Tag: God

Frosting

Smile lack so sad smooth life is not that weep for the end is near the beginning is coming the satisfaction of all will be found on the mountaintop.

Close the door (the end is near) but don’t fear for god is here. Womb shallow river pour out on this congregation of ne’er do wells and corrupt citizenry and ghost town revelers.

So much to leave behind a simple backpack is all I carry a sack with no lunch nothing but a cup to fill with water when I can.

Can you find the ancient ruins beneath the supermarket? The burial ground under the rollercoaster? What’s new? I don’t have a clue.

I like endings. Beginnings, not so much. I like meandering and intoxicating and flurries on a cool night. I like rivers and hills and dead man’s curve.

Do you see the end coming? It’s near, I tell you! Really close but doubt comes closer and I believe in doubt. I like to humor doubters and double crossers and hooligans.

How many doubts does it take to make a faith? How many truths does it take to make a scripture? So many confusing sorts of dreams and all kinds of visions and stalactites and frosting.

The Apostles’ Creed with Commentary

I believe in God the Father Almighty, but if he’s almighty, why doesn’t he stop crime, hunger, murder, rape, theft, abuse, neglect, war?

Maker of heaven and Earth, but why did God make the world? Was he lonely? Was it a mistake? If not, why the flood?

And in Jesus Christ, his son, our Lord, even though Jesus never directly proclaimed to be the Son of God,

Conceived by the Holy Spirit, but how does that happen?

Born of the Virgin Mary, ???

Suffered under Pontius Pilate, yep, sadly,

Crucified, dead and buried, again, sadly,

In three days he rose from the dead, but the witnesses weren’t recorded until long after, and by people other than the witnesses,

He ascended into heaven, ???

And sits at the right hand of God the father almighty, no witnesses for this, of course.

From there he shall come to judge the living and the dead, sooner or later, at the end of time.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, some evidence like evidence of the wind. You can’t see it, but you can see it’s effects.

The holy universal church,the church is holy, but not due to its own state, actions or deeds, but by Jesus saving grace, boasting nothing but God’s grace and mercy.

The communion of saints, this happens every Sunday, does it not?

The forgiveness of sins, we trust and hope this happens,

The resurrection of the body, simply a matter of faith, not science, which is okay.

And the life everlasting, we can only hope.

The Lord’s Prayer with commentary

Our Father, the best father imaginable, and if not imaginable, the best Mother, or Brother, or Sister, or Friend;

Who art in Heaven, that place that isn’t a place, the perfect state of being, of existing, of living; that paradise of another dimension;

Hallowed be thy name, holy, righteous, special, divine, separate, perfect, lovely, beautiful, worthy of worship by all, Daddy, Momma, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, Aunt, Friend, Confidante;

Thy Kingdom come, a world where God’s love and holiness is the guiding principle for all, an experience of grace that exists right now, anytime, is accessible to all, no matter where they live or what state their life is in;

Thy Will be done, a state of purpose that comes only from God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit; A goal that has already been achieved on the Cross, by paying the sacrificial debt for the sins of the world, from the beginning to the end of time; The perfect obedience and righteous existence that comes from God’s gift to humanity;

On earth, as it is in heaven, can you imagine everyone on the earth following God’s will? Can you imagine anyone obeying 100% of the time? Well, it happens sometimes, which is a miracle in itself;

Give us this day our daily bread, give us physical, emotional and spiritual sustenance , whatever is necessary to do God’s will, God provides it, and all we have to do is ask;

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, grace that only God can give to pardon us from our shortcomings, provided we are as charitable with those who hurt us, loving our neighbor as well as even our enemy;

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, God protects us from so much temptation that we could not handle. And when we need deliverance, he’s right there to save us;

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, all goodness and great things belong to God. They are only possible with his grace and power;

Forever and ever, from the beginning of time to the end end of time, god with his grace, power and love exist and are provided to those who ask.

Amen, all this is true.

Lost

I want to get closer,

But I’m afraid.

I want to pray,

But I’m not sure

Who I’m praying to.

So many different images

In my mind,

Competing for my

Attention.

Who are you,

And what do you

Want from me?

Can I trust you?

I look at all

The imperfect people

In my life,

And I struggle

To understand

Words like

Perfection,

Love,

Righteousness,

Holiness,

Sanctification,

Charity,

Divinity…

The list goes

On and on.

Can you tell me:

What is true,

And

What is a lie?

I’m lost.

A Prayer for the World

I closed my eyes to the world,

For I could not bear another

Moment of its peril,

Persecution and sword.

All the fighting was too much

To take in each day,

The cruelty and carnage,

The swearing and insulting,

Turning heads to wrongs abounding.

So, my hope was hanging

In a precious balance.

Whether I could go on,

Was in doubt, for sure.

I decided to appeal

To my higher power,

The merciful God of Spirit,

Who had rescued my life from ruin.

Somehow, there must be possibility

For my present earth to reconcile

All this shambles of civilization,

A carcass of the creation

That existed so many years ago.

I prayed a solemn petition,

Asking Jesus for His grace,

A gentle dose of mercy

For this time and place.

And so I placed my trust

In the heaven above,

Shedding no more tears for the future.

I know it is in God’s hands,

And I believe that is enough.

Life

Silence.

Tick, tick, tick, tick…

Ouch! That hurts!

Tick, tick, tick, tick…

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Hello?

Silence.

Hello? Is there anybody there?

Silence.

Tick, tick, tick, tick…

Ring! Ring! Ring!

I don’t care! I just don’t care, anymore.

Silence.

Brothers

I never thought we’d come to this place—

You and me on opposing sides, in a race

Against time, against each other, against freedom.

Never thought I’d be fighting a brother in the kingdom.

Sometimes, I get confused about all the issues.

Hold it now, I need a box of tissues.

Life has taught me to be true to those

Close to me, who’d give me the clothes off their back.

Maybe if we try to make this moment count,

Dig in, and give it all we’ve got.

Can you see the light coming at you now?

Don’t leave me here to just fester and rot!

You mean a lot to me, I wish you could

Accept that simple truth as a fact.

Let’s do the right thing, like eating your favorite food.

It feels good, even to be caught in the act.

Everything we learned yesterday doesn’t come

To mean a thing without love.

Every heart we’ve broke just feels like some

Kind of putting our head in a stove.

But you and me, we’ve been around the block.

We know the rules, and the pain, there’s no going back.

It’s not too late to correct yourself.

Just put those lies on the back shelf.

Hear me say, it’s not the same thing

As going on the first date.

Going steady makes me irate.

Take off like a big spring

That’s all I got, so take it or leave it!

Communion

Sacrifice justice mercy love tribal watch out for

Those who are like you but even more for those

Who are different pluralism diversity freedom

Encouragement communion fellowship blood

And body bread and wine do this as you will

Bible Stories, True or False?

Bible stories are an enigma. Some of them are so intimate, private and personal. Some of them are so extraordinary, hard to believe, supernatural. So many are so alien to life as we know it. And who could have originally accounted for each story? When John leapt in Elizabeth’s womb upon a visit from Jesus’ mother Mary, who recorded that story to be passed on for centuries? When Moses encountered the burning bush, when the Hebrews followed a pillar of fire and smoke, when a touch of Jesus’ robe healed a bleeding woman, who wrote down these things? Who told the story to others? So private, so personal. So hard to believe that they came to be part of a book that we read. I don’t think Jesus told these stories. Was it a disciple? An apostle? Who passed it on? Did leaders in the first churches started by Paul tell these stories in church? Before there was a written record from the Catholic Church? So many questions, so many unanswered doubts. The Bible stories are so foreign to life as we know it today. How could they have really happened? Isn’t it more likely that they were made up to enhance the power of the church over its followers? And the synagogue over its faithful people? Other religions have stories that we assume are just literature made up by followers of a religion to give power to their leaders. Why don’t Christians believe the same thing about their own religious books? Is it too terrifying to consider that these stories could be false, made up, simply literature to build up a myth?

Can You Doubt It?

Pools of blood

Gathering beneath

The hanging body.

Breath goes out,

But doesn’t come back in.

Skin separated from the bones.

What is the truth?

They’ve washed their hands

Of any responsibility.

But can they wash away the blood?

Nightmares come

To remind the guilty.

Can you grit your teeth

And bare this torture?

Can you escape the horror?

This man was truly

From God.

Those who witnessed,

Cannot deny it.

Those who saw him later—

Walking, talking…

Breathing, eating—

Cannot shake the image

From their memory.

Restored but still wounded.

Put your finger

In my wrists and in my side.

He is alive!!!