“The Rhythm” [Reflections on Ralph D. Sawyer's Translation of One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies - Battle Tactics of Chinese Warfare @ #44-45 – general]

When we fall into chosen tasks,
We often get more than was asked;
For Spirit then has space to meet
Us when we’re ready more to eat.

Like in this ancient Chinese tome,
And Sun Tsu’s book, where I’m at home
With basic concepts he raised there –
Now others quote, and I compare –

Reactions I myself have had;
But even more, more like a lad,
In this conceptual meadow-wood,
I’ve studied hard and under-stood –

Much more than I had hoped or asked –
Which helped me greatly in my task;
The Spirit now has room to play
With words and concepts, new each day.

But even here, I notice now
Alignment of their words, and how
Two psychic rhythms come to play,
As we walk down our common ways.

Like “Orthodox” – “Unorthodox”,
Where Spirit ’bout our issue talks –
For “Education”, “Learning ways”,
Are common issues in our days.

Then, “Vacuous” – “Substantial” came
In view, I found it much the same;
Now, “Recklessness” and “Weightiness”,
Some current issues can address.

And like “Experience” we have,
The Spirit Uses, pours on salve
Where wounded hearts are hard at work –
He shows where we, in turn, are jerks.

So, thank You, Lord, for timely tomes
To read together or alone,
And for the ways You choose to speak
Into our hearts the food we seek.

“Stu, that’s okay, in fact, it’s great –
As other hearts around you break,
You give a way for Me to act
Through books they read, like you, for fact.

“They imitate you, as you act,
And reading is a given fact
Of life – encouraged in your day,
For folks, who then can hear Me say –

“ ‘Hey there, my friend, that’s like you too!
So learn through this, don’t be a fool;
I love you, and you’ll be okay,
So hang in there another day’.”

Thanks, Lord, for this amazing tome
You’ve brought these years into my home,
And opened up each Scripture-page
Through words from Chinese scholars – sage.

As these short pages bring to light
Some ancient observations bright,
There’s much to ponder – where sea-brine
Meets river’s entry – mix of minds.

For it’s at boundaries that I learn,
And to this date it’s helped me earn
My keep, as we press on each day
“To cozy-world”, my wife would say.

For that’s the base back at the first
Which let attraction quench the thirst
Each had for other – “Borderlands” –
Which both of us now I understand –

As critical in present age,
When clashing cultures in the rage –
Linguistic bridges; antidotes;
Your presence with some timely joke.

Lord all this quite amazing is
As things now shift for me to biz
At hand; help us be patient here,
As You have been with us – that’s clear.

Lord, as I press on with this tome
Some scholar made – help me to roam
Through pages of each opening thought
He’s shared, of insights he has brought –

To our attention in our day –
How weird it is to see his way
Of thinking ’bout this literature
As he sought there to find some cure –

For social needs felt in his day –
New ways of thinking ’bout a way
He might approach his troubled world
Did he, as well, meet You through word?

For we are all mixed up in this –
For me, as I give “Heaven’s kiss”
I stand in need of what to say,
Then, I share thoughts from You this way.

Thanks Lord for this.

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