I threw a little seed in the ground
and I’m not sure where it landed
In this field of rocks and dirt
It seems like it was abandoned!

A little patience - a little time
to bridle the un-bridled zeal
The fruit & stem, the leaf & twig…
The perfect time to reveal

The sun it shines, the rain it falls
the wind through the trees will lurk
To warm the soil, and
make right the conditions…
the miracle to do its work

Where did it go, my little seed?
I have not seen it in such a long time…
Just waiting it was, for just the right season
The warmth, the sun and the clime

But when the blade
broke through the ground
the spot was not in dispute!
Right there! That’s where it is…
It’s presence without refute

So I trust the one
Who told me to plant
And trust his timing as well
For ripened fruit
will justify
And tell the story
so well!

Of the little seed…
who had inside
the power of the universe,
and patiently waited
till the time was right…
it’s secret to disperse!

David Kettler

 

A basket full of bread and a bushel full of seed
Often what is given to meet our every need
From the simple servant farmers, whose employ is above
Hungry now we are no more, from bounteous hand of love

Filled and satisfied by word… as well as in the deed
Left to ponder future crops- by given heaven’s seed
Plant them in the heart and wait, the miracle to see
What starts so small and so dismissed,
Becomes a fruitful tree

We must not let our future be endangered by our greed 
Investment pays at later date when greater is the need
So this lesson I would learn, when speaking thee with me
There is no greater gift to give…then learned from laden tree

To the stranger who is weary, and his hunger I might see
Give a little bread and seed…obtained from bended knee

       David Kettler
      Written 09/11/14

  I wrote this the day after hearing two wonderful sermons from
two of our ministers.

 

        
The well watered plains are just a mirage
a far better land do I see

With eyes of great faith, the dusty desert…
reveals a promise to be

Where He points, is always best
though my eye has trouble to see

It’s not what I am, that interests Him
just what He can see…in me

The dry desert, is His perfect canvas
from which he starts His great work

In digging the well, the beauty is found
the depth’s where the treasures do lurk

Waving fields of amber grain
and silos that over-flow

Come from digging, the depths of our pain
deep trenches…some never know

The labor that pulls the sweat from our brow
is beauty, our God desires

The savor that comes, at such a great cost
is purchased by sacrifice fires

So when I’m troubled, and my mouth is dry
and the sun beats down upon me

The fruit and the shade and the fountains so deep
are what God is seeing in me!

The well watered plain, that looked so inviting
so easy, so calm and so free

Was “actually” a robber, that secretly stole…
the very purpose that God had for me!

Now I lift up my eyes, and see this great desert,
the Lord has asked me to tread

And beg of Him please, for eyes of great faith…
To see it a garden instead!

David Kettler  August 31st 2013

 
Poem Notes:
I wrote this early Saturday morning after having Genesis 13 as
our bible study last Wed.
 

 

              Secret Harvest

 We have bread to eat that no one knows
from reaping oft alone
At times we share from another's field
where weeping they have sown

A bond is formed when two lone hearts
are both in tune with God
And fields are ripe with harvest
Though grown from different sod

Our baskets are filled and as we meet
again to share so much
New fruit appears and seed is sown
in response to the Spirits touch

Some of the fruit is new and fresh
while some is preserved in time
Age-old Truth as good as new
feeding her heart and mine

Faith is grown with peace and joy
as rows of love spring up
with promise of a future crop…
and an over-flowing cup

In barren times and driest clime
the prospects might seem dim
But deepest wells are bubbling up
and fill right to the brim

Reaping a secret harvest
that only Heaven knows
I share with you my dearest friend…
whatever my garden grows

David Kettler

 1/24/11

   Mom and Dad often sat in their den and talked about the current Wednesday night study, or whatever they had been enjoying from the Bible. After Dad passed away, I knew that Mom would really miss that. I tried to make it a point to call her once or twice a week and just share something that had been special to me from the study or the Sunday before. That is what inspired this poem.



 

 

 

                                                               heavenly vision

 
                let my eyes see the glorious sunset
                tho the sun beats in heat of the day
                may my eyes see that heavenly vision     
                when the world all around has turned gray

                                  Chorus:
                scales fall with the touch of my master,  
                trees are walking around in my mind                                  
                now i ask you to touch me again Lord,
                                   till that heavenly vision i find

 

                help me Lord not to look at the battle,
                but to see all my enemies flee
                put to flight by the sword of thy truth Lord,
                like the spear that was used to pierce thee

 

                as i fall at the foot of the cross Lord,
                let me see the blood spilled just for me
                clear my vision to see all the mercy
                that came flowing down Calvary’s tree

 

                lift my eyes to the heavens above now,
                help me focus my sight on the sky
                thou art coming again in the clouds Lord
                and i know that the days drawing nigh

                                     david kettler 

                                    april 30th 2002
  This was also written as a hymn and the second stanza is the chorus. I have a tune that goes with it. This hymn was inspired by Robert Doake (spelling?)from Australia. He is one of our Ministers and he spoke at a meeting in our home about 10 years ago about “Vision.” He said that everyone has a “view” of things but few really get a “vision.” All of the soldiers had a view of Goliath, however David had a vision of what God could do in the situation.

I go to the meeting, no bread in my basket
The week just seemed to fly by
The truth is right there, no need to mask it
God knows when I’m trying to lie

Distractions and noise and all of the chatter
The thoughts that fill up my mind
Things of no value that really don’t matter
Enter in to rob my soul blind

I sat in my chair and opened the Book
The pages seemed empty and bare
I knocked at the door, stepped in took a look
It seemed that he just wasn’t there

How my heart yearned for something to share
Some message that came from God’s heart
Something of value, fresh bread and to spare
I would bring for my own little part

A miracle happens! The table is filled
From everyone there in the room
The harvest is great, the soil has been tilled
And hope has sprung up in full bloom

I’m glad I was there! Just think what I’d missed
And all that would not have been mine
The treasure so sweetly by Providence kissed
The gold only fire can refine

The blessing will come in spite of our lack
God is true to his law from on high
And when we persist, He takes up the slack
And feeds hungry souls when they cry!

David Kettler
01/21/10

I wrote this poem just after the first of the year. I remember being very distraught over the trouble with selling our house. We had already moved into our home on Stemple Drive when the escrow on our Dell Rapids home kind of unraveled.  I think it is very normal to struggle spiritually when we struggle financially. Anytime a sheep is bothered, its head comes up and they quit feeding because they are intent on the coyote that is circling the flock. I’m very glad to my Dad that we were never given an option about going to meeting. Unless we were sick at the point of death…we went! That discipline has really helped me realize what this poem is all about…in spite of our failure or lack of attention to our Soul’s need, God is still very faithful and we never regret just going to the meeting no matter how we feel!