Over the course of my life, I have learned that instead of wealth making a person happy it is happiness that makes a person wealthy. I once heard that a person's wealth consists of that which he or she is able to appreciate. My ability to live in the moment and appreciate the gifts that I receive each day is what makes me feel both happy and wealthy. Counting my money... no matter how little or how much... does not give me nearly the joy and satisfaction as counting my blessings. Taking time to give thanks to God as I count my blessings before a meal and before I close my eyes at night has become a great way of accumulating wealth. And,I of all people, feel myself to be the richest woman in the world. "The Best things in Life are Free" is a manuscript for a picture book that I hope to publish someday.(It is the polished version of the former entry, "If I Were Poor."

The Best Things in Life are Free


If I were poor, as poor could be,
I still would own the roaring sea,
And all the shells that wash to me,
I’d serve as china for my tea.
And I would own the starry sky
That glistens in the night so high,
And all the falling stars I’d see
Would be as wishes meant for me.
I’d watch the moonlight gloss the lake
On every tumbling rolling wake.
I’d sniff the daisies wild and free
That dance in wind and call to me.
I’d taste the rain that falls in drops
And squish the soil of summer crops.
I’d snuggle with the winter sun
And throw a snowball just for fun.
I’d find relief in summer breeze
And study life through busy bees.
Then find a tree to call my own
And that would be my summer home.
If I had nothing more at all
But heard the hooting owl’s call
Amidst the sound of night time crickets
Chiming from the nearby thickets,
Then I should feel myself to be
As one who owns the very key
To treasures that this life holds dear
For all I’d ever want is here.

If I Were Poor

If I were poor
As poor could be
I still would own the roaring sea.
And all the shells that came to me
I’d serve as china for my tea.

If I had nothing to my name
And claimed not one small bit of fame
I still would own the starry sky
And all the jewels that hang so high.

If all I had was just a bit
But had the freedom just to sit,
I’d sniff the daisies, wild and free
That dance in wind and call to me

I’d taste the rain that falls in drops
And sniff the soil of summer crops.
I’d snuggle with the winter sun
And throw a snowball just for fun

If I were poor
As poor could be
Life would still be kind to me
For all my treasures would be free.

Ginkgo Tree

It is my prayer that my life will be as a ginkgo tree, flaming with color, dancing in the wind, offering my greatest gift to the world even as the cool winds of fall are beginning to blow through final chapters of my life story.

And you will be searching for me and I will be there, when you have gone after me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

Holiness

Holiness is often found where we least expect it...in the whisper of truth as one searches the depth of the stars, in the presence of sound as one drinks in the lyrics of silence, in the innocence that clothes the heart of a child as he or she seeks to understand death, in the gift of repentance and forgiveness from one whose heart has been broken....

And it is in in our search for the holy that we catch a glimpse of Him...the creator of the universe...the lover of our souls. Elusive moments of captured splendor... captured but only fleetingly so....captured by us yet given freely by him. Serendipitous. Unrepeatable.

May the prose and poetry that I post hang a window in the heavens that we might gather holy moments for our mundane journeys.

And you will be searching for me and I will be there, when you have gone after me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

Winter Requiem

Silence hovers over still waters

Mirrored on this glossy canvas are barren branches

Winter has harvested the final vestiges of fall.

And, seated in silence, I join this holy requiem of nature.

A windless hush ushers in reverence for simplicity, strength and perseverance.

Noble fruit of harsh temperatures.

Towering skeletons that were once lush, verdant and vibrant with life

Stand naked in humiliation

These holy warriors are my mentors

Reminding me that when life is cold and winds are relentless,

I must stand tall though naked and humiliated

Silent but unyielding to adversity

For spring will come again.

Dana M. Seale

January 2004

November on Saddlerun Court

Terracotta, pumpkin, brown, sweeps the wind and noble ground,

Brilliance rides this heightened glory

Leaves like pages

Tell a story

Of verdant lives once fresh and strong,

Now weathered remnants

of a winter song.

Precursors to a certain death,

Yet still they dance in nature’s breath

Undaunted by their winter foes

They waltz on wind in wordless prose.

Dana M. Seale

November 19, 2008

Welcome

This is a blog I created for my mother, so that she might be able to share with the world the wisdom which she has so graciously given to me.

- Jonathan Seale