2011 New Years Resolutions

(CLEVELAND) - Do you have a resolution for the new year? So many people do but too many fail to write these promises down and actually keep them.

This is not a year, this is the year for effective change, it will happen. The motivators should be what they always are; love and peace and goodwill toward your fellow human being. We need to see the end of needless conflict, we have to push past religious extremism that drains God's real message right out of the teachings.

We should concentrate on our commonalities, not our differences. We must love and protect our children; all children the world over, for they have done nothing to deserve a bad life.

Take this new year and if you aren't already involved in your community, become involved. This is the year of the reemergence of the political activist for humanity.

It is time to stop fighting for small gains and look toward those that benefit all people, especially the unfortunate, the unloved, the disenfranchised, the homeless, the forgotten; the Veterans should always be in your thoughts, as well as those who pay with their bodies and their personal freedom in order to speak out against war.

They are a mixed lot but they are your brothers and sisters regardless of whether you can see that at this point in your life, or not.
-Forward by News Editor Tim King

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2011 New Years Resolutions

Almost everyone makes a promise,
Every time a new year rolls around,
And so as not to forget what it is,
Some even bother to write it down.

I am going to quit smoking,
I’ll never take another drink,
As well you should stop if not,
Your clothes & breath will stink.

I am going to quit eating sweets,
Not one piece of chocolate cake,
Why don’t these resolutions work?
Everyone makes one vital mistake.

Before you can ever quit anything,
It is imperative that you must start,
By love & inspiration that flows from God,
To The Holy Spirit dwelling in your heart.

No one alone has the will power,
To quit wrong & start doing right,
The positive voice heard inside your mind?
That is The Holy Spirit to guide your life.

Too many listen to the negative aspect,
Of the saying that you’ll never succeed,
Do not listen to the evil one’s thoughts,
Only the positive ideas that you need.

Well, how do I distinguish between the two?
That’s as simple as putting butter on bread,
Would God have sent Jesus to suffer what he did?
Just to put some negative thoughts in your head?

Don’t just write your goals down on paper,
Stamp them deep into the center your mind,
Addition of The Holy Spirit to the equation,
Remember He’s trustworthy, loving and kind.

When our Lord Jesus ascended into heaven,
A promised comforter was sent in His place,
The form of The Holy Spirit of the Almighty
Yes you can, yes you can & will win any race.

So don’t make resolutions on your own,
Call on The Holy Spirit to lead the way,
Now through His strength and guidance,
You can make resolutions every single day.

Okay, start with a change to your language?
Concentrating only on the positive to speak,
No more N or B words, whatever’s negative,
Uplifting words to grow stronger, not weak.

In God as you increase with strength,
More challenges will arise in your life,
Satan’s job becomes that much harder,
When our minds are set on doing right.

Make reading your bible the primary resolution,
And stop wasting more time by fooling around,
Last year has now become last year for a reason,
Every day’s a new revelation sun-up to sundown.

And do not go into the New Year with an old mind,
Otherwise you will still be thinking last year’s time,
Old wine skins burst by being filled with new wine,
So whatever didn’t work in the past leave it behind.

New year, new thinking, new growth, new mentality,
Where the future must now become your new reality,
New wine has yet to ferment and therefore old skins,
Will split in half once the new growth process begins.

By Luke Easter

Luke Easter is a poet who writes about things that are very close to the heart of Salem-News.com. Another former U.S. Marine, Luke heals the world with an approach that reaches people on a different level, one known for centuries, yet too often forgotten in the one we live in.

We live in a world of social & economic injustice. The main reason for founding America in the first place was to relieve the oppression of the King of England. Patrick Henry said it best, “give me liberty or give me death.” And yet, all too often death seems to be the only way out. Why is there such a high suicide rate especially among teens, in the land of the free & the home of the brave? What makes headlines? Good news? Ha! More depressing stories than anything else. I feel poetry takes an edge off the hurt of bad news while still delivering it but in a, “glitzy” sort of way. Giving a different perspective. Kind of like slap in the face as opposed to a knife in the back. At least with the slap you’ll live to see another day and you will know whom it’s from. I wasn’t here for the beginning of the world but at 59, I just might be here for the end.

Even though it’s still a knife, rhyme poetry helps to dull the blade. And that’s my job. You can write to Luke Easter at: lyricsfromlucas@aol.com