Father God, thank You as many as received and believed (BOTH) Him, Your Son and our Savior and Deliverer, Jesus Christ. This God Sonnet was inspired by the Bible Verse: “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His Name” (John 1:12). As many as received and believed (BOTH) Him, a child of You, a friend to You, a hope from You, and a faith in You. As many as “of,” “to,” “from,” and “in” Him, they are forever known by His Name. Forget that others not have Him received; remember as He believed LOVE the same. Right now, so many aggrieved. Right now, so many needing as many as received and believed (BOTH) Him. On a more personal note, I can’t always be on my “A-game” (or is that “t(imothy)-game?”) when writing a God Sonnet due to extreme exhaustion and inability to focus. Hence, the main reason for the first two stanzas of the sonnet being word-for-word but for the interchange of “you” and “i.” That said, I find this to be totally okay, for “you” and “i” are not interchanged but BOTH. And if LOVE as all there is (“Do EVERYTHING in LOVE” [1 Corinthians 16:14]), then as word-for-word, “you” and “i” are not interchanged but BOTH as EVERYTHING in LOVE. The child and the rooster in the picture know what it means to be not interchanged but BOTH to “do EVERYTHING in LOVE.” Side-by-side and word-for-word (BOTH) they need not speak, they are not interchanged but doing and acting (BOTH) as EVERYTHING in LOVE. i pray all of this in the Wonderful and Precious and AS Name of Jesus Christ, the Name AS above every other name, including my own name. This prayer is answered by my faith and my belief. Please help me remember, Father God, where my faith and my belief forget i have received and believed Him. Amen.
(God’s Sonnet by timothy j. verret; “it’s how i cope to hope [BOTH] as i have received and believed Him as EVERYTHING in LOVE this daily leavened bread.”)
Father God, thank You that we can be clean from filthy of the flesh. This God Sonnet was inspired by the Bible Verse: “Having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, Perfecting Holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). we are filthy of the flesh when we fear and fail (BOTH). we are filthy of the flesh when the flesh we serve and crave (BOTH). we are cleansed when it’s You we serve because You deserve. we are cleansed when it’s You we crave because You are our save. we need to Refresh You through Your Son and our Savior and Deliverer, Jesus Christ. When it’s not Him, it’s filthy of the flesh. When it’s all Him, it’s Holiness decree and Perfection serene (BOTH). On a more personal note, I cannot think of anything more filthy of the flesh than raising, killing and eating Your nonhuman animals for meat (see picture). Can there be anything more filthy than Your nonhuman animals raised on factory farms (windowless warehouses), crammed and caged in them with no sun or wind on their faces, and then killed and slaughtered, all for our filthy of the flesh? It does not get any more filthy of the flesh than that. Why? Because meat is killing their flesh, killing our flesh (“flesh diseases” like all forms of cancer, heart disease, exogenous obesity, to name only a very few) and killing our planet that You, Father God, created for us to be good stewards to all You created. “And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat'” (Genesis 1:29). GO VEGAN! Do it for God, do it for the nonhuman animals, do it for yourselves, and do it for the planet that desperately needs saving from filthy of the flesh. i pray all of this in the Wonderful and Precious and Clean Name of Jesus Christ, the Name above every other name, including my own name. This prayer is answered by my flesh and my belief. Please help me, Father Go, where my faith and my belief are not Refresh. Amen.
(God’s Sonnet by timothy j. verret; ‘it’s how i cope to hope [BOTH] in no serving of my filthy flesh [GO VEGAN!] but only serving God through Jesus Christ [GO VEGAN!] this daily leavened bread.”)
Father God, thank You that chose that poor in spirit. This God Sonnet was inclined by the Bible Verse: “Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” (James 2:5). This God Sonnet was also inclined by the Words of Your Son and our Savior and Deliverer, Jesus Christ: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:3). That most of that world are great dispirit, that most in that world chose that poor in spirit. Most are same there and bewitch (BOTH) that they do not love You. Few are fulfilling and presence of mind (BOTH) that they do love You. That chose poor in spirit are Your heir and rich (BOTH). That we’re weak in flesh, that our spirit is willing and inclined (BOTH) (Matthew 26:41). That we come to Jesus (ME), that Grace. That we abound in faith, that Jesus loves us tons, that none can erase. On a more personal note, how that poor in spirit (heart) is viewing that picture of that monkey seemingly that poor in spirit (heart). Thank God (seriously, thank You, God!) that You chose me as a nonhuman animal welfare advocate for You. Thank God that I feel that (their) pain, that (their) sorrow, that (their) poor in spirit. Thank God that i raise that empathic voice (heart) You chose to give me me to be inclined to include nonhuman animals in Your Kingdom of Heaven. I feel that poor in spirit if nonhuman animals might not be inclined to be included in Your Kingdom, but Your Word tells me and all of us they will be there: “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them….they shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:6, 9). i pray all of that in that Wonderful and Precious and Tons of Loving Name of Jesus Christ, that Name above every other name, including my own name. That prayer is answered by my faith and my belief. Please help me, Father God, where my faith and my belief are that weak in flesh. Amen.
(God’s Sonnet by timothy j. verret; “it’s how i cope to hope [BOTH] that i am chose that poor in spirit this daily [nondairy] leavened bread.”)
That you’re poor in spirit, that you’re God’s heir
That you’re weak in flesh, that your spirit is willing.
That you struggle that, most are that same there.
That you love God, few claim that fulfilling.
That i’m poor in spirit, that i’m God’s rich.
That i’m weak in spirit, that my spirit is inclined.
Father God, thank You that we are Adoption! Thank You that You have adopted us into Your Clan and Kin (BOTH) by Your Son and our Savior and Deliverer, Jesus Christ. This God Sonnet was inspired by the Bible Verse: “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in Love, having predestined us to Adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the Good Pleasure of His Will” (Ephesians 1:4-5). That we have been adopted as relative means we are adopted as sons and daughters by Christ. That we have been adopted by Him makes us His Twin. us and Jesus? BOTH because He was Priced. That He was betrayed was before Foundation and that he was betrayed is after and now (BOTH) our Creation. Go solo or go together as His Twin (BOTH)? On a more personal note, “adoption” is one of my favorite words as it relates to pet adoption. As my little doggie friend is speaking in the picture, “Just thank you!….if you have adopted a pet from a shelter.” When we adopt a pet from a shelter, we are just giving a homeless nonhuman animal of God a new life and a new love (BOTH). When we buy from a breeder, we are just denying a homeless shelter animal of God a new life and a new love (BOTH). “Maybe they are breeding just to keep the breed going?” Fine and dandy, sure, if just every single cage in every single shelter was empty! But every one is not empty, so just empathy, i.e., no buying or breeding a nonhuman animal as long as just one single cage in one single shelter is occupied. And when you adopt, just please spay and neuter to have just every single cage in every single shelter empty! i just pray all of this in the Wonderful and Precious and Twin Name of Jesus Christ, the Name above every other name, including my own name. This prayer is answered by my faith and my belief. Please help me, Father God, where my faith and my belief say I am not Adoption! Amen.
(God’s Sonnet by timothy j. verret; “it’s how i cope to hope [BOTH] in Adoption! this daily leavened bread.”)
Father God, thank You that through Your Love and through Your Son and our Savior and Deliverer, Jesus Christ, not through our past, a New last to the End. This God Sonnet was inspired by the Bible Verse: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a New creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become New” (2 Corinthians 5:17). If anyone is in Christ, now and future allowed. If anyone is in Christ, next and forward is foreword. The foreword is the New beginning no longer the world’s text but only the Text of Your Word, the Bible. So, our old text (past) is gone. So, our New Text (future and forward[foreword]) is Jesus, ME, all the way and carry on (BOTH). On a more personal note, I took it upon myself through God’s Help to capitalize “New” in the God Sonnet and even for the Bible Verse. Why? “New” because a New creation in Christ is worth the capitalization of New and Christ (BOTH); “old” no longer capitalized because gone and not worth the capitalization. Similarly, “world” not worth the capitalization; “God” worth the foreword and forever (BOTH) capitalization. Thank You, Father God, for making me a New creation in Christ, a continued Newness as a nonhuman animal welfare advocate for You. My flamingo friends in the picture have “made” New Love. If they can “make” New Love,” what is stopping humans from “making” New Love? i pray this in the Wonderful and Precious and New Name of Jesus Christ, the Name above every other New name including my own New name. This prayer is answered by my New faith and my New belief. Please help me, Father God, where my New faith and my New belief are my old. Amen.
(God’s Sonnet by timothy j. verret; “it’s how i cope to hope {BOTH] as a New creation in Christ [not through my past] this daily leavened bread.”)
The old is your past, the New your future.
your old has passed away, your New is now.
Now and future is your New Christ allure.
your past was your old you no more allow.
The old is my past, the New my forward.
my old has passed away, my New is next.
Next and forward is my New Christ foreword.
my past was my old no longer my text.
“I AM New so their old can pass away,”
says Jesus. “I AM New so old is gone.
Future ME through now for their all the way.
Forward ME through next for their carry on.”
If anyone is in Christ, a New last.
To the End, through New Love, not through old past.
(a “loving is enough” film review by timothy j. verret)
It’s not just that WEST SIDE STORY is, in my humblest opinion, the greatest musical ever filmed. It’s also because it’s the greatest love story ever told through song and choreography (BOTH). And the film is also Biblical, for Maria (by the way, a pretty Biblical name) says to Tony as he is dying in her arms, “Loving is enough.” Why would that be Biblically enough? “And faith, hope and love, these three remain….and the greatest of these is LOVE” (1 Corinthians 13:13).
WEST SIDE STORY “danced” away with every Academy Award you can think of the year it “danced” into our spirit. Best Picture? Check! Best Supporting Actor, George Chakiris? Check! Best Supporting Actress, Rita Moreno? Check! Best Original Musical? Duh…check! The “west side story” is a timeless one, an adapted musical one from William Shakespeare’s play, ROMEO AND JULIET. It’s one about two lovers, Maria and Tony, from opposite sides of the gang track who fearlessly cross over that track to a tragic gang “crash.” But “loving is enough,” and so is their love timeless enough and certainly never to end, not enough and not ever. Maria is Puerto Rican, Tony is Caucasian, but “loving is enough” knows no borders of race, class, religion, sexual orientation, etc. Love is just love, and “loving IS enough.” If this love was enough for Maria and Tony, it certainly is enough for all of us.
What happens in the exquisite and elevated (BOTH) choreography by Jerome Robbins in this film is the actors/dancers jump to the skies and stars enough. I believe they dance high to rise above the confines of a race struggle. The Sharks dance high. The Jets dance high. And yet no matter how high they dance, they have to come back down. And it’s when they come back down that they are back down to the confines of their race struggle. It’s not lost on me that it is high on a balcony that Maria and Tony sing about their love, wanting “Tonight” and wishing for a better tomorrow. And that better tomorrow never comes. The struggle of Maria and Tony to love without borders actually borders on the inhumanity of those who say loving is not enough. How inhumane is it to tell two people in love that their love is not enough? How humane it is for Maria to hold Tony dying in her arms and sing, “Somewhere, there’s a place for us.” These are two people who loved, knew “loving was enough,” and knew this “somewhere” was singing and dancing (BOTH) high above the confines of a race struggle. As it was sung, “when love comes, there is no right or wrong, your love is your love,” I’m gonna get pretty Biblical with that lyric line, appropriate enough to raise and praise (BOTH) an “AMEN!”
Natalie Wood plays Maria and Richard Beymer plays Tony, but it’s really George Chakiris as Bernardo and Rita Moreno as Anita who really shine in this film, especially Moreno. Anita is in love with Bernardo and after a final rumble that kills BOTH her Bernardo and Tony’s Riff, the gang leader of the Jets, she is the one who can look pass her grief and see Maria in her desperate love of enough for Tony. Moreno plays all of this grief with such truth and such heart that she practically “leaps” off the screen, even when she’s not dancing. A most well-deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actress! The acting all across the songs and choreography is universally exceptional in this film, and the music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim….well, it just doesn’t get any better than this. Every song is sung aggressively and tenderly (BOTH). I’ve had this soundtrack memorized since I was a young one and, as an old one now, I still have not forgotten any of the songs’ lyrics on this most recent viewing (if only I could whistle enough like those Jets 😒).
There is one song and one choreography in particular I want to highlight enough, and that is “Cool.” You can watch it here:
The reason I want to highlight enough this one is because this one is more than enough needed to live at this current time in our lives. We all need to “cool, boy, real cool” with what we are all facing. Whether “west” or east, north or south, we gotta get “cool” enough about the difficult and turbulent times here and ahead (BOTH). Watching this song and this choreography for this recent viewing of the film, I was struck by its intense anger carried out in song and dance. All the Jets were about to “blow,” and it was this song and their choreography that gave them a healthy outlet for their intense anger. I know all about intense anger, and I might need to take this song and their choreography to heart every time I go out into the streets to be “cool, Timothy, real cool.” Will that be “cool” enough?
It’s all the talk now that WEST SIDE STORY has been filmed by director Steven Spielberg, due to come out at the end of this year. My first response to hearing this, and I am quite sure I am not alone in this response, was: “Are you kidding me? How in the world are you going to top 1961’s WEST SIDE STORY? How can it be enough?” But if I know Spielberg’s films like I know Spielberg’s films, it’s sure to be enough of a stunner and sure to get me immediately in the seat to view it. There are not too many films I feel the desire to see the minute they come out, but this one is going to be one of those films. I do hope it’s great enough, I do hope it’s memorable enough, but I don’t hope that it ever takes away enough of my love for the 1961 film that has then and now (BOTH) brought to me more than enough. And what is it that this film has then and now brought all of us enough?
“LOVING IS ENOUGH!”
And Biblically, once again, appropriate enough to raise and praise (BOTH) an “AMEN!”
Father God, thank You that To and This Day, You…. This God Sonnet was inspired by the Bible Verse: “The Lord is my strength and shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him” (Psalm 28:7). This God Sonnet was also inspired by the Bible Verse: “This is the Day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in It” (Psalm 118:24).You are our strength and shield (BOTH), our heart trusts in You, and we are helped (BOTH); therefore, our hearts greatly rejoice, and with our song we will praise You. Thank You, Father God, that YOU are ME (synonym), Your Son and our Savior and Deliverer (synonym), Jesus Christ (synonym). There is no other synonym for Jesus. There is ONLY To and This Day, God…. If tomorrow we might not to praise You, that is why we praise To and This Day, You…. On a more personal note, who am I to expect others to praise me? To and This is how satan attacks me. But as the picture informs me, “not today satan.” Not To and This Day, satan…. And notice how I did not capitalize “satan.” “Oh rubbish, you have no power here; be gone before someone drops a house on you, too” (spoken by Glenda the Good Witch of the North from the film, THE WIZARD OF OZ). You, Father God, are helping me for hope and to come to cope (BOTH). i pray all of To and This in the Wonderful and Precious and Praised Name of Jesus Christ, the Name above every other name, including my own name and the name of satan. To and This prayer is answered by my faith and my belief. Please help me, Father God, where my faith and my belief are in tomorrow and not To and This Day, God…. Amen.
(God’s Sonnet by timothy j. verret; “it’s how i cope to hope [BOTH) To and This Day, God….To and This Daily leavened bread.”)
Father God, thank You that we Wait on You! This God Sonnet was inspired by the Bible Verse: “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say on the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14). Wait! For You’re Doing something Good through us by our Good God faith. Wait! For You’re Planning something Good in us by our Good God faith. Wait! For Your Son and our Savior and Deliverer, Jesus Christ, is Preparing our Home. Now is not the time to be roaming. Now is the time to Wait, for we are soon Home. Would we Wait for His Good Home else we roam? Wait! “In My Father’s House are many Rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because IAM going there to Prepare a Place for you” (John 14:2). Wait! Soon Home! On a more personal note, please prepare a home inside for pets, as the picture informs us. Pets do not belong outside alone and certainly not outside alone on a chain. Dogs, in particular, are social pack animals, meaning they want to be with their family inside. To put pets outside in solitary confinement and certainly outside alone on a chain is to do Great BAD (NOT Good God) Justice to pets. How can anyone “pet” a pet if the pet is outside in solitary confinement and certainly outside alone on a chain? As cooler and colder (BOTH) temperatures are ahead, all pets outside and certainly outside on a chain need to go inside to be with their families. Blue, my dog, used to live outside in solitary confinement and certainly outside on a chain without his family until You, Father God, brought Blue to me to go inside with his current family: Groucho and Conrad and me. When I first saw Blue outside on a chain, I wept. Every time I came back home from work or wherever and saw Blue on a chain, I wept. But You said, “Wait!” Then, by my Good God faith and not my fate, You brought Blue to me and he is now soon Home. i pray all of this in the Wonderful and Precious and Would Name of Jesus Christ, the Name above every other name, including my own name. This prayer is answered by my Good God faith and my belief. Please help me, Father God, where my Good God faith and belief don’t want to Wait! Amen.
(God’s Sonnet by timothy j. verret; “it’s how i cope to hope [BOTH] to Wait! by Good God faith, not my fate, this daily leavened bread, for soon His Home.”)
Wait! God is doing something good through you.
Wait! God’s Doing through Goodness your good strength.
Wait! God is planning something good in you.
Wait! God’s Planning in Goodness your good length.
Father God, thank You that in the land of the Living, we have Your Son and our Savior and Deliverer, Jesus Christ, who is all our Goodness. This God Sonnet was inspired by the Bible Verse: “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the Goodness of the Lord in the land of the Living” (Psalm 27:13). Unless we believed that, we would lose heart and would be misgiving and unforgiving (BOTH). It’s when we start Your Goodness that we stop our badness of misgiving. It’s when we compart Your Goodness that we depart from our badness of unforgiving. It’s when we stop and depart BOTH. In the land of the Living was Jesus once there in Your Name, but they killed Him. Jesus will Return there to Live His Giving. What a Day/Hour that will be! Until then, so many here who are nonLiving. Until then, so much Christ for the land of the Living. On a more personal note, thank You, Father God, for taking me out of a place recently where I was nonLiving. You had me go through darkest days/hours to bring me back to Living. You had me go through darkest days/hours to bring me back to Loving (as the picture informs us). I was SO ready to exit and bow out from the land of the Living. I am now SO ready to stop and depart from the badness of misgiving and unforgiving (BOTH) to believe and receive (BOTH) the Goodness of my Jesus! Misgiving? Christ for the land of the Living. Unforgiving? Christ for the land of the Living. i pray all of this in the Wonderful and Precious and Live His Giving Name of Jesus Christ, the Name above every other name, including my own name. This prayer is answered by my faith and my belief. Please help me, Father God, where my faith and my belief are misgiving and unforgiving (BOTH). Amen.
(God’s Sonnet by timothy j. verret; “it’s how i cope to hope [BOTH] for the Goodness of God in the land of Christ Living this daily leavened bread.”)
Unless goodness believed, you would lose heart.
you would exit the land of the living.
you will see the Goodness of God to start
when you stop the badness of misgiving.
Unless goodness believed, i would lose heart.
i would bow out the land of the living.
i will see the Goodness of God compart
when i depart from my unforgiving.
“Unless goodness believed, they would lose ME,”
says Jesus. “Goodness? ME, the land of the Living.
Father God, thank You that we have a heart and Your Son and our Savior and Deliverer, Jesus Christ, Heals it. For me to go any further with an explanation of this God Sonnet would be fruitless. Suffice to say, my heart is breaking, shattered, aching, tattered, crushing, shredded, gushing, and dreaded. Suffice to say, this God Sonnet was written from a place of only one word: HOPE, to HOPE my heart will Heal of “MINE,” the Healing Heart of Jesus Christ. It will take Align and Appeal (BOTH). It can’t happen below but only CounterGlow. The word, “counterglow,” is defined as “a faint spot of light in the night sky that appears directly opposite the position of the sun.” That says it all right there. The Healing Heart of Jesus is that faint spot of light in the darkest nights of my current sky, appearing directly opposite the position of the sun. Actually, scratch that! Appears directly opposite the position of the SON. Suffice to say, the picture also says it all right there: a small heart (mine) seemingly filthy and a “faint spot” captured in the position of the Son’s Cross of that window, the Cross of Calvary. It’s where I’m going right now in the darkest nights of my current sky with my small, filthy, and a “faint spot” heart for Align and Appeal (BOTH) to “MINE,” the Healing Heart of Jesus Christ. i pray all of this in the Wonderful and Precious and Healing Heart Name of Jesus Christ, the Name above every other name, including my own name. This prayer is answered by my faith and my belief. Please help me, Father God, where my faith and my belief are breaking, shattered, aching, tattered, crushing, shredded, gushing, and dreaded. Amen.
(God’s Sonnet by timothy j. verret; “it’s how i cope to hope [BOTH] to go to the Son’s Cross of Calvary to have mine breaking, shattered, aching, tattered, crushing, shredded, gushing, and dreaded [filthy and a “faint spot”] heart Healed by ‘MINE,’ the Healing Heart of Jesus Christ, this daily leavened bread.”)
If you had no heart, would it be breaking?
If you had no heart, would it be shattered?
you have a heart. God will heal it aching.
you have a heart. God will heal it tattered.
If i had no heart, would it be crushing?
If i had no heart, would it be shredded?
i have a heart. God will heal it gushing.
i have a heart. God will heal it dreaded.
“If they had no heart, would I want it MINE?”
asks Jesus. “I will heal it for My Heal.
their heart will Heal with MINE when it Align.
their heart will Heal with MINE when they Appeal.”
TIMOTHY J. VERRET 