Straight From The Hart

The yellow flowers, so bright and gay, Appear at dusk, then fade away As sunshine warms their brilliant bloom. They gladly shine, yet know their doom. Their beauty lasts but for a day, But, oh the joy, they bring our way As one by one their blooms unfurl In rapid succession they seem to whirl Away from the stem, their petals spread Like buttery swirls on morning bread. In silent concert they nod and dance In worship to God, not here by chance. And just like them, God plants us here To serve Him first, our purpose clear. Too soon we fade, our life like mist Above the ground the rain has kissed. We bloom in beauty, and when we're through We pass away like morning dew And all we are, and all we say Will be forgotten in just a day. But what we do, and the lives we touch Will be our legacy and can mean so much. So we must bloom and share our beauty And worship God, which is our duty And brighten lives, though for a day To...

Straight From The Hart By Joan Rowden Hart Fibromyalgia Awareness Month I’m going to deviate this week from my usual theme of writing about Lebanon’s  history and people in order to address a current medical issue. May is Fibromyalgia Awareness Month and I hope this column will help to educate us to  understand this growing health problem which affects so many people here in Lebanon. The American College of Rheumatology estimates that fibromyalgia affects between 3 million and 6 million Americans, mostly women of child-bearing age and older, but also men and even young children and teenagers. Fibromyalgia, also called “fibro”,  is not a disease, but a syndrome, meaning that it exhibits a specific set of symptoms that take place together. Although fibro is not characterized as an arthritic condition, for purposes of diagnosis and treatment it  falls under the medical umbrella of rheumatology. We have come a long way in recent years because doctors used to tell a patie...

Joan’s Philosophy of Life We caught a pesky squirrel tonight Our attic he did plunder Every time we went upstairs His prancing sounded like thunder. The trap was set, the bait was placed It didn’t take long to do it As soon as he smelled the fresh peanut bait His little paws took him right to it We carried him out to the old pickup truck To give him a ride to the country To let him out far away from town So he could find him a fun tree But he got loose in the pickup truck We didn’t know what we would do How would we get him back in that cage Should we call the conservation crew? Then I had an idea about how we could catch him It sounds kind of crazylike, but I climbed right up in the pickup with him, And then I acted just like a nut. So when you have days that about do you in When your life seems to be in a rut When you are surrounded and feel overwhelmed Just give up and  act like a nut. You might be surprised how...

A MAN WHO CAN PRAY I walked into the church last night and heard my husband’s voice He was talking with the Lord again, it made my heart rejoice For every time I hear him pray, I’m glad I made the choice To marry a man who can pray. He prays with earnest passion for those outside the fold: He prays with tearful pleadings for those with hearts grown cold: He prays and doesn’t care who hears, he prays with courage bold: This world needs more men who can pray. A man who prays is a man among men, who stands out above the crowd: For no man is ever taller than when his head is bowed: And no voice is ever more powerful than the man who prays out loud: And real men are the men who can pray. I walked into the church last night and in the stillness there I saw a man with head bowed low, his heart o’erwhelmed with care For me, for you, and for the church whose burdens we both share I’m so thankful for a husband who prays. Note:  I walked into the ...

Straight From The Hart By Joan Rowden Hart The  Paper   Chase How many of you remember The  Paper   Chase ? No, I’m not talking about the Oscar award winning 1973 movie starring Timothy Bottoms as a law school student named James T. Hart. I’m talking about a  paper   chase down Commercial Street in Lebanon about ten years earlier than that featuring a lawyer who had a  secretary named Joan Hart. It was a sunny Saturday morning in late spring when my boss, John F. Low, opened the large windows in his second floor law office above Dryer’s Shoe Store, to bring some fresh air into the office. The windows were on hinges and swung outward and as such were not equipped with screens. Directly below the waist high windows on the inside of his office was a large ledge about 18 inches deep which served as Mr. Low’s temporary storage for current cases consisting of large legal size filing folders stuffed full of legal documents and sheets torn from yellow legal pa...

Funny what you remember, but I the first time I saw a pregnant woman to get curious about was on Commercial St on a Saturday afternoon approximately in front of Dryer's Shoe Store. I was probably 6 or 7, and had been stuck with my grandmot her there for probably an hour or so while she visited with her sister, my Aunt Pearlie Smith, and my cousins. Aunt pearlie's oldest daughter, Jessie, was pregnant, probably with her first child, and she was wearing an old fashioned maternity dress, not a top, had a drawstring waist that you let out as you needed to and tied into a bow in front. I would have been about eye level with her tummy so all i had to do was stare and she was probably full term. i was fascinated! and as soon as we finally got away I asked my grandmother what was wrong with jessie's belly. it's strange I don't remember how the conversation went after that or how long it was until I realized what was "wrong" with it, but I remember vividly the day,...