Thirst

Dry land, dry hearts—so much thirst hereabouts.

Another August years ago, I wrote a poem about our cracked terrain, our droughty selves. First published here in Watching Nature, Seeing Life, it’s now included with a few of my photos in the 2023 summer edition of God and Nature Magazine, a quarterly online publication “offering essays, stories, poetry and artwork by scientists, scholars, pastors, students, and lay persons” from around the world. In every issue you’ll encounter the intersection of faith and science, the Creator via the created world.

I hope you’ll wander the site at the link above and come away awed. Reading others’ submissions, I sure do. I’m grateful and honored to have my work included there as more food for thought.

For a taste, here’s that poem I mentioned:

Water Cries: A Poem for Parched Seasons by Cheryl Grey Bostrom

You brought the bucket, I see.
And cups.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We are so thirsty here,
this maple and I,
in soil harsh
for us trees:
fissured clay on
a parched August knoll,
where our roots suck air
and shrivel.

Oh, yes.
Pour on us.
Quiet our water cries,
hiccoughs of xylem,
sighs of smoky stomata
that exhale forests,
worlds aflame and
blowing our way.
We’re dry,
so dry.

Dehydrated by longing,
tinder for lightning,
our shrunken cells wait
to gulp You,
Sluice of heaven.
Oh, water us.

​”O God . . .earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” 
—Psalm 63:1

​”If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me . . . streams of living water will flow from within him.” 
—John 7:37-38 

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And as always, some musings, verses, and favorite PNW pics from my files for you. Enjoy!

Toupee blues.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

—Romans 12:2

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Cud to chew on.

“So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. . . . Teach them to your children . . .so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land.”

—Deuteronomy 11: 18-21

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If you ever feel old.

Consider Harris Creek Sitka Spruce, Vancouver Island, B.C.

“With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”

—2 Peter 3:8

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Port Renfrew locals call the island Marge (as in Marge Simpson:).

A better naming: “I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name . . .”

—Revelation 2:17

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When your wings need drying.

“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

—Mark 6:31

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When you are too young to fly, but do it anyway.

“Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.”

—1 Timothy 4:12

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Eat it or burn it?

Oven-roasted or oven roaster?

Food or fuel?

Turkey or timber?

What do you see?

Blake and I were running firewood rounds through the log splitter when the wood reminded me of turkey.

Which reminded me of Thanksgiving dinner.

Which reminded me to give thanks.

So I did, right then and there.

“Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you . . .”

—1 Thessalonians 5:18

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I hear you, ocean. On my way.

“There is the sea, vast and spacious,

teeming with creatures beyond number—

living things both large and small.”

—Psalm 104:25

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Stitches. (Tiny tracks embroider the sand at Pacific Beach, WA.)

“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

—Colossians 1:17

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When you have to eat rocks.

“We know that suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope.”

—Romans 5:3-4

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My award-winning novel Sugar Birds re-releases through Tyndale House in October, and a wonderful group’s assembled to help get word out. Want to join us? Easy peasy to participate. Only one requirement: that you have or will read Sugar Birds—and can happily recommend it in whatever way works for you. Afterwards, we’ll have a book giveaway party! RSVP with your YES HERE.

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Thanks for stopping by, friends. I’ll be away for a few weeks, but I’ll have more for you here and in my Saturday Letters when I return. You can subscribe to those letters (which arrive with this blog attached) HERE!

Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks.