The Pogues (Music)
Seen the carnival at Rome
Had the women I had the booze
All I can remember now
Is little kids without no shoes
So I saw that train
And I got on it
With a heartful of hate
And a lust for vomit
Now I'm walking on the sunny side of the street
Stepped over bodies in Bombay
Tried to make it to the U.S.A.
Ended up in Nepal
Up on the roof with nothing at all
And I knew that day
I was going to stay
Right where I am, on the sunny side of the street
Been in a palace, been in a jail
I just don't want to be reborn a snail
Just want to spend eternity
Right where I am, on the sunny side of the street
As my mother wept it was then I swore
To take my life as I would a whore
I know I'm better than before
I will not be reconstructed
Just wanna stay right here
On the sunny side of the street
3.16.2014
3.09.2014
Meditation on Mary McCleary's Prodigal Son
(click to enlarge)
A fact of life is
that ranchers
are land rich and cash poor.
So when the
baby boy asked
for his inheritance,
the Father had
to place a parcel
of the homestead
on the market
to make it happen.
And after the sale,
the Law abiding brother
dutifully pulled
the fence and barb wire
from the old property line
and started to place the new
boundaries of the estate.
And with each post
he pounded into place,
he imagined his
departed brother
nailing someone
in a distant land.
Angry Young Man
Luke 15:29: But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.'
O
poor child
of the Law!
There is no
decree,
ordinance,
mandate
or rule
in your
Book of Law
on how to
throw a party!
And after
seeing how
Grace celebrates,
you stormed up
to your room
and started
to write
the absolute manifesto
on how to have fun.
GRACE
The grace of God means something like:
Here is your life.
You might never have been,
but you are because the party
wouldn’t have been complete without you.
Here is the world.
Beautiful and terrible things will happen.
Don’t be afraid.
I am with you.
Nothing can ever separate us.
It’s for you I created the universe.
I love you.
There’s only one catch.
Like any other gift,
the gift of grace can be yours
only if you reach out and take it.
Maybe being able to reach and take it is a gift too.
Frederick Buechner
3.02.2014
Ash Wednesday (2014)
Sinners
approach the altar
to accept the dirt cross
and hear the words
said to the first couple.
After this holy event,
we leave the temple
with Cain's mark of
protection.
But unlike Adam's progeny,
who wandered
east of Eden,
we place our trust
in the One
who tells us
He knows
the way
home.
Messiah
A young fugitive who comes to a town where the people are willing to take him in and hide him. When soldiers arrive in search of the fugitive, the townspeople protest that they know nothing. Suspecting their lie, the soldiers warn that, unless the fugitive is turned over by morning, the entire town will be destroyed.
In deep fear the people rush to their pastor for counsel. The priest, greatly troubled, starts searching scripture for an answer. All night he reads and finds nothing. Then, just before dawn, his eyes fall on a passage, 'It is better that one man should die for the people than the whole people be lost.'
He is sure that's the answer, and goes to the people with the news. The soldiers are informed that the fugitive is indeed hidden among them, and the young man is taken away. They throw a big party in the town, lasting far into the night, and celebrate their deliverance by the grace of God.
But the pastor returns to his study, still troubled. An angel appears to him and asks what's the problem. 'I still don't feel right about turning over the fugitive,' the pastor says. The angel replies, 'Did you know that he was the Messiah?'
The pastor is incredulous. 'How was I to know?' he asks. 'If, instead of reading your Bible,' the angel replies, 'you had taken time to visit the young man and looking into his eyes, you would have known he was the Messiah.'
In deep fear the people rush to their pastor for counsel. The priest, greatly troubled, starts searching scripture for an answer. All night he reads and finds nothing. Then, just before dawn, his eyes fall on a passage, 'It is better that one man should die for the people than the whole people be lost.'
He is sure that's the answer, and goes to the people with the news. The soldiers are informed that the fugitive is indeed hidden among them, and the young man is taken away. They throw a big party in the town, lasting far into the night, and celebrate their deliverance by the grace of God.
But the pastor returns to his study, still troubled. An angel appears to him and asks what's the problem. 'I still don't feel right about turning over the fugitive,' the pastor says. The angel replies, 'Did you know that he was the Messiah?'
The pastor is incredulous. 'How was I to know?' he asks. 'If, instead of reading your Bible,' the angel replies, 'you had taken time to visit the young man and looking into his eyes, you would have known he was the Messiah.'
Silent God
This is my prayer—
That, though I may not see,
I be aware
Of the Silent God
Who stands by me.
That, though I may not feel,
I be aware
Of the Mighty Love
Which doggedly follows me.
That, though I may not respond,
I be aware
That God—my Silent, Mighty God,
Waits each day.
Quietly, hopefully, persistently.
Waits each day and through each night
For me.
For me—alone.
Edwina Gateley
2.23.2014
Falling off the Charts
From
age one to
middle age 44,
homicide is among
the top five ways
to die
in America.
Then after the mature age of 45,
killing is not even in the
top 10.
I wonder -
did we learn to love
our neighbor
or
did we crush
all our enemies?
Number One with a Bullet
Accidents do happen.
Leading cause of death
from ages one
to forty-four.
Then from forty-five
to sixty-four
cancer leads the way.
Or as the researchers call it
Malignant Neoplasms.
And then for the remaining years,
poor maintenance
and regrets
causes the heart to break.
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