicated it more through use of a witty zinger that topped off the short story with a punch, like a tympani blast in a section of a symphony.

For instance, being that it was the front tire. "You know, if you had yanked back on the steering wheel and leaned to the left, doing a 180, you could have popped a wheelie all the way down the hill with a clear view of where you were going. Just saying. Anyhow, it was Sweet that you didn't get killed. RIDE ON!"

Honestly, I can appreciate a whole lot more about extreme sports than I can actually do myself.

Great story! WRITE ON!
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Review of Music Notes  Open in new Window.
for entry "Of Poetry and Cheese" Open in new Window.
Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with disABILITY WRITERS GROUP  Open in new Window.
Rated: 13+ | (5.0)
That is an Excellent bit of humor there, Amethyst Angel, not too cheesy, and full of "the milk of human kindness." (Ref. A Christmas Carol) *Wink*

Where did you find this Prompt #4? I might like to post there because I'm a connoisseur of fine cheeses and fine poetry, too. I think we could compare notes easily. I love going by the deli, especially when the clerk slices off different cheeses to try before I make my order.

I've had to deal with a dairy allergy, but still, I love cheeses. I've spent many years drinking almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, rice milk, and whatever other milk substitutes I could find, but recently I've taken my caramel macchiatto with the normal stuff and forget all the special orders. No worse for the wear,...so far.

I think I'll have to make my poem about cheese tonight, giving you credit for being my prompt.

Oh, BTW, thank you for the reminder, I was a plastic American cheese when I was a kid, too. Sometimes, I think it would just be easier to eat through and spit out the plastic because I'd open the plastic, and some of the cheese had gotten stuck on the plastic, and I had to scrape it off with my bottom teeth. Obviously, I would eat it by itself back then, but my taste buds were less discriminating, since I had nose problems. (Sorry, TMI.)

Once again, great writing tonight. Amazing prose and free-verse cheese poem. All-in-all, Excellent work! WRITE ON!

As a photographer, I'm ready to take your picture. Say, "CHEESE!" *Wink*
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for entry "The Truth" Open in new Window.
Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with disABILITY WRITERS GROUP  Open in new Window.
Rated: 18+ | (5.0)
Jeff, your consistent logic is well-applied. Your position on Biblical Truth is in line with the beliefs of many other Christians with whom I have discussed life throughout my lifetime, so far. We agree that the Bible is of supreme importance, regarding the way we live our Christian lives.

You have written an amazing piece of prose.

You believe in an Old Earth. I believe in the Earth being quite young. 6000 years, you say? I'll buy that. 4004 B.C. creation date? I'm on board with that. Why? Truth is the Person of Jesus Christ, not a "set of facts." (John 14:6, KJV) He is the Foundation of all Truth, especially the totality of the Inerrant Holy Bible.

Modern science has wandered away from its foundation, which is Christian, then and now. Logically, Adam was not created as an infant, but as a "fully-grown" man, who appeared to be about 15 - 30 years old at the moment of his creation from sand and the Breath of God. This would have meant that two "adults," Adam and Eve, who had lived no more than a few years on Earth when they were married by the Lord, starting to procreate at many years fewer time expenditure than modern humans do, makes the case for the Earth appearing to be many years older than the actual days since the Creation.

Bottom Line: If HGTV can use faux aging substances to make a new chest of drawers, just brought home from the store to look decades or even centuries old, is it not at least plausible that the Creator of all things can create the Earth with Reality, looking billions of years old when in Reality it is only days old? Reference the feeding of the 5000 and the feeding of 4000. If Jesus, in His human body, could feed this many people with the limited fish and bread He had at His disposal by the hands of the disciples at the time (Matthew 14 & 15) through the active creation of His Own Person at that point in Time, it is not logical to believe that Jesus, The Creator, (John 1:1-4) could create the entire Universe from where He stood outside of the Universe to have the appearance of billions of years, if He wanted to do this to create such a magnificent Work of Art, when it fact it had only days of Time expenditure?

Since He is God, doesn't He have the Ability to create whatever He wants to create to look as old or as young as He wants it to look whenever He wants it to look that way, and for as long as He wants it to look that way? Maybe I'm just a kid at heart, but I still believe that God can do anything that agrees with His Character and His Purpose.

Biblical Infallibility = you, Biblical Inerrancy = me.

At least I've given the reader a contrast.

I'm glad to know that WDC is a place where two people can "hold different viewpoints, and still be friends." Thank you for your time.

This is a great read. WRITE ON!
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Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Poet's Place  Open in new Window.
Rated: E | (5.0)
Good work, Spiritual Dawning. Four quatrains of a-a-b-b rhyme scheme. The lines seem to be tetrameter in iambic & anapestic forms.

I think you are writing about your wife because there seems to be a closeness to her heart. A great deal of love, honor, and admiration are present in this poem.

It would be interesting to read a response from her about you.

Blessings Always. WRITE ON!
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Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Poet's Place  Open in new Window.
Rated: E | (5.0)
Excellent, Spiritual Dawning. How wonderful for us to "keep Christmas in my heart all the year," in the words of the transformed Ebenezer Scrooge.

Six couplets with a-a rhyme, mostly, because the second one was a bit of a rhyming challenge for me.

It would be nice to visit some place with snow on Christmas Day. I don't recall that, since my childhood years, living out in the Oklahoma Panhandle.

What wondrous sights, sounds, and tastes Christmas offers from the "Holy Night" to the joyous Morn.

Great poem, Spiritual Dawning. WRITE ON!
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Review of Bound in Hell  Open in new Window.
Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Poet's Place  Open in new Window.
Rated: ASR | (5.0)
Well-written, Crissy, and quite sobering to say the least.

Five verses with an interesting arrangement. Three quatrains separated by two tercets. The rhyme schemes of the quatrains are a-b-c-b, once, and then a-b-a-b, twice. Both tercets are a-b-a. The rhythms seem to be mostly iambic meter with the feet per line often three or four, but a couple of times six or seven.

I know that Hell is a recurring theme/subject during the month of October, and you've certainly painted it for all it's worth. I must confess, that as a believer in Jesus, the Christ, the subject of Hell makes my blood run cold, due to the eternal reality and finality of what so many will experience.

As I recall, you name the Name of Jesus as your Savior and Lord. That comforts me to no end.

The line, that chills me the most is the second to the last one, "Your heart was not found as true." Considering how close this thought is to Matthew 7:21-23, KJV, I pray neither of us will be found in those words. That would be a terrifying post script to your poem.

Obviously, your writing is excellent. WRITE ON!
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Review of Yester Years  Open in new Window.
Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Newbies Academy Group  Open in new Window.
Rated: E | (4.5)
Well done, Rashi. Childhood has much to offer to those of us who were allowed to live it well. Yours was filled with many and varied Joys, sweets, wonderful games, and so many things to do.

I had heard that India has become Americanized to some extent, and your recollections of American entertainers, like Bryan Adams, and entertainment, like The Wonder Years have confirmed this notion.

However, some of the local enjoyments you knew have escaped my understanding. "Mills & Boons" is a new term for me, "Archies" are likewise unknown, unless you mean the comic books we used to read. I think I became confused because it seemed to be used as food, since it was in the same paragraph with sticky "ice candies."

This piece is filled with beautiful language to describe the events and places of your childhood. I love to learn cultural uniquenesses from other countries. You have a gift for writing them. WRITE ON!
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Review of Trivial Pursuits  Open in new Window.
Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Poet's Place  Open in new Window.
Rated: ASR | (5.0)
Great poem, Sophy.

This free verse poem relies on visual shaping rather than rhythm and rhyme.

The theme is so relevant to me right now. My daughter has a male "just" friend, who buys her presents, but who still gives me pause because what man initially thinks any boy is good enough for "this precious gem I have cared for since birth."

I need to have a few "dates" with him myself, so I can probe his thought processes. She's 22, but in my head I'm thinking, "Don’t you see what I see?"

Well-written, very helpful to me personally, Sophy. WRITE ON!
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Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with disABILITY WRITERS GROUP  Open in new Window.
Rated: E | (5.0)
This is a touching opinion piece, Amethyst Angel. "A million miles from a million dollars, but you could never spend his wealth." This quote from One Republic's song is so meaningful. It highlights the fact that in human terms his grandfather was not very monied, but he reflected the lives of two of Jesus' disciples, Peter and John, in the book of Acts.

"6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength." (Acts 3:6-7, KJV)

One could never spend their wealth, either. They had the intangible of a relationship with the Lord that transcended Time and Eternity.

Well said. Good point. WRITE ON!
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Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with The Poet's Place  Open in new Window.
Rated: E | (5.0)
Good poem, Tim. Excellent advice about workplace culture. Working as a team is definitely important. However, I must confess, I don't get the "outer space" reference. I guess I missed the connection.

The form is comprised of the rhythms of mostly iambic trimeter and iambic tetrameter. You consistently write very good poems in four quatrains, like this one.

WRITE ON!
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Review by Jay O'Toole Author IconMail Icon
In affiliation with disABILITY WRITERS GROUP  Open in new Window.
Rated: 18+ | (4.5)
Jeff, I think your last line says it all for this entire post. "And working at it means putting the other person first at least as often as (if not more than) you do yourself." Knowing that you have a Christian background, I'm convinced you expressed The Golden Rule ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you") in layman's terms.

You've covered some rather difficult subjects in this post with a pretty even-handed approach. Congratulations on that.

Constitutional rights in the first section is challenging. "We all have to sublimate our impulses for the greater good of the people and the society around us." I don't think I could express this better myself. Free Speech and Self-Preservation are both important needs. When I was a youth, I heard it expressed this way. "Your right to swing your fist stops where my nose begins." Insert The Golden Rule right here.

Journalism is hard to do well, without the inclusion of personal bias. Stand-up comedy takes that concern to an entirely new and high level. For comedy to land someone has to be pilloried, and no one likes that kind of shame, regardless of one's position in Society. Ergo, you will not see me on any comedy circuit because as my wife likes to express it, "I only laugh at the funny ones." These are a lot fewer than the ones I tell.

Again, insert The Golden Rule right here.

Section #3 of your post, mentions someone, who is socially cavalier to the max. I can't imagine that kind of relationship with anyone, romantic or platonic without that level of honesty, and an exceedingly thick skin on my part. Sadly, my skin is not that thick. Again, insert The Golden Rule right here.

I've kept Section #2, until last because part of it landed with a visceral THUD. "And I think it would be the height of hubris to assume that you know how you'll be judged at the end of your time on Earth." There's still a little boy inside of me, that got really scared when I was about 3-4 years old, contemplating sermons I'd heard, and trying to comprehend the vast extent of Eternity as well as what would be necessary to avoid "that awful place, called Hell."

Comparative religions through the years have given me very little help for his fear, and Eternity is way too long for this little boy not to be sure of what's going to happen when I get there.

Eastern religions give me no certainty because I'm not good enough to get myself to that Place of Safety, called Heaven. The Catholic Church gives me no help either, because I can't trust myself. I know I'm not good enough. Arminian churches of all kinds, like charismatic, Baptist, and Free Will put the weight on my shoulders, and I'm not strong enough to carry that weight.

What hope do I have without the Very Word of God? Calvinists receive a great deal of criticism because we do not believe in the ability of humans to trust the Lord without the Lord accomplishing in the spiritual birthing process. (John 3:3) I've become a Calvinist after being an Arminian for most of my life because this Statement of Faith is the only one that gives me hope to take my last breath in God's Time with my Eternity founded upon the Merits of Jesus Christ, and no other. (John 6:37,44, KJV)

Can I still be mistaken? Yes, if I focus on my ability to have faith, taking my eyes off the character change, that comes only at the Hands of God. (II Corinthians 5:17, KJV) (Ezekiel 36:26-27, KJV) According to Jesus, trees have fruit, and real Christians have fruit, too. (Galatians 5:22-23, KJV) That terrified little boy needs more than hope-so when it comes time for the old man to die.

I pray this sermonette will not appear to be pride in myself, that "knows better than the mind of God," but as the need for survival as in the falling into the Arms of God (Psalm 91:1-2,4; Colossians 1:16-17 KJV) when I have no confidence in my ability to land. Insert the Golden Rule in our understanding of The Lord.

Thank you for the privilege of sharing my heart in response to your post because you seem like a safe person.

This is intended in no way as a criticism of what you have written, Jeff. Your writing is amazing. WRITE ON!

Jay
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