Left With Life's Mystery

Blue skies bring back the night
The night we had a fight
Don't forget you and I, let's keep sight
Clouds and limbs, trees and winds
Grace gives up her pride and her ghosts inside
It's given that she needed not to or wanted to forget
Take flight, set course for anew dimension
One divided in an endless flare of fates intervention
Life's mystery often isn't whimsical enough for me
For a lost soul that claims to be found
Snow frost phantom ideas
Cursive brows on a pallet of green
Cryptic signs and rare finds
There's too much artistic freedom if that's even right
And not an end in sight
If there's a script to write let it be written
Don't pick away at a poorly penned poem of a hardly known
I'll write a symphony of endless song if only you'd allow

I can't quit you.....

You are ever consuming. I fall asleep next to you every chance I get.....and when the sun, peeking through my eastern window reminds me that the dream state is temporary...I turn to you at that waking moment. I can't keep my eyes off of you. Be it working, be it watching television, be it reading, be it with friends or be it alone. Your company it seems is all I desire. And when you are at your lowest point in each and every day I do whatever it takes to give you new life. I could never let you die. I would crawl to the ends of the earth to keep you going. I have tried.....I've tried to imagine my life without you and it seems I could not go on. I can't even fathom how I existed prior to our pairing. Hell, I even tried living my life without you. I tried quitting you...leaving you...letting you be a thing of my past and finding my dependence elsewhere. But it was too hard..I relied on you too much. You always kept my interest.....always turned my attention toward you. You have never let me down, never hurt me and never left me. It would seem to others from my endless devotion and love for you that we are meant for each other. And maybe they are right. I can't live without you. I just can't quit you. I am hopelessly devoted to you. My cellphone. This is obviously a satirical view of society's love affair with our electronic devices be it cellphones, IPads, tablets, laptops computers and televisions. They often garner more attention from us than our jobs, friends, children and spouses. It's a sad fact that I myself am far too guilty of many times.

"you may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one"

It's as if at times my dreams are like fire and I am consumed by them. Have you ever watched a movie that had a profound impact on your emotional state but can't remember half the details? I dream of places. Roads, buildings, oceans and beaches. I see street lights and cars with no makers. And I see people. But there is almost always one central figure in each dream. It's never the same person. Its a new character, different from nights past. But it is always a person from my everyday life. Someone I am close to. And for some reason there is only one recognizable person from my life in each dream. The rest of the cast is unrecognizable. I've had people tell me they don't dream......I don't believe them. Ever been traveling, headed somewhere you have never been and seen a place you dreamt about? Identical in every way! Same building, same color, same windows, same cars parked in front. Line for line board for board down to very last detail. Right down to the way the sun casts shadows on the scene or the way the moon glows and reflects on every object that receives her light. My mind tells me this has to mean something. I search for and assign meaning to an abundance of things in my life. I've had these so called déjà vu moments many times. And as hard as I've tried none of these specific places have ended up having any relevance at the time I arrived there. I've woke up from dreams hysterically laughing. I have woke up crying. I have woke up with intentions of writing the dream down in the morning.....only to forget it. And I have woke up headed to the dresser to grab pen and paper only to forget the details in the short time. Dreams are adventures. Drama created by our minds. Dreams are therapeutic. A way to prepare for the day to come and let go of the day that was. Dreams are dangerous. For they can bring fear and apprehension. And bring false hope. Dreams are worthless. Dreams are essential. Dreams are meaningless. Let them go and all your dreams will come true.

Is your bible a weapon for judgment or an instrument of love?

The Bible! Number one selling book in the history of mankind. And arguably the most controversial and misused book. Its readers have started wars in its name, stopped wars in its name, started arguments, ended them, created racism, ended racism, created rule and law, struck down rule and law, wrecked friendships and brought friends together. Many question its relevance to today's society. Does it still apply? Can it be taken literally? I was raised with the Bible as a central part of my family's culture. It was read and applied daily. I attribute some of my strong faith to its part in our lives, some of my faith to my mother and grandmother's undying commitment to their personal faith and sharing it with me and the remainder of my faith to an unexplainable belief in a creator and his love for us sent in the form of Christ and his sacrifice. It's not something I can put into words and I guess that's why they call it faith but nonetheless it makes for a tough sell when trying to explain your faith to someone who wants to understand but wants a logic for it when none exists. No book has been more often quoted and misinterperteted than the Bible. It stirs anger and sadness both when I see or hear people use scripture to tear people down, embarass, humiliate or degrade other human beings. There is no greater hinderence to the growth of another growing in or coming to faith for one than the misuse if the Bible. This blog isn't the final word on this subject, it's not a pure argument for the legitimacy of the Bible and it's not coming from a self righteous place. It is a challenge to myself and to others to take a deep breath and really take a hard look at our motives before we quote this powerful book and to question our motives for injecting it into our discussions, creative works, our twitter accounts, facebook accounts and more importantly our relationships with friends, families and acquaintances. There could be much time spent arguing whether the Bible should be quoted on Facebook in any form other than an uplifting one. But we will save that for another day. The bible is filled with verses that give direction and law for our lives. The question is, what is the role of scripture? Are we to use these passages to apply to our own lives to grow our faith or are we to use them as a weapon to judge others when we have our own shortcomings? Or maybe both? The bible is very clear about whether we are to judge our peers. Matthew 7:1-5 7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." This is one of hundreds of verses pertaining to this. Does this mean we should not ever use scripture to encourage needed growth in others? I don't believe so. I do however believe that if scripture is to be used as a convicting force it had better be done meticulously, it needs to be done out of a pure heart in love and that one needs to have a relationship built with the person they are delivering a message to. And it had better be done face to face in person privately and out of the view or ear shot of others. No group of people has caused more to run from God than us who claim to be Christians. I'm sure I have been guilty of causing others to flee countless times and it causes guilt to even think about it. But with each passing day I pray I will grow in my place as part of creation to build people up as ones created in God's image and to draw them nearer to God's love by demonstrating it rather than push them away by demeaning or condemning them. Let the Holy spirit do the convicting he has more tact than we do. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing." 1 Corinthians 14:26 "What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up."

The New Year Is Society's Confession Booth

So this is the new year? And I don't feel any different...and I love it! It's finally here!!!! That clean slate day, that start anew day.....a confession booth of sorts. It's the only time all year, at the beginning of the year, when you can erase all those bad deeds, those sins against others, hell all those sins against yourself! Like that time you stole a pencil from the little lottery stand, or that day that you thought bad things about the 85 year old man that cut you off on the freeway. Or....how about this..... That day you cursed the Almighty for taking from you the one person who breathed figurative life into your soul. Today is the day you can wipe it all away with new resolution. A brand new soon to be broken resolution. But that's ok right? Because next year, all because of our need to have a reset button on some aspect of life we will be able to make a new one....no strings attached. Man.....how perfect is that....forget about that commitment you made at the beginning of the year and start over! Hell chalk it up to the human condition.
I compare new years to a confession booth under the idea that it takes the God out of confessing and puts the human in it. If we confess our sins to God there is a real fear involved with what really is a commitment. Fear of sinning again, and fear that we are confessing it with a video game mentality. I can reset this thing. The idea of leaving God out of the equation and being able to walk into a vented pine box and tell some guy through the cross shaped hole that we have trespassed againt God and my neighbor is far too good to pass up. Heck in the process we will know what is going on in the church.....wether we can allow some people to be a member of the congregation...if that stuff I heard at coffee the other day was true about Sally Jones. This guy is a priest he is in direct communication with God. Don't get me wrong...there is nothing wrong with a confession booth if we use it as an accountability factor, where telling another human about that time we stole money from a relative has a binding feeling. But God needs to be the first cog on the sprocket. He is where forgiveness comes from...not that well educated and faithful man in the box.
Yes new years can be a chance to stop drinking, or smoking, or start excersising and quit saying dam when you get upset. Yes it can be a chance to leave what's in the past in the past. It should always be a chance to start over.....just not an excuse to. And a confession booth can be a place to admit to another mortal being that you cursed God without having to say it to God.....but it shouldn't be a place to confess your sin without God..you can't get forgiveness for sinning against someone without asking the person you sinned against. And when we sin it is agianst our creator.....always.
So let's stop lying to ourselves and start living up to these commitments we make to ourselves every year. Don't set your goal out of reach. But don't set a goal that allows you a free pass either. This really is the new year and I don't feel any different....and I wish I did. Oh well maybe next year!