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Tulips and Shells
By Donna Janec Karambelas

Words from the Artist:

Tulips and Shells is a quirky bouquet of red-orange tulips mixed with taupe and bright purple shells. I like tulips and I especially like sea shells so I decided to combine them in a very vivid small watercolor!

I enjoy watching a painting come to life! My most frequent medium is watercolor. I love the myriad of ways paint and water join to create that which is sometimes beautiful, sometimes odd but always interesting. My intent is to produce a piece that has an energy, a character if you will, to it. My mission as an artist is to enhance and enliven the world.

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Wear and display the Pond Ripples Fish!

Visit the new Pond Ripples Merchandise Store. Support Pond Ripples, and share your faith.
Pond Ripples makes $1.00 from every item sold!

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Grace Understood
By Erik Estabrook

May you walk his path with blessings
may you take care of your name
with your heart not be possessive
but worthy to the lamb

may his grace be understood
and used for good
may the path you walk be lighted in your way

I believe in the one who understands me
who loves me for who I am
I will drink his word up gladly
and offer you all I have

your grace is understood
and I'll do all I can
to lead my life for you
lord I reach out with both hands

mercy make me a better man.

About the Author:

I've been a Christian all my life, and have been taught to treat people well by my family. Most importantly I know God wants me to live with care to every moment and with love in my heart.

Visit Erik Estabrook's website or consider his book, A Heart Cast in Verse.

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Support Pond Ripples!

I love that I am able to offer this e-zine for free, especially as I am increasingly considering it a ministry. I want to continue expanding what Pond Ripples offers for my wonderful subscribers. You can help! The first goal is getting the Pond Ripples Record Book out of the red. We have a long way to go, but I know my subscribers can do it. Do you want to help?

The number one thing you can do right now is enter the contests! Pond Ripples keeps 12.5 percent of every contest entry fee unless the contest is cancelled. That is about 63 cents for every entry. It doesn't seem like much, but it adds up. The art contest deadline is coming, and the theme for 2009 is Noise! Enter now. Visit the contest page for more information.

Thank you from me, my family, and everyone who enjoys this e-zine.

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Ocean Beach
By Joanne Olivieri

About the Photographer:

Joanne is an accomplished author and poet who resides in San Francisco and publishes a triannual ezine titled Ya'Sou! Ezine. To learn more about Joanne including her writings, publications, news, awards, interviews, reviews and bio please visit her website.

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Onesimus
by Keith G. Laufenberg

-1-
THE CITY

For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
--New Testament: Hebrews 13:14.

Many centuries had passed since the town of Colosse had been a leading city. Being abreast of the Lycus River, in the country now known as Turkey, it was on the great east-west trade route leading from Ephesus on the Aegean Sea to the Euphrates River, but in the year of A.D. 60, it was little more than a second-rate market town, which had long been surpassed by its neighbors Laodicea and Hierapolis in power and importance. Colosse was also situated just adjacent to another town, Ephesus, a city that the only disciple of Jesus Christ also referred to as an Apostle, even though he wasn’t one of Jesus’ twelve original disciples, probably because he was the first prominent missionary in so many regions of the world to advocate the great reforms of Jesus’ word and truth, had come to preach the Good News and stayed for about three years. It was during this time, due to Paul’s preaching of the word, that a resident named Epaphras became a follower of Paul and a convert to Christianity. Now, Epaphras, with Paul’s assistance and guidance and true to his beliefs, carried the Good News to the church in Colosse and won many converts, one of these being Philemon, a land owner who also owned slaves. One of Philemon’s slaves was a young man named Onesimus, who stole some of his Master’s possessions and ran away to sell them. This offense was punishable by death under Roman law, if Philemon decided to charge Onesimus with the offense, and so Onesimus was ever on the alert for his life and wary at all times, even as he strode boldly around Rome, searching for buyers for the stolen possessions he carried inside his knapsack.

-2-
THE CRIME

Heaven takes care that no man secures happiness by crime.
--Alfieri, Oreste. Act I, sc. 2.

The marketplace bustled with people moving from one vendor’s booth to the next. Some were eying the wares while others were handling and purchasing various items of merchandise, as Roman soldiers, easily spotted by their uniforms, strolled, or, mounted on horseback, rode about the market area, while, into this mix Onesimus flitted furtively about. He had sold three candelabra’s and all the silverware that he had taken from his Master’s house and had used up most of the money he had gotten for them, on food and drink, staying drunk for nearly a week. He was down to his last denarius and his stomach rumbled in anticipation of food, as he salivated at a vendor’s stall. He knew he had enough for a loaf of bread, and meat and wine, but also realized that it would leave him with little if any money, left over. He spied an attractive-looking line of sausages and meat and began haggling with the vendor, who told him he would take a denarius for two of them. Pointing at a bottle of wine and a loaf of bread, he asked the price for all three and the vendor scowled at him.

"Two denarii," he barked, and Onesimus scowled back at him.

"Ah, you want too much fellow. The sausages are no more than a couple of shekels, if that?"

"No-no, together they are over a mina friend, and they are delicious. Now do you want them or not?"

"Not for a denarius fellow. I’ll tell you what I’ll do though. I’ll give you a denarius for that one if you’ll give me a loaf of bread and a bottle of wine with it?"

"Ah, well, let me see then." The vendor took a loaf of bread and a bottle of wine and handed them along with one sausage to Onesimus, who smiled but then frowned when he felt the bread.

"Hey, this bread is hard, it is old, I want fresh bread and this wine bottle is only about half-full."

"Well, that’s what you get for a denarius, fellow. Come on now, pay up."

Onesimus scowled harshly but reached into his pocket for the denarius and handed it over. As the vendor slipped the denarius into his pocket, Onesimus spied several silver coins and his eyes darted to the vendor, whose back was now turned towards him. One of the coins was worth four denarii and there must be at least six of them lying inside a drawer less than an arm’s length from where Onesimus was now standing. He had the bread and wine in one hand and the sausage in the other but smiled deceptively, as he put the sausage on the drawer and scooped up most of the coins. As he was shoving them into his pocket, the vendor’s wife saw him and shrieked, pointing her finger in his direction. "Aiiiieeeee, An’eye’uz! He is taking our silver!"

Ananias turned and saw Onesimus stuff the silver coins into his pocket and take off running. He spied a centurion and pointed at the fast-disappearing Onesimus. "Ah, sir, please, he is a thief, a thief I say, and I have been robbed! Get him! You must get him! he is a thief, a thief, I tell you!"

The centurion spied several of the palace guards riding with their commander and made his way to where they were. The commander listened, even as he eyed the fast disappearing figure of Onesimus, then quickly pointed towards him and gave the order for his troops to capture the running man, the thief.

-3-
PRISON

The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.
He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household."
Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and all the others in his house.
At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.
The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.
--New Testament: Acts 16:29-35

The prisoner was chained to the wall and he could barely stand up, his back and shoulders still bearing the marks from the beating and flogging he had received at the hands of Roman justice. He had been cast far away from all the other prisoners inside a bleak, darkened dungeon in Rome. Charged with theft, punishable by death in Rome, Onesimus had been totally disregarded when the vendor received his stolen money back and had even gotten back the merchandise that Onesimus had paid a denarius for. He had told the centurion that he didn’t care what they did with the thief, and so Onesimus had gone to be locked up and, as with many inconsequential prisoners such as him they simply chained him to a wall, in wrist and leg-irons, after beating and flogging him severely. He was chained in such a way that he could not lie or sit but merely fall against the wall that he was chained to. Many prisoners died in such positions and their bodies were dragged away and forgotten about after being buried in a pauper’s grave.

He sagged against the wall and looked around at several other prisoners, many of them chained to walls also but able to sit or lie down, and passed into unconsciousness.

The two palace guardsmen strode through the cells quickly and headed straight for the prisoner manacled to the bleak, gloomy corner wall. He was emaciated and had been in the prison for three days, three monstrously hot days with no food or water. "Judah, Judah, are you alive, Judah? Are you still alive?"

The prisoner opened his eyes slowly and stared blankly straight ahead, even as the two guards poured cold-water over his head. Finally, he sputtered and stuttered, "Ah-eh-er-ah-wah, what do you want?"

"Judah, I am Festus, and this is Thomas, we are here to help you."

The prisoner eyed the two palace guards furtively and mirthlessly spat, "Bu- bu- but, you are guards?"

"Yes, yes we are guards, but we are something else also, and we want to help you."

Quickly the guard named Festus opened the manacles on the prisoner’s hands, and he fell forward onto the floor where he appeared to be yet unconscious again. The other guardsman, Thomas, bent down and put his face within inches of the prisoner’s and whispered, "Judah, are you alright?"

The prisoner opened his eyes and, barely able to speak, pleaded, in a tremor, "Ah, ah, wah ... wah ... water, pla ... pla ... please?" The guard known as Festus bent down and held a wineskin close to the prisoner’s mouth and the refreshing liquid poured into his mouth, as he hissed, "Tha ... tha ... than ... thank ... thank you, dear God, thank you."

Festus opened the manacles that chained the prisoner’s ankles and they stood him up. As they did so, Festus noticed the look of horror on the prisoner’s face. He thought he was being led to the gallows, but Festus smiled at him and stroked the rankled hair on the man’s head. "Brother, we are moving you to another area of the prison where we have food for you and a mat. Come with us now, for we are your guards, but we are also Christians."

"Cah ... car’rar’ris’tuns?"

"Yes, we have been accorded this gift by the Lord Jesus Christ."

"The ... the Lord Jesus Christ?"

"Yes, we have been instructed in his ways and have been saved, and we wish for you to hear the Good News also."

"The ... th ... the Good News?"

"Yes, we are taking you to the Apostle. He will explain everything to you."

"The Apostle?"

"Yes, he is a prisoner in this prison also, but preaching the Good News is his only crime."

The prisoner inhaled deeply and then disgorged a pint of the wine he had just drunk. His breathing became labored as he tried to speak. "Ah, plah ... pla ... please ... who is this Apostle?"

Just before he passed again into a state of unconsciousness, the prisoner heard Festus’ bold voice say, "Paul, we are taking you to the Apostle Paul."

-4-
THE APOSTLE PAUL

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.
For I am with you and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city."
So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.
--New Testament: Acts 18: 9-11

He awoke and stared at an apparition sitting before him. A small, wizened, bent-over man, with a hairy face and eyebrows that appeared to be one continuous stream of bushy hair and an unkempt beard. His head was almost totally devoid of hair, and he smelled like someone living in close contact with other suffering, sweating humans, even as he himself did. The man’s large Roman nose turned towards Onesimus and he smiled. "What is your name, my son?"

"Suuuu, sir, could I have some water please sir?"

The man held a ladle of water to Onesimus’ lips and he drank it in greedily, even as he eyed the giver speculatively. After he drank his fill, he rasped, "Sir, my name is Jew-dah." The man simply stared at him and his face seemed to be glowing, as something strange surged through Onesimus’ body, and he blurted out, "Sir, my name is Oh-nee-sim-uz."

"Onesimus, why did you run away from your Master and take his possessions?"

Onesimus inhaled suddenly, as lightening seemed to flow into his veins and his heart pounded into his head like thunder above in a storm. He didn’t understand what was happening to him, but he knew this man would not punish him for anything he said, even though he also knew that he was a slave and subject to death for his crimes. So he opened his mouth to tell a lie, but suddenly, as tears streamed down his face the true story rushed to his lips, like fresh water coming from a dirty stream.

After he was done telling what he had done, the man put his hand upon Onesimus’ head and said, "My son, in the name of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ of Nazareth, your sins are forgiven."

Onesimus felt a heavy burden lift from inside his body, even as he saw the man’s face glowing, as a light in the night. "But sir, how can Jesus of Nazareth forgive ME of my sins?"

"Even as he forgave me, My Son, for I am a greater sinner than you."

He stared at the man’s glowing face. "Bu- but who are you sir?"

"I am Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, and I will tell you why God has chosen you to become his faithful servant and why you must return to your earthly master Philemon, a brother of mine in the Lord Jesus’ promise and why you will do these things for the Lord, who loves you and showers you with his mercy, love and grace. Listen to me now, Onesimus."

But Onesimus could barely listen now, as his ears pounded sledgehammers into his brain and a voice warned him not to listen because he was a slave, and they were trying to trap him. They were about to kill him. He tried to sit up but then the voice told him to grab a rock to hit the Apostle Paul.

Just as he reached towards one, the Apostle’s hand covered his, and he said, "My Son, do not listen to Beelzebub, listen to the Lord."

Onesimus turned his head towards the glowing face of the Apostle Paul and tears streamed down his face, as his ears suddenly stopped pounding with the drums of Satan, and opened up for him to listen to the Apostle Paul.

"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in Jerusalem. I was thoroughly trained in the law of Moses and I persecuted the followers of Jesus Christ, even to their death and I also ..."

-5-
THE LETTER

And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.
--New Testament: Philemon 1:22.

Onesimus nodded his head in agreement to what the Apostle Paul was saying. He understood what he had to do because when the Holy Spirit is inside you, you don’t question it, even though it had only been six months that he had been within the prison gates and it seemed more like six hours since he had been with Paul, whom he considered to be like a father to him. He was to meet up with another faithful brother of the Lord’s named Tychicus that very hour and then travel with Tychicus back to Colosse, where he was to deliver a letter that Paul had given to him. He was writing another letter and talking to Onesimus at the same time. "My dear Onesimus, you know what I have said to you concerning your return to Colosse and to Philemon and his wife and child, all members of the Lord’s family. They will accept you back, My Son, with open arms. Archippus especially misses you, as he is almost your very age and you know you were friends. Now Onesimus here look, read my letter to Philemon so that you won’t be worried."

As he read the short letter, tears began to form and when he was finished his cheeks were wet and he croaked, "Please, Father, let me stay with you."

Paul hugged Onesimus to him and stroked his hair but then said, "My Son, you know that I love you, indeed as a father does a son but you also know very well how small this love is when compared to the Lord’s and how glorious we will have it when we meet again in the Promised Land. You must go back tonight with Tychicus."

Onesimus nodded, even as he knew not how he was going to leave the prison. "But, Father, how will I leave the dungeon?"

Paul smiled serenely and looked upwards. He said a prayer and then told Onesimus to lie down on his mat. When he did so, Onesimus fell into an immediate deep sleep, and an angel appeared calling his name. When he looked up the angel was standing next to his sleeping body telling him to arise. He stood upright and followed the angel through the prison, as the doors opened and they passed through them and, as quick as that, stood in the streets of Rome, where Onesimus saw the angel disappear, even as the Apostle Paul appeared with another, much younger man at his side. He walked to Onesimus. "My son, this is Tychicus and now we say goodbye to one another." Paul hugged Onesimus to him and suddenly Onesimus opened his eyes and wondered if he had been dreaming. But, standing in front of him was Tychicus, and, he held Paul’s letters in his hand, and he was speaking to Onesimus.

"So, we go now brother, for our ship is in port and will leave soon. Thank you for the delivering the letters."

-6-
MY BROTHER

I am sending him back to you: will you receive him as my son, part of me?
I should have dearly loved to have kept him with me: he could have done what you would have done—looked after me here in prison for the Gospel’s sake.
But I would do nothing without consulting you first, for if you have a favor to give me, let it be spontaneous and not forced from you by circumstances.
--New Testament: Philemon 1:12-14.

Onesimus and Tychicus delivered the letter to the church at Colosse and Tychicus went out to deliver the letter to Philemon, who was holding a service inside his house, with many other believers. Onesimus had been asked to help another brother and would join Tychicus as soon as he finished the chore, both men knowing the way to Philemon’s home.

Onesimus approached the house warily; it had taken him two hours of labor to help the brother in Colosse and, as he made his way towards Philemon’s home, it was just approaching dusk. He looked up the field and saw a solitary figure approaching him. When he got to about thirty yards away he recognized his former Master Philemon, and he stopped dead in his tracks. All his old fears of this confrontation welled up in his throat. Philemon kept walking towards him and Onesimus became very nervous, but when Philemon got about ten yards away everything changed, as his arms spread open wide and he boomed, "Onesimus, My Brother, you are home. Come, let us celebrate, for you are no longer my slave but Christ’s now, and you are now my brother."

About the Author:

Keith Laufenberg has had two novels published, both in 2007, Semper-Fi-Do-Or-Die and Miami Rock. He has been writing poems and stories for over 30 years and has had many of them published in numerous literary journals and magazines, such as: The Maryland Review, Spillway Review, AIM Magazine, Northern Stars Magazine, Mobius, Down in the Dirt, The Oracular Tree, Spoiled Ink, Nuvein, Struggle and The Pink Chameleon.

Visit Keith Laufenberg's website.

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And for the Mind

By Ernest Williamson III

About the Artist:

Ernest Williamson III is a 31 year old polymath who has published poetry and visual art in over 165 online and print journals. Ernest has taught at NJCU and is currently an English Professor at Essex County College. Professor Williamson is also a Ph.D. Candidate at Seton Hall University in the field of Higher Education. Visit his website.

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Short Lake Poem

By Michael Neal Morris

Lord, what prayer
can I offer here
except thanks for the solitude,
the waking song of this pond,
and another day
without snakebites?

About the Author:

Michael Neal Morris has published online and in print in Borderlands, Lynx Eye, The Concho River Review, Illya’s Honey, The Distillery, Dogwood Tales Magazine, The GW Review, Liberty Hill Poetry Review, The Mid-South Review, Chronogram, Contemporary Rhyme, Haruah, T-Zone, Flash-Flooding, Glassfire Magazine, Mouth Full of Bullets, and Sniplits. He lives with his wife and children just outside the Dallas area, and teaches Eastfield College.

Visit Michael Neal Morris's Websites:
Writing
Monk Notes Blog
For Now Blog

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Reader Responses

Rebecca,

Another wonderful issue!

Salvatore

http://www.geocities.com/sambpoet/newsarchives.html
http://www.freewebs.com/sambpoet/

Jesus paid the price. Keep the change.

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Hi Rebecca!

Somehow I missed the fact that you had a birthday recently! Happy Belated Birthday!

I just read (complete Oct issue).

I really liked the fairy tale story by the young girl named Rebecca. I really liked the poem by Donnie Jones (aka: D.J. Poe).

A friend told me that I should write short stories. Maybe I will submit a poem or story one day...

Praying for you, your family and your unborn baby boy!

Blessings!

~Betty Pressley~

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Rebecca,

Congratulations!

Pamela Griffin

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Hi Rebecca,

I came across your site link in the f2k café. I visited and simply loved it. What an uplifting site among so much garbage in the world today.

Just had to give you a thumbs up for your site.

See you around the halls of f2k.

Debbie

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Readers,

What did you think of the November issue? Drop me a line to let me know. I may select your email (or parts of it) for this Reader Responses section. Please let me know if an email you send is for my eyes only.

Rebecca

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From the Editor

Hello All!

How are you all doing in your parts of the world? I'm sitting here in Tennessee listening to election coverage. I am anxious for the results at the end of today. The day will be over, and we will hopefully know who our new president is in the U. S. of A. by the time you receive this in your inbox. My prayer is that all my fellow citizens in this country exercise their right to vote, and cast their ballots with guidance from God.

Thanksgiving is coming! Do you know your plans yet? I know we will be running the roads, but for Christmas, I'm going to attempt to invite everyone to my home for dinner. It will be the first time I've ever done that, and hopefully all will go well. I'm excited.

What are you thankful for? My list is long if I start thinking about it at all. I have wonderful kids and a fantastic husband. This e-zine is finding success, and I feel hopeful that it will get out of the red and perhaps even profit and expand in the future. This pregnancy is going well. I just passed the glucose testing with flying colors. I was borderline diabetic with my last pregnancy, but my doctor says my numbers are wonderful this time. I also notice a difference with how I feel during this pregnancy. It doesn't feel like I'm carrying a dinosaur in there. I'm definitely sleeping better, and I have not had to go to the ER yet to have contractions stopped. I basically had contractions during the entire last trimester of my last pregnancy. I'm confident that it won't be such an issue this time. Plus, it looks as if I may not have to have a C-section this time around. Woohoo! There are many things to be thankful for. I could write forever about it. God is good.

My wonderful subscribers came through! I knew you would. I now have five entries for the short story contest so I won't have to cancel it. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! The other judges and I will be studying these entries over the next month, and I will announce the winners on December first. I'm so excited. :)

Speaking of subscribers, we now have 89 people receiving this in their inboxes every month. We need eleven more people to reach that 100 people mark. Will that happen by the December issue? I know my subscribers can come through.

We have a name for Baby Burgener! (We think.) How does Jesse Aiden sound? Jesse means gift, and Aiden means little fire. Do you look up name meanings for your children when you consider names for them? I love the meanings, and it gives my husband two sons with his initials.

Is anyone out there doing NaNoWriMo this month? I am signed up for it, but I haven't actually written a single word! I wanted to get out this issue before I allow myself to get distracted with NaNo. I'm also still planning out the plot using this book: I'm trying for a Christian Sci-fi/Fantasy story. I'm excited about the idea of writing 50,000 words in one month. Just think of what I could accomplish if I could keep that up. I participated last year and only got to about 5,000 words, but progress is progress.

I'm working harder on this e-zine to make it a profitable venture. Does anyone out there have a profitable e-zine that would like to share a few tips? I want to create a few e-books to offer you. I am also considering developing a Pond Ripples Creative Writing Correspondence Course for Children. I have a K-8 education degree that I've never even used except for tutoring here and there. I'd rather be home with my children and have the time to pursue my writing, but teaching a correspondence course for writing would be tons of fun. It's also something I can work on with the kids around. Would any of you readers out there be interested in signing your children up for something like that?

I thank you all for all the encouragement and support you give me.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Burgener, editor
Pond Ripples
Psalm 27:1

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