Life in the Slow Lane

Contemplating life, faith, words, and memories

Category: Freedom

Cool June Days — June 8, 2020
rain, summer, cool, pacific northwest

Cool June Days

/Sherrey Meyer/3 Comments

I dedicate this post to Rev. Joshua Dunham, our former Associate Pastor and Youth Leader. Joshua brought light and understanding to the words of Micah 6:8 in a sermon a few years ago. Since then, I have read it, studied it, and prayed on it. God bless you, Joshua!

These are cool June days.

First thing each morning, our black Bombay kitty, Ignatz aka Iggy, cries to go outside. He doesn’t like being indoors, but he complies with our nightly wishes to stay in. Depending on the weather, he may change his mind.

Today and for the lasts few days the morning air is cool, the sky gray. Occasionally, a beam of light slips between these tall trees, and then it’s gone. Continue reading →

Democracy by Langston Hughes (1949) — June 5, 2020
spring, freedom, meadow, tree trunk

Democracy by Langston Hughes (1949)

/Sherrey Meyer/4 Comments

Summer entered the Pacific Northwest yesterday, specifically the Portland, OR area, ablaze in sunlight and blue sky. Of course, lest we’d forget our geographic location, the occasional cloud covered the sun. Yet, that did nothing to deter the soul from dancing.

In reading yesterday, I came across a poem by William Wordsworth that spoke to how I felt with summer outside my doorway and what memories of its gala arrival would mean for me months down the road.

Continue reading →

Freedom — July 4, 2019
Constitution, flag, independence, freedom, America

Freedom

/Sherrey Meyer/4 Comments

Today is the day we celebrate America and our freedoms. There are many things I could write about our country and its freedoms, but none as beautiful as the following poem by Walt Whitman. I Hear America Singing encompasses the entirety of who and what America was when Whitman penned these words in 1860.

I Hear America Singing

 
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.
 
 
Source: Selected Poems (1991)
 
4th of July

 

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