Darkness Silence

Darkness Silence

One always reveals something of the truth.

The other is a method of communicating and may reveal truth

Or falsehood.

Darkness is the condition of lack of light.

Silence is the condition of lack of speech.

When Light and words agree

One may be on the right track.

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a Great Light:

They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death,

Upon them hath the Light shined."

Light is a good thing,

Without it, we stumble,

Fall and cannot find our way.

If the closer one walks to the depths of an organization

The darker it seems to be

That organization should perhaps change the light fixtures

Or the paint on the walls.

Light is absorbed.

Speech reinterprets it.

Throughout history, leaders

Under the illusion of seeking efficiency

Turn to methods of darkness.

Decisions are made without consultation.

And without illumination.

The results, of decisions made, are covered

To protect the decision maker.

And the group begins to fail as it walks in darkness.

The only eyes utilized are those of the leader.

And light from other sources is absorbed or ignored.

Thus the eyes of the leader can only see where he chooses to look.

Efficiently making decisions in the darkness

Is a very risky behavior!

“I am the Light”

The words of Jesus.

“In the beginning was the Word

And the Word was God and the Word was with God…”

The Light and the Word do not conflict one another.

Light reveals what is really there.

The Word reveals what is really there.

The words of one with limited vision are limited as well

And sometimes colored with deceit.

Democracies seek to shed light on the subject.

Even they can be taken over by those who

Speak false words

And many ---

So that the words become noise

With no meaning

And are worse than silence

Because they cause chaos

And add to the confusion

Of those walking in darkness.

When speech is consistent with sight

And when many are shining light

On the subject

And the people high and low

Search for such conditions –

Those where the light and the speech are in agreement -

Then the people are walking in the Light!

Even government works.

Any governing mechanism can fall to the tools of darkness and self-interest.

Any can for a time use the light and rational thought to do good.

However, when light and speech are in conflict

The structure needs a method to shine light on the subject

And hear from the people

High and low

Until the light and the speech are no longer in conflict.

When vision is limited,

Light should be shined in dark places.

When Light and speech are in conflict,

It is the speech and the interpretation of vision

That must be examined.

“Without consultation, plans are frustrated, But with many counselors they succeed.” Proverbs 11:14

“Without consultation, plans are frustrated,

But with many counselors they succeed.

A man has joy in an apt answer,

And how delightful is a timely word!…” Proverbs 15:22

When the words of a plan and Light are not in conflict,

Plans succeed!

Billy Reese Masten

12-15-2014

A Good View

A Good View

I like a good view

over the horizon

under a rock

up in the sky

on parchment

on canvas

a leaf on a tree

a yellow rose or red

a wild flower

a water fall

a cloud

a mountain

a valley

a stream

a muddy creek

a good friend

a butterfly

a humming bird

a bumble bee

a poem

a song

Mahler

a saxophone quartet

an oboe or bassoon

a grand child

an old friend and a new -

another day from Him

some one I love

I like a good view

to be shared.

Billy Masten

11/05/09

The Merger Failed

The merger failed

One should read "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Tennyson and realize that this was a real event. Even today no one knows the blunder that brought the death of many to no known contribution to the purpose.

I add my thoughts as an addendum to "The Charge of the Light Brigade" spurred by Tennyson and a church experience in which a small church had been convinced to attempt a bold step to add resources to the task to enhance the purpose of reaching people with the good news of the grace of God. The little church stepped up to the charge, put its property on the line and charged forward.

The result was the loss of the building to the larger church that was to add resources - and the mission was threatened rather than expanded.

The merger failed!

What was the blunder?

What was its cause?

A dictate made too quickly?

By one who searched for victory and fame?

Without wise council sought?

Or had the powers ceased

To require the disciplines

 of council, intelligence, plan, and analysis

applied to well developed purpose?

Had the systems long in place,

Been set aside in haste,

Believing in the whim

Of the one commanding the charge?

And the one who spoke the words

“Charge for the guns!”

Did he stand back?

And watch?

And make heroes of those

Whose loss he caused?

A century and a half later

No one knows the blunder -

Or its cause!

 Nothing learned

From sacrifice of 600

and hundreds more.

I come to wonder,

Who, among we guilty,

Will be the one to investigate

The blunder and its cause?

Or shall the cause be left unknown

To dwell in some dark place,

To surface over and over

Blunder after blunder

Until the “Cause” is lost?

The merger failed

But
The Grace of God and Hope

Has not failed

Nor will it!

 

Billy Reese Masten

05/19/15

I Am a Poet?

I Am a Poet?

I did not know it.

A poet, makes rhyme

I do not.

A poet thinks of word, I thought,

And of meter.

I do not.

I think in terms of ideas.

Words express them

Cadence emphasizes them.

Perhaps they rhyme

Perhaps not.

But if words ring true,

In expression and reflection of ideas,

Perhaps they benefit the writer,

Perhaps even the reader.

I hope so.

I am a poet?

Still, I do not know.

But it does not look like prose.

Billy R. Masten

05/19/13

Faith, Does it Grow?

Faith, Does it Grow?

Some say faith is changeless.

Some say it is in constant flux.

I still am wondering –

What is faith?

What knowledge is necessary to produce faith?

What understanding brings it on?

What or who is the object of faith?

How do my failures impact it?

How do my successes impact it?

I wonder –

What are the important questions regarding faith?

And what are the answers?

Faith in false fails!

False faith fails!

Confidence in error

Yields no good thing.

Where does faith begin?

How does it grow?

Does faith begin in full knowledge?

When is faith complete?

Faith begins by the introduction of a hypothesis.

Testing of the hypothesis follows.

Faith grows by experience.

“I believe, help thou my unbelief.”

A glimpse of God

Guided by the Holy Spirit

Is the beginning of faith.

Comprehending His character,

A gift of the Holy Spirit,

Builds faith.

Exercising faith,

Confirms His character!
And faith grows.

Billy Reese Masten

08/18/13

Darkness and Light

Darkness and Light

I thought I was

In the light

But darkness had me in his grip.

I held to what I believed

Only to find that some how my belief had failed

To grow with His revelation.

And my mindless

Heartless belief

Had led me into

Darkness.

I had followed

Flawed belief

-

To a dark and lonely place.

-

Where is the light?

I cried.

And there was the still small voice

-

I am the Light

said He.

Billy Reese Masten

09/08/14

The Great Commission One should dwell on such a thing!

The Great Commission

One should dwell on such a thing!

Then Jesus came to them and said, 

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,

Baptizing them in the name of the Father

And of the Son

And of the Holy Spirit,

And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”.

These words of Jesus I have read over and over.

They have been the backbone of missionary motive.

Yet some how I missed the power of the message.

The message seemed to only be about an introduction to heaven.

I do not belittle such an introduction.

However, as I study slowly over these words,

I come to see them as powerful,

Not only in the eternal sense,

But in the present.

These words are not just about immersion in water!

They are about immersion in His Character!!!

Three word studies changed the commission for me.

The word baptize means immerse.

Disciple means disciplined student.

And the word name means character.

Substituting these words

With their meaning

Brought to life the passage for me!

Then Jesus came to them and said, 

“All authority in heaven

And on earth

Has been given to me.

Therefore, go and make disciplined students

Of all nations,

Immersing them in the character of the Father

And of the Son

And of the Holy Spirit,

And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”.

These thoughts then come to mind.

Who has authority?

Jesus!

It is good to be a student of Jesus!

He is the one with the words of life.

It would be good for the people of all nations to be

Disciplined students of Jesus!

What is His character,

And the character of the Father,

And the character of the Holy Spirit?

One in the same!

Omnipotent

Omniscient

Omnipresent

Righteous

Full of truth and light

Full of mercy

And grace

And He loves us.

Creator sustainer

Re-creator!

He is able!

And He loves us.

And what does He teach?

What is His command?

“…But I tell you Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

“A new command I give unto you that your love one another as I have loved you.”

“And this is my command that you love one another.”

One can learn about His character from His command!

How did he love us?

“God commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us.”

“Come unto me all who labor and are heavy laded and I will give you rest”

I want to be immersed in His character.

I want to be submerged, surrounded, soaked, and overwhelmed by His creative building uplifting loving merciful graceful character!

And I want you to know Him!

There is great hope in Him!!!

Billy R. Masten

12/20/1913