Friday, September 28, 2012

Right and Wrong


Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.   Romans 13:1-2
In America being poor is a death sentence,
in America your pocket book determines
the level of respect you receive;
in America you either love it or leave it.

Sometimes it is forgotten
that this nation was founded by people
who didn’t ‘love’ it,
but instead of leaving they fought
a violent and bloody war for independence,
or how a hundred years later
the nation was torn in two as brother
fought brother because one side
didn’t ‘love’ it,
it makes me wonder just who
the real patriots are,
those blindly accepting whatever is thrown at them,
by a government growing increasingly powerful and intrusive,
or those who question every policy and decision,
and to be perfectly honest;
I don’t care one way or the other.

This nation and this government are only
a result of what they are allowed to be,
by a God who created all things,
it does not have any more power, wealth or wisdom
than Rome or Greece or any of the other
great civilizations before it;
this nation exists only because
God willed it to exist.

In colonial days there were preachers
who stood up in their pulpits and declared
that those who didn’t ‘love’ being a British colony
should just leave,
many of the religious leaders of the day
branded Washington and other leaders of the revolution
as criminals and traitors,
but Washington and the revolutionaries won,
and winners not losers write history,
the truth is they won
because that was God’s will,
plain and simple,
so be careful who you call a criminal,
or who you tell to love it or leave it,
because you just might be
on the wrong side of God’s will,
unless you presume to know more
than God himself.

So don’t get caught up in who is right
and who is wrong,
try not to take sides
in the affairs of men at all,
seek the will of the Lord first
and trust in Him,
without leaning to your own understanding,
and remember His command for us all:

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead I have called you friends, for everything I have learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.                                    John 15: 9-17

Thursday, September 20, 2012

The Great Conundrum

the problem with the past
is yesterday and tomorrow;
you can’t undo yesterday,
and you sure can’t
guarantee tomorrow;
the problem with the present
is yesterday and tomorrow;
you can’t undo yesterday,
and you sure can’t
guarantee tomorrow;
the problem with the future
is yesterday and tomorrow;
you can’t undo yesterday,
and you sure can’t
guarantee tomorrow;
feelings fade,
sliding out the door
like unwanted
house guests,
fleeing into the
surrounding wilderness
never to return,
never to be seen again,
the pain comes,
the pain goes,
here today,
gone tomorrow,
just a passing moment,
piling upon a mountain
of yesterday’s moments,
cascading into fresh moments
of today,
which patiently wait for
new moments of tomorrow;
in the end
it means very little,
because;
you can’t undo yesterday,
and you sure can’t
guarantee tomorrow.
.
.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Stolen Ground


I have tasted heights so high,
I have swam depths so deep,
touching things along the way
which were never mine to keep,
traveling beyond all there
was to know,
yet still there is more,
so much more to go;
confusion and sorrow color
these early morning skies,
answers lie hidden
among alternatives and
cascading lies,
places once called home
crumble into the far-off fading light,
faces once called friends
disappear into the approaching black
of this forever growing night;
take my hand,
lead me from this land,
hear my voice,
help me make a stand;
darkness grows above,
storms rise from below,
over-fed pretenders
prepare for the final show,
in this never ending battle
which can never be won,
raging just beyond
all that can be overcome;
into the nighttime void a
whisper does sound,
shadows of tomorrow looming large
across this stolen ground,
mistakes of yesterday forever lost,
innocent blood shed,
freedom at such a staggering cost;
take my hand,
lead me from this land,
hear my voice,
help me make a stand.
.
.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

War


Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.                                                                                     Ephesians 6:10-12

All around the battle rages,
the enemy silently waits,
unseen, unknown,
beyond sight,
beyond touch;
beyond understanding.

Slaves to all that we see,
all that we hear,
all that we feel;
yet we see nothing,
we hear nothing,
we feel nothing;
mirrors and smoking guns,
illusions and disappearing truths,
cheap parlor tricks played out
on morning talk shows,
here today,
gone tomorrow,
the war never ends;
the enemy never sleeps.

An Apology

The night quietly gathers
one last time,
as the sun slowly disappears,
I will never see your
vast, luscious valleys,
never taste the sweetness
of your swift running streams,
never hear the sound
of your softly rustling leaves
blowing in the cool, gentle, breeze,
never find the peace of your
distant, fading solitude,
never know the mystery of your
intoxicating touch;
should have left well enough alone,
should have let it die,
a friend indeed is far better
than a lover gone,
yet sometimes weakness
overcomes strength,
sometimes dreams are more
than can be resisted;
some things really are better
left unsaid;
and that is all
which can be said,
now it shall be no more,
just as so many others
which were but are not,
nothing, nothing at all,
simply a fading mist,
a slight murmur among
the daily buzz,
goodbye my love
that never was;

I am sorry.
.
.
.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Democracy in the Middle East (originally posted 2/11/11)


Today Mubarek resigned and Egyptians are celebrating their new found 'freedom and democracy'. In case you haven't figured it out, this is much bigger than Egypt. If you have been paying attention this started in Tunisia and is spreading to most of the Arab countries controlled by governments who are either supported financially by America or at least quietly condoned by America. In return for this support or tolerance these governments have quietly supported America in return. Now the people of Egypt have overthrown a dictator in the name of democracy, a dictator long supported by America, what can America say now? 'We really don't want democracies and self-rule in the middle east? That we only want what will be in the best interest of the American people, which means low gasoline prices?'  Of course we can't say that because then we would appear to be the hypocrites that we really are.

So first the islamic extremists got us to use our military to remove one tyrant (Saddam Hussein) and now they are using the very principles this country was founded on to remove the rest, and there's not a darn thing we can do or say about it. Pretty sweet huh? So what does 'democracy' in the middle east really mean? It means the arab/islamic people will choose who they want to govern them and not necessarily those who will be friendly towards America and the rest of the western world. Who do you think those leaders will be? If you really want an answer you only have to look as far as Iran. Remember them? Remember the Shah? Remember how they were once the 'good guys' (before the people decided that they would rather be ruled by religious ayatollohs instead of a US puppet called the Shah). What do you think the Saudi Arabian royal family is thinking right now? How long do you think it will be before the new found 'democracy' in Egypt turns its attention towards them? And again, without appearing to be complete hypocrites and losing what little credibility we have left in the middle east, there's not a damn thing America can do about it. I repeat, pretty sweet huh?

So where is this all going, besides higher gasoline prices, which we will pay simply because we have no choice as long as we remain slaves to an oil based economy? Well let me tell you what I believe the answer to be, it is the same answer upon which the entire history of human existence has always revolved around: Israel, thats right, Israel. When Saudi Arabia falls where do you think the attention will be directed at? Perhaps the place that most Arab factions have vowed to wipe off the face of the earth? And which most Arab groups refuse to even acknowledge as a sovereign state. I'm not going to debate this with any of you nor go through the hundreds, if not thousands of prophecies and proofs it would take (which those of you who don't understand wouldn't believe anyway). I will just leave it at that. When you see the armies of the world surrounding Jerusalem perhaps you will understand, but I'm afraid it might be too late by then. Those of you who do understand hopefully will know what I am talking about.

I want to close with one thought: How did this all begin, the toppling of Saddam, etc., what was the catalyst that eventually drove us to use our military and resources to remove a dictator and justify it with a bunch of political rhetoric about democracy and freedom (besides our fear of Weapons of Mass Destruction) (remember that)? Remember 9/11? Kind of like poking a tiger or a bear to get them to react the way you want them to react huh? It seems to me we've been played.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Osama

Note: This is not a glorification or endorsement for Osama Bin Laden. If you read this carefully and honestly you will realize that. However I know most people don't read carefully or honestly so I know some of you will find this offensive and disgusting. So be it. Take it anyway you wish - W. F. Rhoads.

Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him. Proverbs 24:17-18

What can be said
for one such as this?
he was not a coward,
he was not a hypocrite,
he was not a madman
hungry for power;
in many ways he was everything
most of us dream of being;
fearless, committed,
standing firm for what he believed,
openly declaring war on an enemy
much more powerful than he,
turning his back on wealth and greed,
paying the consequences for his actions;
“for all who draw the sword will die
by the sword.” Matthew 26:52.

Late night comics gleefully mock,
anything for ratings and cheap laughs,
children, drunk and spoiled,
dance in the street,
chanting words and catch phrases
about issues they neither understand
nor could care less about,
just another excuse to party,
celebrating like some super bowl
or national championship victory;
you reaped what you sowed,
but your victims deserved better
than this.
I do not mourn your death,
rather I find it sad that one such as you
could be deceived,
unable to find the truth,
swallowed up by the darkness,
blinded by the hatred;
it makes me wonder what hope there is
for the rest of us.
.
.

You'll Never Know


you’ll never know
how much there was,
hidden inside with all the other
unseen baggage and trash,
collected over a lifetime
of useless dreams and
sentimental nonsense,
you’ll never know.

The vultures circle above,
waiting for the moment
to arrive,
they hear the sound,
they understand the fear,
they taste only tomorrow,
yesterday is dead and gone,
today but a mystery,
remaining locked within
distant shadows,
without form or shape;
you’ll never know.

You’ll never know
where tears go
when they can no longer
be cried,
how daytime light
disappears into
unending shadows
of approaching night,
why noises within the darkness
turn suddenly silent at the
approaching madness,
when and how the soul really dies;
you’ll never know.
.
.

Danielle


The children of darkness
have their moments as well,
glorious testimonies and self-made fantasies,
delightful, intoxicating delusions,
breath taking beams of false light,
rising to incomprehensible heights;
perhaps this is what
I understand best.
I have never been able
to survive in either world;
just somewhere in-between,
out on the fringe,
slightly past the known,
standing on the edge,
where even shadows
remain silent.

I should have reached out for you,
I should have protected you,
I should have pulled you from
the gathering storm,
I should have been stronger,
I should have been willing
to fight for you,
die for you;
now it is too late,
now you are gone;
lost forever;
baby,
you’ll never know
how I grieved for you,
how I loved you like a daughter,
how I loved you as a woman,
how you made me smile
on the inside;
how I will always miss you.
.
.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

This One


This one moves silently within,
lurking like some unseen entity;
talking,
smiling,
laughing,
kissing,
touching,
caressing,
this one may be the end;
this one may do me in.

It’s not easy carrying this curse,
eventually it all comes out,
no matter how hard
you try to hide it inside,
everything is fair game,
every emotion,
every thought,
every deep dark secret,
every ounce of love and hate,
laid bare for the world to witness,
it’s all available for public consumption;
this one is more than
I can bear.

I have survived so many others,
throwing them into the gutter,
walking away never to return,
never giving it a second thought,
but this one is different,
I am not young anymore,
not strong,
the future does not seem
endless now,
time goes by much too fast now;
this one is more than
I can bear.
.
.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Haves and Have-Nots


“And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”           Luke 18:7-8

It’s easy to turn your back
when you’re one of the haves;
have a job,
have a home,
have money,
have food;
have affordable health care;
easy to believe the lies,
give into the fears,
buy the stereotypes:
they’re all lazy,
they’re all immoral,
they’re all looking
for a free lunch;
they all get what they
deserve;
so afraid of losing
something that belongs
to you,
some of your hard earned
treasure,
all the things
you sweated and slaved for,
all the idols you fall down before
and worship;
all the things you sold
your soul for.

The have-nots of the world
are beginning to rise,
they’re not going away quietly
anymore,
they’re tired of the abuse,
they’re no longer content
with the crumbs,
there are things
bigger than themselves;
there are things worth dying for.

The children of men hold their breath,
a final sigh before the meltdown,
a silent pause within the maelstrom,
their hearts failing from fear,
their love growing cold,
meeting in secret places,
waiting for what is to come;
like a thief in the night
it sweeps them away;
trees smolder and smoke,
bursting into flames as
tires begin to steam,
their rubber melting
to the highway surface;
no where to run,
no where to hide;
like abandoned wells
their water runs dry,
they sit withering in the sun,
wandering through the wilderness,
lost and alone;
the day is here,
the time is now;
Your mercy endures
to the end,
but who shall hear the message?
who shall accept the grace?
when the Son of Man returns
will He find faith?
.
.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Imperfection


When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. Luke 5:8-11
Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Mark 5:36

My soul has tasted madness,
my soul lies dying in the dust,
choking on the excess,
drowning in the lust,
caught up in the illusion,
dried up,
empty,
no where left to turn,
no where left to run,
guilty as charged;
once again You
raise me from the depths,
once again You
wrap me in Your love,
Your righteousness and glory
more than my filth ridden flesh
can bear,
Your perfection
overwhelming the imperfection
of all that I am;
Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!
once again You quietly whisper;
Don’t be afraid; just believe.

my God,
my King,
my Everything.

Where Now America?


Where now
America?

Your playgrounds and sandlots
lie empty,
as your youth
grow tired and disillusioned,
hanging out at the mall,
gathering in clumps and clusters,
wearing hundred dollar rags,
wrapped up in coolness,
struggling to be ghetto,
jaded with knowledge,
dripping with sarcasm;
nobody’s fool;

ice flowing through their veins,
filth dripping from their lips,
incapable of genuine laughter,
void of dreams,
growing old
before their time;

south jersey farm boys,
full of TV bravado and
James Dean machismo,
daddy’s good little girls,
playing MTV hoes,
busy being
trash talking lil bitch wannabes,
joking about
giving blowjobs for a dollar.

Generation X,
childhood gone,
innocence lost,
forever;
where now
America?

where now?
.
.

Out On The Edge


Out on the edge,
people and places are seldom
what they seem,
lines become blurred,
light but a reflection,
faces come out of the night,
moving beyond darkness and death,
winter winds blow cold,
leaving trails of broken bones,
rising into the emptiness beyond;
out here,
all hope has died.

Sitting here
watching the rain fall,
nowhere left to go,
no more room to run,
the voices slowly fade,
the faces silently disappear,
everything passes with time,
nothing lasts forever,
is truth enough,
or does darkness win?
without love,
are you only
fooling yourself?

Nothing is hidden
that will not be revealed,
no debt goes unpaid,
a reckoning
for every word whispered
in the night;
an accounting
for promises made
but never kept.
.
.

Wept


As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes.”                                                                                      Luke 19:41-42

I do not weep for the truth,
I weep because of the truth;
I weep for the futility,
I weep for the loss,
I weep for the waste,
I weep for the hopelessness.

I weep for the children,
I weep for the tragedy,
I weep for the sorrow,
I weep for the suffering,




I weep for the inevitability.






What now
America?


Sand Creek remembers
.
.

Babylon Fallen


Standing on the edge;
if you listen hard
you can hear
the last dying gasps
of dreams gone bad,
betrayed by their lusts,
abandoned by their principles,
strangled by their self-righteousness,
drowning in their hypocrisy;
destroyed by their greed.

The children shake with fear,
burned out shells,
well-preserved corpses,
waiting to collapse
into the beckoning grave
of their man-made utopia,
trapped within the walls
of their self-made
wisdom;
Babylon fallen,
forever.
.
.

A Midday Dream


On a bright blue morning
I saw the end,
as the city went up
in flames,
you turned to me
with panic in your eyes,
screaming “WHY?! WHY?!
I said we must not
cry,
so when it is all over
we can face the truth
and say
we remained
human beings.

  

…..Be still
my tired,
beating,
savage,
heart,
your day of rest
will come
all to soon.
.
.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Babylon


After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.” Then I heard another voice from heaven say: Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues, for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Mix her a double portion from her own cup. Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit as a queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn.’ Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her. “When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: ‘Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!’
                                                                                                              Revelations 18:1-10

O Babylon;
land of opulence and luxury,
kingdom of self-indulgence and lust,
home of instant gratification and decadence,
you use until there is nothing left to use,
you take until there is nothing left to take,
you lie dying in the filth of your own greed,
where is your pleasure now?

O Babylon;
trampling on the backs of those who have less,
stealing from those without the resources to fight back,
killing under the guise of righteousness and the greater good,
how long can the hypocrisy  remain hidden?
how long can you pretend
the misery and suffering doesn’t exist?
how long O Babylon?

O Babylon;
surrounded by wealth and excess,
your children grow restless and bored,
turning to technology and machines,
ashamed of a legacy stained with innocent blood,
unable to reconcile the truth
in the name of liberty and justice for all.
.
.

Frenzy


The storm clouds gather,
rising on the distant horizon;
this new place,
this other reality,
this far off land where
nightfall never ends;
what is left?
what more can be said?
does no one listen?
does no one hear?
does the madness never end?

Today I would have given
you everything,
yet nothing is all you took,
tomorrow’s troubles
brings fresh sorrows
all their own,
as freshly killed bodies
float like chum on the surface,
being devoured by ravenous lizards
frantically joining in the
morning frenzy;
I wish it were not so.

This life is no life,
it changes and rearranges,
ebbing and flowing,
never coming to completion,
creations of a creator,
children of light
trapped within the darkness,
temporary, transient
and conciliatory,
blinded to the truth hidden
before our eyes;
the great illusion
we choose to believe;
deceiving and being deceived,
wounding and being wounded,
hurting and being hurt,
feeding off the leftovers,
running for the scraps;
hiding within the cracks.
.
.

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