Eleven

It was the storm of black rushing down once busy streets
people darting into stores covered in gray
bottled water for the eyes and throats
moans and are you OK

There were brave people who were on the way up
when all else was on the way down
and beams stuck through like fractured bones
that would never be set or healed

Do you remember when the clear blue September sky
gave way to hate for freedom's cause
to a new struggle that could not be won by politicians
nor understood by the twin ivory towers rotting from inside

It is once again September
and I am waiting for more insanity to play out
for the crowds to shake off gray dust and wash eyes in Viscine
so they can remove the grit from the great collapse

And yet - I will trust in the One who brings out
a green sprout on a barren and gray volcanic landscape
breaking up the catastrophic foundation and replacing it
with meadows and forests and buzzing and singing

Biker Bar

This is an actual place Jackie and I went to last week and the name brought out the Robert Service in me. We met some of her cousins and their spouses there for dinner. The entire back wall was a bar stocked up to the ceiling behind it with every type of libation. Quite impressive. When we got there half the stools were occupied by some very interesting characters.

One of Jackie's cousins knew the new owner who was an ex-neighbor of theirs. The guy recently got a winning ticket for a million dollars and invested in this joint. He came over to talk and we complimented him on the food. "I plan on expanding the kitchen" he said "because now we only have one flat top to cook on. But these guys (looking over his shoulder), you know, are really only interested in drinking."

As we were leaving a band started firing up out back and eight more big hogs two by two were pulling into the special parking lot reserved for like minded folks.

Biker Bar

It was once called simply - North 40
though now McCarty's on the name
and I wandered inside with my lovely dear bride
found a place past the lonely pool game

The tables were set cafeteria style
we found ours near the lotto exchange
it gave us a view of the bar keep named Stew
with the Ladies and Gents room in range

Then Misty our gal with the long ponytail
slapped some old plastic menus right down
and asked if we knew what kind of a brew
we would like for deep sorrows to drown

My wife ordered water with a slice of lemon
and I said a coke would be nice
so she grunted OK then came back with a tray
and wondered what food we had found

Then pulling a pen from behind her right ear
to a pad that was simple and sweet
wrote salsa and chips with extra bean dip
and two North Forty burgers to eat

We had feasted and paid for our portions
when a band in the back found their song
and the door opened wide to the black leather stride
of a club who found where they belonged

We waited right there so I started to stare
at a sign said - meanest waitress's in town
then looking about saw some fellas no doubt
who seemed to be coming around

Dark beards on their face didn't slow down the pace
of two men who had drunken their fill
and to get to the room past my chair they would zoom
- except for an oath made to Bill

Now Bill was a father who told many tales
bout his life in the golden old days
when you do as your told and a man's word was gold
and a promise's a promise that stays

One day when his eyes were dimming
opened wide while he grabbed my kind hand
said he wanted to know if I ever would go
to a place with a live biker band

And if you do son then it's time to have fun
cause those guys are nothing but air
it would leave my soul well if one of them fell
I think that would only be fair

To tell you the truth when parking the car
it seemed like a family type place
and the bikes in the lot seemed to have their own spot
although maybe I acted in haste

But now there was only a second
to think of my love for sweet Bill
then I pushed back my chair as if that was fair
and down went one dude with a spill

His bandana flew up like a copter
his key chain rattled the floor
so sorry I said as the wife and I fled
in a flash we were out of the door

There are nights when I hear that band playing
while I'm tossing and turning in bed
and I wonder if Dad would still have been glad
if I'd written this poem in it's stead.

Les Deplorables

We all get called names from time to time. Just last week an obnoxious young guy who failed his motorcycle test because he drove about twice as fast as he should have with his very large bike, accused me first of ageism (I guess because the guy who took the test just before him and passed was a lot closer to my age) and being racist because I must not like Hispanics (neither his first or last name was Hispanic and he didn't look at all Hispanic so who knew?).

But then I woke up one day this week, looked out over the rim of my basket and realized that even though I am not a Donald Trump guy I fit the description of many of the poor slumps that are.

I am a male and pro life so that makes me sexist.

I believe that marriage should only be between a man and a woman so that makes me homophobic.

I think that our country should secure it's borders so that makes me xenophobic.

I'm pretty sure that radical Islam wants to destroy our way of life so that makes me Islamaphobic.

I don't agree with President Obama on almost anything so that makes me a racist.

I think that the Black Lives Matter movement is counter productive so that makes me a bigot.

I don't believe in paying reparations to ancestors of slaves or Native Americans so that makes me a white supremacist.

I think our country should only spend what we take in and that we need to start paying down on our debt so that makes me a hate monger.

I believe that the global warming debacle is much more political than scientific so that makes me a science denier.

I live in a small Midwestern town and like an occasional Mountain Dew and bag of Doritos so that makes me a dumb-ass country hick.

I love my bibles and like my guns so I am one of those unenlightened folks who love their bibles and guns.

I believe there was an actual Adam and Eve and a Noah's flood so that makes me a bible thumping ignoramus.

I question Bill Clinton's libido and Hillary's health so I must be part of the great right wing conspiracy.

I believe I have the right to express my views and disagree with those who want to change traditional social values and that makes me intolerant.

How could one guy get to be so, so deplorable?  I don't know but I will try not to respond to name calling with equal vigor. Instead hopefully I can do as it says in the 4th chapter of Ephesians, vrs 29, 31, 32:

Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word which is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so it will give grace to those that hear.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor be put away from you with all malice.

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

The Never Seen Stone

There it was, in my pocket
lasted through a wash and dry
and when I put on those jeans
and jammed my keys deep
they clunked
out I pulled the never seen stone
this was a gift from my youngest daughter
(with 2 children of her own who perhaps would not get it)
but I got it
and like I said
there it was

It has an irregular shape
is mostly grey fading to white
I smelled it and it doesn't really smell
I tasted it, then took a drink of water which I spit out
(FYI - it tastes blah but my saliva gave it a little shine
which does add some character)

When my daughter next comes to visit
I will proudly show her the place of honor
where I will display her symbol of love and affection for me

You may wonder if I have any other never seen stones
No

To The Laodicean Shepherds

Why do you dismiss the wisdom of ages
offer aid and comfort to rebels
encourage those who sin
walk down forbidden roads yourself
and make to no effect the Word of God?

If your sheep die while you are their shepherd
comfortable in their rebellion and sin
ignorant on how to read the Bible
kept from the moving of the Holy Spirit
never having surrendered to Jesus
either as Savior or as Lord
will you have an answer
when you yourself stand before Him?

Who owns the fields you shepherd
provides sun and rain in season
while you are sitting dry and in the dark
writing your lectures to Him?

Do you understand the nature of evil
how it deceives and calls itself light
then burrows deep in the soul?

Have you thrown yourself down in anguish
for the souls of those entrusted to you?

Have you ever trembled in His presence
in fear and awe of His holiness?

Do you even know Him?

"And He Got Up"

In the 9th chapter of Matthew there are two stories told back to back which use the same phrase at the end of each.

The first tells about Jesus healing a paralyzed man.

And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith Jesus said to the paralytic, "Take courage son, your sins are forgiven."

And some of the scribes said to themselves,"This fellow blasphemes."

And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, "Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up and walk? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins - then he said to the paralytic, Get up, pick up your bed and go home."

And he got up and went home.

The crowds are awestruck and they glorified God who had given such authority to men. We then read:

As Jesus went on from there He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector's booth, and He said to Him, "Follow Me."

And he got up and followed him.

In these stories the paralytic picks up his bed and goes home. Matthew leaves the tax collector booth and follows Jesus but it is interesting that in the very next sentence Matthew too has gone home for we read this account;

Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house (this must be Matthew's house) behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples.

The Pharisees, like the scribes in the first story who thought that Jesus was blaspheming, seemed upset that Jesus would associate with sinners. Jesus answer to the Pharisees also applies to the attitude of the heart of the scribes when is says;

"It is not those who are healthy that need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire compassion and not sacrifice' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Notice that as Jesus instructs the paralytic to get up and go home, and as he instructs the sinner Matthew to (get up) and follow Him he has also instructed the Pharisees "But go (back to your homes) and learn what this means."

There are many different ways to be paralyzed. With the first man it was a physical condition and yet what did Jesus see as more important? Yes, it was the condition of the heart.

The scribes and the Pharisees were also paralyzed in their hearts. They desired a righteousness derived from religious observance and could not see past that, either to have compassion on those who were sick or for those whose lives had taken such a different course than theirs.

And most, because their hearts were closed, did not recognize Jesus for who He really was, the Son of Man, the Son of God, the Heir of David, the long awaited Messiah, the Christ.

Jesus request for each of us is still the same as in these stories. He wants us to have compassion for others, He offers healing for our bodies, forgiveness for our sins and wants us to get up, go home and He will come and dine with us.

But we can't just sit there on our rear ends. GET UP!