Stephen C. McKinney Memorial Thread (1969-2001)

The place for fiction and poetry....

Moderators: deer of the dawn, Furls Fire

User avatar
Cambo
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 2022
Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2010 8:53 am
Location: New Zealand

Post by Cambo »

Yesterday, I finished reading this thread from start to finish. What an experience. Talk about your tales that grow in the telling. This place is absolutely unique.

I do not cry easily, or more accurately, I do not cry in the right way easily. When I cry, it is usually because I am suffering from depression. In reading this thread I have cried in that other way, the bittersweet way that is as much an affirmation as a lament, more often than ever before.

I could go on, but I think I will just dedicate some songs:

For Steven:

Hemi was born a formidable man
Played emotion that nobody can
Words of wisdom that cut to the bone
For all the mothers, the fathers, the sisters, the brothers

And Oh...What a beautiful Soul

Words of wisdom...played emotion...fearless vision

And Oh...What a beautiful Soul

Jimi- Little Bushman

For Isiaah:

To have a dream,
A feather dream,
A fairer hand,
But no weaker man,
You cast no stone,
You taught to comprehend,
The wisdom to let go of difference,
A candle on a stand.

Peaceful man, not forgotten.
Peaceful man, not forgotten.


Extraxt from Peaceful Man- Little Bushman

For Tracie:

You
You believed
You believed in moments none could see
...
Listen to the tales and romanticise
How we follow the path of the hero
Boast about the day when the rivers overrun
How we'd rise to the height of our halo

Listen to the tales as we all rationalise
Our way into the arms of the Saviour
Feigning all the trials and the tribulations
None of us have actually been there,
Not like you
...
You're the only one who can hold you're head up high
Shake your fist at the gates, saying
"I've come home now!
Fetch me the Spirit, the Son and the Father
Tell them their pillar of faith has ascended!
It's time now! My time now!
Give me my, give me my wings!"
...
You were the light and the way they'll only read about
...
Please forgive this bold suggestion, but
Should you see your Maker's face tonight
Look him in the eye, look him in the eye, tell him
"I never lived a lie, never took a life,
But surely saved one.
Hallelujah, it's time for you to bring me home."

Extracts from "Wings for Marie" and "10,000 Days (wings pt2)"- Tool
^"Amusing, worth talking to, completely insane...pick your favourite." - Avatar

https://variousglimpses.wordpress.com
User avatar
Fire Daughter
<i>Haruchai</i>
Posts: 635
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 2:06 pm
Location: Revelstone

Post by Fire Daughter »

"Sweet Mercy" as Mom would say. Cambo, again welcome. You, and all who come here, are the reason she began this thread in my Uncle's honor. It has been 7 1/2 years in the making.

I was talking to Menolly on MSN over Thanksgiving break and she asked if I was planning on posting more of Uncle Steve's entries here. And to be truthful, I wasn't sure if I was ever going too. So, I'll ask all of you who continure to come here. Would you like to me continue doing that?

And Cambo...thank you...
Cambo wrote:You were the light and the way they'll only read about
Mom, I'm sure, is smiling. :)
For Myles--
When evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love


For Mom--
Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
for you are the wind beneath my wings.

Fly...fly high against the sky...
Thank you, thank you, thank God for you
The wind beneath my wings


Image
User avatar
Cambo
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 2022
Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2010 8:53 am
Location: New Zealand

Post by Cambo »

Well, I would think that's entirely you and your family's decision Fire Daughter. I certainly wouldn't presume to have any authority in that decision. But you can rest assured that if you post more, this Watcher will read them eagerly, and I'm sure many others will as well.

And, yes, I too was struck by how appropriate that line was for Furls Fire.
^"Amusing, worth talking to, completely insane...pick your favourite." - Avatar

https://variousglimpses.wordpress.com
User avatar
Menolly
A Lowly Harper
Posts: 24066
Joined: Thu May 19, 2005 12:29 am
Location: Harper Hall, Fort Hold, Northern Continent, Pern...
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 7 times
Contact:

Post by Menolly »

Cambo wrote:Well, I would think that's entirely you and your family's decision Fire Daughter. I certainly wouldn't presume to have any authority in that decision. But you can rest assured that if you post more, this Watcher will read them eagerly, and I'm sure many others will as well.
*bobble headed nodding*
Image
User avatar
Savor Dam
Will Be Herd!
Posts: 6140
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:02 am
Location: Pacific NorthWet
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 4 times

Post by Savor Dam »

I third this sentiment. Whatever you find appropriate to post from either Stephen's or Tracie's journal will always be eagerly and lovingly read in my house.

So say we all!
Love prevails.
~ Tracie Mckinney-Hammon

Change is not a process for the impatient.
~ Barbara Reinhold

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul, can always count on the support of Paul.
~ George Bernard Shaw
User avatar
Fire Daughter
<i>Haruchai</i>
Posts: 635
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 2:06 pm
Location: Revelstone

Post by Fire Daughter »

Okay... :-)
For Myles--
When evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love


For Mom--
Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
for you are the wind beneath my wings.

Fly...fly high against the sky...
Thank you, thank you, thank God for you
The wind beneath my wings


Image
User avatar
Angel Daughter
Servant of the Land
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2010 3:49 pm
Location: The beautiful Pacific Northwest

Post by Angel Daughter »

Uncle Stephen was beautiful. What is seen here, is only a small flicker of who he was. When he was his sickest, he would still smile. I only knew him for a short time, he passed when I was only 9 years old, but the memories I have of him are so vivid.

He and Mom were love personified. As she would say: "Glorious."
Image

The promise was when everything fell, we'd be held...

I love and miss you, Mom.
User avatar
Fire Daughter
<i>Haruchai</i>
Posts: 635
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 2:06 pm
Location: Revelstone

Post by Fire Daughter »

I came across this as I was looking through my Uncle's journals to find one to post. It made me giggle a bit, because I can just hear him saying this...

Uncle Steve loved living.

Take a deep breath
this is no whim
no limping whimper
Breath it in
Life.
this is the mortal blood and water
this is the sleeping
this is the waking
this is the walking
this is the glee
this is the sorrow
this is...

This is me rambling
Taking a deep breath
Life.

--Stephen C McKinney
For Myles--
When evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love


For Mom--
Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
for you are the wind beneath my wings.

Fly...fly high against the sky...
Thank you, thank you, thank God for you
The wind beneath my wings


Image
User avatar
Cambo
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 2022
Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2010 8:53 am
Location: New Zealand

Post by Cambo »

:LOLS: Profound and self deprecating at the same time...I like.
^"Amusing, worth talking to, completely insane...pick your favourite." - Avatar

https://variousglimpses.wordpress.com
User avatar
Fire Daughter
<i>Haruchai</i>
Posts: 635
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 2:06 pm
Location: Revelstone

Post by Fire Daughter »

Cambo wrote::LOLS: Profound and self deprecating at the same time...I like.
He had a way with words, that's for sure. :)

So, keeping with the sort of tradition that my mother started here in Uncle Steve's thread every Christmas. Here is his journal entry from 1998.
For Myles--
When evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love


For Mom--
Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
for you are the wind beneath my wings.

Fly...fly high against the sky...
Thank you, thank you, thank God for you
The wind beneath my wings


Image
User avatar
Stephen C
Ramen
Posts: 80
Joined: Thu Oct 16, 2003 7:49 pm
Location: Heaven

Post by Stephen C »

December 23, 1998 2:22pm

I’m watching the snow fall today as I sit writing in the big bay window, looking out into the forest that borders Russ and Tracie’s property. Here, the world disappears and Heaven descends to the Earth. All this whiteness, all this serenity, I feel like running from the house naked and rolling in that pure mantle. Ah, and yet, I would disturb its sanctity, its divine beauty, its peaceful hush. A silence settles over the forest as the snow falls, so quiet, you can almost hear each flake touch the mantle and sigh.

God is here, as He is everywhere, but here, at this time, His presence enwraps the house with this pure blanket. And we snuggle together under its warmth, though it be cold in nature, God’s love blazes with ardor and glory. I feel warm. And this house, its walls, its space, its heart, emits the aura of the Lord’s graciousness. All that is here is holy.

I begin missing moments, I find myself thinking in one and then awaken incoherently, grasping and gasping at the knowledge that several have gone by. These moments stolen from me, at a time when they are deemed most precious. I watch the snow fall and realize that as others measure the way of their lives in days, weeks, months, years—I measure mine in hours, minutes, seconds. How close the hours seem to be dwindling down to the final seconds of me.

And now, a holy hush settles over me, and my troubled thoughts of missing moments sigh their way out of my soul’s thinking and I feel His Presence embrace me. Ah, Father, You are here. Here as You are everywhere.

**Same day, or night rather, 10:18pm**

Christmas comes again, in all it’s glory and beauty, and ah, how blessed I am to be here with all my family for another celebration of our Lord and Saviour’s birth. We are, as always, gathered here at Tracie’s house of love. This house of peace and joy and light. This house, which never seems to be crowded or too small, this house where the more people that gather and enter through its doors, the more the walls seem to swell in accommodation. The grace of this house echoes the singing of the children, as their voices praise the coming of Jesus, like the host of angels that proclaimed His coming over 2000 years ago that Holy Night. The walls still vibrate with the memory of that joyous sound. And I hear His words…

“Whenever two or more gather in my name, there I am in their midst..”

Ah, Glory to God in the Highest and Peace, good well toward men! Thank You, Father for allowing me another Christmas. Thank You, Father for the glorious gift that is Your Son. Thank You, Father for my beautiful family. Thank You, Father for my life.

Oh holy night
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Saviour’s birth
Long lay the world
In sin and error pining
‘til He appeared and the soul felt His worth

A thrill of hope
The weary would rejoices
For yonder breaks
A new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees
Oh hear, the angel voices
Oh night, divine
Oh night, when Christ was born
Oh night, divine
Oh night, Oh holy night!

Ah sweet music! My favorite of all Christmas hymns, and the walls still echo with its beauty. In this house of love and light, we welcome Christmas once again.
I sing to life
and to it's tragic beauty
to pain and to strife
and all that dances thru me
the rise and the fall
i've lived thru it all...


To my brother, Steve, who held a grace and light beyond words, God bless. I love you --Tracie
User avatar
Cambo
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 2022
Joined: Tue Oct 26, 2010 8:53 am
Location: New Zealand

Post by Cambo »

You know, I've read that one, and a couple of others, several times as they are re-posted over the years (weeks? such a surreal time shift to read as 7 1/2 years go by all at once). No matter how recently I read them, I never skim. Steven's entries never seem to get old, or lessen in impact. And there's always a sense of appropriateness where they crop up, particularly the oft-repeated ones. As you say, a tradition. Or even a ritual. As Radiohead might say: "Everything in it's Right Place." :)
^"Amusing, worth talking to, completely insane...pick your favourite." - Avatar

https://variousglimpses.wordpress.com
User avatar
Fire Daughter
<i>Haruchai</i>
Posts: 635
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 2:06 pm
Location: Revelstone

Post by Fire Daughter »

Mom would do that, repost one she thought would "fit the moment". And she always thought this Christmas one of his conveyed how much he loved it.
For Myles--
When evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love


For Mom--
Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
for you are the wind beneath my wings.

Fly...fly high against the sky...
Thank you, thank you, thank God for you
The wind beneath my wings


Image
User avatar
Fire Daughter
<i>Haruchai</i>
Posts: 635
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 2:06 pm
Location: Revelstone

Post by Fire Daughter »

Yesterday, one of my professors, who was also one of Uncle Stephen's professors when he went to school here, handed me an old essay my uncle wrote in the response to the question..."What do you think the meaning of life is?"

It was one of those things that are thrown out there, and you have something like 20 minutes to write your response.

Heh...here was Uncle Steve's. Circa 1990....
For Myles--
When evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love


For Mom--
Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
for you are the wind beneath my wings.

Fly...fly high against the sky...
Thank you, thank you, thank God for you
The wind beneath my wings


Image
User avatar
Stephen C
Ramen
Posts: 80
Joined: Thu Oct 16, 2003 7:49 pm
Location: Heaven

Post by Stephen C »

What of us? Remembered in the end? Or, like cold ash after a fire long burned out, will we just waft away in a stiff breeze? And if life is to be only a blink in eternity’s eye, are we on its blind side? So, what of us? Is it necessary to do anything while alive? Should we just sleep with an ear against the Earth and wait for the finale?

We give birth to children, those who will commit us to memory. Us as we are now. And after, they will have children of their own. Etcetera. Down through time. A collection of minutes, hours…etcetera. If the end of life is truly death, what of us? And if childless, without lineage forward, all trace lost. Ah, but there are pictures. Frozen seconds captured, held in suspension, declaring existence at one brief time.

And…

This may be nothing. What place is this? Nowhere with no things. Are things our definition? Are we the product of how much we have? Or are we the same without. This place holds no things. This place is void. A peace beyond remembrance, beyond memory. This nothing, this place, this silence…where we sleep with an ear against the Earth. The end place. All the pictures lost. All trace gone. All. Every thing blown beyond reach. What of us in this place? Is light a hope in vain? Is life truly to end like this?

Some one asked me today…

“What do you think the meaning of life is?”

My answer…

“Life means life. And eternity blinks its eyes at it.”
I sing to life
and to it's tragic beauty
to pain and to strife
and all that dances thru me
the rise and the fall
i've lived thru it all...


To my brother, Steve, who held a grace and light beyond words, God bless. I love you --Tracie
User avatar
Seareach
The Gap Into Spam
Posts: 5860
Joined: Wed Sep 22, 2004 1:25 am

Post by Seareach »

Stephen C wrote:“Life means life. And eternity blinks its eyes at it.”
Love that! :)
Image
User avatar
Menolly
A Lowly Harper
Posts: 24066
Joined: Thu May 19, 2005 12:29 am
Location: Harper Hall, Fort Hold, Northern Continent, Pern...
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 7 times
Contact:

Post by Menolly »

Seareach wrote:
Stephen C wrote:“Life means life. And eternity blinks its eyes at it.”
Love that! :)
I do too, Sea.
As they say in Facebook parlance...
"Shared."
Image
User avatar
Fire Daughter
<i>Haruchai</i>
Posts: 635
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 2:06 pm
Location: Revelstone

Post by Fire Daughter »

Awesome! Sorry I didn't respond to this sooner. There are so many things he said and wrote down that show just how wise he was.

|G
For Myles--
When evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love


For Mom--
Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
for you are the wind beneath my wings.

Fly...fly high against the sky...
Thank you, thank you, thank God for you
The wind beneath my wings


Image
User avatar
Fire Daughter
<i>Haruchai</i>
Posts: 635
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 2:06 pm
Location: Revelstone

Post by Fire Daughter »

Happy Birthday, Uncle Steve!

43 years ago today a brilliant light entered the world. It blinded some, warmed some, and left some utterly awestruck. You still shine, Uncle Steve, in those of us who remain here to continue your great work.

Love and miss you!
For Myles--
When evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love


For Mom--
Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
for you are the wind beneath my wings.

Fly...fly high against the sky...
Thank you, thank you, thank God for you
The wind beneath my wings


Image
User avatar
Fist and Faith
Magister Vitae
Posts: 23438
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2002 8:14 pm
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 30 times

Post by Fist and Faith »

Cool! Happy Birthday! :bday: :banana:
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
-Paul Simon
Post Reply

Return to “The Hall of Gifts”