Kindness a poem

Kindness a poem by Rob Neuschwander



To express kindness

is to be in his likeness;

Above all other things

most illuminating his brightness.



Matt 5;16

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and Glorify your Father in heaven."





His Will a poem by Rob Neuschwander



To be in his will.....

Often best to just be still

and know that he is God.

Endless activity and motion cannot fulfill

the perfection of his will.



There is a time to do,

But more often just to be

is all that's needed.

Silence the noisy sea

and submit to quiet's call

is better to be heeded

than incessant,ruinous noise;

Stillness and waiting for his still small voice;

to speak life and breath and hope

and passion; in these you'll find poise.

To know that you know which way

to truly go, and where and when and why

will all be answered by and by.



To be in his will

often best to just be still

and know that he is God.

Endless activity and motion cannot fulfill

the perfection of his will.



Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God"

A Dream Lost ; Vision Regained

A dream lost can be vision regained; New vistas, new dreams, new values, or old values held with deeper ,true, and more meaningful passion. True loss is not the death of a dream but the loss of the CAPACITY for dreaming. Often the death of a dream will narrow the field of one's dream search.

Perhaps the death of a dream is a positive outcome when one determines he was in the wrong field all along. Having let go of what formerly held him captive he is free to once again to pursue higher pastures where vision can focus on new vistas. With new vistas come fresh perspective on the lay of the land and where to till next; cultivating his newly cleared fields with the manure of exhausted dreams thereby enriching his future with his past.

The turning of another year is a time for reflection and assigning a value to the past and dream for the future. Just remember as the Apostle Paul said,"The things that are seen are temporary the things that are unseen are eternal". The problem with dreaming is that we fixate on that which is seen . Paul makes it clear we should be looking higher all along. Thoreau said," We should build our castles in the air then put foundations under them."

This year I dream of being;

* A man of peace
*A man of prayer
*A man of integrity
*A man of insight
*A man known for his kindness
*A man known for his generosity
*A man of enduring empathy
*A man of abiding grace
*A man of deep understanding and subsequent patience
*A loving man
*A selfless man
*A sacrificial man
*A man noble in intent and action

May God help me build foundations under my dreams.......

Duplicity ; the Conflict between Belief and Conviction

Duplicity is a disease of our culture and times. To say we believe in one thing and do another is duplitious and a characteristic that has lead to the compartmentalization of our lives with integrity alienated from our being. For to be integral is to live an integrated life where there is a flow and a blending of our deeply held values and convictions into our actions. We fail to be integral when our stated beliefs fall short of conviction. Duplicity is the conflict between belief and conviction.

Differences here expounded;

*Belief is when you possess the truth.
Conviction is when the truth possesses you.

*Belief is when you know it's right to forgive.
Conviction is when you become forgiveness.

*Belief is when you believe in mercy .
Conviction is when you become merciful.

*Belief is when you know the right thing to do.
Conviction is when you do it.

*Belief is the most frustrating condition when conviction hasn't settled in

I believe we are not driven by belief systems...........belief is what we hope for..........Conviction is what we do.

Brother James said,"What good is it my brothers if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?Can such a faith save him?Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.If one of you says to him,'Go I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way , faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

Belief never fed or clothed anyone only conviction can do that.Duplicity is the never ceasing argument and subsequent inaction until conviction gives legs to belief.

"We know in part ,and we prophecy in part......

The turn of a new year is always a time to give value to the past and dream for the future. The problem with pronouncing judgement on the past is that we do it prematurely with partial knowledge. 1 Corinthians 13:9 says,"For we know in part and we prophecy in part....".a little further on it reads,"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully even as I am fully known." How can we give objective meaning to our past when we only have a partial or distorted view?

Here is a story that comes out of India that can assist us in this quest. I wrote this story in my own words after hearing it in various forms.The story goes thus..........

Six blind men are brought before the king in order to describe an object. It is not revealed to them what it was that they were to describe.They were simply instructed to describe the object based om what they could touch or feel. An elephant was brought in and the first of the six blind men placed his hands on the tusk and said with surety,"This is positively a pipe of some kind for it is long and tubular!"

The second blind man was then ushered in and took hold of the tail and said emphatically,"This is not a pipe! This is a rope you fool.....anyone can see that!"

After him came came the third man,"You're both wrong!" taking a hold of the elephant's leg he said," It's a pillar of some kind."

With his conclusion comes the fourth man forward saying," What are you all talking about?" He was walking underneath the beast and felt the enormous underside of the elephant," What we have here is a wall of incredible proportion. How could you all be so blind?"

The fifth blind man approached and took hold of an ear and proclaimed with confidence," This is some kind of enormous fan .....perhaps the largest I've ever seen!"

Lastly came in the sixth man who boldly placed his hand upon the trunk and said,"You are all in error. This is a tree branch of an unknown species for it's bark is soft."

Finally the king spoke up and said," You all have described the object before you in half truths with limited perspective. You are all partially right. But a half truth is an untruth when later viewed as the whole!"

A servant standing and observing to the side announced," Only the King has the full picture for he views it as the whole and from it's beginning to it's end."

The application of the story to the new year and assigning a value to our past is apparent.It is important to give meaning and value to what's transpired for Thoreau once wrote ," The unexamined life is not worth living" But be careful the value you place on it. For who knows the whole but the king?

Asaph the psalmist was tring to put a value on all that he had gone through the previous years and in his attempt to give meaning to his life and all that had transpired he said,"When I tried to understand all this it was oppressive to me....till I enterd the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their final destiny."Psalm 73. In other words with God removed from the values search or search for meaning it will be all in vain for only he knows the beginning from the end . Without Gods perspective we are as blind as the men in the parable and draw false conclusions about our life ,the future and our past making premature judgements about things we only see in part

Firelight a poem

Firelight a poem by Rob Neuschwander

Late at night
by firelight
I write....

Thoughts sublime
blow through
my mind....

My memory scolds me
faults implode me
darkness is
my closest friend.

Drearier grows the hour,
my spirit does sour
as embers softly glow,
candle light fades below.

Suddenly hope falls on me
unexpected.......
with God's arm surrounding
all my fears confounding
into a mere whisper.....

My new found faith
shouts down
all that did confound me
and all is restored around me.

Psalms 23..."Yea thoughI walk through the valley of death ,I will not fear for thou art with me"

Things I know for sure

Nietzsche said, "Convictions are often enemies of the truth" I have found that if you digest the truth and let it ruminate in your spirit these two will become one and the same. Here are some truths that I have come to own as my own convictions;

1) Forgiveness is easy when you choose to love (Tolstoy)
2) Anger is murder (Jesus)
3) Nothing can destroy you if you stay merciful (me)
4) Mercy triumphs over evil
5) Fidelity to love can only be maintained in humility(me)
6) Defence is irrelevant to loving for love is best nurtured in silence (me)
7) To love is more important than reputation(me)
8) Mercy is love's strength displayed(me)
9) Kindness is love's first face(me)
10)Hatred is evil
11)Anger accomplishes nothing but destruction
12)Truth is lost in an argument (Tolstoy)
13)To be broken is necessary to love perfectly
14)If we live in love we live in God (John the Beloved)
15)We love because he first loved us (John the Beloved)
16)Love sees clearly
17)We love in proportion to our faith that we are loved (Thomas Merton)
18)Integrity is an idle notion outside of love(me)
19)Prayer and loving our enemies is the highest level of victory over sin (Tolstoy)
20)One must die first to love unselfishly
21)If no Kalypto one creates apokalypto which inturn results in an apokalypse!(me)
22)Love covers,(kalypto)over a multitude of sins (Apostle Peter)
23)Love is often misunderstood
24)Silence in agony is love's perfection (me)
25)Love is predicated on a new heart and condition of the will
26)Silence speaks louder than words
27)If love is the course explanations are not necessary(me)
28)Overcome evil with good (Apostle Paul)
29)You cannot fight evil with evil
30)Slander is more cruel than death

1 Peter 3;9 "Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult; be sympathetic,love as brothers,be compassionate,and humble"

Anxious heart a poem

Philippians ch 4 says," Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving make your requests known to God and the peace of God that transcends understanding will guard and protect your heart and mind in Christ Jesus"

Anxious heart a poem by Rob Neuschwander


Anxious mind that seeks to know,

finds knowledge but anxious fed

and feeding knowledge peace fled

so anxious pains what knowledge bred.


The key may be to unknow

what I pretend to know

in order to release anxieties chain

and give rest to my pensive,anxious brain.

I seek no other thing a poem

I seek no other thing
a poem by Rob Neuschwander


I seek no other thing
but to laugh and to sing
and think a little
about a lot.

For life is brief beyond belief
and I must know and seek not relief
for want of meaning
cease not believing;
That God is good
incapable of deceiving.
He wants what's best
so I leave all the rest
of unknown sorrows
and things unsure
to him whose confidence
I hold as
friend to friend ,I am blessed

I seek no other thing
but faith's sure ring
about my praise
of him I sing

Be not loud a poem

Be not loud a poem by Rob Neuschwander

Be not loud
but in silence
crypt lie low
and listen...
Listen as if...
all else
were naught.
Only in silence is
victory caught.

"To be or not to be" or Hamlet's folly a Poem

"To be or not to be"or Hamlet's folly
by Rob Neuschwander

"To be or not to be"
is not the question to ask
But what to be,how to be
This should be the task

To find a heart to heal;
Comfort to a stranger bring,
or give a hungry one a meal;
a broken soul,a song to sing.

"To be or not to be"
is not the question to ask.
But to whom or where to see,
a need to serve
a wound to heal
is all that is required
of me or thee.

Love's directives

Proverbs 19:22 says," What a man desires is unfailing love." I believe all human endeavour springs from this passion and seeking to submit to love's directives should be our sole aim as a slave submits to his master. The following are love's directives and their attitudinal reflection in me;

1) Love the Lord my God with all my heart ,soul ,mind and strength
2) Love my neighbor as myself
3) Love my enemies
4) Yield to hate's blow
5) Love the unlovely
6) Love's target becomes my aim
7) Love's goal, my direction
8) Love's face,my own
9) Love's truth ,my revelation
10)Love's triumph,my reward
11)Love's command,my obedience
12)Love's rebuke,my correction
13)Love's perfection,my ambition
14)Love's look ,my sight
15)Love's confidence,my surety
16)Love's delight,my joy
17)Love's wound,my heartache
18)Love's strength,my weakness
19)Love's employ, my vocation
20)Love's kindness, my milk
21)Love's humility, my strength
22)Love's boast,my shout
23)Love's sincerity,my voice
24)Love's silence,my solicitude
25)Love's patience my clock
26)Love's memory,my imagination
27)Love's intent, my action
28)Love's embrace,my intimacy
29)Love's force,my yieldedness
30)Love's authority, my protection
31)Love's sight, my clarity
32)Love's forbearance, my understanding

God is Love...as we walk in love we move and live in God...Love never fails