A Happy Childhood

I found myself in the throne room. God was on his throne. I was amidst a throng of angels. The most I could make out were great white wings. Like swans. There was music that broke the air like shattered prisms of reflected light. A great chandelier tinkling to the floor. Here a trumpet, there a cymbal .... the tuba and trombone. I wondered how the shepherds heard it .... that angel choir. It thrilled my soul and brought a smile to my lips.

I felt welcome from the throne. God took the form of Sean Connery  ... the man who would be king. There is a good bit of comedy in heaven.

So there was God the Father sitting on the throne. God the Son stood beside me ..... God the Holy Spirit rested within me. I thought about what it meant for God the Son to be "the only begotten". Jesus smiled at me and said that it meant that he always was. Jesus generally waits for me to ask him a question before he speaks .... most often if I ask him to tell me something he simply says' "I love you". I love him too.

I was up here today because I was grieved. Last night I flipped from one channel to another ..... the repetitive topic was child abuse. In America there are stiff penalties for it. A deterrent some, but in other countries there are fewer laws and protections for children. How do you imprison a man when his children may starve .... how do you imprison a quarter of the population? Who do you blame when children grow up to abuse children who grow up to abuse children. Where are the reference points for righteousness and holiness? I felt overwhelmed. "I want to come home." I said. The problems are too great. Jesus looked at me and said, "But you are the salt of the earth." .... a point of light. But what can I do .... how can I pray ...

Thy kingdom come ... Thy will be done ... on earth as it is in heaven ... please

I will tell you this; I knew my children were sacred from conception. I knew that to abuse them could cause fractures in the mother / child relationship that might never be mended. I knew that my children were on loan to me from God and that I would have to give an accounting. I knew to let my children go with God. He was the best thing for them. I was not a perfect mother .... I have more of the Holy Ghost now then I did then. But to my deepest joy, my children are glad to see me... glad to visit on the holidays. I sit in the back seat now. They are married with families of there own. But I still encourage, smile and listen to the latest. And I pray for them .... I know that God has his hand on them. I know they have a plan and a purpose. I'm deeply grateful that he used me as a blessing to them and I hope to continue as such .... willing to be there if needed.

I pray for Samira too and her little friends in Haiti. Don't be in too much of a hurry to grow up. Be a child. The children of heaven are so beautiful. Some passed through a difficult way to get there. But oh they are so full of joy. What would heaven be without children?  Remember your creator while you are young and be filled with the Spirit now. Don't let anyone tell you that to be a "baby" is a bad thing. You will always be my baby, just like my boys who are now men. I will protect you like I protected them. Childhood can be a happy place.

Comfort Food

A Screenplay

By Melanie R. Bird

The Milano's are a successful Italian, Catholic family living in Northern New Jersey. Johnny Sr. (Tom Hanks) graduated business school in order to take over the family business which is a fish market. He married a local beauty and well educated musical woman named Rosalyn. They live in a lovely neighborhood next door to Johnny's parents. Gramma Milano is usually in the kitchen, Grampa (Robert DeNiro) is retired from the fish market and putters around the house stopping now again to see what's cooking and wrap his arms around his wife and hum softly in her ear. She will blush, pat his arm and tell him to move on now ... she is busy.

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Johnny Sr. is a methodical man. He takes care of family and business in that order. He sees that the trains run on time ... that the family is well ordered. Everything runs smoothly except his oldest son Johnny Jr. (Johnny Depp) As the oldest son he is in line to take over the family business but is not inclined. His father is frequently exasperated at Johnny's day dreaming and lack of interest in school or work. But Johnny is a musician. He is naturally improvisational but can play at the violin, cello and even an accordion that belonged to his great grandfather. So he did inherit that.

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Roslyn calms her husbands upset over what went wrong with their son and encourages her husband to send Johnny to Julliard. Johnny Sr. commits to giving his son the best education and tools to hone his gifts and make his way in the world. (Besides Johnny they have three other children, Carolyn, Timmy & Jen.)

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Johnny's poor study habits continue into college. But one day while checking the school bulletin board he sees that a local pianist will be playing at the school. He attends Ed Norton's (Ed Norton) concert and is enthralled. Later in checking the musicians agenda finds out that the next concert will be at a retirement community. He attends fidgeting through the concert surrounded by the dozing elderly.

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Afterwards he cuts around the exit to meet Ed. Ed is used to a more substantial fan club after one of his concerts but he sees Johnny and stops to talk.

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To be continued...
The rest of the story is given to visual implications and is metaphorical in places. So it waits a sponsor; 

Melanie Bird 

birdhouse76@hotmail.com 
cottonginniestudio@gmail.com .... I accept checks.

The sequels are Timmy and Our Lady of Delaware .... another three break off  scripts in a new trilogy series is entitled Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done, and On Earth As In Heaven. It traces the progress of some of the main characters. One of the interesting things about the series is that one of the actors morphs into another character.

The actor for the character Ed Norton in Comfort Food becomes Timmy in the second script. He would also morph into another character in Thy Kingdom Come and Thy Will Be Done ... and On Earth As In Heaven. 

Failure to Reconcile

"Peace on earth" are often the words that reverberate during the Christmas season .... twas not peace with all and everyone .... looking at the text and to quote the angel host it was, "Peace on earth and good will to men, on whom his favor rests." ..... On whom does God's favor rest? The gospel message clearly states it is on the humble and the contrite. Those who know they have offended God and man and are heartily sorry for it and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Peace was not extended to the proud or to the incorrigible .... it does explain some of the confusion we might have as to why Jesus came to bring peace but also no peace .... but a sword (Christ never bore a literal sword but he did cause division). There are two camps.

One camp is reconciled to God and one is not. As those who are reconciled to God we are also to practice reconciliation with others. We can only truly be reconciled and be at peace with those who are reconciled to God. We would that all men be reconciled to him. So we may pray for kingdom come ... we may endeavor to live lives that reflect Messiah .... we may even speak an appropriate word here and there. We may love even when we don't agree.

But we should not enable the malefactor and the rebel. Like the psalmist we might rather be "a doorkeeper in the house of God then to dwell in the tents of wickedness". How can righteousness and unrighteousness walk side by side without some compromise .... God forbid that it should be a compromise of righteousness. Reach out to the lost and straying but don't join the camp. If an individual will not heed your warning .... walk away no matter what the personal loss. God can take care of you. He is your eternal treasure.

Now some are in this rebel camp because of ignorance ..... they certainly need patience, prayer and information. Then they need a working of the Holy Ghost in their hearts so that they may feel true repentance thus bringing them to their knees and to the Father. But some are in this camp because they have chosen an evil course. They are addicted to their sin. They need to feel the sharp pain of consequence to shake them free of their destructive course. Even a Christian can set up habitation in the rebel camp. Ti's why we have church discipline .... one bad apple can spoil an entire basket full. A bitter root defiles many. Many Christians are in this camp because of some bitterness against God and man. A little yeast affects the whole lump of dough .... tolerate just a little sin and it spreads. Is it really just a small flirtation or just a little bit of gossip or temper ..... does everything need to be addressed? No. If you see your brother sin, pray for him .... or it may need to be addressed.