Sunday, December 11, 2005

Book I

Index:

1. In This Place
2. EACH ONE
3. IF
4. We have , have we?
5. Uncommon Common Sense
6. Everything That Was Made
7. The Fly and the Flea
8. Two: to Women
9. The Trial of TRUTH
10. (untitled)
11. living water
12. Ecce Homo


In This Place

Here we are Lord Jesus, Ones whom You have made.
Gathered in this place, Gathered on this day.
Help us be the offering that pleases You.
Let us enter enter into rest and be with You.

As we walk along the paths that You illuminate,
We trust You because we know the way.
The many roads that men have paved in this world below
Lead to clever imitations our hearts refuse to know.

We will not share Your glory with another
Let all that can't abide You flee away.
In Your mercy give us grace that we may look upon Your face.
Here we are, Yours gathered in this place,
Here we are, Yours gathered in this place.



EACH ONE


Each one a mystery, a labyrinth untold.
Steeped now in secrecy, but ready to unfold.
No man knows, save He who rose:
What tale will be told, o let my people go.

Perfection went away, leaving us to groan.
Blood poured upon the earth, o how man does roam.
Far from the Way he knew, far from the Way of Truth;
O the tales been told, o let my people go.

Though hid from pedant’s* eye, each one is foreknown;
Destined to live and die, then no more to roam.
Cut not short their destiny, they for life were meant to be
Tales to be told, o let my people go.

Small though their bodies are, each one has great worth.
With silent cries they cross the bar, denied their first birth.
Ushered into Holy Light, before the Father and the Christ,
There to tell the tale, yet no more to weep or wail,
Lest they weep o for thee, o let my people go.

It’s we who should weep and wail, we who must tell the tale,
Crimes yet undone should not prevail, this must be the goal.
Warn now, I warn you well, your soul may be bound for hell,
It’s murder and must be told, o let my people go.


*pedant: in this case, one who is unimaginative or who unduly emphasizes minutiae in the presentation or use of knowledge


IF

If we all lived by the golden rule,
We would’t send our children to school,
But keep them home to harvest and sow
And worship the Lord where ever we’d go.

If we’d have on our hearts of flesh each day
The commandments large and bold writ,
And drink of His water, the living and fresh,
There would be no need to chomp at the bit.

The days we would spend in His will, not a care
Would we have in our mind, we would never despair.
We would sing, dance and shout as we waited below
For His sure return, 'twill be soon you must know.

The things we pursue in todays “modern” world
Often define us as foolish and churls.
For our cities and towns and this new cyberspace
And cluttered and cloggged with so much disgrace.

We need to look up with the eyes of our faith
Wide open to God that we’d receive grace,
And open our ears to His Word, Oh so sweet;
He’ll guide by His Spirit our poor earthen feet.

But if we depart from walking with Him,
We open ourselves to the wiles and the whims
Of the enemy Satan, who is lurking around
For those who will wander and by him be found.

Stay upon Jesus: your mind, heart and soul
That up like a eagle you may one day soar.
Having been faithfully waiting below
Up, up you will fly to His heavenly shore.

To join with the thousands of thousands and more,
Who stand before Jesus and Fathers Great Thrones,
With angels and saints who with unending praise
give their all to the Lamb and the Ancient of days.

So faint not while now you endure with your groans
The falleness caught in your flesh and your bones,
And the arrows and slings of so much outrage
Of sin and perdition and death, they the wages
Of all who ignore the great Gospel of Love,
Of our God and His Son and His Holy Dove.





We have , have we?

This poem is not written to the faint of heart.
I am afraid many might see it as "shooting our wounded".
It is a little bitter, but as I grow, I'm am ever more ashamed of not my weaknesses,
but my poverty. I often fit the description "he's so POOR, he can't even PAY attention."
Please pray for me to be blessed by God. The Word is now this moment in my ear: "you must seek not your own wealth, but that others be made wealthy in Me".

Comments are desired especially in response to theis poem which might better have been titled
"I have, Have I?"

****************************************************


We have , have we?


We have built our wooden walls...
We have mortised granite by the hundred ton...
We have carpeted and fanned and heated...
We have cushioned and air-conditioned and draped with pleated…..
When will we build a man inside them?

We have sung ten thousand songs...
We have worshipped every Sunday...
We have tuned our guitars and pianos...
We have amplified our voices to the Skies.....
When will we find and sing the new song within us? (oh it’s there)

We have preached ten million sermons...
We have taught ten thousand verses...
We have rehearsed it all till blue in face...
We have counted and recounted God’s grace (ours).....
When will we build new men inside us?

We have had our fishy suppers...
And our breakfasts and our prayers...
We have coffee, tea and doughnuts...
And our waistlines show it’s true..... (fried chicken too)
When will we feed the man inside you, inside them, us,
the whosoever will or has?

Are you a whosoever will?
Or a whosoever has?
Make your self abandon self,
And let God make of you
A whosoever who DOES.

Lord, it is I that have called the kettle black.
And the pain of my omissions is greater than that of my sins of commission,
Though the thought of both leave me with the horror of having robbed You.

O that I might build in any of Thine,
A whosoever has or whosoever should be saved,
With the Pure Gold of Thy Word to set in Pure Silver
With the highest of Praise to teach
And feed the spirit that man Thy Word of Truth
And O ever be willing to heed Thy Call, Thy Correction, Thy Rebuke and Reproof.
I am willing, O show me how to do it,
For above all things Thou art my Holy Treasure,
My Master and King,
My Lord,
Jesus...
And I am grateful for Thee and Thy Love.





Uncommon Common Sense

O dear God how I long for days gone by.
Bob was right, the times they are a changin’.
Day by every day it’s harder for a man to try to live-
To do his duty to his home, his God… O why???

A world insane hits with a thump upon my doorstep,
The morning paper is ablaze with lawlessness;
What answer is there for the shame of sin and evil deeds,
What can I do to right the things God just won’t bless?

O common sense today is so uncommon,
Our sensibilities have flown so far away,
I hope perhaps that they’re just somewhere resting for awhile,
And pray they’ll come back soon to America to stay.

If all the churches preaching Jesus
Would just agree about what he said in His book;
He’s the source of all there is of Love and Goodness,
His common sense to me’s the only thing that works.

It seems that forces are arrayed against the good man
To keep him from the good he wants to do.
And the luxury and pleasures of the evil man allure-
Seducing those who will not guard their hearts.


[This one could be a song, Country Song?, with the middle stanza as the chorus]





Everything That Was Made
written 6/22/2005

The eye was made for seeing,
and something it's going to see.
The desire behind your eye today,
whatever will it be?

The ear, it was made for the hearing,
and hears what it likes or abhors.
To what will your ear be attuned to today
in your precious few minutes and hours?

The nose - 'twas made for smelling
the dinner, the rose and the dung.
Alas it may sniff out men's troubles
the necklace like albatross hung.

The nerve it was made for the sensate,
to taste, to handle and touch.
Most of us bow to it's pleasures,
and most of us partake too much.

The tongue, o boy- need I SAY it?,
was made by our God up above.
He gave it to us for to praise him,
and to speak to each other in Love.






The Fly and the Flea




well i look an' dere dis fly,
he be buzzin' roun' my head.
i say "Lawd ..... Lawd Lawd Lawd!!!"

an’ de Lawd, He answer me.
He say "fly?, .....dat fly? why
yoo blame dat buzzin' critta on me?"

i say, "Lawd, .....Lawd!
i no like dis fly.
He be buggin', yas he buggin' is me."

an’ da Lawd He say, "well,
you got dat mos' all right,
cause YOO is da fly I see!"

i say, "Lawd, ....WUT ?!?
wut CHoo mean ta say?
dis fly be buzzin' roun ME!"

He say, "son, if yoo wan', I makes yoo a trade,
instead a be a fly, yoo a FLEA!"

i say, "Lawd, ....WUT ?!?
o Lawd, dis be bad
don' wanna be a fly O a flea."

i say, Lawd ....PLEASE !!!
Yoo is confusin' me.
be a fly, o Yoo is makin' me a FLEA?"

an' da Lawd say:

"Dat absolutely how it gonna be!!!
yoo gonna be a fly o a flea!
Gonna fly away to Heben on dat bes' good Day,
o ta Hell yoo gonna flea, flea, FLEE !!!!!"





Two: to Women

1.
I’m weak as any Muslim man,
Don’t want the public looking at her
The way I've looked at some.
She could be my wife or daughter
But I don’t want men and lesbians
Drooling at the sight of her.
Wife – Daughter – WOMAN
cover thyself modestly, please.

2.
Help save men,
MARRY them.





The Trial of TRUTH


We’re putting Truth on trial today
To hear what he will say.
Can he hold his ground against
Our fine post-modern way?

Quite likely we will mock him,
Our view of Truth is dim;
An old idea, not relevant,
Outdated, tis but a whim.

He takes the stand, a sober man,
He seems quite confident.
Lets listen to him now. He speaks
The oath with raised right hand.

Then, “ I today will speak my heart,
The all not just a part.
For nothing but the Truth is there,
Where would you that I start?”

His countenance disturbs us,
He looks so stern and just,
Yet compassion seems to dwell in him,
I feel him I could trust!

“Away, away!”, we cried aloud.
“we’ll not this man allow.”
“ He clearly has no word we want.”
“Away, away- go now!”

Truth left the stand and court today,
He did not get to say
The all or even part of that
Which might have saved the day.

And we returned to warring o’er
Our wretched silly things;
And Truth above our heads did soar
On golden silver wings.







(untitled)

After the last clatter of democracy
and the final rattle of the republics
echo off and out the unhinged halls
of humanism, what remains for man?

Progress / reform / dissent / debate/
we cry……...
as if in the mind of any
better can be found than has been found.

Our children are “the future”—
so we must be the now.
O that we would now look to the Origin
of Truth and species all, and bow,
and be found complete, confident,
confirmed in a common will and consecration.

We cannot draw today’s guidance from tomorrow.
Some of tomorrow’s mistakes will surely show
how poorly we paid attention to our Guide.
Too, they will reveal false sources and false voices.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

living water

living water, living water
flows from God’s Son, drink and live everyone
living water, living water
flows to the thirsty land

there is no price, there is no fee
God pours it out for you and for free

living water, living water
flows from God’s throne, unto His own.
living water, living water
flows from God’s throne for the dry and thirsty

a very Holy Flood from our Father above.
all from His love to you

living water, living water
precious and pure, immerse and be sure
living water, living water
water without which we die.

living water, living water
flows from God’s Son, drink and live everyone
living water, living water
flows to the thirsty land

11.
Ecce Homo


A man to be known
From above came unto His own.
They were expecting someone else....

They wanted freedom from other men,
He would free them from themselves.



In a prison of tradition
And in chains of vanity
Two worlds asundered could not comprehend
This One who walked on water
This One who would not sin.


He burst upon their scene
And everything changed for them.
In three short years so many healed.
In three short years so many offended
And tested and failed to see.


By His works He wooed them.
Sure they were impressed and blessed.
Yet great currents swirled.
Was He? Was He not?
“If He is,” some said, “OUR THING will END!”


And so a nation gone astray
In the grip of an empire’s sway
Which had made them bitter (and also had made them rich)
Was not moved from the status quo,
The comfort zone so deep so old some cold.


What man today can take it in?
A man like me who NEVER SINNED?
A man like me miracles?
A man like me… well not really…
A man like me they crucified.


Have times changed?
Are we different now?
Do I have what I need?
Can I climb every mountain?
Any mountain? Seriously???


People and I need the Lord.