“Vault of Memories”

Sunflowers by Stephen B. Watley
Sunflowers by Stephen B. Watley


Vault of Memories

Our vault of memories
opens and closes
with clanging sounds,
redefines our dreams,
rudely awakens us
in the midst of deepest
slumbers —

snaps the whip
as we make decisions
in love and business,
directs our hands to wield
or spare the rod
in the discipline
of our children —

it is a vault,
yet much the same as churchyards
where we light candles
and whisper softly
as the tallow accumulates
and we mold the putty
in our hands,
rewrite the  scripted scenes,
revisit glorious sunsets,
adorn the porches of summer
with scarlet geraniums —

we contrive perfection
from the past,
yet through this somnolent veil
reality’s briars arise,
the grown-up tears,
the laughter
of childhood —

of catching grasshoppers
and climbing fruit trees,
the dimes earned from chores,
the aplomb gained
from life’s little triumphs —

and for certain
this confidence grows
and is sustaining us:

for from this vault of memories
we draw our water
from the well,
regain our strength,
build our faith,
apply the brilliant brush strokes of the day,
and in the lavender shades of twilight
we chart out and envision
our tomorrows.

By D. G. Vachal © 2012-2013

“Spring Percolates”



Pear tree blossoms
plentiful
as the stars,
packed into constellations
individual as the eye,
purity of milk and diamonds,
whitecaps of oceans
awaken

into another dream,
lost moments found,
forgotten tales
retold
of skeletal branches
putting on fat and flesh,
garbed in gowns of organza,
taffeta and voile,
of golden green,
magenta’s pink,
and crimson of the maples,
the stars

descend from the heavens,
dip into the tin paint
gallons of the rainbow,
morph into manifold
forms  of delight,
crayola of corollas
dazzle
upon the vibrant grass.

by D. G. Vachal © 2013

“Fragments of Bread”

Still Life by Julia Medvedev
Still Life by Julia Medvedev

Fragments of bread
hours after supper
fill my ceaseless hunger —

Midnight and the light
is sparse,
the camel-eyed windows
gaze
at Giacometti
shadows —

Daybreak alights:
I laugh with the warblers,
and the breath of my nostrils
fires the oven,
the bread for my hunger,
once again.

by D. G. Vachal © 2013

“Faith on Trial: When the Wicked Prosper”

Photography by Kevin Walker
Faith on Trial: When The Wicked Prosper

“Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart.  But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”   Psalm 73:1-3

… a synopsis of  the writing of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Oftentimes, perplexities in life are magnified when we compare our lives with the lives of others.  In  Psalm 73, the psalmist confesses that he was shaken and troubled,  to the point of almost stumbling, because he was bewildered at God’s way of dealing with him: he was living a righteous life, yet everything seemed to be going wrong.

To make matters worse, when he looked at the lives of the wicked, he saw a striking contrast: they prosper in the world, are in good health, and not in trouble as other men. He described the ungodly as arrogant, deceitful, and full of blasphemy, yet having more than their hearts could wish for. The psalmist felt that he was living a godly life in vain.

Progressing through the verses, however, we learn that the writer managed to steady himself and eventually arrive at a firm position of faith through a series of small steps.

“If I had said, “I will speak thus, behold I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.” (v 15)

The first step he took was to control himself: he kept himself from saying what was at the tip of his tongue, recognizing the importance of never speaking hurriedly, never on impulse.  The guiding principle we can glean from this is that our speech needs to be positive, and not hasty in expressing doubts and uncertainties. If we can say nothing that is helpful, we should say nothing at all.

Secondly, he deliberated upon what he was about to say: he looked at the problem again and examined it from different angles. The guiding principle here is not to be too quick in forming opinions based on one set of facts, but to look at the subject from other perspectives, and to consider its consequences and implications.

Thirdly, the psalmist held on to what he was certain of, and he held on at all costs. Having considered the matter again, he realized that if he were to say the words he was tempted to vocalize, he would have become a stumbling block to God’s people. Here we see the importance of having certain absolutes in life, that there are certain things deemed unthinkable, never to be considered.  One of the absolutes in his life was to never inflict harm upon God’s cause and His people.

These were the steps the psalmist took that enabled him to gain a foothold to plant his feet securely, and to keep himself from slipping and falling.

Reference:  D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Faith on Trial, W. B. Erdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1965, pp. 11-31

*** Photography by Kevin Walker