SEPTENNIUM

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be  steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” —1 Corinthians 15:58

“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” —2 Peter 3:8

We counted birthdays. He counted mornings.

We measured life by seasons, championships,

Paychecks, marriages, and funerals.

Perhaps Heaven - keeps only one week.

Hear the song here: Septennium

Monday Morning

Pop Pop’s patio, Ruffner Mountain,

Evel Knievel, neighborhood fountains,

NASA dreaming, Vietnam,

Bear Bryant Saturdays, Southern calm.

brown bag sandwich, baseball dirt,

grass-stained knees and hand-me-down shirts,

Lightning bug chasing, a little bit sleeping,

Leonard’s Losers softly speaking.

John Denver drifting through the heat,

East Lake Park and Cascade feet,

Wahouma lights, streetlights blinking—

never once remember thinking…

Steadfast. Unmovable.

Fighting all the way.

Hold fast. Keep faith.

The work is never in vain.

Tuesday Afternoon

Hardy Boys and comic pages,

football seasons, growing stages,

Pasquale’s pizza, PCB nights,

Lake Mitchell big bass fights.

Nerf footballs and weight-room chalk,

Coach Cutcliffe and after-school talk,

Reagan shot, MTV,

certain that’s how life would be.

Touchdowns, trophies, classroom praise,

books that filled the quieter days.

Steadfast. Unmovable.

Fighting all the way.

Hold fast. Keep faith.

The work is never in vain.

Wednesday Night

Banks High Friday, autumn sky,

blue Camaro rolling by,

JBL shaking windows free,

Journey blaring who I’d be.

Student positions, quarterback,

newspapers folded in my lap,

pizza, beer, senior beach,

dreams still somehow out of reach.

Shuttle rising. Classmate dying.

Church pew waiting. Grace arriving.

Steadfast. Unmovable.

Fighting all the way.

Hold fast. Keep faith.

The work is never in vain.

Thursday Evening

Bryant Tower, houndstooth gray,

wishbone fading day by day,

George Strait and Dreamland smoke,

English books and private jokes.

Wedding vows and Briarwood fun

Building and working on the run

whistles blowing, classrooms full,

ordinary, beautiful - loved it all

Children laughing down the hall.

Steadfast. Unmovable.

Fighting all the way.

Hold fast. Keep faith.

The work is never in vain.

Friday Midnight

Nashville skyline, Harpeth rain,

cardboard boxes, changed again,

phone calls no one plans to hear,

dreams that disappeared this year.

Wedding dresses, hospital rooms,

office keys and empty rooms,

mother had left, father now gone—

still somehow the road went on.

Steadfast. Unmovable.

Fighting all the way.

Hold fast. Keep faith.

The work is never in vain.

Saturday Dawn

Colorado, fishing line,

Donne and blog posts marking time,

Invoices, drafts, proposals nearby,

morning spreading through the sky.

Schools still growing, students gone,

grandkids laughing, coffee on,

trips and songs and mountain air,

finding God had waited there.

Steadfast. Unmovable.

Fighting all the way.

Hold fast. Keep faith.

The work is never in vain.

Sunday Morning

Still climbing—places new to go,

books half-read and trails below,

grace that never kept a score,

love that opens every door.

One more morning, one more rise

under patient, caring eyes.

Not a finish, not a rest—

just the week He counts as best.

Steadfast. Unmovable.

Fighting all the way.

Hold fast. Keep faith.

The work is never in vain.