Category Archives: Contemplation

Poems arrrived at by the thought process that makes one think a little – hopefully

Escape of Reality 2019-40

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Escape of Reality 2019-40
To close my eyes and escape reality and enter into a fantasy world of wonder is truly amazing.

My mind tears itself away from the turmoil of the world happenings today and allows itself to bask in splendor of created thoughts. Wow!

I am here, I am there and everywhere, but where I am; and no longer a prisoner of today and its doings.

No longer confined to newsworthy tidbits of ugliness, snapshots of horror, and wanton acts of despair.

I can release myself of the constant need to comment on the actions of others, opinions of some and lies of anyone. I am alone with myself, my constant companion.

Instead, bliss reigns, comfort envelopes me, and I am at peace.

I can turn to God, look at the heavens above, contemplate my “other” existence, commune with my Savior, Jesus Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to reside beside, and within me. No other submission and surrender can surmount this and produce this feeling of completeness.

God is Good, God is Great, thanks be to God.

So be it…………….

Neighbors 2019-39

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Neighbors 2019-39
What makes a neighbor; is it a close proximity to the others or something else? OR, is clarification needed? A more defined question of what is a good neighbor, or a bad one? What is bad?
I have spent much time in a couple of places and found that it takes all kinds of people to be good or bad in this respect.

One place I remember was when I did not talk with someone 3 houses away in all the time spent there, which was decades. Whose fault, mine or theirs or both of us not caring about the other. It takes all kinds to be a cohesive entity and to have a relationship with any group of people.

In our present dwelling, out of 72 condo owners, I know first names of 7 of them after being here 3 years of living here. Correction; make that 8, one moved into a close by house and I went over and introduced myself to them and lent them something to help him do a job easier.

This is not much different that where we have lived in the past, and probably very normal. The inhabitants behind, front and both sides of us are the ones we get to know better. Having children or animals and getting involved with others via these two factors are a way to break the ice, to a degree.

Where we live now, most of the other people, at best, give a “condo wave” (I call it this) to fellow condo inhabitants and leave it at that. Another normal?

The attitude of “my world”, “your world” type feelings I am sure, and I am not dejected or having bad thoughts about this, just noticing and commenting on reality. We all have our sphere of interest, which we adhere to and enforce, where our lives are personal and we tend to keep it that way.
Life goes on and neighbors are neighbors; such is life.

TheBettsDen.com

Cloudy Immaginations 2019-35

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Cloudy Imaginations  2019-35

I sit at the entrance to my garage, watching the world go by in front of me and in the sky. People walk and drive by, waving, letting me know of their existence.

Up above, clouds slowly travel through the sky, somewhat churning in form, as they pass. A zooming plane occasionally makes its presence known, going from where to where.

Contrails from the planes pierce and stab at the fluffy white teddy bear cloud, lying on its back, while clutching a large white ball. A creature like being,  from Dr Seuss, challenges me to give it a name, while it cavorts around another unnamed animation.

A buzzard flying too low to disrupt a cloud, slices through the air, wafting in the currents still high in the sky above me and the village I live in.

A tame alligator, with mis-happened snout chases a tidbit of cloud, before dissolving into a mishmash of nothingness.

Out of nowhere, actually from behind me, a REAL LIFE quiet glider plane disrupts my thoughts as it tries to snag a wind draft to elevate itself for a continued journey. So quiet!!

I sit and contemplate as the sky above me remains a menagerie of wonder and busyness in its own way. I feel blessed by the activity and wonder of man and God that surrounds me and appreciate all that I see. In my own way, I appreciate life and what goes on around and above me, and to know that the Glory of God is what it is and life is good.

DDB

Existence in Life 2019-30

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Existence in Life 2019-30

Everyone, bar none, are existing until we are not; a fact. How we exist is up to us as individuals in most cases. Being rich or poor, young-old, smart-dumb, are some things that does affect our existence at the time.

We CAN do things that will change how our existence will turn out. A lottery winner can lose what they won and be back in the same way of life before.

Fate can play its part in what we do differently than before and affect our lives in many ways. Adapting to the change in life, or not, is up to us, for we all have some choices in how we go on with our lives.

We should NOT make excuses for how it could have been, but we can take credit for how we adapted to the now.

Easier to say than to do at times.

My Pensive Nature 2019-29

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My Pensive Nature  2019-29

My pensive nature (or so I have been told) puts me, at times, into a musing state of mind.  Dreamy deep thoughts make me think in careful and thorough ways, requiring abstract ideas and ways of performance of self, or so I think.

I question the reasoning of these thought patterns, but not in much detail. The word “WHY” is a constant refrain, in my infernal mind, without answers, recourse or finalization of my being.

The unanswered, at times, becomes a stumbling block of inaction on my part, a festered boil of unnatural thinking.

I still ask “WHY”, but do not expect any answer to the question of why, and realize the why has no answer, perhaps, and will always be a question without knowledge of the why.

BUT, if we do not ask why, we will never know will we?  We will be forever be in a dense state of mind —- wondering….

I cannot, will not, disparage my self and allow the “Why” of life affect me and instead use the word “BECAUSE” for that can only be the word to use, in my mind.

For instance, “WHY did Jesus the Christ, have to die on the cross and the answer is BECAUSE, and I will allow the theologians to fill in the words to answer this question.

“BECAUSE” is such a great word to use regarding “WHY”, for it gives an answer without an actual answer.

My pensive mind allows me to now muse and let this time to be a stimulus to lull myself to sleep, oblivious to any Why’s of the world. 

Dennis Betts

Loving Our Neighbor 2019-28

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Loving Our Neighbor        2019-28

What does “Loving Our Neighbor as yourself” mean, that Jesus stated as being one of the greatest commandments?  In Mark 12:31 He stated this, along with “loving God with ALL your heart in 12:30.

He said this when asked by His disciples, what the most important commandment was and this loving your neighbor is an essential component of “love of God.”

This is all and good, but when I ask,” Who is your neighbor?” It is NOT just the little old lady next door or the guy up the street! This does not exclude anyone and is all inclusive; period!!!!

It includes poor people, rich people, the good, the bad and the in between, and probably those you want to not even like, let alone love in any way…. It includes others of other faiths, creeds and ethnicity.

If you do NOT love God or not even believe in Him, then you would not even consider this commandment by Jesus.  I understand that feeling by you, BUT, if you are an advocate of Jesus and do not believe this, then it is not you that has a problem with this commandment, it is Jesus that has a problem with YOU.

Jesus and God the Father are very loving of their children of Earth. People on Earth have opinions on what God thinks and what He will do and what He will decide in each of our fates in life. I would think also, that God has the final decision about each of us and if we cannot do deeds of things to get into the Kingdom of God and are accepted by God through Grace. But, are their rules or things that God demands from us that do prevent our being accepted into the Kingdom? If not, and then, therefore, does God love us unconditionally, regardless of what we do or not do?  Convoluted thoughts, I realize……

I do not know and  only God knows, and He will let us know when the time comes for us to know.

 

Peace,

Den Betts

Is God Good? 2019-27

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Is God Good?   2019-27

God is ALWAYS good in my mindful thoughts!

If the god of the Hebrew Bible appears to be NOT good to those reading passages in the Old Testament, it might also appear to be so for the time period it was written and before. To equate the then God to the now God is not a correct thing to do.

Things change!!!

With the advent of the Son of God arriving, this episode in life makes things different to many. Jesus Christ became a part of the Triune God and brought forth another thought of God’s Presence known as love to all.

Blaming God for an event in life that affects us and saying He is NOT good in the process, shows our vulnerability in life itself. We as children of God cannot, just cannot, demand a better outcome in life, where we feel God could have, should have or is required to do a good thing in our lives for us, so we can say God is good, God is great… Many or some people turn away from belief in God due to the feeling of God not doing what they wanted and would have been good to do so for them, at the time.

We cannot dictate to God what we want; God is NOT our servant; we are His servants. God is a loving God and loves us to death and beyond. God is a caring God and cares for us and those we love. The fact that He does not do what WE want, is another matter.

God will be with us always, by our side, even to the death and will comfort us even then and those we love ourselves.
What humans do as God’s children to others, is on us and God will be with us through the trails and tribulations of life that man does to man, for whatever reasons, and where man does the things we think are horrible it is not just to state God is not good due to those actions of those others, but it is somewhat normal to do so, regardless. He knows that too.

God is good, God is Great, thanks be to God………

Peace,
Den Betts

Mirror of Self 2019-026

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Mirror of Self  2019-026

 

Look in a mirror and what do you see? Another YOU!!!!!!

The mirror image shows you things you cannot see yourself in life, but does give you insights as to how you really are to others. No lies or exaggerations; just plain truth for all to see, hear and know about you.

It is difficult to hide the truth from others, even if we try. l We are what we are, and an actuality of self will prevail.
We can make false claims about ourselves and deny, deny and deny, but people with insight can tell, because facts are truth and lies are lies, ALWAYS.

Those that want to believe the opposite of truth, may do so, but it could be for reasons even they do not understand.
If we make claims of the truth being fake, we are deceiving ourselves or others that we want to sway our way, but it is still wrong and a lie to everyone.

Th mirror knows all, for it does not change what we are, but simply shows us as we are in reality.

Peace
Den Betts

Understanding Prejudice 2019-025

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                                                Understanding Prejudice    2019-025

Understanding prejudice is something that I feel, cannot be done. Prejudice is tied to intolerance to a degree, which is also something that cannot be understood. Can hatred be the factor that feeds those that endorse or hold fast to these beliefs?

What other influences would lead those having such despicable thoughts towards others? The hatred for anything is NOT a justifiable defense for prejudicial intolerance. Neither is using any religion or religious dictate for having thoughts that go against normal decent beliefs.  I would think that the word normal is the key word here.

Self-avowed racists or some that claim they are not, but ARE, due to their words used or actions taken, at times, do NOT care if they are looked at as prejudicial or intolerant. Also, God fearing, holier than thou advocates, that use their Bible as weapons to try and prove their righteousness and disapproval of others are examples of why the problem with religion is religion itself.  

Liberals AND conservatives that stretch their beliefs either to the far left or right and show the world their prejudice and intolerance to others on the other end of the spectrum need to learn what compromise means.

Many, but not all, major faith groups use a variation of the Golden Rule in their beliefs. This thought of “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you is sometimes forgotten.

Listed below are some prejudices that are common, but there are more I am sure. Since I am a Christian, I will use an excerpt from the teacher Jesus Christ as an example of how I feel people could look at others. 

In Mark 12 versus 29-31 it states that Jesus told His disciples how they must adhere to the following: “The most important (commandment) is this:  Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love this Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no commandment greater than these.”

In other words, being prejudicial and intolerant is NOT the way to be, if you are a Christian and want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  In Luke 14:27 Jesus also said, “And anyone who does not carry His cross and follow Him, cannot be my disciple.”

I just used the Bible to show some thoughts, not as a weapon, but as a guide to living life with Jesus, so you could still call me a hypocrite for doing so, if you wish. 

It is so too easy to show our feelings about something that is prejudicial towards anyone, but if we do so it identifies it as a factual feeling experience, and it can give us an opportunity to change ourselves as part of the process of change and healing oneself.

[RACE]   [AGE]  [RELIGION]  [EDUCATION]   [VOCATION]   [ETHNIC BACKGROUND]   [HABITAT OR LOCALE]

[TRIBAL/CLANS]   [SEX/ SEXUAL ORIENTATIOIN]  [WEALTH/INCOME] [DISABILITIES] [TATOOS/PIERCINGS]

[PET PREFERENCES]   [CASTE BELIEFS]    [MILITARY CHOICES]   [DWELLING ENVY] [SPORTS LIKES]

[MENTAL DISORDERS]   [COUNTRY ORIGIN]   [MARITAL STATUS]   [POLITICAL AFFILIATION]

[DRESS HABITS]   [HAIR STYLES]   [DISABILITIES]   [GENETIC DISORDERS] [DISEASE DISORDERS]

Peace,
Den Betts            bettsden@gmail.com    email or thebettsden.com Blog Site

Essence of Thought 2019-023

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Essence of Thought 2019-023

 

Begone, begone ye cursed thoughts,

Take off and flee to a different day.

Let my mind be at rest for a fleeting moment,

To regroup for a haggard stay.

Interest wanes for continued love,

In dismay, my mind wanders still.

 

Perish the Devil for allowing this,

A wicked way of fortunate bliss.

A rusty pinnacle of frozen tableau,

Given in time for decrepit spray.

Alas, the heart beat continues still,

Allowing a millennium of joy.

 

Where is the harbinger of celestial upheaval?

To judge those left behind.

Thoughts remain to drip to oblivion,

Finally peace reigns in my time.

 

 

Peace,

Den Betts        bettsden@gmail.com   Email

thebettsden.com          Blog