Faith and Fortitude By Pamela Jane Sorensen

Faith and Fortitude

By Pamela Jane Sorensen

Exhale, laugh, wipe a few tears with me and
                      above all keep growing in faith (and fortitude)!

                                     ***~~~***

                    Published by Pamela Jane Sorensen at Smashwords.

                          Copyright 2014 Pamela Jane Sorensen

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Table of Contents

Forward
Shingles and Thin Skin
News Bulletin: You Are Dying
A View From My Room
From Pamela
About the Author

Forward

Life can be humbling.

I mean, I thought I was a down-to-earth person, that my faith in God was strong enough to
lead me with a smile, over, around, and through the potholes on life’s pathway.

I would venture to say, philosophically speaking, I believed I held convictions in common
with Job—the potential to suffer pain with grace, acceptance and forbearance. (I wonder,
could those sores all over Job’s body, have been Shingles?)

Well, it is now into week four of Shingles.

It is not a life threatening disease or condition; it should not be that big a deal, I thought.

According to my doctor, the neuropathy and its inherent unpredictable sensations of pain
(dysfunction of peripheral nerves, manifesting in numbness or weakness) lasts months, years
or a lifetime.

I turned the corner last night, sleeping four hours straight minus pain interruption.

I am an optimist. The good news was that it has been taking my mind off the arthritis. Yes,
very good news indeed.

Bottom line? I trust that this experience will make me a better person, more sensitive to
those dear souls who suffer chronic pain from any illness. As well, it reinforces within my
psyche the knowledge that hey—we are all dying.

Perhaps if we live each day with that awareness, our lives and the lives of those we touch
will become more meaningful.

On the “down side”, I have lost all respect for myself. It was just a mild case of shingles.
Shame on me for penning a poem, albeit a comical one, on dying...I guess I wrote it because
my meanderings during my darker moments fell to just how people could live meaningful
lives with chronic pain: “How can they possibly endure it?!!!!****”

Oh yeah, I learned something else during this condition: Never pick up a paintbrush to
distract oneself from the pain.

Why not? Because your creation may reflect your condition!

I submit to you my case in point: The horse I painted one afternoon. I always paint quickly,
covering the canvass, painting wet-on-wet and finishing always in one sitting.

This time, when I stepped back to look at my work I was horrified.

My horse looked the way I felt.

I named him SHINGLES!

Thank you for reading this.

May God keep you safe in His love.

May you always find light in the darkness, and rout around for humour and joy midst your
day.

                                           Love,

                                  Pamela Jane Sorensen

The following Bible verses helped me: (See Footnote)

Job 7:
Verse 5: “My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become
loathsome.”
Verses 16 &17: “And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken
hold upon me. My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no
rest.”

Philippians 4:
Verses 12 & 13: “I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where
and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to
suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

St. Mark 4:
Verse 36: “And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup
from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.”

Romans 5:
Verses 3-5: “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulations
worketh patience. And patience, experience; and experience, hope. And hope maketh not
ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is
given unto us.

Footnote: Biblical references are taken from The Holy Bible Family Reading Version Authorized King James Version,
published by Consolidated Book Publishers, Chicago, Il, 1995.

Shingles and Thin Skin

Basking in blessings
Of unopened gifts
Comfort past
Mauling topics
Steeped with coffee

In paper cups
Winding ‘round town
Recall no Pain
All gain
Suddenly

Lower left support
Of partially shingled
Snow topped structure
Introduces unnerving
Drilling pain

Shame on me for crying
Shingles come,
Shingles go
It is just a touch
A moment of suffering

Consider others skin
Wounds unable to heal
So many hurting
Pain that refuses to go
Lord as You know

Wondrous faith grows
Our Father bestows
Gentle nights, dawning glows
Let us honour God in prayer
Trekking our road in pain
The least among us, He will sustain.

                                       ***~~~***
Back to the Top

News Bulletin: You Are Dying

Did you hear the news?

What?

Someone you know is dying.

Who?

It’s you.

Me???!!!*** I feel great
You are mistaken

No. We are all dying.

What???!!!***

Don’t be depressed
Energy like love
Cannot be destroyed

It simply changes form

Only our tattered
Wrinkled old bodies die
God resurrects souls

The essence of you and me
To go home and live forever
Rejoining souls past
Reunited with God

Showering down from above
Offerings to earth in love

                               ***~~~***
Back to the Top

A View From My Room

I too, Virginia Wolfe, have a room of my own
A place to paint imperfect pictures,
To write messages on scraps of paper
For a bottle that will be tossed upon the open seas,

Proof I have been here if someone finds it
Before the glass shatters on jagged granite,
My blood poured upon the paper drawn
Down into dark depths confounding glazed fish eyes.

It is a sign of prosperity to have a room of our own

If we are born into such prosperity
The umbilical heals
In a crib within our very own room
As we peer through rails

That keep us from falling...

Dying a prosperous death
Our bodies break down
In beds in our very own private rooms
Where we peer through rails

That keep us from falling.

Time and space between railings is uncertain
It is where some seek prosperity, to gather stuff
Recline behind shades to watch toys break down
Others decline comfort, seeking only to grow in the light

Sharing, giving, shrugging off egos, pride and proof
Of existence only wanting to love better
Believing love transcends time, cannot be broken
Convicted life is more than safety and that if we do fall

It will be into God’s arms; for Love resurrects.

                                        ***~~~***
Back to the Top

From Pamela:

I penned this not necessarily because misery loves company.

I love winter!

Butttt…this winter has become…how can I put it?

A bit of a pain.

As I was preparing these words, my husband spent some hours in emergency confirming a
pulled muscle not, gratefully, a heart problem.

The next morning we looked at each other and concluded that we are blessed to still be upon
this beautiful earth—many do not reach our age of “seniorhood.”

I seek to wrap my poetic verse around the reader, if you too have fallen into a few
unexpected snow banks this winter

It is a new day, let us give thanks.

                                            Love,

                                   Pamela Jane Sorensen

                                       ***~~~***

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About the Author:

        More about Pamela at: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/parablehouse

Discover other titles by Pamela Jane Sorensen at Smashwords.com:

Three full-length novels:

                                  Blue Heron Madness:
                     https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/244248

                                     Finally Truth:
                     https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/242134

       Woman of Heart Man of Clay: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/245084

A continuing series of verse: Journey of Living with Faith through Verse,

                                When You Wonder, Book 1:
                      https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/313339

                               Celebrating the Weeds, Book 2:
                      https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/347061

                              In Faith, Still Growing, Book 3:
                     https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/370723

                               Pause For Thought, Book 4:
                     https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/374910

                                Suddenly Winter, Book 5:
                     https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/389850

                                 Reaching In Faith, Book 6
                      https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/389850

                                 Faith and Fortitude, Book 7
                            https://www.smashwords.com/books/
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