Rise above...

The concept of finding the least common denominator may be useful for dealing with fractions, but it is not necessarily the best way to approach life.  Whether we are talking about our personal life, our professional life, our business, or our relationships with others – we can rise above the ordinary, the mediocre, the merely acceptable.  We each have the opportunity to add to the richness, the beauty, the goodness, and the humanity of life.  And, we should not dismiss such a notion as some mere greeting card sentiment.  It is easy, perhaps even popular, to be cynical – to be above it all.  But, we can choose another response and, in doing so, choose another outcome.

Sin's Siren Song

Sin’s Siren calls and beckons

    as on-course you mean to stay.

And the world, it points and pushes,

    till you turn to look her way.

Then your flesh too keen to listen

    takes its part in her dark play.

While the devil laughs and dances

    as you headlong go astray.

You know the rocks that line her shores.

    You know she’s but a liar.

Still you turn your bow the world’s way,

    as the moth turns toward the fire.

Your flesh now captain of your ship;

    sails billowed with desire.

While the devil in the crow’s nest gloats,

    and cackles from his spire.

But once her shores fade far astern,

    her pleasures all well gone.

And the world that you let steer her way

    leaves you too wounded to go on.

Your flesh that laughed through its brief night

    now cries with the new dawn.

While the devil celebrates and plays

    again sin’s Siren song.

Joseph Weilenbeck 10/19/2013

Like a ship within a storm...

Author's note:  I wrote this poem and song in 1992, as my father lay gravely ill. For a month, I stayed with him at the hospital.  My mother, as well as my wife, daughter, and sister stayed nearby.  I left the hospital only briefly for an occasional meal with my family.  I spent hours in meetings with doctors. I spent even more hours in the Chapel with my mother, praying for Dad and for strength to face whatever was to be. Dad experienced days of rallying, and days of decline.  Hope for recovery soon gave way to the beginning of grief, as he continued to weaken, and his condition continued to deteriorate.  I spent the last night in near darkness by his bedside, as life slowly left his body. I prayed, and wept, and gave thanks to God for this man who meant so much to me.  In the middle of this month-long ordeal, I wrote these words.

Like a ship within a storm...
by Joseph Weilenbeck

Lord, I don’t know how
I’ll make it through
Another day.
It seems the things
I’ve counted on
Are slipping fast away.

There is nothing near
That I can see
And cling to for support.
Just like a ship
Within a storm—
And far from any port.

The stress is high.
The day is long.
I’m frightened and alone.
Just like a ship
Within a storm—
So very far from home.

I feel despair
Engulfing me.
I fear that I will drown.
Just like a ship
Within a storm—
With no hope of reaching ground.

I’m at the edge
Where I can see
No future but to die.
Just like a ship
Within a storm—
Her stern tipped toward the sky.

I make one final
Desperate plea
To You in my distress.
Just like a ship
Within a storm—
Sending one last SOS.

Then with Your faithful love
You lift me
High above the storm.
And wrap protecting
Arms around me—
Keeping me from harm.

My fears now calmed,
My hope restored,
I know I’m not alone.
Just like a ship
Still in the storm—
But safely heading home.


Joseph Weilenbeck 1992

Look up and not down...

“Look up and not down; look forward and not back;
look out and not in; and lend a hand.”
E. E. Hale

These past several months have had some challenges and difficulties, as I have had to turn much of my time and attention to the needs of a loved one going through pain and suffering, medical tests, physician consultations, surgeries, and recovery (which continues). This has caused more than a minor disruption to my plans, to my business, to my writing and artwork, and my life. And, I have not always managed to meet these disruptions without some discouragement, some angst, some apprehension.