David W. Ballard: Professional Writer specializing in Web content writing, copywriting, feature writing, fiction writing, and poetry.

Who Is God?

David Ballard — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 03:52:02 +0000

Who Is God?

God is tears in the dishwater
When you’re doubled over with hurt.
God is trauma in a wheelchair
Crippled from a war
No one else will serve.
God is aching feet
When there’s no other way to work.
God is blisters and callouses
When those who can won’t dig.
God is for those who know they’re small,
And He is really big.
God is in the details, each and everyone.
God is love to spread till the sun flames out,
And we’re no longer having fun.
God is Spirit who draws us with the fragrance
Of His peace.
God is Son who shook the gates of hell
With a love that gave release.
God is God whose love and grace
Sent me to my knees.

King Me!

David Ballard — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 03:39:59 +0000

We play checkers, and He plays chess.
We hold our back line, keeping our emotions close to our chests.
We parry with our front pieces to avoid getting jumped.
He lets us pass unscathed, making us stumped.
“He let me by without taking my man!”
Move after move, he lets each of our checkers reach to the end.
We gain king after king until there’re no single men.
In a rush of pride, we boast, “Now I can win!”
But then the changeling Lord shows who’s the true Master.
We learn his game is really chess, here and hereafter.
So each king wilts and dies in the headline’s of yesterday’s paper,
Every year falling, faster and faster.
Learning too late their lives’ grave disaster.
Their epitaphs should have but one thing to say.
“We should’ve learned from the King how to really play.”

Something More To Say

David Ballard — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:39:19 +0000

We went out to the soccer fields that day,
And I’ve always wished I’d had something more to say,
More than just, “It’s going to be OK.”
But I was still hurting from broken places
Caused by the same familiar faces.
If it makes you feel any better,
We’ve been through the stormy weather
And are still here to recall the past
And know that the pain doesn’t last
And that God has used what we’ve been through
To point others to Him, and it’s not about me or you,
But His great plan and what He’s going to do.

Men of the Flag

David Ballard — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 18:31:04 +0000

They bear red stripes In the darkest nights, Wear the white bars To offer peace afar, Sail the blue seas To fight our enemies, Keep watch over us Like the stars that cover us, Give us life and liberty, Pour…

What Do Babies See?

David Ballard — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:34:20 +0000

Do infants see angels–
Is that why they smile
When they search the room
With their wandering eyes?
Surely they see something
We cannot fathom,
Like the face of God
And the Second Adam.

Hope Misspent

David Ballard — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 18:20:24 +0000

Pots of gold lead us on, Like a harlot’s song. We buy and are sold On the lie that we can hold A vaporous shape we only behold Like the passing night, The absence of Light; Hell’s first intent That…

Shine Like A Star

David Ballard — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:01:00 +0000

God allowed this wrong
Because he knew you could carry on;
That inside you are strong.

Sometimes, in life we feel pain,
And ask questions and complain.
Still nothing seems to explain
Why our lives turned out this way.

But when you are ready, you will find
That your pain and the hard times
Are a gift from God, just for you
To shape you.

And to show you who you are
And just how far
You can reach, which is farther than a star
Shining brightly, down on someone else
Who is just where you are.

What Is False Hope?

David Ballard — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:11:53 +0000

Some say hope has no opposite: that the chances of a desired outcome don’t matter because hope is just that, a desire, whether it’s false or not.

However, many other sources define it otherwise.

A few of them include:

The Urban Dictionary: false hope is looking forward to something that has a strong chance of not happening and you may or may not know it.
(Example: I’m constantly given false hope when people say me and my ex will get back together.)

Rational Wiki: false hope is hope built entirely around a fantasy, a hope that has no knowable chance of coming to fruition.

Thesaurus.com: air castle, airy hope, castle in the air, castle in the sky, chimera, day dream, fantastic notion, fantasy, fool’s paradise, golden dream, pie in the sky, unreal hope, wishful thinking;

Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary and Thesaurus: false hope is having confident feelings about something that might not be true:
(Example: I don’t want to raise any false hopes, but I believe your son is still alive.)

However these sources merely scratch the surface of the words’ true meaning. False hope is more than just a fantasy or hope built on a scant chance.

Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary and Thesaurus come closer to the truth, because in the end, the words’ meaning is based in truth, not just chance.

Why? Because hope’s truth lies in its duration.

Simply put, false hope is false when our desires are temporary and have a fixed, albeit short end.

Examples of temporary desires abound; prosperity, popularity, peace of mind, power, personal plans for the present, pleasure, and protection or security.

In and of themselves, these outcomes are healthy and good for us, but they fail when we place all our hope in them.

Why?

Read more about prosperity as a false hope later this week.

In Upper and Lower Case

David Ballard — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:56:31 +0000

As he sleeps, I see his dreams on his face.
Each pain forms a misshapen place
So I rub his back back that we might erase
Pains from the past in upper and lower case.

Our Hopes for Our Children

David Ballard — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:05:40 +0000

“I don’t care if he has to collect trash to make a living, as long as he’s happy and healthy.”

My wife gave this matter-of-fact response this Saturday after our son was born when I asked her what her hope was for him.

Many ambitious parents and grand parents will read this and consider it laughable.

“My son or daughter? Oh, no. I wouldn’t dream of it.”

But all the time we see parents, our own or others, pushing children to be something they aren’t or urging them to achieve beyond their capacity.

I often joke (but it’s true) that I was educated beyond my intelligence.

Getting the best education was the great hope in my household growing up. All parents make mistakes; mine made this one.

Other parents rest their hopes in similar things:

“Oh, my daughter has to take ballet. My mother was a member of the New York Ballet, and that’s just the way it’s going to be for her.”

Or, “my son’s going to play for the Bulls. He’s going to be the next Michael Jordan or else.”

Or, “my daughter’s not going to want for anything; she’s going to head up her own company. I will see to it if it’s the last thing I do.”

We hear these statements or tell them to ourselves all the time. There’s nothing wrong with parental ambition, but what happens when our child accomplishes a temporary ambition and it vanishes?

Are we saying that, when it does, our child no longer has intrinsic value or that their value in some way diminishes?

Again and again, we hear of professional athletes or executive who lose all perspective when they have to give up their position or place.

In light of this reality, can we argue that there is such a thing as false hope, too?