Quote from Forum Archives on January 5, 2006, 3:15 pm

Posted by: bigguyhereagain <bigguyhereagain@...>

"The Whistle Blew"

 

 

I was playing when Mama grabbed my hand,
Pulling me abruptly from the ground,
The whistle at the local mine had blown,
People were running up the hill from miles around.

 

Men with carbide lights on their foreheads,
Were rushing back and forth yelling,
Women flocked around the big white board,
The numbered tags there would do the telling.

 

"273!" My mama yelled at the board, "273!"
"273's not here," came the reply,
As Mama grabbed my hand again,
I saw the tears that had filled her eyes.

 

She bowed her head just like the others,
Eyes shut tight and hands clasped in prayer,
"Dear God, please don't let this happen,
Let these men all come out of there."

 

"I'll go to church and I'll do better,
I'll teach my children how to pray.
If you'll spare their lives you can have mine,
I'll do your bidding every hour of every day!"

 

"They got 'em," someone yelled,
As silence fell over the anxious crowd,
Applause when up as the first man came out,
Then I heard my mama scream out loud.

 

My father was the third man out,
With a sad and tired look upon his face,
His friend, the man he worked beside of,
Was still trapped down there someplace.

 

It was a slate fall and only one man had died,
But every life there had been touched that day,
We felt guilty that we had been blessed,
While another family was torn apart that way.

 

The miners went to work again the next day,
Spitting tobacco juice, lunch buckets in hand,
Riding buggies into black tunnels of death,
Heading towards the promised land.

 

Dianna Doles Petry

 

 

Horse-Sense

 

 

Just up the road from my home is a field, with two horses in it. From a
distance, each looks like every other horse. But if one stops the car, or
is walking by, one will notice something quite amazing.

 

Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His
owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for
him. This alone is amazing.

 

Listening, one will hear the sound of a bell. Looking around for the
source of the sound, one will see that it comes from the smaller horse in
the field. Attached to her bridle is a small bell. It lets her blind
friend know where she is, so he can follow her.

 

As one stands and watches these two friends, one sees how she is always
checking on him, and that he will listen for her bell and then slowly
walk to where she is, trusting that she will not lead him astray.

 

Like the owners of these two horses, God does not throw us away just
because we are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges.

 

He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when
we are in need.

 

sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by God and those whom he
places in our lives. Other times we are the guide horse, helping others
see God.

 

Good friends are like stars.........You don't always see them, but you
know they are always there."
 

 

Have a Blesed Day
Dave and Barbara

 

 

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