Author Archives: jackpelham

The older I get,The more I understand thatThe greatest aspirationA person could possibly haveIs not any of the thingsSo many of us might think it isAt various times in our lives. It is not the aspiration toFame or fortune,Power or … Continue reading →

We all deal with life’s daily troubles, frequently without giving them a second thought. They are common place to us—the bills, the squabbles, the sicknesses. When these things happen, provided we still find them manageable, we don’t often switch into … Continue reading →

Perhaps it will come as no surprise to anyoneThat good writing takes good time. What may surprise many, however, isThat good thinking takes good time, too—

Out in the wild,Where no self-respecting city Would want to live—Where man seems the intruder,And all his noise a sin— One can discover—If he has learned to quiet his soulAnd sink himself into the grass—That the EarthHas something to say.

As it happens, some of us,On our way through this lifeWill work the great puzzles of this world,And some will not.

People hold on to all manner of ideasThroughout their lives—Sometimes going decades withoutStopping to reconsiderOr to correct an erroneous one. And this they often doWith no apparent effort,Having performed no great feat To hold the idea.

People do what they do,Think what they think,Decide what they decide,And believe what they believe— And with varying degrees of convictionAs to both the proper level Of quality control for it all,And the question of whetherThey’ll ever have toGive an … Continue reading →

It seems I’ve met a million Christians Who tell me thatThe Holy Spirit enables themIn sound interpretation of scripture. And it seems I’ve met approximately zeroWhose interpretation seems to beOf other-worldly keenness—Inerrant,Authoritative,Consistent. Perhaps we do not really understandThis famous indwellingMuch … Continue reading →

She might boast, I suppose,That she’s a thousand feet deepAnd twelve times the size of Manhattan—Or that she’s only twelve miles fromThose holy ruins— Or that she’s fed by the famed and holy river—Or that she is always calm,And her … Continue reading →

There comes that momentIn the consideration of a thingWhen a man tells himselfHe understands it.