Wednesday, April 30, 2014

A Poem: "Alone at Night"

“Alone at Night”

Stuck down in the dark
No light in sight
Just cold black nights
The leaves are rolling down the walk
No one is listening 
One voice will sing
Some eyes now peer from round a corner
A curious mind
Where devils hide
So true a line that wonders by
A shining light
For the cold dark night
Here again they wonder
Here again some feed
Here again she’s crying
Alone inside her deeds
Some say she’ll last forever in and out and by and by
A chance to take
A lonely ache
Some say there is no way that she is one of a kind
Too cut too pure
Too old too blind
Some are blind to whats in store
Ambivalence
A broken shrine
Some will fall and some will soar
So flip the coin
Sit back and ride
Here again is the wonder
Here again is some feed
Here again she’s crying

But she’s not desperate on her knees

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

A Poem "?"

“?”

Of all the pretty letters 
That she wrote on rainy days
Nothing shown so bright and clear
As when she went away
Everyone stood so still
And tried to read the words
But the crowding had become so bad
That only screams were heard
No one knew she had enough
Or that she wanted out
They did recall a time or two
When she asked to just slow down
More questions came then answers
And there was no swift reply
Just watered eyes and mourning
How could they all get by 
She did so much each tiring hour
To mend or drag or scrape or pull
Each request it was so heeded
If they had known it’d got that bad
They would have stepped right in
If they had the time so open
Or the will that they could spend
And that girl has left today
And as they’re sad what’s sadder yet
Is that they didn’t know her name

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

A Thought: Why Doesn't the World Make Sense?

Sometimes the world just doesn’t make sense. Terrible things happen and I find that in my quest for answers that I can start thinking quite “micro”. I look for answers in my small world, the little ring that I call home that holds all the people and things that I know about. However the world is much larger. I will freely admit that there have been times when I have gotten quite angry with God. I just don’t understand his ways and why he would “let” things happen. 

But God does have a plan I know this for sure. I am the father of children and one of them recently got very mad at me. He was upset because I would not let him play video games. Video games make him happy and to him it didn’t seem necessary that he put his clothes away that very second. Video games make him happy, he had a video game at the ready and I should want him to be happy so to my child it was clear what should happen, he should play his video game. I know though that if I let him delay responsibility it will become habit. When he needs to rise and be a man and do something difficult instead of doing what he loves or desire it will be out of his discipline. I want him to choose to do the right thing instead of just he desires, as the Bible would say, “What his flesh desires”.

Will the world be a better place if I make my son put away his clothes right away, no, but by starting early I build a discipline in my son to do what is needed instead of wanted. 

We are given free will, we can do whatever we choose. We have been given the intellect to create a world around us to get what we need. With this ability we have also been given a great responsibility to take care of this world, to keep it from harm. Sometimes some men and women decide to do less that pure things. We could feed the hungry, save the beaten, house the homeless and teach the unknown. Why we don’t is still a mystery to me. Everyday try to keep my eyes open to help those in need and pray for courage to do so. Some people in this world find glee in bringing pain. Never forget or doubt that there is evil in this world. Do I believe in Satan? Yes, every time I see a coach, a teacher, a parent or a priest/pastor hurt the young and/or defenseless in this world I see evil at work. If you want to conquer good what would you do? I would take some of my followers and dress them as parents and cause pain so people would loose faith in parenting. I would dress others as teachers and coaches to build distrust and pain towards people of authority. Mostly I would have some of my most dedicated dress as clergy of all faiths and cause pain so that most of all God and his people would become untrusted.

We have free will and its our decision. Some make some bad decisions and some people are just evil.

I don’t want to be the man with all the answers. I don’t want to know everything cause its just too much for me to handle. God tells me to love and I love to love. I do it frequently, he says to love him with all my mind, body and soul. I do because I am grateful for what I have, where I am and the world that he created for me to live in. God tells me to also love my neighbor as I love myself. I don’t understand people most of the time but I love them. I love the little children to the elderly for because of them I learn and become a better person everyday when I pay attention. I believe it is my duty to love and help. I wish more got involved instead of passing the buck and letting others or faceless, soulless government organizations help. I wish more would help instead of just donating a dollar on payday to help feed people that they will never see. 

God sent his son to this world. Many thought that Jesus would be like King David and that he would be a military might that would make Israel a strong nation again. Instead he came to make Israel a strong nation by trying to teach them to love God, love each other and repent. Many got mad cause he wouldn’t do what they wanted. They wanted their own free nation free of Caesar. Many thought that Jesus was going to over throw the religious establishment and dethrone their power because he was teaching a different way of God that would take away what they wanted. So for those reasons and probably others and herd mentality of crowds they killed him. The called him names, the spit on him, the beat him, made him carry his device of death up a hill and nailed through his wrists and feet and hung him up and for good measure stabbed him in the side to make sure that he was dead. Jesus accepted this, he took our hate and rage and died for it. Instead of each of us having to atone for sin all we have to do know is to accept that Jesus is the son of God and take him as our savior. God knows that we are flawed. He knows cause he is the one that gave us free will. He wants us to CHOOSE him. He wants us to CHOOSE. We are not slave to God, but we are slave to our primal, selfish, flesh-like desires. He wants us to CHOOSE to walk away from that, to choose him, ask for forgiveness and repent and become baptized and to become born anew in the Holy Spirit.

Our “flesh” tells us to eat what we want whenever we want. Have sex with whomever whenever we want cause it feels good. Our “flesh” tells us to feed all of our desires and to just feel good. Drugs, okay, sex, okay, alcohol, okay, food, people, material possessions just get them all as much as we want. We see examples of what this mentality brings everyday on the news. Maybe we don’t “SEE” it but it is in front of our eyes.

Am I perfect. NO, I am not. I am a Christian but I am not perfect I sin everyday, and everyday I pray and ask for forgiveness and I as God to teach me to be a better person. Jesus is my hero even though to some he comes off as some hippie dippie guy I love him. I look to him on how to love others and how to treat them.

So if the world doesn’t make sense you are not alone, but there is someone with some answers. Spend some hang time with God. Read a bit of the new testament, go speak to that friend that you know is a “Christian”, if they don’t have the answers you want then to find a pastor together. Don’t give up. Everyone has the ability to grow to become a beautiful person and to make the corner of their world a bright loving place because we have free will and we get to CHOOSE. 

Dunno, thats just me.

Luke 24: 13 - 35
13That very day two of them were going to a village named Emma'us, about seven miles from Jerusalem,
14and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.
15While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.
16But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
17And he said to them, "What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?" And they stood still, looking sad.
18Then one of them, named Cle'opas, answered him, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?"
19And he said to them, "What things?" And they said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,
20and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.
21But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since this happened.
22Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning
23and did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.
24Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see."
25And he said to them, "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
26Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?"
27And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
28So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further,
29but they constrained him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent." So he went in to stay with them.
30When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them.
31And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight.
32They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?"
33And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven gathered together and those who were with them,
34who said, "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"
35Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.