25 Small Things That Can Make You Happy and Give You A Great Sense of Delight!

1. Eating your favorite ice cream
2. Taking a walk at the park with your someone special
3. Staying up late at night to stare at the stars & the moon

4.  Going to your favorite vacation spot

5. Showing kindness to strangers
6. Feeding someone who is hungry
7. The birth of a child
8. Spending quality time with your parents
9. Dancing to your favorite song in the rain 
10. Playing in the snow
11. Preparing your favorite dish
12. Training your dog a new trick
13. Wearing your favorite color

14.  Reading a well-written and good book

15. Receiving an unexpected first kiss from your crush
16. Your first date with your daughter
17. Teaching your son the art of baseball

18.  Reading a new novel or poem by your favorite writer

19. Watching the movements of ocean water
20. Writing a handwritten letter to the one you love
21. Dreaming about the future & your best life
22. Praying for a friend for comfort and peace
23. Walking barefooted at the beach in the cool of the night
24. Playing hide and seek in the dark
25. Calling off from work to help a friend move

“Three more endorsements: ‘Theological Education & Christian Scholarship for Human Flourishing'” (my forthcoming Book)

I am more thankful to receive three more endorsements from three friends: Dr. Michael Bird, whom I have been reading since my old days of seminary; in fact, I have been following Michael since 2005 when I was working on a Th.M. in New Testament at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I can always count on his scholarship and turn to his writings when I want to drift away from the faith. A faithful Christian thinker and a robust New Testament/Theologian and interpreter of the Bible! I especially like his humor and his ability to humanize people and create cross-cultural friendships.

Pastor William Dwight McKissic Sr. : My former pastor, while a student at SWBTS, has instilled in me more passion for the people of God and his heart for justice and faithfulness to the Bible have made me a better Christian and thinker. My wife and I always looked forward to another Sunday sermon and weekly Bible study from Pastor Mckissic’s charismatic and exegetical preaching and teaching; what a great communion and fellowship we enjoyed at Corner Baptist Church during those years in Arlington, Texas!

Dr. Ronald Charles (professor at the University of Toronto), one of foremost biblical scholars from the Caribbean and a great exegete, has been a constant companion to me in writing this book. He would often remind me to pay attention to the text and its application to contemporary life issues in this broken world (“Celucien: What does the text say?”). What a great friend and mentor!

In a previous post, I acknowledged my appreciation to my friends and professors David Bundy and Sègbégnon Mathieu for endorsing the book. Thanks again, mes amis!

Here are the five written endorsements I received from Pickwick Publications; I am currently working on the index for the book (348 pages) and hope to get it done before I return back to work in August.

***The good Lord has been good to me and my family and has carried us through the storms and trials of this life. Glory, majesty, and praise to the triune and eternal God!

“Before You Say Goodbye”

Come away with me to paint the oceans of the world
with the colors of our tears.
Run with me to the music studio
to record the final beat of your heart,
and I will write you a new song on a mountaintop.

Come away with me to bury in the deepest sea
the kiss that sealed the two lives.
To smell the last rose of our first valentine,
and we will salvage the hidden leaf in the garden
that interlocked the two hearts.

Come away with me for a last walk in the fields,
To play hide and seek in the dark
Let’s run quickly to the Art Shop to get a tattoo in the night,
and you and I will light the candle on the moon

to give hope to an empty memory in plain sight.

“Louder than Silent Words”

I am writing this poem to broadcast my silent words.
Deeper than spring sex in the midnight rain,
Stronger than The Valley of the Kings,
Your tenderness restored the broken cheek of the moon.

I am writing this poem to give a voice to my deepest feelings.
Hidden in the bosom of the Nile River,
Stretching tight across the porch of the heavenly sanctuary,
Your kindness calmed the impatient wave and quieted the storm.

I am writing this poem to build a room where my soul belongs.
Gentle like a winter night in October,
Covering the highest point of the Himalayas,
Your heart is not a closed border to me.

“A New Poem, 5 Giveaway Books”

My new 3-stanza poem is called “20 Pearls of Light, 7300 Raindrops.” I wrote it very late last night and finished it early this morning. I am giving away five copies of the Spanish translation of my new book, “El Catecismo de la Nueva Vida para Niños: 100 Preguntas y Respuestas para enseñarnos a vivir en paz y en buenas relaciones en el mundo.”

2 Basic Rules to win the book:

1. Leave a comment below describing in four to five sentences what you think the speaker in the poem is talking about; in other words, what is the overarching message of the poem?
2. Choose one or two figures of speech or literary imagery in the poem and tell us the idea they convey.

*** The winner (s) will be announced Friday evening, July 8.

“20 Pearls of Light, 7300 Raindrops”

20 pearls of light created a spectacle of a newborn moon
To shy in the womb of a fallen tree
In a desert of vain delights and risky joys
A new union was made by the gods of the marching forests
It remains for seven thousand three hundred days.

20 falling raindrops moved at the speed of the turtles in the sky
Agitated by the river of the sun
To form a wandering cloud,
rested in the gentle hand of the yellow lake
At a time when the angel of rain and thunder created a new season of wonder
It sustains two hundred forty months of life and fidelity.

20 autumn leaves migrated from the dazzling wings of the green stars
To link up under the same shadow, the gentle care of a light fortress
A forever rose hand-dipped in pure platinum joy,
nested in the deepest parts of two lovers’ weary souls.
Built an alpine garden, a love made out of a mountaintop rock
to resist mortality and emptiness, against the perilous forces of time and nature
It moves forward for twenty eternal years.

“An E-Romance Song for Young Lovers”

My new one-stanza poem, “An E-Romance Song for Young Lovers,” celebrates online dating relationships that might lead to strong committed love and sustaining romance.

I saw your smile at a distance on an E-harmony profile.
It exploded in me like the Purple Rain’s electric guitar.
This new feeling traveled in my dancing flesh for a thousand years.
The rhythm of your secret lives made me a lust of the imagination.
You became my idol, the love song of the night.
On the other side of my pain,
I bid farewell to mountains of loneliness.
You made me dream of a new season where harmony and passion never end.