Hero

We all look to them and see something great. We see something inspiring. Something amazing. We all pretend to be them at one time or another, wether it be a caped crusader, a larger than life athlete or a strong and courageous warrior who defends- at all costs the helpless and weak.

We all long to be the hero.... But why? What is it that makes us so obsessed with them. Is it their looks? Their wit? their braun? Sure, some of these things help make a great hero idolized. But thats only the icing on the cake. A hero is looked up to and dreamed of because of their heart, and the choices they make with it. They are Courageous, Bold and Defiant. They stand face to face with their enemies ready to fight with every bit of strength that they have... to uphold that which is good. You see, It is underneath all of the muscle, beauty, and strength that lies a true hero. It is the ordinary man or woman that is called to do a great thing, or carry a life altering burden. It is the ability to overcome, to adapt and to persevere that which they are called upon to do. Not their ability to fight or outlast their enemy. But their ability to choose the right course and not move from it, even when all around them seem to stand in their way. Their character is a magnetic force, it is what draws us to them. We look up to hero's because they make the decisions we desire to make. They are in fact a representation of what we can become, of who we are if we act on what we know is right. They are leaders through their heart, they are looked up to for their actions. They choose the right path no matter how hard or strong the adversity.

You see we are all hero's, the real question is wether or not we will be bold enough to act as true hero's do. Can you be amongst a crowd and yet stand completely apart from it? Can you lift hands that hang low or burdens that seem too heavy for one to carry? Can you look into the heart of a man and see him not for what he is, but for what he can be? Can you fight the influence of evil even if all around you seem to be ensnared in its grasp? And can you walk on paths less traveled... paths you know will lead to happiness and light, even if all around you seem to point and mock? ... Yes, you can. You are a hero no matter what you may think or how you may feel, you are a hero. You just may not know it yet.

-Brett Smith (6/19/10)

Temple

Oh ye place of beauty and wonder.

Your majesty is as vast as the starry sky.
Your towering walls shimmer against the noon day sun and glow in the evening twilight, as a grand vestige, an ever present symbol of light and truth. A glorious union of ancient awe and wonder, coupled with modern and divine revelation, from He that stands at the helm of these great and marveling works of human craftsmanship. Built and assembled to bring back that which once was. Managed and maintained to bring forth all that is to come.

Your peace consumes the very threads and fibers of the soul, awakening and illuminating it as from a deep slumber. The love in which you house cannot be described but through the base and colorless words of humanity. Feelings that pen cannot write nor tongue express with enough eloquence, a feeling in which science cannot reproduce, nor theory calculate. That love which is as pure as the first snow, that love which is as definite as the billowing white clouds which drift across the clear blue sky above. Ever present, but seldom within reach. To be in the temple, is to walk amongst the clouds, leaving the world behind and entering a place of higher learning and grandeur that cannot be experienced anywhere else upon the face of the earth. Elevating the mind and soul to heights unchartered. Opening the floodgates of contemplation and thought, understanding and truth.

All may enter. All may experience. All may see and feel of its beauty and truth. But all must prepare to enter in at its gate, for narrow is its pathway and few there will be that pass underneath its steady doors. Without this preparation one would simply overlook and pass by the simplistic and yet profound truths which are found within the sacred walls of the temple.You first must learn and grow. Gaining knowledge and understanding, Then how those deep and everlasting principals will seep into your soul and cause you to awaken from the sleep of mortality and feel the closeness of Heaven. Then you will be capable of experiencing its divine and connected love. Preparing yourself to meet the God of the Heavens and the Earth, and feeling of that eternal love and bond in which he has for all of his children.

-Brett Smith, April, 2010
Inspired after attending the open house of the LDS Temple in Vancouver BC.

Death

O Death, how aquatinted we have become.

How intertwined we have been.

How many people we find in common. One with another.

My first impression was to find you a most bitter and reviled enemy.

My first memories of you were fear and disgust, hatred and loathing of the deepest and most sincere kind.

Your overwhelming darkness, like a cold thick fog, black as the night sky enveloped my senses, my thoughts, my world.

Sorrow was all I had to give you, tears were all that I could spare.

Our relationship was always one sided.

You would simply steal away the light from my world regardless of age.

Rob me of future memories, taunt me with the unknown and ever-looming possibilities... of what could have been.

Irrespective of my situation or position. Disregarding all rhyme or reason, you would strike down those dear beloved family members and friends, changing my world making me start anew.

Though the older I have gotten, a most peculiar thing has happened.

My thoughts and feelings for you have changed oh so much, I ask myself if I am changing for the worse?

How is it my hate and loathing for you has dampened? Why is my outlook no longer the same?

I have realized you are as lonely and misunderstood as those loved ones that you rob.

You are not a hated enemy nor a threat at all. Simply a grand and noble part of God's plan.

A dear friend called to escort those dearest and most loved people of my life to the immortal worlds beyond.

It was never you who's darkness it was that I felt, or who's taunts I was assured were shot my way.

It was the earthly departing of my dear sweet family and friends.

The absence of their warmth and light. Their impact in my life that was now realized in their absence.

Illuminating the reality that I must now fill in their earthly void with the qualities and love that they had so carefully displayed to me.

O Death, how my love for you has grown.

How my sorrow has turned to thanks.

I only hope when my time is nigh, and it is me that you come calling for... We will embrace one another as old familiar friends.

That you might take me gently and peacefully to that great reunion that awaits me. Through the veil, to my long lost loved ones.

-Brett Smith (4/17/10)

copyright 2010

Love

Love is not infatuation nor lust.

It is not a flash of passion or a night of romance.

It is not the igniting of a flame or butterfly's attacking the insides of ones stomach.

It is not security... nor the desire to feel wanted.

Love can not be thought of as a 'head over heels' state where one considers themselves "Love Sick".

These are merely stages of the human emotion and they will come and go with time.

True love is a bond. A bond that is built slowly and steadily upon the foundations of respect, kindness, patience, gratitude and long suffering. It is a living thing that must always be well maintained and fed. The moment one man or woman becomes Idled or comfortable in their relationship, is the moment when Love can begin to slip away and elude even the most caring and thoughtful of people. Love is a condition of our actions. It is a fragile and sweet thing that must always be cared for and something we must always be mindful of. Never let a thought of kindness go unsaid, or a deed go un-noticed. It is in these times that we can begin to diminish the capacity of our hearts, and the tender sweet feelings that we have for our companion, family and God. 

Always remember to express your feelings. For when we cease to communicate we begin to corrode the slow and steady burnings of love. 

Love is the greatest and most powerful emotion we are able to experience. It transcends happiness, sadness, excitement and depression. Through Love we find meaning, we find greatness and we find ourselves becoming better people in and through its actions and desires. If we remain faithful to it, and always strive to maintain it, realizing its importance... we will find the secrets and happiness of life. We will see beyond ourselves and our own desires and begin to look into the world and see it for its true and utter beauty. We will appreciate the little and important things of this mortal existence. Faith grows though it, wisdom can be found in it, and happiness always abounds where love is. 

Brett Smith (2/18/10)

Inspired by Kristen

copyright 2010

Stand Up and Be Strong

Lift your head, never let it hang low. Sit up straight never huntching. Walk always amongst the light, leaving the shadows to dance their evil dance always at your feet. Be firm in your belief and devout in your faith. Hearken not to the mobs but be slow to hear the poor and lowly. Seek not the riches of the world but rather the treasures of the heart. Put little stalk into Man, but give freely and openly to the Lord. Do not sit and be idled waiting for the next command, instead stand up and seek out all good work. Be quick to hear and slow to speak. Dont judge the wicked for you may quickly find yourself counted among them, look to your fellow man with love and respect showing that same love and mercy you would show yourself. Look not at the bad of a situation no matter how grave, Instead seek out the good in all things, even if it be the smallest of fractions. Bridle your passions and desires no matter how noble, take all things in moderation starving the natural man and feeding ones true self with wisdom, knowledge and pure light. Be patient in the hardest of times, even if all around you seem to bicker and complain... let no unclean thing leave your heart, for each action there must needs be a thought. Know the power of your mind, if well kept and maintained, it can house within it the knowledge of God and the voice of Angels. Open your eyes and be not blind, give your soul the sight that it so longs to obtain. Sit no more but stand up and be strong!  

Brett Smith (1/18/10)

-Inspired by Rudyard Kipling's "If"

copyright 2010

Happiness, Peace and Simplicity

Lost and alone, frightened and scared... All of life's obstacles can in no way be bared.

Empty and dark are the feeling within, lost and afraid I know not where to begin.

I've thought and I've searched, asked questions galore... Oh where are the answers I've been searching for.

I've clicked and I've read and I've sought them all out, yet no one can tell me what I'm going without.

What do I crave and long to achieve? 

Happiness... Peace ... and Simplicity.

But how do I find them these things that are most dear? I've searched all alone... even up to this present year.

But one thing I've forgotten from almost the very start... A humble sincere prayer coming straight from the heart.

As I began telling my souls deepest desires, almost immedietly I felt the warmth of a fire.

Happiness and joy overcame my whole being, I felt as though my body had just begun beaming.

Then a still small voice was carried on the air, so soft and gentle as the strand  of a hair.

"Happiness Love and Peace you've been seeking to know... Just soften your heart, be kind, and the Love that is within you will grow.

Like a seed it will sprout at first small but steady, over-time growing bigger and stronger as you are ready.

My dearest child, I've always been near, never has your cry not penetrated my ear.

I've watched and I've waited and had Angels at your side, For this time where you could listen and with me abide.

I love you my Son (Daughter), these things you must know.... -With true Love and Service your Happiness will grow.

- Give unto others always an increase, in this my child you will always have peace.

- Treat all manor of life with extreme Fragility, and there will you find your Simplicity.

Your Love should be constant and flowing as a creek, and always remember to turn the other cheek.

Endure all things that come in your way... And by my side you shall always stay."

-Brett Smith '09

copyright 2009

Change (Aug 2009)

Whenever we encounter... it always seems a big loss,

Whenever we meet... its never just a small toss.

More like a skip jump and a throw that takes my world for a spin,

A meeting that requires such an effort to grin.

Replacing all laughter happiness and glee,

with feelings of sadness and loss or melancholy.

Why must you always visit, when life begins to feel grand,

taking away, changing, like tides do to the sand. 

Never ready or prepared for that unpronounced time

When you enter my life for no reason or rhyme

Inevitable as it is, the adjustment always seems slow,

I cant remember a time where my emotions don't show.

Just apart of this life, one moment in time,

still I long for the past and those warm feelings sublime.

Onward and upward is the path I must climb,

for now it is impossible to turn back the time.

Change may rob me of the present here and now,

She can flip my life over until I cant see the ground.

Or throw me to the unknown  where I dont know where to start,

Throw me right through obstacles and rip me clean apart.

But my memories are mine each one deep warm and profound. 

Yes they are mine, all mine, tucked deep safe and sound.

-Brett Smith '09

copyright 2009