Contributions
From Steadfast Class Members
Maxine Rudder

Maxine has been writing poetry for many years, and some of us are helping collect her writings to endourage her to publish sometime in the future. For now, I will feature some of her poetry on the homermassey.com web site.
Celebration

I celebrate his life and those he touched,
His loving and giving way, he was loved so much.
I celebrate his smile, the years we shared,
His sweet disposition and how he cared.

I celebrate his patience; he was an angel on earth.
He gave from his heart, his laughter full of mirth.
I celebrate the son he was to me, a son so very dear,
His mother I was blessed to be.

I celebrate the early mornings we were given to share,
But now when I turn he won’t be there.
I grieve in my heart for a loss so dear,
But I when look within, my son is near.

I must give him up; he’s not completely mine,
To a brilliant light his sweet face did shine.
He’s happy now, where he wants to be,
With his God in heaven, but still here with me.

In remembrance of her son Michael
This Chapter

This Chapter of my life is passed,
I turn another page,
I cannot change one written word
Now passed on into age;
Nor can I shift a single scene
Engraved upon its stage.

I can but profit from the words
Which ceasingly did flow,
Remembering the paragraphs
That caused my soul to grow,
And use them as a stepping stone
As onward now I go.

The Chapter I begin is new,
Its text left up to me;
Please help me, Lord, to write it so
When reading I'll see
That I am learning more each day
To put my trust in Thee.

Luke

Luke must have had a lovely time
As he traveled far with Paul,
Met the friends that Jesus knew
Heard the tales they would recall.

"Did you know Jesus?" he would ask;
"Did He make the lame to walk?"
"Did He make the blind to see?"
And Luke listened to their talk.

Then he would hurry home to write
On papyrus scroll with his reed pen
All the things he had been told
Of this Jesus, Friend of Men.

He put together what he'd heard,
Copied in odd scraps of scroll,
And made the book we know as Luke,
The Sweetest Story Ever Told.

Through the years the little children
Ask to hear of Jesus' birth
As 'twas told in Luke's accounting
Of God's Son's first day on earth

www.homermassey.com
2009
I Am Not Dead

Mourn not, my loved ones, I am not dead,
But only gone on one step ahead!
I'm having a big time finding out
What all the mystery of death is about.

I've talked with angels, I know I'm right
On how they keep their wings so white.
I'm chasing Michael down a pearly street,
Not using my cane, but with flying feet!

I've laughed with Jesus, this I know,
On earth we both loved laughter so.
I've hugged God tight with a joyous air,
Weren't we the best of friends down there?

I'm flying around in everyone's way
Gay as a lark that I'm here to stay.
All the pain and grief is over,
I am safely home in Heaven at last.

Mourn not, my loved ones, I'm having peace,
For me, Heaven has just begun.
Michael and I polished a halo, trimmed a wing,
And waiting with joy to see you come.

I Love Christmas

I love the Christmas season with its holly and its snow
The bright lights on the pine trees, the candles all aglow.

I love the Christmas carols with each joyous, happy song,
As they repeat the sound of angels, throughout the ages long.

I love the children's faces, the eager girls and boys
Their shining eyes and wonders, as they receive their Christmas toys.

I love the family dinners, with gifts beneath the tree,
The love of warmth and friendship means everything to me.

But most of all I love the Babe once cradled in the hay,
Who bled and died and rose again, and lives this Christmas Day!