State of Grace

As the warm weather returned, my dear wife and I have been puttering out in the back yard like everyone else. In our case, it’s really just a patio. However, there’s some furniture, a little waterfall and some things growing out there. So we dig, we sweep, we prune and water, picking up every stray leaf that dares to attempt the establishment of a foothold in our little nature center. My bride has spent so much time out in the back 40 (that’s feet, not acres) that we’ve begun to call it our room addition. All across the country I imagine countless other folks have been up to just about the same thing. After the relative hibernation of winter, and in our case the record setting rains of southern California, folks naturally gravitate out of doors. All the more so because we seem to have been created to respond to nature. In fact, we derive a nearly spiritual pleasure from interaction with our beloved friends in the plant kingdom. Not surprisingly, we are chemically and biologically bound to them as well, since we produce the carbon dioxide which they require and they turn it back into the life-giving oxygen we need to live. It’s a complimentary relationship which adds credence to my personal belief that we were both created with such a symbiotic interaction in mind. Today’s poem is one I wrote a few years ago while sitting in a particularly beautiful corner of a nursery one evening, on a day not so unlike this one. I offer it with hope that you might get out of doors in the next day or two and have the opportunity to sample the peace I felt as I penned those words.

State of Grace
There is a magic in the stately grace
A well kept garden knows
A wonder in the company
Of all that’s green and grows
There is a comfort in the quiet
Of a garden’s soft embrace
Which draws me in and beckons
Me to tarry in that place
Man was created in a garden
Perhaps that’s why where e’er I roam
I always wander into gardens
Because they feel like home
By Frank Carpenter ©

A Victory Revisited

To regular readers, an apology for my silence of the past several days. One holiday slipped by without nearly enough national attention this week. Last Saturday, May 7th, was the 60th anniversary of the German surrender in WWII. The following day, May 8th, was officially declared V-E Day in order to celebrate and commemorate that long awaited victory against the dark tyranny of Nazi Germany. I had started writing last weekend about the subject, but abandoned the idea to concentrate on Mothers Day. However, today I return … and not entirely too late because today, May 13th, is the anniversary of the national day of prayer declared by President Truman after the victory. Please remember that we still had a war going on in the Pacific so while there was much to be thankful for, there was still much to be accomplished. Without belaboring the point, my goal today is to encourage us all to take a look back and remember the patriotic heritage of that America at war and all those who fought so bravely on our behalf. As we remember that time in our history, I am more conscious than ever of how quickly we are losing our WWII heroes to old age. I urge everyone to track down the friends and relatives who fought or lived through that time period and glean any memories you can from them so we can pass their heritage down to the next generation that will have to live without them. To that end, I respectfully submit today a poem which discussed the loss of that greatest generation by attrition. For you history buffs, I have also included the text of the German Surrender document signed on May 7th, 1945 and a copy of President Truman’s declaration of the national day of prayer, which contains a fascinating snapshot of our nation’s heart at the time. A wise man, and a wise country, is always willing to look back in order to better understand who we are today. Enjoy the trip.

A Generation Passing
Another one of the older people I know
Has died, I just heard today
I sent him a letter a few weeks back
But now he has passed away
Like so many of his generation
Folks born when my parents were
I’m forty, they’re around eighty now
And old age has no cure
It pains me to see them dwindling
To lose the stories of all they went through
Memories of the Great Depression
And the valor of World War II
Who will remember the wisdom
That generation so dearly bought?
Who will pass on the values
That generation learned, and taught?
With every person who passes on
I feel a part of my life is lost
As our history and our heritage
Slips from my grasp at a terrible cost
If your loved ones are growing old
Call them, write them, hold their hands
Listen to each of their stories
Strive to encourage and understand
Glean the wisdom they have to offer
From the long years they have known
Before it passes away with them
And make that wisdom your own
By Frank Carpenter ©

Text from the
ACT OF MILITARY SURRENDER
1. We the undersigned, acting by authority of the German High Command, hereby surrender unconditionally to the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces and simultaneously to the Soviet High Command all forces on land, sea and in the air who are at this date under German control.
2. The German High Command will at once issue orders to all German military, naval and air authorities and to all forces under German control to cease active operations at 2301 hours Central European time on 8 May and to remain in the positions occupied at that time. No ship, vessel, or aircraft is to be scuttled, or any damage done to their hull, machinery or equipment.
3. The German High Command will at once issue to the appropriate commander, and ensure the carrying out of any further orders issued by the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and by the Soviet High Command.
4. This act of military surrender is without prejudice to, and will be superseded by any general instrument of surrender imposed by, or on behalf of the United Nations and applicable to GERMANY and the German armed forces as a whole.
5. In the event of the German High Command or any of the forces under their control failing to act in accordance with this Act of Surrender, the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and the Soviet High Command will take such punitive or other action as they deem appropriate.
Signed at RHEIMS at 0241 on the 7th day of May, 1945. France
On behalf of the German High Command. JODL
IN THE PRESENCE OF
On behalf of the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, W. B. SMITH
On behalf of the Soviet High Command, SOUSLOPAROV
F SEVEZ, Major General, French Army

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
The Allied armies, through sacrifice and devotion and with God's help, have wrung from Germany a final and unconditional surrender. The western world has been freed of the evil forces which for five years and longer have imprisoned the bodies and broken the lives of millions upon millions of free-born men. They have violated their churches, destroyed their homes, corrupted their children, and murdered their loved ones. Our Armies of Liberation have restored freedom to these suffering peoples, whose spirit and will the oppressors could never enslave.
Much remains to be done. The victory won in the West must now be won in the East. The whole world must be cleansed of the evil from which half the world has been freed. United, the peace-loving nations have demonstrated in the West that their arms are stronger by far than the might of dictators or the tyranny of military cliques that once called us soft and weak. The power of our peoples to defend themselves against all enemies will be proved in the Pacific as it has been proved in Europe.
For the triumph of spirit and of arms which we have won, and of its promise to peoples everywhere who join us in the love of freedom, it is fitting that we, as a nation, give thanks to Almighty God, who has strengthened us and given us the victory.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, HARRY S. TRUMAN, President of the United States of America, do hereby appoint Sunday, May 13, 1945 to be a day of prayer.
I call upon the people of the United States, whatever their faith, to unite in offering joyful thanks to God for the victory we have won and to pray that He will support us to the end of our present struggle and guide us into the way of peace.
I also call upon my countrymen to dedicate this day of prayer to the memory of those who have given their lives to make possible our victory.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington this eighth day of May in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty-five and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and sixty-ninth.
THE GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
By the President:
Harry S. Truman

Mothers Day

Let us not forget that Mothers Day is this Sunday, May 8th. This is a weekend to honor all of our mothers and their contributions to our lives and families. I have been blessed with a wonderful mother, and all the more blessed by being married to an outstanding mother as well. Come to think of it, I even lucked out in the mother-in-law category. I guess I could be said to have won the triple crown of maternal good fortune. In honor of these women who have been so instrumental in my own life and happiness, I offer the follow poem. Feel free to copy my words down if you’d like to use them to express your own feelings to one of the mothers in your life. All that I ask is that you leave my name at the bottom. That being said, some of you have perhaps not had a positive mothering experience- that certainly happens. If you fall into this category, I would still encourage you to offer something positive to your mother or step mother because they went to a great deal of trouble on your behalf and probably love you more than you know. If you can’t even bring yourself to do that, then transfer your best wishes and appreciation to another mother in your life, such as friend or an aunt, and honor their example or treatment of their own children. And what if your mother has passed away? Then I suggest that you honor her memory by sharing her story or love with your own children, nieces, nephews or someone else in your life. We can all do something for this holiday. If you’re one of those cynics who think that all holidays were invented to sell greeting cards and flowers, then don’t prove your point by being a cheapskate and short changing someone you love who’d rather have a card than join your personal protest. Make your own card, cook a big breakfast or do something else creative. The fact is that we should be appreciating mothers every day so don’t waste your opportunity to do so this weekend. In closing, I offer my biggest thanks and mushiest “I love you” to my own wife and mothers. May your weekend be a blessed one.

Thank You
I thank you for a thousand little things
Which really aren't so small
And for the countless, thankless jobs
Which upon your shoulders fall
I thank you for the time you take
And for your energy
For the way you balance everything
And how you love the kids and me
I thank you for your gentle touch
And for your helping hand
For always being there for us
And how you seem to understand
There are times to work and cook and clean
And times to simply stop and play
Our kids know they have the funnest mom
Which you prove again each day
Somehow you find a way to do it all
Perhaps far more than you ought to
But we really do appreciate
All those extra things you do
All the things that show how very much
You love the kids and me
And I thank God most every day
For you, and our family
By Frank Carpenter ©

Tuppence a Bag

In the building next door to my office there is a white-haired old man with a peculiar habit. Shortly after lunchtime every afternoon he is to be found out in the parking lot between our two buildings, where he scatters the remainder of his lunch for the birds to eat. Mind you, it’s not bird seed or some dainty crumbs. His aviary smorgasbord consists of hunks of sandwich, potato chips, Cheetos, and all manner of torn up snack food. In fact, his unorthodox feedings usually include just about anything a bird’s cardiologist would scorn. It probably doesn’t matter, however, because all of his beneficiaries are crows. Perhaps the image of a strange old man feeding Cheetos to crows in a parking lot doesn’t warm your heart, but I’m always reminded of the old woman who sells the pigeon food in Mary Poppins. “Feed the birds. Tuppence a bag,” she would say. The imagery in the movie suggests that although the responsible thing was for the children to invest their savings in the bank, the few cents required to feed the birds seemed more intriguing … and, perhaps, more satisfying. I know that when our own children were young we used to save any bread or cereal that became remotely stale and then we’d go feed ducks and seagulls until they were probably sick. As we rush through our own lives such simple pleasures are often overlooked, passed by on the way to whatever our next event is. Yet, we also miss out on the simple joy which can come from such things. What little things have you been running out of time for lately that you used to have time for? It takes so little effort feed a few birds, buy a flower for someone, share an ice cream cone … whatever. I try to look for opportunities to enjoy those kinds of things whenever possible. I definitely pause for sunsets more than I used to, and no matter how late I am I always stop at lemonade stands. Life has all sorts of little surprises for those willing to invest a few tuppence and a moment to enjoy their fruits. Like you, my initial response was to assume that an old man feeding junk food to crows must be crazy. However, upon further refection, maybe he’s just happy … and there’s nothing wrong with that.