Something to think about - sample

Tim Carter

Something to think about Illustrations Tony O’Callaghan

Published by Looking Beyond 2006 Copyright Š Tim Carter 2006 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, nor may it be performed in public without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Violation of this copyright may result in both a civil claim for damages and criminal prosecution.

Printed by Noel Hetherington, W-S-M

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Something To Think About

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Tim Carter Illustrations Tony O’Callaghan

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Bristol 2006 3

Acknowledgements ‘It is difficult to properly credit all those friends, relatives and strangers who have knowingly or unknowingly inspired, stimulated or encouraged us to complete this collection. It feels as if lots of these ideas are somewhere in the ether and we need each other to access them sometimes. So thank you to all, particularly those who have looked at earlier ideas and shared their comments.

This book is dedicated to the memory of Steve

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Contents: You carry me Beauty Blow wind blow I want to be noticed Just no time for God Learning to fly Letting go Well I wonder The anniversary Up, up and away in my beautiful balloon Move on up A moment Busy Blossom The candle A weary world And then the door to his awareness opened Light my way The little things Listen A prayer for whoever Reality Shopping and walking and talking Stewing quietly in a little world Who is he?

Sometimes when I look at you, I swear I can see your soul At the end of the working day Prayer for a child Around midnight And off he went

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You carry me You carry me and I don’t realize it You sit with me and I miss it You travel with me and I ignore it You talk to me and I don’t hear it You show me and I fail to see it You lead me and I turn away You call me and I talk over you You listen and so I do all the talking You love and I take it for granted And so you love me again, again, again And you never stop

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Beauty Beauty in the skies Beauty in the sea Beauty in the space Beauty in me Thank you God for this day out Thank you for the car, the map, the destination Thank you for the company, the food, the music Thank you for the activity, the sunshine, the warmth So many things that go into making this life so special So many things that I often pass by So many things that make the difference So many things that today I want to treasure Can I hold these things today and treasure them in my head?

Can I contain the goodness and the joy?

Can I maintain this peacefulness and assurity?

Can I take from this and move on more prayerfully?

You take from me the strain and stress through today You move and breathe through the elements of this day You take me by the hand once again And you say keep going, take the faith, use today and Continue to be my peace in this world.

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Blow wind blow As I walk along the windy country path near the top of the hill I think of you.

As the wind blows through my hair and across my ears I feel your cleansing power carrying away my shortcomings and my fears.

As the wind blows the trees ahead of me I think of your energy all around, turning things upside down and shaking my comfortableness.

As the wind blows me forward I want to thank you for providing a safety upon which I can fall back without crashing to the floor.

As the wind blows across the landscape I wonder about your spirit that can be here, there and everywhere simultaneously: being with each and everyone of us.

As I stop to consider all this I try to hold onto the wind, I try to see it, I try to stop it: I cannot.

Oh God help me to understand your spirit for what it is – to move and work with your wind in all aspects of my life, now and forever.

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I want to be noticed Sitting under the spotlight feels uncomfortable Lord – too Exposed and vulnerable and yet just being one of the crowd feels lonely and empty.

I need to have a bit of both, but not too much!

What is it about me that I need to communicate?

What aspects do I want people to see about me?

And where do you come into it?

Sometimes I think I get it right – it feels like you are there with me, in me, communicating through me.

Other times it feels like I have lost it, done it on my own, lost my way, missed the point.

Fill me Hold me Guide me In all that I say or do Whether I’m in the spotlight or in the crowd.

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Just no time for God Sitting and thinking, wondering and asking: Are you listening to me?

Because I haven’t spoken to you for so long I wonder if you will listen to me now?

It’s just that sometimes I can’t fit you in Things run away with me I can’t make time to stop and pray God God?

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Learning to Fly Give me wings to fly so that I can rise above these trivial worries.

Help me to get a real perspective on what is going on around and not simply drawn in to the unimportant things that I get so precious about.

Let me see things as others do – help me to understand their world first instead of trying to make it like mine.

As I circle overhead let me breathe and pause before I say anything else. Let me absorb your peace that passes all understanding and slowly feel the difference of the pause, the break in the ping- pong conversation, the opportunity to pull back from the heat and let your love break in.

And then I come back down.

It’s only been seconds up there, no one saw but you have enabled me to move beyond where I was and now I can help everyone else move on as I behave differently.

O God, can I keep those wings now?

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Letting go

Sitting – thinking – waiting Wondering – reflecting – hoping Breathing – feeling – calming

Letting go

Gently falling

Safely landing

Into your arms my God

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Something To Think About is designed to fill a perceived gap for both committed church-goers and those who no longer attend regularly but still have a deep sense of their own spirituality.

This book is designed to enable such people to connect or re-connect with ideas, feelings and longings they have but have probably not found the language to describe or express.

By locating ideas and experiences in the every day but not always within a specific religious context the reader is brought into new realisations that their own spirituality can be deepened as much in the normality of life as the exceptional and unique.

The combination of words and pictures provides a rich stimulus for the reader to identify with the thoughts on a number of levels and sometimes all at the same time.

Further copies of Something To Think About from Tim Carter email inbetweenthewords@btinternet.com More examples of Tony O’Callaghan’s art at www.tonyocallaghan.wordpress.com

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