A Random Collection of Our Poems and Prose
A GOOD DAY TO REMEMBER
by Bruce and Linda Tregonning
In utter solemn darkness the day grew black as night
It was mid-day at Golgotha, the world would not have known it,
He hung there, a lone figure broken and spent:
A life force gone but only in death, as God His Father, saw fit;
Separated, isolated from a world that had turned its back,
Cries of anguish, torment, ridicule and abusive taunts
In pain, none of us could bear, He clung in total despair,
He died a noble death, a shame on all of us that still haunts:
Us each year as we gather to offer our remembrance
As we commit ourselves once more to walk the way of the cross
So that, sharing in His sufferings we may be united with Him in His risen
Life that He paid so dearly in love over our sins at such a cost;
Now as the candles flicker within a darkness surround
A new hope for light to come back, symbol of life and truth
We can all look through the gloom and sorrow of this day of history
To be joyful that we can proclaim the mystery of our faith as proof!
Proof and evidence that He will rise again
Quashing rumours but affirming prophecies dare to be told
Of Christ, the Lion of Judah, our Lord soon to return
The end-time age is quickening, ready yourselves as events unfold!
Thank you dear Lord Jesus for this defining good day to remember
We have been delivered from darkness into Your glorious light
By Your shed blood we have been drawn closer to You:
Made free, guaranteed protection, all under Your spirit and might.
So today, Good Friday, is a good day to remember
For the very reason that You dear Lord did the business for us
By offering to us the perfect sacrifice
And enabled us to be free in the spirit of life, thank you Jesus!
Composed on Good Friday, April 6, 2012.
Bruce Tregonning.
BUT DOES IT HAVE TO BE THAT WAY ?
by Bruce and Linda Tregonning
Yes, emphatically, yes, it does have to be that way!
“The way, the truth and the life!”
We, humanly speaking, cannot cut it
Only God, the creator, can use the knife!
We must forget our pride and reach further in
To attain real fulfilment in God’s approval to win
Like an addiction it’s something that dwells within
A life-searching satisfaction that stops just in front of Him!
To approach and have real access to His throne of grace
We must become friends: holy, devout and humble
Seeking His way, not ours, runs against our nature
But we must try so hard, in His strength, if we’re not to stumble.
Does it have to be that way?
Is a question that fails us time after time?
But as the Lord declares: “I know the plans I have for you:
Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
So there is a way out for brothers and sisters like you and me
By praying and making prayer a life-style choice
We can grow strongly and produce much fruit
His Holy Spirit leading the way: follow, follow and rejoice!
As an ‘end-time-church’ preparing for Christ’s return
Amidst the clamour of world-wide disasters and chaos so in line with prophesy
We can look above as believers with renewed hope and joy
That heavenly-bound mission in rapture and shalom to enjoy!
Bruce Tregonning 6th June, 2010.
WHAT THE MIRROR SAW FROM THE CORNER OF THE ROOM?
by Bruce and Linda Tregonning
She was pert. She looked great. She exuded confidence. How did I know about all these things? Well,
I was a witness. I was lovingly installed in the corner of a classroom: a tall mirror from top to bottom.
I could see all sorts of things some of which would make your hair stand on end. You see my ability
to reflect meant there was no way to hide anything. But she was a young lass, a beginning teacher.
From the beginning of each new day in the school week, I saw her waltz into the classroom. And
every time she would stand in front of me, brush her hair out of her eyes (as she was a cyclist), apply
a wee bit of rouge, shake off her flats and put on her stilettos. Last of all she would stand back to
admire her features. She looked gorgeous. Then, in high esteem she whisked off joyfully to her table
at the front of the room. As she sat in silence collecting her thoughts: musing and contemplating the
subjects she would be teaching that day, I could reflect a fixed gaze of expression as she was
preparing to take on the world. That mode of thinking was now suddenly shattered by the school
bell ringing in the new day. Typically, there was a rush of tiny feet outside in the cloakroom before I
could see shoes of myriad sizes and happy, enthusiastic pupils’ faces race to their desks. One
precocious young girl passed by the mirror and momentarily stroked her lips, smoothing over some
sort of balm. Another, a boy, perchance, gave a geeky look before passing on to his desk at the side
of the room. In the course of the lesson plans, I, the mirror flashed back many images of children
putting up their hands to ask and answer questions. One particular day while the young lass was in
full teaching mode, she espied a creature reflected in the mirror rifling into a bag in the cloakroom.
“Eek,” she shrieked. Everyone looked up in utter shock to see her clamber onto a chair, her stilettos
falling noisily to the floor. Sure enough, it was a brown, furry rodent feeding on some hapless child’s
lunch bag.
“It’s a rat! Someone, just get him out of here!”
One boy, the one who geeked earlier with a cheeky expression claimed the moment. He hastened to
the cloakroom in a fearless manner. An obviously good rugby player as I reflected, saw the boy
snaffle the rat with an old towel in a clean dive. Amidst the young lady’s continuing shrieks, the boy
in his brave pick-up scarped to the door to release it back into the little stream that meandered by
the classroom. There was a sudden but huge relief in the room as Miss Honeylove composed herself,
appeared before the mirror slipping on her high heels. She then thanked the boy for showing
initiative while the class joined her in clapping him back to his seat.
Bruce Tregonning August, 2019.
WHAT I CAN REMEMBER THAT IS NO LONGER THERE: THE OLD COTTAGE
by Bruce and Linda Tregonning
There it was nestled in surrounding silver poplar and willow trees, a dear old cottage
in quite a romantic setting. According to people living in the district of Blackstone Hill,
it was a shack built for the gold seekers mining in that area of the Central Otago gold
rush of the 1880’s. A basic shelter but comfortable, blessed by a continental, high
altitude climate of hot, cold conditions which favoured a corrugated iron roof which
had never seen the like of rust. And those cob, mud-clay bricks which kept the place
cool in summer and cosy-warm in winter. It was the perfect place for a holiday: away
from the modern technology of “the day”, an experience of ‘home-away from home’
typified by electrical appliances and telephones. A return to those days of basic,
rustic living, a truly rural experience. It was an antithesis of modern day living.
But now as I looked, a mere shell of those by-gone-days, renovated with additions
and more modern features. It was not the same. Gone were the beloved large
wheels leaning outside the front wall, rough cast smeared over the cob bricks of sun-
dried mud. Gone were the candle sticks and tilly lamps that lit up the night, no
longer an attraction of light seeking moths—all replaced now by electric light shades.
The old Shacklock stove fuelled by cones, piles of matagouri and broom, just gone!
Oh how I remembered those halcyon days of stepping into the back of the cottage
through a poky little scullery-come-kitchen which led onto a creaky step that bounced
up and down. The next thing you were in the dining room but not to forget a little side
bedroom which I slept in. I was always bemused and intrigued by a natural, wild rose
that had found its way through the cracks in the cob bricks. (There was no need for
pot plants here!) Those were some of the pleasant things I can remember in my
boyhood days of holidaying at the old cottage.
WHAT ARE WE PLACED IN THIS LIFE FOR?
by Bruce and Linda Tregonning
Right from the beginning of Life when Almighty God created Heaven and Earth, He placed
His first human, Adam, in a garden, called Eden, a garden that was perfect. He was
commissioned to look after the garden and later, he was joined by Eve. So that was the plan:
an expectation for mankind to work for a living. Throughout history, the ultimate requirement
expected of man was to use his God-given talents to do a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.
Nothing has changed. Only what man has conceived in his own mind that he follows a
pattern of life to realize his goals for survival. The worldview is so alluring and sometimes so
attractive that we are swept away by the many other fads, cults, sects, or cliques promising
better things that tempt us to believe they are the right paths to follow. At ‘the end of the day’
it leaves unrealized satisfaction and fulfilment. In an analogy: at the end of the garden there
are two gates, and we are told in the scriptures in Matthew 7: 13-14: to, “Enter through the
narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many
enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life and only a few
find it”. In John Bunyan’s ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ he brings out that very analogy as Christian
ponders his choice of direction. Just why are we placed in this life for? Is it to satisfy our
whims? Or is it a strong vibe, a signal of something bigger or perhaps a supernatural
presence guiding us to the light at the end of a tunnel—a revelation, a vision maybe?
Whatever? We can however lose sight of the privilege that we have been given, to be
stewards so that we can work in the garden, caring and maintaining through good
management skills. Moreover, our predestined job, career, other life choices we’ve made
according to His power and plan, who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of
His will. Surely as we look around the garden we care for or observe, it will be noted the
strong evidence for a Creator who produces magnificence. Whether it be the intricacies of
petal development, the exquisite flowers, and scent or the nuance of green seen in the
various leaves of the different species of trees. How can all of this not be pointing to a
mastermind, God, who has made Heaven and Earth? The signs are all around us to give
awe and amazement, that we are placed in this life to appreciate. There is really a very little
excuse to admit that being placed in this life is boring. Anyone who does not believe that
God exists, how can they prove a counterargument or see any contradiction? How must we
wonder, be awed by the stars in the night sky, the grandeur of mountain valleys and rivers to
fish, for mountain-top experiences? Look at the signs around us as being sufficient to believe
“God-is-not-dead? He is still at work in us! Yet in all that God has given us, we must do the
mahi, the work to do, to finish the work He has assigned us in the little time we have. I don’t
know about your impression, your understanding of the question: what we are placed in this
life for, but I can tell you. It is my desire to share with you at a deeper level of my faith: it is
my firm conviction that I’ve been placed in this life for a commission—to tell others my love
for a life that follows the example of Jesus Christ. “For it is in Him, that I live and move and
have my being”. (Acts 17:28) So to carry out His work requirement, I need good health and
immunity to fight off attacks of Satan and from sicknesses. I can therefore claim His promise
when Isaiah quotes: “I am the Lord your God who teaches you what’s best for you and
directs you in the way you should go”>> (Is.48:17) Wow, I’m covered and protected to do His
work. The greatest gift I can give to others, I believe, is God’s love, healing, and blessing. He
has honoured me in my career so now I want to honour Him! At the very least I’d say: be
blessed in the work you’ve been given to do; it will give stability and, as a Swedish man
quipped: “it’ll give a good satisfaction job!” Thanks be to God!