#instruth

[instruth]

Genesis: 1:26

To protect oneself

is to love oneself

To care for oneself is to

care better for the other

Caring carefully,

not caring carelessly

To love oneself

is to love God

To know oneself

is to know God

Thou art created

in the true image of God

(Gen: 1:26)

©Johnny J P Lee

10 February 2024

HAIBUN: Gogyoshiren Poem + Haiku

Photo Image: Unsplash Images

[unmondefou]

Thank you @alex-a-roman for the tag game. share 5 comfort movies:

- Le Roi des masques (Bian Lian)

- The Godfather

- Devdas

- The Light Between Oceans

- The Mask (1994 )

I'm tagging, @heartofmuse , @dg-fragments

@nikithathampy , @silent-winds-world , @instruth , @mikefrawley , @justafrogandherumbrella . No pressure of course 😊 .

[sarah-irura]

Pass the happy! 🌻🌈 When you receive this, list 5 things that make you happy and send this to 10 of the last people in your notifications!

Thank you @unmondefou for the tag.

Reading books, legal texts, articles, basically any written material that I find interesting.

Writing anything that comes to mind either from legal research or from self reflection and experience.

Texting and chatting virtually, human connection albeit online gives me a sense of belonging.

Being engaged in tasks that challenge my intellect or spurs on meaningful debate among like minded individuals.

Listening to music (or should I say Linkin Park and Imagine Dragons mostly).

I am tagging @praggya1993 @instruth @dg-fragments @internalearthquake @seventhskywords @dbaydenny @scatteredthoughts2 @scribblersobia @dolores-hazy @dancing-on-the-waves@kiramalibu @katrinnac @adamantseal @aubriestar

@teaspirationss @just-4-thought

If you so wish to join the happy.

[dancing-on-the-waves]

What I Do Not Understand

What I Do Not Understand 

There are things I do not understand about the feelings I have The things from where I stand often don’t make sense of what I have Am I angry or sad? How do I know what to feel? Should I be bitter or glad? Sometimes I just want to squeal

I look all around at the world Then I look inside I sit waiting for the afterworld Away from the chaos near and wide.

Sad eyes and tortured cries abound Can’t we just have peace? Loving sighs and joyful cries all around Will the noise ever cease?

Why should hate, and not love, abide? Why should greed and war thrive? Why are we so cruel inside? Can’t we see what it means to be alive?

Should I hate the haters, curse the worst? Should I love the annihilators?  I feel like I’m going to burst. Can I live for what’s greater and not be a traitor?

Do I look straight ahead Or to what’s above? Who is happier the living or the dead? Where do I find the love?

How can I reach out to help To those who are lost and hurting? Who do I call on for help When life is so disconcerting?

Can I be in comfort with others despondent? Should I live in comfort while so many live without? How can I enjoy ice cream, cake and fondant While outside people starve from disease or drought?

These things I do not understand What feelings should I have? Feeling helpless where I stand Often make me forget what I have.

K. C. Barry

[ginadope]

mars fly trap

Baltic amber doesn’t charm someone Whose feet have felt those cold waters I know smiles that trap Small gestures heavier than the world Thoughts so bewitching I hide them from myself Spare me all of that I’ll find my amber myself Or take the time to polish yours I miss my fingers uncut

[instruth]

I’ve reached 4000 reblogs on 31 March 2023

Thank you All.

Instruth, ©Johnny J P Lee

[instruth]

When Dreams Are Our Only Hope In God

I remember it till today

The petty times of sadness

Times I want to believe

That they just cannot get any worse

Times of broken spirits and mad tidings

When tears are parched and dry

When relief comes in silent sobs

Desolation through more desolations

When the lean harvest is bitter

When hunger precedes starvation

Each day passing slowly by

Surviving with mere wishful thinking

Over the rhythm of the seasons

Waning the seeds of spring

Curing the summer meat of carcasses

Waxing the red leaves of autumn

Enduring the cold stab of winter

And the delay of spring and summer

When prayer becomes our daily bread

And dreams our only hope in God

©Johnny JP Lee

01 November 2022

Gogyoshiren Poem

Photos: J. P. Lee

[instruth]

Who Will Give Me Wings?

Where are my wings?

If I had them, I would fly

Fly away, away to the stars

Off and gone, from this land

Where is my voice?

When I still have it, I sing

Voiceless, I long to speak

Only to the sky, I utter

I wish I have wings

So I can proclaim from high

I will speak in poetic songs

of nightingale and whippoorwill

A voice from up above

In thunder and in lightning

In rain and in snow

Oh! Who will give me wings?

©Johnny J P Lee

14 September 2022

Photos: J. P. Lee

[instruth]

[instruth]

TWINKLES OF NIGHT

Twinkles of night

Lesser than bright

Farther to call

Swifter to fall

Fewer than yonder

More than wonder

No tears to cry

Too near the sky

©Johnny J P Lee

09 September 2022

Photo: Unsplash Image

[instruth]

SIMPLE AND CLEAR

In my inner world of dreams

I may wander at will

Wondrous paths in streams

Dancing while I’m still

To the leaves glittering gold

Verses of poems hang on trees

Tenderly warm, icy cold

Silence whistling sweet melodies

All cheer to a merry sway

While the still wind casts a blow

As the air floats by in play

Blooming flowers wave and glow

I walk the sky, fly over the land

Hands for wings, feet steer

Butterflies and bees on my hand

Hoofed animals nudge near

Fishes jump, birds dive, waltz in jive

I trip, flip over a land of fear

Still trying to change the way I live

Just to make it, simple and clear

©Johnny J P Lee

31 October 2022

Gogyoshiren Poem

Photos: J. P. Lee

[instruth]

When I Was Young

When I was young I wanted to be older

When I grow up I want to be bolder

When I was young I was braver

I guess grown ups are over

the prime time of youth

And that is the truth

And Honesty is best

Not to be put to the test

If you love her, go tell her so

If you don’t she will never know

When you allow fear to disable you

Better you stay stuck when you’re due

©Johnny J P Lee

29 October 2022

Gogyoshiren Poem

Photos: J. P. Lee

[instruth]

Farewell To Summer Love

farewell to summer love

autumn leaves flipping

lustrously on the ground

carried across the icebergs

to chilly winter land

over yonder I ponder

on a resolution

for a merry spring

right through summer

for next autumn renewal

©Johnny J P Lee

25 October 2022

Gogyoshiren Poem

Photo Credit J. P. Lee

[instruth]

You Are Your Dream

A dream is everything you want to be;

everything you can be.

If you ever dream, it is already in you.

It is your dream,

You are your dream.

©Johnny J P Lee

11 November 2022

Gogyoshi Poem

(5 Verses)

Photo: J. P. Lee

[instruth]

THE UNIVERSAL STORY

All of us have a story to tell

It is the story of our life

Where do we come from?

What have we learned

from our daily experiences?

Where do we begin?

I don’t mean, our births,

when or where we were born.

Not even our ancestry -

how our forefathers left their homes,

and crossed the raging seas,

by their sacrifices, through

sweat, tears and blood,

so we can have a better life and future.

No, not at all.

I am talking about HONESTY in life,

about being humble and truthful,

about openness and generosity

first to ourselves, and then to others.

“Who am I?”

“What do I really want?”

“What it is I must do?”

There are no accidents,

there is no luck involved,

no mishaps, no loss, no gain,

and no lack of mercy

or unforgiveness.

There are only PATHWAYS

that we choose to follow

or not to follow.

“Why do I exist at all?”

“What is my purpose in life?”

In spite of all the things

that had happened

or had failed to happen

or is happening now,

“Am I being led, am I being used,

all this while?”

I believe the answer is YES.

It is the consequence and order of

the Universal Archetypes -

present in the collective unconscious,

a huge energy we have accumulated,

available, and waiting to be used.

I am an instrument

to bring love, joy and peace,

through repairs and rebuilding,

beginning first with myself.

The story of life is to fulfill

a MISSION,

with a sound mind,

with a sincere heart

and with a beautiful soul,

as we become conscious of them,

and when we are ready,

to share, in the true spirit of

our discovered love, joy and peace,

openly and generously

with EVERYONE.

© Johnny JP Lee

25 August 2022

Photo: J. P. Lee

[instruth]

THE MORNING AFTER

the morning after

a night in deep compassion

sweet surrendering

with love tendering passion

a whole night before the dawn

©Johnny J P Lee

13 September 2022

Tanka: 5-7-5-7-7

Photos Credit J. P. Lee