New Songs

 "Lyric!"

"Harmony!"

"It's time to go meet your Mom and Dad."

The girls looked at each other with a quizzical expression on their faces.

"What's a Mom and Dad?" Lyric asked with an interested look on her face.

"A Mom and Dad are people who look after you. They give you the necessary things, like water, food, and clothes. But most of all, they give you all the love they can."

"Love? You mean like how You love us? Because you love us the BEST!" Lyric said. Both girls looked at each other and giggled. 

Harmony was quiet first and pensively kicked at the sand beneath her bare feet. Glancing up at Him with a question lingering in her gaze, she quietly stated, "I thought you loved us."

The Wise One smiled broadly and said, "I love you more than you can imagine. But two are waiting for you who love Me and have waited expectantly for you to arrive. Don't worry!  One day, we will all be reunited. In fact, there will be a day when all five of us will be together again."

"Again? Wait a minute!" the girls exclaimed excitedly. "You know them too?"

"I know all of the small ones who have yet to arrive in the other place as well as the big ones who are waiting.  I made all of them."

The girls looked at each other, thinking about what the I AM had just told them. They were intrigued by the idea of Him knowing the Ones known as Mom and Dad, but they still weren't sure about leaving The Kingdom.  It was beautiful there.  The colors were vibrant, the weather was perfect, and they could swim in the dazzling sea whenever they wished.  New Ones arrived all the time and happily and reverently joined the myriad of worshippers already worshipping the I AM.  Most of all, the I AM spent time with them even though they were the smallest of them all.

"They know Me, Lyric and Harmony, and they love Me. They will teach you all about Me so that you will learn to love Me too."

"But...we already love You, and we don't want to leave You.", they said rather petulantly. "We like it here."

"I know you do, and I understand.  But, you must go for a short time.  You won't be there long.  Time isn't the same in the Other Place as it is here.  I've created you for a time and a purpose, and that time is now.  I'll be with you always.  That is My promise to the Ones who are waiting in expectation of reuniting with Me, and it will be My promise to you as well."

"What about the music? We love the music here.  You named us musical names."

The I AM said, "To be sure, the music here is perfect.  The place you are going to has music as well and there are songs of praise to Me in the Other Place just as there are here.  Of course, it will be new to you, but you will learn to love it."

"We sing a new song here, though. Will it be the same there? Lyric said.

"Truly, I have given a new song to those who no longer wait for Me but have joined Me in eternity.  But, you are named Lyric because you will create new songs in the place to which you are traveling.  Harmony, you will pen the chords and notes and make beautiful music with your Mom and Dad. It will be a new song in your new place but not the same as the new song here.  The dialect will be different than it is here because I have not yet made that place perfect.  You two will be the writers of songs in the Other Place.  It is the path I have created for you there."

Psalm 139:13-18 (13) For You created me in my innermost parts; You knit me together in my mother's womb. (14) I will give thanks for to You, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made: wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. (15) My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, and skillfully formed in the depths of the earth; (16) Your eyes have seen my formless substance; and in Your book were written all the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. (17) How precious are Your thoughts to me, God! How vast is the sum of them!"

Come Dream with Me

Come dream with me
like we did before
lay your head on my chest
let our ideas soar
serious and noble
funny and lame
dream with me, babe
join me in this game.
Come share with me
your thoughts 
and your plans
your goals and desires
your innermost man
and I'll share with you
my triumphs and failures
my innermost heart
my deepest desires.
Come dream with me
like we did before
let's take each others hand
and go through that door
of sharing and safety
of triumph and goals
of love and acceptance
of contentment and joy
come dream with me
like we did before.
- T. Deffely
29 August 2012
(for Michael T.)

Thoughts on Grief

Over time, the exquisitely sharp, knife's edge of the unrelenting pain of grief gives way to a duller, less frequent pang which becomes much more difficult to predict.  Who can know when it will glance off the right circumstance, the right emotion, and create a firestorm within the heart yet again?  In the beginning, grief emerges constantly, triggered by a plethora of memories; a scent reminiscent of someone's aftershave, the fragrance of oriental lilies, the splendor of the sky painted perfectly in its sunset, a car show, a fluffy puppy, or prime rib cooked to perfection.  Tears flow unbidden, constant, and at the most inopportune time and there is no safe haven, no refuge, no escape from the storm surge that bombards memory's shore.  Begging for mercy, there is no escape and breathing comes at a painful price.  The only way to survive is to trim the sails and head straight for the wind, to the calmer seas that must surely exist just beyond this island of bereavement to a place no longer obscured by salty tears.  One day, it becomes easier to breathe, the ocean of grief less piercing in its severity.  Memories serve to buoy the spirit, instead of inviting the familiar misery of longing for that which will never be again.  The morning sun casts sparkling hues upon memory's shoreline that has surely changed during the storm, but is still recognizable in the tumultuous surf of the grief-stricken heart.  Perhaps grief then, is not the end, but the beginning of something different, yet still discernible: a melancholy shadow perhaps of what used to be, or the possibility of understanding life from a different perspective.  This new, brilliantly changed, old coastline, offers the same familiar memories, and upon its sands are the castles of a thousand splendid recollections, buttressed by enduring love.  Grief well lived may then bear testimony to a life worthy of remembrance.

Thank You, Jesus

Thank You, Jesus for giving me
a merry heart and a melody
a little work, a little fun
and warmth and love when the day is done.

Thank You, Jesus for all You do
to make my hopes and my dreams come true
in my heart You put a song
to cheer my life as I go along.

Thank You, Jesus for blessing  me
with all Your bounty so rich and free
a little rain, a little sun
to make our world such a lovely one.

Thank You, Jesus for Calvary
You climbed the hill in such agony
to pay the price for all our sin
now, You wait to welcome me in.

Thank You, for Your redeeming love
and promise of a home above
I love you now, I'll love you when
You take me home at my journey's end.

- Mary Louise Bloomer

Goin' Home (Grandpa's Song)

Goin' home.
I'm goin' home.
Goin' home today.
Jesus gently called while I was sleeping
and I could no longer stay.

I saw His face shinin'
and His hand, it beckoned me
so I held on tight
and I left this place
my Heavenly mansion soon to see.

I'll be with you in your memories
when the tulips bloom in the Spring
each time you taste raspberries
and when you hear the cardinal sing.

Just remember what I taught you
believe in Christ, our Lord 
and when it's time for you to come
I'll wait for you on distant shores.

Trust in God with all of your heart,
live for Him each day
and one day soon He'll come for you,
and then your heart can say,

"Goin' home. 
I'm goin' home.
I'm goin' home, today.
Jesus gently called, while I was sleeping
and now I live with Him each day!"

- T. Bent
05 June 1998

A Prayer Acrostic

                              Pray without ceasing, press on towards the goal
                    in Reverence to God, He cares for your soul
 Believe he will Answer the desires of your heart
                        Yearn to be closer, never to part
                        Expect Him to answer your prayers in His time
                  and Rest in Him always, He grants peace sublime.


- T. Deffely 
01 February 2010

The Epitaph

I was a Junior in High School in 1983 when our English teacher gave us an assignment to write our own epitaph.  As usual, it wasn't until the last possible minute that I got the inspiration to write mine.  I was pretty sure I did not truly satisfy the requirements of the assignment, but it was done and after I turned it in, I waited, dreading how bad my grade was going to be.  As it turns out, I received an A+ on it, which was mildly amusing to me given the fact that it wrote itself in about 15 minutes or so as I recall.  Since a good share of it is about music, I gave it to Mom to read who laughed so hard I thought she was going to fall over.  Now, I'm convinced it is not that funny and it is generally not my nature to talk about myself like this.  But since it was me who was supposed to be dead and therefore in need of an epitaph, it kind of needed to be about me.  Anyway, it is amusing enough that I would get a pretty good laugh if I were wandering around a cemetery and saw something like this on a grave marker.  On the other hand, I can't imagine the bill for putting something like this on a stone.  The reference to four-part harmony alludes to the fact that Mom, Val, Mel, and I all played together quite a bit which required Mom to arrange music for three trombones and one trumpet.  Not to mention the fact that Mom was definitely the most talented player out of all of us.  In addition, it is a great stretch of the definition of "play" when I wrote that I could play the piano.  The rest of it is true though.  After all, one shouldn't be lying on their epitaph.  If you do, the relatives, you know which ones, are going to rat you out and whether or not you are dead is going to be inconsequential to them.  But, I've digressed. The truth is, I probably joke around too much and I often laugh at things that weren't meant to be funny.  Oops.  That hasn't changed much in the 36 years since I wrote this.  My kids can testify to the fact that they have heard me say, "I can't stop laughing" almost as often as I have told them that I love them.  When I was younger I used to ponder the phrase "die laughing".  I used to wonder if it was possible to actually die laughing and somewhere along the line, I decided it wouldn't be a bad way to go. Without further delay, I offer "The Epitaph".

The Epitaph
(for Junior English)

Here lies the body of TMB,
I was the best of a four-part harmony.
Wherever I went people would say,
"Have you ever heard her play?"
I'd play my trumpet day and night,
playing practically every note right.
And though it was awesome
of course it was true,
that I could play the piano too.
Even while some said
it was only a rumor
most people knew it was true,
that I had a great sense of humor,
always good for a joke or two.
One day, I told a hilarious joke,
I laughed so hard I began to choke.
I never told another after that,
and that's why I needed this epitaph.
-T. Bloomer
19 December 1983