CHRIST IS THE LORD! O PRAISE HIS NAME FOREVER!

This great phrase from "Cantique de Noel " ever

thrills and inspires us mortals on this Earth!

O Holy Night, the stars are 

   brightly shining,

It is the night of our dear 

   Saviour's birth!

Long lay the world in sin

  and error pining

'Til He appeared

And the soul felt its worth!

A thrill of hope, the weary

World rejoices, for yonder breaks

A new and glorious morn,

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel

Voices,

O Night, divine, O night when Christ

Was born,

O Night, O Holy night

O Night Divine. 

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains shall he break for the slave is our

brother, 

And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus

raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord!  O praise His Name

forever,

His power and glory evermore proclaim,

His power and glory evermore proclaim!

THAT UNINVITED GUEST

 

That Uninvited Guest

Often in the years that come and go

There will appear the unwanted visitor

News arriving by the sound of the phone

At an unexpected time, early morning

Relating with anxiety, he or she is gone

Headlines in the morning paper, boldly

An event that has carried world-wide

A knock on the front door and standing

Asking for help in finding a lost animal

Now comes the ultimate of the unwanted

Strangely shaped and, unseen without help 

Revealing oddly, colored covered with spikes

Such a small, lifeless but such capabilities.

Visited worldwide, and those isolated

Entering the masses without invitation

Causing the earth to become incapacitated

 That uninvited guest we know as COVID-19.

Fortunately, today slamming the door begins

Scientist have discovered a method of slamming

Preventing the unwanted guest: Vaccination.

Billy Gilbreath

December 4, 2020

 

LAYING IT BY in 2020

LAYING IT BY IN 2020

by Billy Gilbreath, guest writer

 Laying It BY  In 2020 

From a phrase from farmers of the past         

Some will remember, my Grandpa would

Times of ploughing, to prepare the soil

Making those rows perfect for the seed

Ploughing, sowing, waiting and watching

Sounds like this year and eager to end

Ploughing through the many months

Starting early, the political debates

Then the endless pleas for my vote 

My mute, channel changers got tired

Facebook also many wanting to rest

Suddenly the arrival of the pandemic

Ploughing again through many months

Reluctant to watch or read the paper

Those who are positive and those deceased

Anxiously awaiting the promise of a cure

The news is arriving and the seed sown

Is germinating with the promise, a vaccine

Now as the days of my farmer Grandpa

Laying it by for this lengthy unusual year

Ploughing, soil preparation, sowing the seed 

Waiting and Watching patiently Praying always

Could this be a lesson from the one of old?

Ploughing, Sowing, Waiting, Watching Praying

Me thinks it is a good way to start, 2021.

Me thinks that my sweet Annalon, agrees.

Sow with a view to righteousness, 

Reap in accordance with kindness,

Break up your fallow ground,

For it is time to seek the Lord

Until He comes to rain righteousness on you,

                        Hosea 10:12

Our Thoughts and Blessings from Annalon & Billy

IT WAS---THAT AWFUL "CHERRY  KOOLADE"

That cold January evening,

  in the Rio Grande Valley

my pickup was parked in the

  ditch..….and there I was.  

   running 'round and 'round 

        it-- how many laps?

Was I drunk? How would 

   I know--I didn't drink.

It was during my "second 

   career” and I was "in sales" and

down in the Rio Grande Valley

  closing out a sale at Dellie's

house, amidst her fruit trees

   and gardens   and a 

half block of rent dwellings...

Let it be said---I had been there

  a lot of times and  it was 

a neat place....and she was a 

  "good old Methodist girl "

who had an old upright piano 

  in her parlor and she liked

to kinda sound-off on it a mite

         so after our biness (sic)

was done...well she showed 

  me this here closet of hern

in th' other room  and guess what?

   I bet there were a DOZEN  bottles

  and jars of the neatest 

RED  LIQUID you ever seen, 

   And ever one was nearly

half full of red cherries right 

   out of  her orchard...

      an' she says (to the weary 

            salesman--    me...)

"How 'bout a nice big glass  of

    newly-home-made CHERRY 

      KOOLADE, iced...just off  my

           trees

Well sir, being a fine Methodist 

   lady  (and I knew them well…

 I let my guard down

     I was patched  and thirsty...

and I just up and said:

     "Thanks Dellie, b’lieve I will."

Now let it be said that where 

  I come from in E. N. M. 

in WWII. times, growing up

  and  all...well our mammas 

made koolade      with WATER.

See where I'm headed?

I had two big glasses of that

  marvelous drink of Dellie's,

and how do they  say it?

    "I was feeling no pain."

I set there talking to D. and

  her husband was out on

the property as usual, 

  fixing something in a rental

or plowing his gardens...

   and I began to feel a little

          "light-headed..."

an' some alarm went off 

  in my confused head...

"Er, Dellie, you make your koolade

              WITH  WATER

                DON'T YOU?"

An' she got that nice smile

   as older sweet ladies get---

an'  she says:

    "Why no Hon, I use VODKA!

       It mixes nice and has no 

      bad smell...and raises my

     spirit. I watch for vodka sales!"

Suddenly I sort of panicked, and

 also remembered it was my 

oldest son's birthday   and I was

     "The Designated  Pizza Buyer!"

("I gotta get out of here or I'll 

    be staying the night at Dellie's!")

So there I was    running around 

  and around  in the ditch

eight miles from home…half-drunk,

   I thought    "with miles to  go before

     I slept"  and light-headed, 

      and still pizzas to buy...

 I drove home slowly     and 

 got there with several pizzas….

     But to this day, BE insists on saying

   "That night you came home 

      for A's  BD Party with two

       pizzas---what's with the 

         "DOUBLE  ANCHOVIES?"

        You know, we hate....

             "anchovies."

Since that long ago day, here on 

  the Rio    I have never had 

another glass  of cherry koolade.

It's true.

---------

MIL

29 OCTOBER  2020

IT WAS---THAT AWFUL "CHERRY  KOOLADE"

SWEET BEULAH LAND

by Guest Writer, Billy Gilbreath 

Sweet Beulah Land

This Sunday morning, we will remove our hymnals

Singing that old hymns written many years back

Beulah Land, all verses, standing as we sing 

As I was singing, the beginning of the first stanza

“I’ve reached the land of corn and wine” and then 

to the refrain: Beulah Land, Sweet Beulah Land

Thoughts begin to penetrate as each stanza sang

                  Sweet Beulah Land

Question I ask?  Is Beulah Land Out of this world?

To the Israelites it is mentioned in Isiah 62.4

A promise to be delivered from their exile

                    Sweet Beulah Land

After the civil war and from those freed

Moving to the west to claim the given land

Referring to move Beulah land I’m on my way.

Finding that the land was not the expected.

                        Sweet Beulah Land

The land of Beulah is not always out of this world 

The states of Alabama, Pennsylvania and Maryland

Have captured the name for their land of plenty

The most interesting village, Beulah, Colorado

Once called Mace’s Hole, a haven for horse thieves

Changed the name and truly a land of beauty.

                        Sweet Beulah Land

To capture the meaning of the land of Beulah

Let’s sing the refrain from the old hymn

        O Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land,
        As on thy highest mount I stand,
         I look away across the sea,
        Where mansions are prepared for me,
        And view the shining glory shore,
         My Heav'n, my home forever more! 

The answer to the question asked earlier 

Is this land Of Beulah out of this world?

                    The Answer

                          Yes             

                       Isiah 62.4  

  You can see only with the eyes of faith.      

Billy Gilbreath      

October 28, 2020

*************************************************

FOR MIL'S: 31 Oct. 2020

by Billy Gilbreath, guest writer

("this one is for the old song leader.  There are

several Beulah Land songs and you probably have

sung them all.)

"CHIRP....CHIRP....CHIRP....CHIRP..."

"THIRTY YEARS WITHOUT SLUMBERING...."

The old First Alert 

 carbon  monoxide meter

was a success. 

 you'd have to say

It was certainly unlike

 the storied 

grandfather's clock of song,

 which "tick-tocked "ninety years without slumbering..."

 The meter stood guard 24/7

through cold winters and heat..

     with nary a PEEP 

(nor a CHIRP)

AND THEN   one morning

 when there was no gas on

in the whole  house...the doors

 were open  and a  window...

and we were leisurely sipping

 Folger's Best...

Our faithful and true beloved 

   meter  left this life...it was

a big surprise after thirty years

 of faithful service...

Ah, but one could almost say

 "It went gentle into that 

         good night..."

tho, after years of silence,

 it did want to register 

its very existence   at least once

 here in the Cosmos...

In melodic quatrains it began

 to sing and wouldn't stop!

"CHIRP...CHIRP...CHIRP...CHIRP...'

    over and over      and then 

a big weaker...

  "chirp...chirp..chirp..chirp..."

             and then it was gone

with simply...

               a WHIMPER.

---------

MIL

25 SEPTEMBER 2020