The Puppet Masters are Puzzled; Their Plan is Proving False. They cannot See the Outcome, They do Not know the Cost. Their Play Exposed; They Lost the Plot. On Bended Knee, their Soul is Wrought. God is the Only Master; His People should Not Play. We Prostrate ourselves in Surrender; Waiting for His Leading so we can Obey. Detach from ALL the Pretending; and Yield yourselves Today. The Master up in Heaven is Never to Betray. clm Grace Colored Glasses

John Clopton, the Jay Treaty, and the Unfinished Question of Who Governs America More than two hundred years ago, an American congressman sat down in Philadelphia and put into words a fear that sounds remarkably familiar today. His concern was larger than a treaty. It was larger than political parties. It was a question about the Republic itself: What happens when power begins moving away from the people and toward institutions and interests that the people cannot effectivel

Some memories remain vivid no matter how many years pass. They are etched into our minds because, in those moments, life changed in ways we did not fully understand at the time. One such memory takes me back to an isolated black sand beach in Costa Rica when I was twelve years old. It wasn't the first time I had faced the terror of not being able to breathe and wondering if my life was about to end. It was simply one of many close calls that, years later, reveal an inner stre

This morning, while drinking my coffee, I found myself thinking about a memory from my childhood. I wouldn't call it a traumatic memory. It isn't one of those painful experiences that demands attention. It feels more like another ingredient in the Recipe of my Life; a Special Seasoning that helped make me who I am. Still, as I thought about it, tears came to my eyes. Not because I was reliving trauma, but because I was seeing something I had not fully recognized before and I

Source: George Clopton to Captain William Clopton, 9 May 1793, This letter, preserved among the Clopton Family Papers at Duke University's David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, was written by George Clopton of New Kent County, Virginia, to his brother, Captain William Clopton of Hanover County, on May 9, 1793. Written only a decade after the close of the American Revolution, the letter provides a rare glimpse into the realities of life in the early Republic. Des

*In honor of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, I want to share the stories of two men whose names are not widely known, yet whose lives were woven into the very foundation of this nation. One stood near the beginning of America’s struggle for liberty, signing onto the Revolutionary resolutions of 1774 as the colonies moved toward independence. He was Reverend William Leigh, an Anglican minister who risked position and security to stand

Original letter from the Clopton Family Papers, Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. My Dear Boys: I greet you with much love, and wish to each of you an honorable prosperity in life and a tranquil and happy old age. It is an unwritten law in your paternal family to keep its genealogy alive from generation unto generation. And this, if you live, you will not neglect to do. So far as this question goes, it matters little what Form of Government a ma

What is my “Default Setting”? Is it Love, Grace and Mercy? Or does my “System” still have Writing on it left by the World? Have I allowed Jesus to completely RESET the “Default Application” of my life back to His Original Setting, to His Will? Do I occasionally revert back to old Writing? Unfortunately, yes…, like a “system glitch” reverting back to the well-worn pathways of Faulty Code; written for Dysfunction. But I know what to do to Jump straight back to the Divine Re

"Do you remember coming to visit me when I had the abortion?" That was the response I got when I asked my mom about a traumatic memory I was trying to process. Her response confirmed everything I suspected but never really wanted to know. I was finally, at almost sixty years old, trying to excavate some of the foundational trauma of my childhood. This particular memory was never supposed to surface, and a lifetime of scapegoating kept it hidden deep in my subconscious. It

Some people LASH OUT when they are troubled or life knocks them down, a few too many times. Some people LASH IN instead; they project all their frustrations inward. Neither scenario is healthy nor fluctuating between the two. We need BALANCE and Spiritual Health is the Fulcrum that keeps us in Harmony with God. When life comes at us, we instinctively throw up a Force Field, a Boundary to Protect our most Sensitive parts. We LASH OUT to Fight or LASH IN to Guard ourselves. G

Peggy invited me to her home for lunch one day. I was just a young college student who worked with her at a local drug store. She attended the same church as the owners of the store and worked part-time as a clerk. She was a nice lady and so I went to her house to see what she wanted. She didn’t want anything from me; she wanted to give me one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received! We started out having a sandwich at a little table outside her house and she prayed over

Grace Colored Glasses

As I was listening to a sermon the other day, I kept seeing in my mind’s eye all these Wells with a Lid on them! The title of the sermon was, What are you Getting out of your Well? I wanted to yell out, “TAKE THE LID OFF!” But then I realized that many didn’t just have a lid on them; some had Boulders and Stones heaped on top of the lid, holding it down, for Containment. Many of us have been living with a covered-up Well to protect what we cherish so much, not realizing tha

When Truth is your Foundation, the Scaffolding stands Tall. Like a Fortress built on Virtue, the Structure is Seen by All. When Grace becomes the Window, you See the World through, The Pain of Life is Altered, the Lord Transforms your View. When Trusting in His Blessed Plan, your Faith grows ever Strong, Like the Glue holding you Together, Your Spirit sings His Song. When Light is all around you, the Darkness has to Flee, the Fakers and Pretenders, are Blinded and cannot See.

Seasons of Change make it hard to just Be; The Disconnect, delivers no Guarantee. The Cold isolation from a long Winter’s Chill, Is nothing short of the Bitterest Pill. But Growth is soon to Be made known, As healing comes and you become your Own. The Spring of Life is filled with Great Hope, As the cold slips away, making it easier to Cope. The Air is filled with the Newness of Re-Birth, As you step out in Faith and Lightness of Mirth. The Summer comes and you get Settled in

Grace Colored Glasses In quiet streams where whispers flow, With gentle grace and tender glow. My heart finds peace in stillness deep, Where faith and love in silence meet. With every ripple soft and slow, His healing touch begins to show. In patient trust, my soul is still, Resting safe within His will. Like gentle winds through bending reeds, His voice calms fear and meets my needs. In faith, I rise on whispered prayer, For in His care, there’s no despair. The waters flow,

Grace Colored Glasses