I was cleaning out a desk drawer and came across a notepad with a poem that seems to have been written while Jim was in the hospital. He was also trying to figure out some math problems, probably something to do with his deductible.
To the girl who sent the cookies while I was laid a-waste,
Cookies thick and creamy, rich in chocolate taste:
If the words that I am thinking were a picture on the wall
Monet, Van Gogh and Moses would be nothing but a scrawl.
If the picture was removed and placed in a museum grand
It would be the greatest picture ever viewed by God or man.
If my thoughts were an ancient kingdom you would be a princess grand
Ruling over all the region, ruling over all the land.
Yours would be a happy kingdom full of music and of mirth
From your land would come the saying, Good will to man and peace on earth.
If the words that I am thinking could be transferred to my tongue
To be spoken in the morning, spoken with the rising sun
You would have to hold your eardrums for the volume of the sound
Like a mighty clap of thunder would resonate the world around.
-- James Parker, May 13, 1992
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Christmas 2000
The light was just a flicker
in a manger in a barn,
like a firefly on a June night:
now you see it, now it's gone.
At first it grew so slowly,
an immeasurable amount.
It seemed, despite its goodness,
that the light would soon go out.
Angels sang a ghostly chorus,
wise men came that holy night,
lowly shepherds peered in wonder,
then stayed to fan the light.
Holy God in all His mercy
saw the world in sin and lost,
raised His hand, the light protected,
said, "My Son will pay the cost."
The the light burned stronger, brighter,
like a sunrise on the sea.
Its brilliance did not falter
when He died on Calvery's tree.
Now, the temple veil is broken.
Now, the road to Heaven paved.
Simple Man's no longer helpless.
Simple Man might now be saved.
Out in a foreign bushland
or in a swampy quay
sinners grope through total darkness
without knowing another way.
Will you stir yourself to help Him?
Will you take the torch to them?
It's the light of man's salvation
that began in Bethlehem.
~ Jim Parker, written January 2000
Norma sent this poem out with the following note: "Dear family and friends, Just before Jim's death, he wrote this Christmas poem for our holiday greeting for the year 2000. We hope you will have a blessed Christmas."
in a manger in a barn,
like a firefly on a June night:
now you see it, now it's gone.
At first it grew so slowly,
an immeasurable amount.
It seemed, despite its goodness,
that the light would soon go out.
Angels sang a ghostly chorus,
wise men came that holy night,
lowly shepherds peered in wonder,
then stayed to fan the light.
Holy God in all His mercy
saw the world in sin and lost,
raised His hand, the light protected,
said, "My Son will pay the cost."
The the light burned stronger, brighter,
like a sunrise on the sea.
Its brilliance did not falter
when He died on Calvery's tree.
Now, the temple veil is broken.
Now, the road to Heaven paved.
Simple Man's no longer helpless.
Simple Man might now be saved.
Out in a foreign bushland
or in a swampy quay
sinners grope through total darkness
without knowing another way.
Will you stir yourself to help Him?
Will you take the torch to them?
It's the light of man's salvation
that began in Bethlehem.
~ Jim Parker, written January 2000
Norma sent this poem out with the following note: "Dear family and friends, Just before Jim's death, he wrote this Christmas poem for our holiday greeting for the year 2000. We hope you will have a blessed Christmas."
Tennessee
If God had not made Tennessee
I would have thought it up;
A place to fish for carp and perch
Around the cypress stumps.
Where cotton blooms in summer
And the wild flowers hug the roads,
Where worldly problems all cast off
And pressure packs unload.
If God had not made Tennessee
I think I'd go and rob
Some other country's round top hill
And call it Pilot's Knob.
I'd set it by a river
Where from the top I'd see
Land and water far beyond;
The place that nurtured me.
If God had not made Tennessee
I would, for Heaven's sake!
Like when they dammed the river
and made Kentucky Lake.
Then I'd send a note to Peter
And maybe one to Paul
With a glowing report on the fishing sport
Saying, "Come on down, y'all!"
If God had not made Tennessee
I'd have done it by myself,
Made deer, raccoon and 'possum
And other game of stealth.
Made a mocking bird to fool us
When he sings some other's tune
And a whip-or-will to sooth us
In evening's purple gloom.
If God had not made Tennessee
Where would I have been a lad?
Strolling down a summer's lane
With Mama and with Dad?
With straw hat down 'gainst the evening sun
And bare toes dragging sand
A happy boy, the world my toy,
In a Hallelujah land.
If God had not made Tennessee
With guitar, bass and horn,
Where a sound called country music
Was conceived and then was born.
Where fiddle, bow and banjo
Keep tune with patting feet
And loud applause enhance the cause
And never a stranger meet.
If God had not made Tennessee
Just think what we'd have missed.
No Smoky Mountains high and tall,
No skies with tree tops kissed.
No dreamy, bubbly mountain streams
Flowing down to bottom sand,
No place to say, when friends drop by,
"This is the Promised Land."
~ James Parker, June 1998.
I would have thought it up;
A place to fish for carp and perch
Around the cypress stumps.
Where cotton blooms in summer
And the wild flowers hug the roads,
Where worldly problems all cast off
And pressure packs unload.
If God had not made Tennessee
I think I'd go and rob
Some other country's round top hill
And call it Pilot's Knob.
I'd set it by a river
Where from the top I'd see
Land and water far beyond;
The place that nurtured me.
If God had not made Tennessee
I would, for Heaven's sake!
Like when they dammed the river
and made Kentucky Lake.
Then I'd send a note to Peter
And maybe one to Paul
With a glowing report on the fishing sport
Saying, "Come on down, y'all!"
If God had not made Tennessee
I'd have done it by myself,
Made deer, raccoon and 'possum
And other game of stealth.
Made a mocking bird to fool us
When he sings some other's tune
And a whip-or-will to sooth us
In evening's purple gloom.
If God had not made Tennessee
Where would I have been a lad?
Strolling down a summer's lane
With Mama and with Dad?
With straw hat down 'gainst the evening sun
And bare toes dragging sand
A happy boy, the world my toy,
In a Hallelujah land.
If God had not made Tennessee
With guitar, bass and horn,
Where a sound called country music
Was conceived and then was born.
Where fiddle, bow and banjo
Keep tune with patting feet
And loud applause enhance the cause
And never a stranger meet.
If God had not made Tennessee
Just think what we'd have missed.
No Smoky Mountains high and tall,
No skies with tree tops kissed.
No dreamy, bubbly mountain streams
Flowing down to bottom sand,
No place to say, when friends drop by,
"This is the Promised Land."
~ James Parker, June 1998.
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