Month: January 2015

Love has no fear
In the face of a fist
Or a pistol to the head.
Love does not give up
When it is turned away.
Love overcomes
When it is denied service.
Love stays the course
When there is not much to eat.
Loves gives everything
When there is nothing
To feed the baby.
Love holds on
When love does not get hired.
Love forgives
Those who maim and torture.
Love does not despair
When love is locked away in prison.
Love wants to believe
If only there was something
In which to believe.
Love believes anyway,
No matter what the cost.
Love has no pride.
Love is not cocky.
Love is not angry.
Love is merciful
To those who are cruel.
Love wants to be
Your new best friend.
Love creates
Something out of nothing.
Love will remain
When all others turn away.
Love follows you
When you enter a dark alley.
Love touches you
Deep down inside.
Love gives all.
Love believes all.
Love hopes all.
Love is always there,
Whether you know it or not.
Love conquers all.

I believe
God is here with me.
I believe
He is in my heart.
I believe
God watches over me.
I believe
God feels my pain.
I believe
That when I grieve,
God cries with me.
When I hurt,
God hurts, too.
When I’m scared,
God comforts me.
When I doubt,
God helps me believe
In something,
That is greater than me.
“There’s a sweet, sweet spirit
In this place,
And I know that it’s the spirit
Of the Lord.”
Well said.

Miracles happen
When you blink.
They come around
When you least expect,
And when you’re not counting.
Look for them,
And they will elude you.
Pray for them,
And you will come up dry.
But always be ready,
For they come around
When the time is right.
Miracles happen.

God plus doubt equals faith.
Trust, love, hope soon to follow,
Or maybe not so soon.
Caution: trembling nights ahead.
Difficulties galore.
Emptiness and struggle.
Rejection and peer pressure.
Condemnation and abuse.
Following instructions
Gets you nothing worth anything,
But you might survive
And maybe resist suicide,
Or, perhaps, gain more reasons
To do it, anyway.
Groupthink calls your name.
Television mindset,
Just coasting along,
Resisting any original thought.
No critical thoughts allowed.
No critiques of the boring sermons,
The tone and hints
Of intolerance and brainwashing.
How to join in,
When my attitude
Is not conducive to it.
My mind shuts tight
Out of fear of losing it.
My insanity is more sane
Than your logic.
My light is brighter
Than your search/spotlight.
Your hanging lamp
In an interrogation room,
Full of torture devices,
Designed to retrieve a confession,
Whether or not it’s true.
Tremble in your pew.
Tremble in communion.
Gasp in prayer,
As I push my political agenda
In every prayer,
Glorifying violence,
Respecting those who oppress.
Power-hungry politicians
Hoard money and attention,
Leaving the poor and needy
To fend for themselves,
Or die in misery.
It’s a wonderful world, after all.

God thought.
Thinking…
Reacting.
Responding.
Loving.
Trying to understand it all.
Trying to keep up
With the Joneses?
Give it up.
The Joneses in your “church”
Are not in the “Church”.
What is the Church, anyway?
What does that word mean?
Today, there are so many
Different kinds of churches,
That the word is in danger
Of losing its meaning.
And with all the hypocrisy,
That may just be a part
Of being human,
Any idealism about it
Suffers dramatically.
There was a time
When the Roman Catholic Church
Was the Church.
Some still think so.
But “catholic” means
Universal.
There is nothing universal
About the Roman Catholic Church,
Or any church, for that matter,
Except as it is a part of
The greater Church.
But, enough about church.
Back to God.
What if Jesus
Was just a man?
Or, better yet,
What if there is a bit of God
In all of us?
What if we all
Have the potential
To be as close to God,
As fully God,
As Jesus?
And, what if
We can do this
Through a range
Of religions,
Not just the ones
That our culture
Approves of?
What if Muhammad,
Buddha and Jesus
Were all men
Who were very close to God,
Perhaps,
As much Son of Man
As anyone?
Perhaps,
After all,
There was more to Jesus,
Than we know?
Maybe Jesus
Was as human
As anyone else.
You certainly wouldn’t think so
By reading the Bible.
What were his weaknesses,
His faults, his doubts?
What were his sins?
How could he be fully human
If he never sinned?
And did he really claim
To be God,
Son of God, Savior, Lamb of God?
Or were these just terms
That were applied to him by others,
Like John the Baptist,
The Apostle Paul,
John the Beloved Disciple,
And others in the Roman Catholic,
Protestant, and other parts
Of the Christian church?
And what about the Jews?
After all,
Jesus, his disciples, Paul,
And all the patriarchs
Were Jews.
Why don’t they agree
With what Christians say
About Jesus?
Is it because of how maligned
Their history
And religion was by us?
Is it the evils done
In the name of Jesus?
Or is there more to it than that?
Perhaps,
The same thing
Is happening to Muslims today
By our supposedly
“Christian” nation.
It is very sad, really.
Why can’t we love and respect
Each other, instead of always
Fighting?
Why can’t we learn
From each other?
We could be blessing each other,
Instead of killing each other.
So much blood
On all of our hands.
The history of the world
Is a sad, sad story.
So, where is God in all this?
Is he everywhere,
In every person?
Or is he nowhere?
Or is he only revealed
To a select few?
Is justice coming?
Is love here?
Is there going to be
A New Jerusalem,
Or has it come and gone already,
Condemned to be
A war zone?
Where is truth?

A heaviness
Weighs upon my heart.
It pushes on my chest,
Until I cannot breathe.

I feel chains
Wrapped around my legs,
Pulling me down
Into an abyss.

I cannot see
In front of me.
I cannot dream
Of ecstasy.

I don’t see a way out
Of this tortured maze.
I hear laughing
Behind me.

People celebrate.
They don’t know me.
What is the true me?
Who am I, really?

I yearn for hope
And tender mercy.
Where am I, today?
I weep in my soul.

I cannot tell
What is to come,
But can anyone?
What is inside

The next valley?
If my Lord sees me,
He must have pity.
He will know

My suffering.
He will come down
Speedily,
In a flaming chariot

From heaven
To save me.
But what do I need?
How can I be saved?

Have I dug this pit
Through my own folly?
Does my Lord
Permit me

To reap the consequences
Of my pride?
Does he watch over me
And think to himself,

“He gets what he deserves.
I will leave him be,
For he needs to be
Chastened.”

If that is how it is,
I will wait
On my Lord
For holy healing.

I will wait
For correction.
I will wait
For wisdom.

Surely,
He will come
When he is ready,
When I am ready,

When I have learned
My lesson,
Whatever it is,
He wants to teach me.

The Lord will be
My holy savior,
As in ancient times,
When he walked the earth.

He will touch me,
Release me from this pain,
And heal me.
Great is the Lord,

And worthy to be praised.