Shine

Others,

Abuse is a social issue. It becomes personal for those who experience it. Sadly, some use rationalized belief in God to justify cruel punishment. It is a problem.

Cruelty shows us how not to act. The drama in many TV shows displays behavior that is most definitely not acceptable. It is shown for dramatic value, not as an example of how to act.

Cruelty is not just personal or social. Natural disaster has been used as a justification for tyrannical government. It has a political dimension that has had a terrible tendency to resurface in history.

It is important to realize that the historical, political and social dimensions of the problem seem to take a life of their own as their force is projected into personal experience. This is where faith in a loving God comes into play.

It is not right for someone to impose cruelty on another while exercising laxity towards him or herself. It is not right to impose cruelty on one’s self in order to inflict it on any others.

Jesus is used as an example of love because he refused to lead a violent rebellion against the establishment. He refused to be cruel towards others. He chose to suffer death on the cross as an expression of faith that God would have us live with civility towards others.

The Tomb
from Job 14, Lamentations 3

Life comes up like a flower.
It is filled with beauty.
It anticipates the sun.
It welcomes warmth.
It thirsts for moisture.

Then it withers.
It does not last.
It flees like a shadow
that disappears into
the darkness of night.

I have seen affliction
under the rod of wrath.
I have been driven into darkness.
I have been isolated by punishment.

The flesh of my skin wastes away.
My bones feel broken.
I have been besieged with
bitterness and enveloped
in tribulation.

Here I lie in darkness.
It seems like ages.
I have been walled into a tomb.
The winding sheet has become
my cocoon.

The exit has been blocked
with stone.  The smell of wormwood
fills the chamber. The taste of bile
haunts my mouth. The pain of laceration
pierces my wrists, my feet …my side.
I have died to what I had been,
yet I live again.

I lie here in my pupa.
My wings are forming.
I prepare to break free
for flight.

God has saved me for Christ.
The steadfast love of the LORD
has not ceased to sustain me.
Mercy endures for life.

LORD, liberate me from this cave!
I will serve you with newness in life
in the light of truth with liberty in the law
for mercy with respect for justice.

=======================

Shine
From Psalm 118

Christ, you are my strength and my song.
You have become my resurrection.

I will live to declare thanksgiving
for the works written
by the Author of life.

I have been punished severely
but I did not die.
Open for me the gate to the tomb.
I will exit to offer my thanks
for existence.

This has become the gate to life.
Pain reclaims feeling.
Strength pushes against
the strong solid mass of stone.
Light floods my sight.
Air rushes into the chamber.
Breath fills tired lungs
with heavenly hope.

I will give thanks to you, LORD.
You have answered my prayer.
You have become my salvation.

Shine, shine sweet soul of mine.
You have been renewed as an advocate
for the city of peace.

The stone that the builders had rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.

Blessed are you who come in the name of faith.
We will bless God in the house of the LORD.

God, you are the LORD. You shine forth
upon us. A procession will be formed
with hands raised to the heavens!

====================

Ambrosia
“April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.””
[”The Wasteland”, T.S. Eliot]
Let go.
Let it go.
Let go of desire.
Let go of the desire
Of only wanting more.
Such wanting is daunting;
A flaunting exploitation
That objectifies the will;
Haunting the explorer in the end;
Only daunting exploration.
Too much change all at once
Surely seems only too good for some
And lasts too short a time for them
At that.
We can still eat a peach;
Gobble gabba some cobbler
And gladly sip
A cup of java Jo,
But when its time to leave
We’ll gladly get up and go.
The tenacious temerity
That placed Tantalus in Tartarus
Came in April.
Dark earth had mixed with light,
Wetness had appeased winter’s blight
Color had exploded into sight
From a base of greenish blue
Against the light brown background
Of dried death depicted
By malnourished grass.
Color’s growth is an invitation to dine
In the light of divine places.
Desire can overcome gratitude.
The fond feel of the luxuriant
Food of abundance is tempting
To the touch of taste.
S/he reached
To imprison eternal life.
S/he sought to embody eternity
In the form of mortal coil.
S/he had built
Second Ludwig’s
Bavarian castle
In a fairy fantasy
Of cartoon delight.
There it was floating
over the rainbow;
a marvelous sight.
Then when the rain came again;
when the pounding pulse of water
washed in waves
Over the lake
S/he had stolen
An endless supply of divinity
for herself!
The leaven of heaven
Is Ambrosia in April.
April’s faith is joyous.
Axios! Abraxius!
Axios!
We went on in the sunlight
to a coffee house garden
For a jolt of java jo.
Yo! Ho! Ho!
We have arrived you know.
The aromatic friendly blend
Derived from the luscious ooze
Of this year’s coffee bean
Being ground into grain
And mined from the muck
Of water’s languid embrace
Had brought us
To the point of being
Unstuck from the mud
Of our own making.
Our speech was casual,
But not too familiar.
We had deceived ourselves
Into finding the extraordinary power
Of ordinary action.
It was so unremarkable
That we shared it with no one,
Yet many, like us,
Decided to partake.
How remarkably unremarkable!
S/he was wading deeper
Into weightlessness.
The weight of gravity
Was being left behind.
Soon sensory perception
Was suspended along
With space, time and
The progressive sense
Of a body’s bold hold
On the sinews of continuum.
This is the experience
Of no knowledge;
No logic;
No understanding;
No things;
No immediacy;
No thought
Nor devotion to emotion.
There is only a floating
Sense of being there
With the faintest
Faith in awareness.
The garden of earthly delight
Is pleasing to our sight,
But heaven Is found
In feeling.
Do not get lost in it.
Just enjoy it;
Only for a moment;
For a brown cow’s now
[You unholy sow.]
The garden of earthly delight
Is pleasing to our sight,
But heaven Is found
In the feel
Of it.
Remember that
Tantalus is still
Reaching for gold
Without the gratification
That is gained
From so much as
Grasping it;
For the goodness
Of its texture; only
For a moment, only
For the right amount
Of time.
S/he still thirsts for water
Without the satisfaction
Of being slaked
In the lake
When the tongue
Slithers under the touch of
The wet liquid tastelessness
Of essential grace.
Still, s/he will grab
For fruit that remains
Out of reach.
Its succulence is
Sacrificed
To a succubus
And incubated
By an incubus
In the fussy wussy-ness of us.
What kind of fruit is that?
Not a berry
Good one,
Ill bet!
Ha! Ha!
Too much change all at once
Can be too good for only some
For all too short a time.
We can still eat a peach;
Gobble gabba some cobbler
And ye-gads!
Gladly sip
A cup of java Jo
With a yo ho ho
we had arrived
a while ago!
When it’s time to leave,
We’ll gladly get up and go.
The garden of earthly delight
Is pleasing to our sight,
But heaven
Is found
In the feel of it.
Faith in awareness
Of divinity
Is ambrosia!
Just take that which is right
for communion.

==================

Freedom of religion does not exonerate abuse, but due process of law does not allow conviction of crime based on false claims or vague legislation. There has to be physical proof that the accused abused the plaintiff. The number of accusations does not prove abuse insofar as it can represent sectarian or partisan discrimination.

Sex Abuse
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/04/05/pope-francis-sex-abuse/2055789/
"The abuse crisis exploded on the world stage in Boston in January 2002 and by June that year, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops led the world in establishing a zero-tolerance policy for abusive priests, removing them from ministry, and reaching out to victims.

"But the leading group of victims in the USA, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, was not mollified by this sign of action.

""A good sign doesn't keep one child safe. Not one," said SNAP Executive Director David Clohessy on Friday."

-------------------------------------

Not much is known about Mary Magdalene, but look at how she listens.

Grey Street - Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb7OuR9Lcvo   

Mary Magdalene
http://bible.cc/mark/16-9.htm
When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.

-------------------------------------

Greed and pride lie under the business and political malady that has escalated the deficit to a point that still threatens the economy.

When a bank is too big to fail or too big to jail, it is too big to exist.

Too Big to Jail?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-bernie-sanders/too-big-to-jail_b_2973641.html
“U.S. banks have become so big that the six largest financial institutions in this country (J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley) today have assets of nearly $9.6 trillion, a figure equal to about two-thirds of the nation's gross domestic product. These six financial institutions issue more than two-thirds of all credit cards, over half of all mortgages, control 95 percent of all derivatives held in financial institutions and hold more than 40 percent of all bank deposits in the United States.”

Close the loopholes. Reduce the tax advantage for the wealthiest people. Take back enough money to pay for social security.

Though it’s red blood bleeding from me, it’s like cold blue ice in my heart. I feel like kicking out the windows and setting fire to this life. I would change anything about me using colors bold and bright, but all the colors mix together to gray.

I’ll do my best to do whatever is best.

Steve K.