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Friday Fictioneers – Week # 77 — A Royal Love Story

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

This week’s Friday Fictioneers prompt is a photo by David Stewart of a statue in his home city in Korea.  My response turned out to be a love story — maybe because my focus this week is on Valentine’s Day.  Here’s David’s photo, followed by my take on the challenge.

The Wrong Tourist

A Royal Love Story

Once upon a time, a starving sculptor fell hopelessly in love with Princess Kameko.

“He will have to create a great statue for the courtyard of my palace, and prove himself worthy of you,” the king said to Kameko. “It must exhibit his love for you in such unusual manner that people from many lands will travel to see it.”

The artist thought – agonized – for days, finally presenting himself to the king with tools in hand.

Three days later, the royal city gathered in the courtyard and gasped with pleasure at the unveiling of the oblique statue: Falling In Love.

Artist and princess lived happily ever after.

~ ~ ~

To take part in the fun visit Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ site.  She is the dynamic host of the challenge:
http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/15-february-2013/

Love Letters: 574 and counting

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

ROW OF HEARTS - SEPIA - FLOW RIGHT

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
. . .
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passions put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
. . .
And if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.”

(Sonnet # 43, Sonnets from the Portuguese, Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

As I type the words onto this page, the month of February, the ‘Month of Love’ is in full swing. Valentine’s Day – and all the trimmings! Yes, whether we’re in the mood or not, we are going to be surrounded all month by reminders that it is a good thing to love. This article is my attempt to take a look at two of the world’s greatest lovers and learn what they have to teach us on the subject.

First, let me lay just a little foundation from “The Book.” God’s Word says all of the Ten Commandments of Jehovah are fulfilled in living our lives in genuine love. It also says that fear is cast out of our hearts and our lives by love. And, most important of all, it tells us repeatedly that the God we serve is Love. He’s what it’s all about, and He’s the source of all genuine love. But when the Word talks about love, it’s referring to much more than just an emotion. Certainly, the emotion is important – and extremely satisfying. But the love that really makes a difference in this world is love that does something.

Love, according to the original language of the scriptures, is the fulfilling of a duty or a responsibility to another – whether to God or to the people in our lives. It works good toward another person whether it ‘feels’ something or not. The truth is that feelings of love – like feelings of anger, happiness, hurt, etc. – come and go. But the act of loving another person is fueled by that deliberate intent of the will to do them good. Like faith, real love is more of an action verb than a noun.

I’m grateful that in my life I have known a great many people who love in this active way. But every time I ponder the subject of love – and especially around Valentine’s Day, when people are prone to send little ‘love letters’ to each other in the way of commercial Valentine cards – my mind turns to two particular lovers of the past who knew and experienced the power of love to change people’s lives completely.

Poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning lived one of the most powerful and life-changing love stories ever experienced by human beings. Much of their poetry, especially Sonnets from the Portuguese, describes that love and the power it had to overcome enormous obstacles, and to vanquish debilitating sorrow and hovering death. While the best remembered and most often quoted lines from all of those sonnets are the words, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,” the truth is that some of the most riveting portions are Elizabeth’s descriptions of how that love destroyed death and renewed her life. In Sonnet VII she says this:

“The face of all the world is changed, I think,
Since first I heard the footsteps of thy soul
Move still, oh, still, beside me as they stole
Betwixt me and the dreadful outer brink
Of obvious death, where I, who thought to sink
Was caught up into love and taught the whole
Of life in a new rhythm . . . .”

In truth, it was that love that literally saved Elizabeth’s life and gave both lovers many happy years of marriage and fruitful writing that blessed the world for generations. It also gave them a son, whom they loved dearly.

But prior to their marriage, Elizabeth and Robert courted, primarily by letter, for a period of 20 months. During that 20 months, they exchanged a total of 574 love letters. Think of it: 574 love letters! In 20 months, that is an average of more than 28 letters each month. Never running out of ways to say “I love you,” and never growing tired of manifesting that love openly.

Have you, dear readers, experienced the joy of seeing that love gives life to those who need it? My Valentine’s wish for each of you is that you will experience that reality.

And, by the way, does the person you love know without a doubt how you feel? Why not take advantage of this ‘Month of Love’ to make sure?

~ ~ ~

Love’s Freedom

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

I turned to Love and said, “I must be free.”
And Love said, “Surely. Take your liberty.”

I asked, “In truth? You set me free to roam?”
Then Love replied, “Just please remember home.”

And so I flew to north, south, east, and west.
And finally back to home I came to rest.

Then turned to Love and said, “You were so brave,
To let me try my wings. So much you gave.”

Love smiled and said, “Refusal to set you free
Would mean I loved — not you — but only me.”


© Sandra Conner 2012

New Mercies Every Morning

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

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“This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope: It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.”  (Lamentations 3:21-23).

Compassion and mercy are one and the same word in the original Greek. Both words refer to feelings and actions that are prompted by love of the subject, regardless of his endeavors or lack thereof. Mercy is a gift, free and clear. When Jesus Christ of Nazareth walked the earth, bringing us the exact image of God, He was “moved with compassion” when He saw hurting people and met their needs. Whether people were sick, in need of deliverance, struggling with sin, or in need of physical sustenance, they called on Jesus for “mercy.” That mercy healed their bodies, delivered them from demonic bondage, forgave their sin, and fed them by supernatural supply.

God is called “the Father of Mercies” in scripture (2 Cor. 1:3). And He says of Himself, “I am the Lord; I change not.”  (Mal. 3:6). Jesus Christ is “the same: yesterday, today, and forever.” (Heb. 13:8).  And just like Jesus, those mercies are the same today as well. Moreover, they are new today — and every day.  We do not have to depend on mercy that is left over from yesterday. Nor do we have to worry about using up too much of it today in case we need help tomorrow.  His mercies — His compassions — are prepared new — for you — each and every day — with more than enough in place to meet every need.  Unfortunately, many of us just let those mercies sit there — waiting — and wasted — while we keep struggling with our own problems independently.

My friend, don’t let that happen to you. Don’t struggle to keep fighting the never-ending battles with your own feeble human knowledge and ability. Connect with God today, through Jesus Christ, and let His mercies fill your life, meet your needs, and make you whole.

~ ~ ~

WordPress Weekly Writing Challenge: Character

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

The challenge is to describe a person in our life so that he seems real to the reader. I recently described a friend of mine in rhyme, so I thought perhaps I’d share that piece, in the hope that readers would enjoy a poetic take on this challenge. And, yes, this guy really does exist.

Tall Guy

I know a guy who’s very tall,
Stands six feet, seven inches.
He finds his height a great delight,
An asset in the clinches.

He’s very smart, and that’s a help.
It compensates the strain
Of all the time it takes for blood
To move from heart to brain.

In public he stands proud and straight;
He literally has a ball,
When people lean waaaay back and say,
“My goodness, you are tall!”

Height has its setbacks, though. Take clothes:
His must be special bought.
And going in and out of doors,
He must take special thought.

And then there’s dating; it’s a trial:
He’s anxious, Heaven knows,
To hold his partner cheek to cheek,
Not middle chest to nose.

But — proud — he sees his height as Heaven’s
Gift – a special gene.
Believes all men wish to be tall,
And with envy they are green.

So happily he struts about,
Looking for the perfect mate,
His only foe the hometown priest,
Who stands at six foot, eight.

~ ~ ~

To take part in this challenge, visit here:  http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/weekly-writing-challenge-characters/

Macro Monday — My Buddy, Big Blue

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

I’ve never taken part in “Macro Monday” previously.  In fact, I just found out about it a couple weeks ago.  But I just can’t resist participating with a couple close-ups of my beautiful Blue Spruce Tree.  I do love this tree and have raised it from the time it was about 5 feet tall.  It had been stuck in an old wooden barrel beneath a large tree and was struggling to lean over sideways to get sunshine. I rescued it and gave it a home in my front yard. With a good strong metal pole to support it for the next couple of years, it straightened itself out and reached for the sun in a perfectly vertical direction. It now proudly stands somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 feet tall and 45 feet around.

Every spring I am thrilled anew at the process of brand new life that bursts forth from every branch of this beautiful masterpiece of God’s creation.This past spring, I photographed every step of it’s new growth — from first bud stage to full plumage — and created a slide show with those photos.  I’ll share a couple of those shots here for Macro Monday.

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Thanks to Lisa Chaos for offering this photo challenge. You can find out the details and take part as well by visiting her site:  http://lisaschaos.com/

 

 

Look and Live

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

woman-looking-up-silh-sepiaDo you need healing?  Are you struggling in your efforts to receive it?  Do you feel surrounded and overwhelmed by the symptoms, the doctors reports, the unbelief of friends and family — crowding around you and choking off your faith?

The Psalmist in God’s Word felt exactly what you are feeling. He knew what it was like to be surrounded by so many enemies at once and hearing their taunting voices trying to convince him that God would not come through for him: “Lord, how are they increased that trouble me. Many there be that rise up against me.  Many there be that say of my soul, ‘There is no help for him in God.'” (Psalm 3:1-2).  But his response to that problem was to turn his attention to God. “But Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory and the lifter of my head.”

Another of our great forefathers in the faith, King Jehoshaphat, faced the same kind of situation: The kingdom of Judah was facing annihilation as the mighty armies of three nations came against it. Jehoshaphat called the people to a fast, and as they stood before the Lord, he prayed, reminding God of His faithfulness and saying, ” … We have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon Thee.” God gave them a total victory the very next morning.

In both instances, these men of faith did exactly the same thing to find a solution to their problem: They took their eyes off the enemy and put them on God alone.

That action is exactly what the Lord instructs us to do in the midst of what looks like a hopeless situation and certain defeat.  In Isaiah 41:10, He says, “Feat not, for I am with you. DO NOT ANXIOUSLY LOOK ABOUT YOU, for I am your God. If we have a God whose capable of defeating any enemy — and who has promised to do so — then we don’t need to look at the enemy, the problems, the imminent destruction. Where do we look?  We look at our God.

There is a light from God — and from His Word — that will lighten you. It will burn through the thick fog of doubt and suffocating fear and infiltrate you with its illumination and warmth. It will lift your faith — enlarge your faith — increase your faith — strengthen your faith — and bring you the victory.

There’s an old gospel song from the 1800’s by William A. Ogden entitled “Look and Live.”  The chorus of that song says,

“Look and live, my brother, live;
Look to Jesus now and live,
It’s recorded in His Word, hallelujah
That you only have to look and live.”

Yes, looking is the key.  But looking the right direction is what makes the difference in whether that key works in the lock. We MUST look to Jesus and His Word. Hebrews 3:1 admonishes us to “consider Jesus, the High Priest of our profession.”  That word “consider” in the original Greek means “exercise your mind on.”  What a perfect picture of the meaning of meditation.  We are to “exercise our mind” on Jesus.  Think about Him — about how He never — never — never turned down any person who came to Him for healing. And then think about how He is “the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8).

Hebrews 12:2 says, ” … Let us run with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”  Jesus is the author of our faith, because He IS the Word of God. (John, chapter one). It is the Word that tells us of God and what He has done for us. Nothing but the Word can reveal to us the truth of God’s love, mercy, and healing, so nothing but the Word can create faith in us for those things. (Romans 10:17).  And that same Word continues to feed and strengthen our faith if we will keep our eyes on it.

We keep our eyes on Jesus by keeping our eyes on His Word.

So don’t look around you at the forest, dark with unbelief and fear. Look up to Jesus, your Healer — and keep looking up for as long as it takes. He isn’t going anywhere.  He’ll be right there when you look to Him, and He’ll stick with you until you have the full manifestation of your healing from Him.

 

 

Friday Fictioneers – February 8, 2013

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

This Friday’s challenge is here in the form of a photo from Rich Voza

Frid Fict Plane

BUT NOT ALWAYS

He was Cherokee, she Scottish-American. But the moment they met in the airport coffee shop, they were connected. Waiting out the fog, they talked like old friends. When her plane was called, he carried her bag to her boarding gate.

A question in her eyes, she said, “Wow, Chicago and Dallas – talk about two people going in opposite directions.”

Light flared in his eyes. She didn’t want this to end either. He traced one gentle finger down her cheek.

“Opposite today … but not always, I think.”

The light in her eyes leaped to his, just as the boarding line began moving.

His next words a promise: “I will see you again, Joy.”

~~~

To join in the fun, hop over to Rochelle’s site: http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/8-february-2013/

100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups — Week 76 — ‘Beneath The Surface’

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

This week Julia gave us a word prompt for our 100-word challenge:
“… beneath the surface …”

100 WORD CHALLENGE LOGOIf you’d like to participate in this weekly challenge, you can visit Julia and get all the rules at this link:
http://jfb57.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week76/

My imagination led me in the direction of poetry this time, and I found that it’s much harder work to get poetry to come out right with such a short word limit. But it was fun trying, and I managed to make it in 102 plus Julia’s 3. 

BENEATH THE SURFACE

While browsing antique shops, I made a great find!
Unearthed a rare treasure. Never saw one in kind.

An elegant bowl, with a handle and lid;
Beneath so much tarnish, it’s true beauty hid.

Though black with the ages, I hugged it to me;
Beneath the surface, silver glory I could see.

Polished and rubbed to a radiant glow,
On party buffet my prize purchase would show.

It gleamed and it glowed, holding punch the next day,
When – horror of horrors – I heard a guest say:

“Heaven help us! Is this the best silver you’ve got?
I’ll not drink my punch from an old chamber pot!”

~ ~ ~

WP Weekly Photo Challenge: Unique

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

Exif JPEGA good friend, who is also of Cherokee ancestry, has an enormous Native American doll collection.  This is my absolute favorite!  And I do think it is a truly ‘unique’ doll. 

 

Happy Birthday!

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

BIRTHDAY CAKE 1Happy Birthday to “Sandra Conner … By the Book”!  Yes, it has been one whole year today. I know that because February 1st is my personal birthday as well.  I had not deliberately planned to begin my third blog on my birthday, but it worked out that way.  As I was posting my “About” page for this site last year, I thought how appropriate it was that I was giving birth to a new extension of myself on this particular day. 

So mainly I just want to say, “Thank You!” to all of you readers out there who have made this blog an adventure and a great joy this past year. So many of you have become friends whom I cherish, and several of you are brand new acquaintances I am genuinely pleased to meet and will hopefully get to know very well in the near future.

BALLOONS VERTICLEI do appreciate the connections and communication with so many creative, talented people.  It’s the creativity in each of us that fosters, nourishes, and edifies the creativity in one another.  I have had the privilege this whole past year of being the recipient of your encouragement, your stimulation, once in a while your correction, and always your affection. That blessing adds greatly to my happiness as I celebrate this birthday.

I also want to specifically thank my life-long friend Terry Valley for the artwork that serves as my header photo this week. Terry is a professional photographer and graphic artist, and he created this piece and sent it to me for use on my blog.

Well, I’m ready for a party. I hope each one of you has a day as happy as mine.

 

Friday Fictioneers — February 1 — As It Was In The Beginning

| Sandra Pavloff Conner

Well, I am waaaaaaay out in left field on this week’s challenge.  It was fun getting here, but I don’t have enough words to get back.  This piece is definitely “stream of consciousness” writing.

Here’s the photo prompt that Rochelle gave us — courtesy of Claire Fuller, who created the sculpture and took the photo.

/copyright-Claire Fuller

AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING

“Well, now, let’s have a look at this piece that has you so distressed, Maryann,” said Professor Rousseau, lifting the scarf that covered his student’s newest sculpture. His gasp of pleasure was audible. Then for several minutes, he stood silent. Finally he spoke, never taking his eyes from the work.

“Tell me again what you told me on the phone.”

“I … I sculpted the man’s head yesterday. I could feel it wasn’t finished, but I couldn’t seem to do anything else with it. So I went to bed. This morning, when I went into the studio to take another look at it … the woman’s head was there as well … and his hand on her head protectively … as you can see.”

The Professor smiled. “Aaahh, yes. I can see that the words of the Original Artist still hold true: “It is not good for man to be alone.”

~~~

To join in the fun visit Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ site here:
http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/