AUGUSTINE

Ask the loveliness of the earth, ask the loveliness of the sea, ask the loveliness of the wide airy spaces, ask the loveliness of the sky, ask the order of the stars, ask the sun, making daylight with its beams, ask the moon tempering the darkness of the night that follows, ask the living things which move in the waters, which tarry on the land, which fly in the air; ask the souls that are hidden, the bodies that are perceptive; the visible things which most be governed, the invisible things that govern—ask these things, and they will all answer you, Yes, see we are lovely. Their loveliness is their confession. And all these lovely but mutable things, who has made them, but Beauty immutable?- Augustine Sermons 214.2

MOTHER'S AGAINST THE WAR

He will leave again.
Again, I'll be broken, a relic
of that young woman I was when
I stood over his bassinet and
hoped his rash would heal
if I changed to cloth.
……………………………………………………………………………………


He left it out
of sight, as if recalling
my refusal,
when he was a boy,
to buy him one.
The only evidence
it existed, a small
brown square of paper,
slightly buckled,
three holes shot
through at the heart,
lying on the table
by his will.
…………………………………………………………………………….







His head was freshly shaved.
A blue square bandage
on his shoulder covered
the small pox shot they all get
before they ship out to Iraq.
In days he'd be cargo on some army plane,
and I'd be in New York City listening
to his message on my machine.
I save all his messages.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Last Mother's Day,
when he was incommunicado,
nothing came.
Three days later, a message
in my box; a package,
the mail room closed.
I went out into the lobby,
banged my fist against
the desk. When they
gave it to me, I clutched it
to my chest, sobbing
like an animal.
I spoke to no one,
did not apologize.
I didn't care about the gift.
It was the note I wanted,
the salt from his hand,
the words.
……………………………………………………………………..


Frances Richey
....................................................

OSCAR A ROMERO

Those who have created the evil are those who have made possible the hideous social injustice our people live in. Thus, the poor have shown the church the true way to go. A church that does not join the poor in order to speak out from the side of the poor against the injustices committed against them is not the true church of Jesus Christ.- Oscar A. RomeroThe Violence of Love

Had it been me...

As easy as it is for those of us who are white to look back and say, "That's a terrible statement," I grew up in a very segregated South, and I think that you have to cut some slack. And I'm going to be probably the only conservative in America who's going to say something like this, but I'm just telling you: We've got to cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told, "You have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie. You have to go to the back door to go into the restaurant. And you can't sit out there with everyone else. There's a separate waiting room in the doctor's office. Here's where you sit on the bus." And you know what? Sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment. And you have to just say, I probably would too. I probably would too. In fact, I may have had ... More of a chip on my shoulder had it been me.
- Mike Huckabee, offering his perspective on the preaching of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. (Source: MSNBC)

TAN FU

YANGISTS LIKED TO QUOTE THE EXAMPLE OF TAN FU,
AN ANCESTOR OF THE ZHOU KINGS,
WHO HAD RENOUNCED THE THRONE
RATHER THAN FIGHT AN INVADING ARMY:
" TO SEND TO THEIR DEATHS THE SONS
AND YOUNGER BROTHERS
OF THOSE WITH WHOM I DWELL
IS MORE THAN I COULD BEAR,"
HE EXPLAINED IN HIS ABDICATION SPEECH' .

PISTIS

Faith
(Pistis, fides). In the Old Testament, the Hebrew means essentially steadfastness, cf. Exod., xvii, 12, where it is used to describe the strengthening of Moses' hands; hence it comes to meanfaithfulness, whether of God towards man (Deuteronomy 32:4) or of man towards God (ps. cxviii, 30). As signifying man's attitude towards God it means trustfulness or fiducia. It would, however, be illogical to conclude that the word cannot, and does not, mean belief or faith in the Old Testament for it is clear that we cannot put trust in a person's promises without previously assenting to or believing in that person's claim to such confidence.
It seems a surprising way to begin talking about happiness by Saying, .. Blessed are the poor in spirit." there are two ways m Which we can come at the meaning of this word poor.
As we have them the beatitudes are in Greek, and the word
That is used for poor is the word ptochos. In Greek there are two Words for poor. There is the word penes. Penes describes a man Who has to work for his living; it is defined by the Greeks as Describing the man who is autodiakonos, that is, the man who Serves his own needs with his own hands. Penes describes the Working man, the man who has nothing superfluous, the man Who is not rich, but who is not destitute either. But, as we have Seen, it is not penes that is used in this beatitude, it is ptochos, Which describes absolute and abject poverty. It is connected With the root ptossein, which means to crouch or to cower; and It describes the poverty which is beaten to its knees. As it has Been said, penes describes the man who has nothing superfluous; Ptochos describes the man who has nothing. At all. So
This beatitude becomes even more surprising. Blessed is the man Who is abjectly and completely poverty-stricken. Blessed is the Man who is absolutely destitute.
As we have also seen the beatitudes were not originally
Spoken in Greek, but in Aramaic. Now the Jews had a special Way of using the word poor. In Hebrew the word is 'alii or Ebion. These words in Hebrew underwent a four-stage develop Ment of meaning. (l) they began by meaning simply poor. (2) They went on to mean, because poor, therefore having no Influence or power, or help, or prestige. (3) they went on to Mean, because having no influence, therefore down-trodden and
Oppressed by men. (4) finally, they came to describe the man Who, because he has no earthly resources whatever, puts his Whole trust in god.
So in Hebrew the word poor was used to describe the humble And the helpless man who put his whole trust in god. It is thus That the psalmist uses the word, when he writes, " this poor Man cried, and the lord heard him, and saved him out of all his Troubles" (psalm 34: 6). It is in fact true that in the psalms the' Poor man, in this sense of the term, is the good man who is dear To god. "the hope of the poor shall not perish for ever"
(psalm 9: 18). God delivers the poor (psalm 35: 10). "in thy Goodness, 0 god, thou didst provide for the needy" (psalm 68: 10). "he shall defend the cause of the poor of the people"
(psalm 72: 4). " he raises up the needy out of affliction, and Makes their families like flocks" (psalm 107: 41). " i will satisfy Her poor with bread"(psalm 132: 15). In all these cases the poor Man is the humble, helpless man who has put his trust in god,
Let us now take the two sides, the Greek and the Aramaic,
And put them together. Ptochos describes the man who is Absolutely destitute, the man who has nothing at all; 'ani and Ebion describe the poor, and humble, and helpless man who has Put his whole trust in god. Therefore, " blessed are the poor in Spirit" means
Blessed is the man who has realized his own utter helplessness. And who has put his whole trust in god.
If a man has realized his own utter helplessness, and has put His whole trust in god, there will enter into his life two things Which are opposite sides of the same thing. He will become Completely detached from things, for he will know that things Have not got it in them to bring happiness or security; and he Will become completely attached to god, for he will know that God alone can bring him help, and hope, and strength. The man Who is poor in spirit is the man who has realized that things Mean nothing, and that god means everything.
We must. be careful not to think that this beatitude calls Actual material poverty a good thing. Poverty is not a good Thing. Jesus would never have called blessed a state where People live in slums and have not enough to eat, and where Health rots. Because conditions are all against it. That kind of Poverty it is the aim of the Christian gospel to remove. The Poverty which is blessed is the poverty of spirit, when a man
Realizes his own utter lack of resources to meet life and finds His help and strength in god.
I
Jesus says that to such a poverty belongs the kingdom of Heaven: ,why should that be so? If we take the two petitions of The lord s prayer and set them together:
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven,
We get the definition: the kingdom of god is a society where God's will is as perfectly done in earth as it is in heaven. That Means that only he who does god's will is a citizen of the Kingdom; and we can only do god's will when we realize our
Own. Utter helplessness, our own utter ignorance, our own utter inability to cope With life, and when we put our whole trust in
God .. Obedience is always founded on trust. The kingdom of God is the possession of the poor in spirit, because the poor in Spirit have realized their own utter helplessness without god And have learned to trust and obey. '
o the bliss of the man who has realized his own utter Helplessness and who has put his whole trust in god For thus alone he can render to god that perfect
Obedience which will make him a citizen of the kingdom of Heaven!
Abraham had now become not merely the father of the Jewish people but the ancestor of all the faithful. His 'faith' (Greek: pistis, a word which, it is important to note, should be translated as 'trust' rather than 'belief) had made him a model Christian, centuries before the coming of the messiah. When scripture praised Abraham's faith it was referring 'to us as well': 'Scripture foresaw that God was going to use faith to justify the pagans, and proclaimed the Good News long ago, when Abraham was told: In you all the pagans will be blessed.' 41 When God commanded Abraham to abandon his concubine Hagar and their son Ishmael in the wilderness, this had been an allegory: Hagar represented the Sinai covenant, which had enslaved Jews to the Law, while Sarah, Abraham's free-born wife, corresponded to the new covenant, which had liberated gentiles from Torah obligations.
The author of the epistle to the Hebrews, who was probably writing at about the same time, was even more radical. He was trying to console a community of Jewish Christians
We should also recognize the changes in the meaning of our English verb, "to believe." Its use in mediaeval and Elizabethan times conveyed the sense of trust in a person, loyalty or commitment to a person. That is the sense in which Paul and all other biblical authors used its Greek equivalent, pisteuo when speaking of believing in God or in Jesus Christ. Since the time of Hobbes, Locke and Mills in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, it has gradually taken on the force of a proposition, "to believe that .... " In the 1959 edition of Chambers Encyclopedia, the article on "Belief" states, "what we actually believe, in the strictness of the language, is always a proposition or set of propositions. Of these, creeds are composed." (Quoted in Smith, Wilfrid Cantwell, History and Belief. Charlottesville, VA. Virginia University Press, 1977, p. 49; n. 30, p.109.)
Faith is the noun corresponding to the verb "believe," for which the Hebrew is heemin, the hiphil form of aman, and the Greek (LXX and NT) pisteuo. The latter is a key word in the NT, being the term regularly used to denote the many sided religious relationship into which the gospel calls men and women, that of trust in God through Christ. The complexity of this idea is reflected in the variety of constructions used with the verb (a hoti clause, or accusative and infinitive, expressing truth believed; en and epi with the dative, denoting restful reliance on that to which, or him to whom, credit is given; eis
and, occasionally, epi with the accusative, the most common, characteristic, and original NT usage, scarcely present in the LXX and not at all in classical Greek, conveying the thought of a move - ment of trust going out to, and laying hold of, the object of its confidence). The Hebrew noun corresponding to aman (emuna, rendered pistis in the LXX), regularly denotes faithfulness in the sense of trustworthiness, and pistis occasionally bears this sense in the NT (Rom. 3:3, of God; Matt. 23:23; Gal. 5:22; Titus 2: 1 0, of man).
A further argument for free will is that God's commandments carry a divine "ought" for man, implying that man can and should respond positively to his commands. The responsibility to obey God's commands entails the ability to respond to them, by God's enabling grace. Furthermore, if man is not free, but all his acts are determined by God, then God is directly responsible for evil, a conclusion that is clearly contradicted by Scripture (Hab. 1:13; James 1:13 - 17).
Therefore, it seems that some form of self determinism is the most compatible with the biblical view of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility.
who were beginning to lose heart by arguing forcefully that Christ had superseded the Torah, was more exalted than Moses I and that the sacrificial cult had simply foreshadowed Jesus' priestly act in giving his life for humanity. In an extraordinary passage, the author saw the entire history of Israel as exemplifying the virtue of pistis, trust in 'realities that at present remain unseen'." Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets had all exhibited this 'faith': that had been their greatest, indeed their sole achievement." But, the author concluded, 'they did not receive what was promised, since God made provision for us to have something better, and they were not to reach perfection except with us.'
In this exegetical tour de force, the whole of Israelite history had been redefined, but in the process the old stories, which had been about far more than pistis, lost much of their rich complexity. Torah, temple and cult simply pointed to a future reality because God had always had something better in mind. Paul and the author of Hebrews showed future generations of Christians how to interpret the Hebrew Bible and make it their own. The other New Testament Writers would develop this pesher and make it very difficult for Christians to see Jewish scripture as anything more than a prelude to Christianity.
Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything, they say, and so everything can remain as it was before.

SHITTY SHEPHERDS

Sister Escalera says the most hurtful part of the proposed sale of her convent is that the proceeds will be used to pay for the misdeeds of pedophile priests.

SHITTY SHEPHERDS

SHITTY SHEPHERDS
SHEPHERDING
CLEAN SHEEP

SO SAYS THE NOBLE POET
CHAUCER

HOW APT AN IMAGE

A ROLE PLAYED WELL
BY PRIESTS
MINISTERS
RABBIS
POLITICIANS
RULERS

ALL CLOTHED
IN SUNDAY FINERY
WITH THE BEST MANNERS

UNWORTHY SHEPHERDS
OF INNOCENT FLOCKS

TO QUESTION THEM
IS TO QUESTION
THEIR GOD LIKE STANCE
UNHOLY TO DO SO

BUT LATELY
THE SMELL OF THE SHEPHERDS
HAS BECOME TOO GREAT

THEY’VE MADE FRIENDS
WITH THE WOLVES
AND NO LONGER CARE FOR THE SHEEP

AND THE SHEEP
NO LONGER
LISTEN TO THE SHEPHERDS
AND THEIR CALL
TO FOLLOW

FRANK A VOLLMER

When God Paints

When God Paints: "When God Paints... We live in an awesome world people. Make it an awesome day. Peace To All and May God Bless You -Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply, Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God. "

RIGOBERTA MENCHUI

We feel it is the duty of Christians to create the kingdom of God on Earth among our brothers. This kingdom will exist only when we all have enough to eat, when our children, brothers, parents don’t have to die from hunger and malnutrition. That will be the "Glory," a Kingdom for we who have never known it.- Rigoberta MenchuI, Rigoberta: An Indian Woman in Guatemala

Rigoberta Menchu

But our reality teaches us that, as Christians, we must create a Church of the poor, that we don’t need a Church imposed from outside which knows nothing of hunger.
- Rigoberta Menchu
I, Rigoberta: An Indian Woman in Guatemala

Frederick Douglass

Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will.
- Frederick Douglass

RAMBLINGS ON IMMIGRATION

RAMBLINGS ON IMMIGRATION


FIRST LET ME SAY I AM NO EXPERT ON IMMIGRATION
BUT I HAVE SOME OPINIONS
WHICH CERTAINLY ARE OPEN TO CRITIQUING

MY CREDENTIALS AS SUCH
ARE
MY MOTHER WAS AN IMMIGRANT
WHO AFTER THE FIRST WORLD WAR
FOUND NO FUTURE OR JOB
IN NEWFOUNDLAND
EVEN THOUGH HER FATHER WAS A SEA CAPTAIN

SO SHE CAME TO AMERICA
STAYING WITH AUNT POLLY
THE ENGLISH ARE VERY PROPER

MY FATHER’S PEOPLE
WERE GERMAN
WHO CAME OVER
BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR
AND BECAME RICH FARMERS
I’VE SEEN THEIR ELABORATE TOMBS
AND DONATED STAINED GLASS WINDOWS
IN TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH
IN PHILADELPHIA

UNFORTUNATELY
MY GRANDFATHER
WANTED TO BE AN ACTOR
AND WAS CUT OFF FROM THE FAMILY FORTUNE

OUR BRANCH OF THE FAMILY CONTINUES TO BE SLIGHTLY WEIRD

BEING AN ACTOR WAS NOT CONSIDERED A SUITABLE VOCATION
FOR A DISTINGUISHED LUTHERAN FAMILY

THE EIGHTEEN HUNDREDS WERE A VOLATILE TIME IN GERMANY
AND MANY FLED THE COUNTRY
FOR RELIGIOUS AND ECONOMIC REASONS

THEY WEREN’T HAPPY
WITH THE THINGS WERE
IN THE OLD LAND

AMERICA
AND ESPECIALLY PENNSYLVANIA
LOOMED ON THEIR HORIZON
LIKE A LIGHTHOUSE FLASHING

SO I LIKE OTHER NON-NATIVE AMERICANS
AM AN IMMIGRANT’S CHILD

MY PEOPLE CAME OVER FOR THE SAME REASONS
THAT TODAY’S IMMIGRANTS
(BOTH LEGAL AND ILLEGAL) DO

NOW I AGREE THAT NEWCOMERS
SHOULD NOT LIVE OFF THE DOLE
OR ENGAGE IN CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES

I REMEMBER
THEOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS
AS TO WHETHER A HUNGRY MAN
CAN STEAL A LOAF OF BREAD

IS A MAN NOT VALUED MORE THAN A LOAF

HOWEVER THE PROBLEM IS SOLVED
WE NEED TO REMEMBER TWO DICTUMS

REMEMBER THAT YOU WERE ALIENS IN EGYPT

AND

WHATSOEVER YOU DO TO THE LEAST OF MY BROTHERS
THAT YOU DO UNTO ME

THE CRY AGAINST AMNESTY
IS
A CRY FOR JUSTICE AND NOT FOR LOVE

THEY’RE HERE
DEAL WITH IT

THERE’S NOT ENOUGH BOATS OR TRUCKS
FOR DEPORTATION
NOT TO MENTION
THE PAIN OF FAMILY SEPARATION

THEY’RE
DOING THE JOBS NOBODY WANTS
MORE TROUBLE IS INDUSTRY
MOVING JOBS
OUT OF THE COUNTRY
AND NOT PAYING A LIVING WAGE

WHEN ALL THE JOBS ARE GONE
WHO WILL BUY THE PRODUCT

IF MY THOUGHTS GO AGAINST LOGIC
SO BE IT
I’D RATHER LEAD WITH MY HEART
THAN MY HEAD
WHEN LEADING WITH MY HEAD SEEMS UNCHRISTIAN

FRANK A VOLLMER

FATHER'S DAY

A GIFT FOR A KING

Today I received a gift of a quilt made by my co-editor Nancy Stevens. It is beautiful. It has a special meaning to me, when you receive chemo they give you a quilt to stay warm. It's soothing and comforting and helps you through the rough spots. Now I have my own.

BEING LIBERAL

“Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. What didConservatives do? They opposed them on every one of those things – every one. So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, ‘Liberal,’ as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won’t work, Senator, because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor." -- Matt Santos, The West Wing

LAST SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY

SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY


IMAGINE IF YOU WILL
THAT YOU ARE JESUS
STANDING ON TOP OF A HIGH MOUNTAIN
ON THE NORTH SIDE
OF THE SEA OF GALILEE..
YOU ARE LOOKING DOWN
AT THE SEA OF GALILEE.
THE MOUNTAIN IS IN GALILEE.

LOOKING SOUTH
YOU SEE THE KINGDOM OF JUDEA
AND THE CAPITAL
JERUSALEM.

LOOKING EAST YOU SEE PEREA.
LOOKING WEST YOU SEE SAMARIA.
AND YOU ARE SAD
BECAUSE THERE IS MUCH HATRED
IN THE LAND.

THE PROMISED LAND
HAS BEEN CONQUERED BY ROME
AND DIVIDED INTO THE FOUR PARTS
OF GALILEE, JUDEA, SAMARIA AND PEREA.

THE JEWS HATE THE ROMANS
WHO ARE EVERYWHERE
ACTING AS POLICEMEN.

THE JEWS HATE THE SAMARITANS
AND THE PEREANS
BECAUSE THEY WORSHIP GOD
IN A NON JEWISH MANNER.




WE HAVE IN THIS SEASON OF EPIPHANY
FOLLOWED JESUS
AS HE BEGINS HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY.
JESUS LOOKS DOWN AT THE LAKE
AND AS HE DOES
HE LOOKS BACK IN TIME
AND REMEMBERS THE EVENTS
THAT WE REMEMBERED
AS THE SUNDAYS OF EPIPHANY
CAME AND WENT

THE READINGS FOR THE YEAR 2001
EPIPHANY SEASON
COME MOSTLY FROM LUKE.
THE SEQUENCE OF READINGS THIS YEAR
HAVE VISITED THESE SCENES
FROM THE LIFE OF JESUS.

FIRST WE VISITED EPIPHANY,
THE VISIT OF THE THREE WISE MEN.
THEN THE BAPTISM OF JESUS
WHERE GOD THE FATHER
DECLARED THAT JESUS WAS HIS SON.
THEN THE WEDDING AT CANA
WHERE HE CHANGED WATER INTO WINE.
THEN HIS FIRST SERMON AT NAZARETH
AND HIS REJECTION BY HIS NEIGHBORS.
THEN WE HAD THE MIRACLE OF THE FISHES
WHERE THE APOSTLES CAUGHT SO MANY
THE BOAT BEGAN TO SINK.
AND LAST WEEK
JESUS CAME DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN
AND PREACHED THE SERMON ON THE PLAIN
ALSO CALLED THE BEATITUDES.






LAST WEEK JESUS LOOKED DOWN
AT THE DIVIDED KINGDOM
AND WAS SADDENED.
THIS WAS NOT HIS FATHER’S DREAM
FOR THIS LAND
THIS PROMISED LAND
AND ITS PEOPLE.

RELIGION HAD BECOME
AN OBSERVANCE OF LAWS AND RITUALS.
THE PRIESTS ARGUED
OVER SUCH THINGS AS
CAN A MAN WITH A WOODEN LEG
WALK ON THE SABBATH
BECAUSE THE WOODEN LEG
WAS A BURDEN
AND ONE COULD NOT
CARRY A BURDEN
ON THE SABBATH
BECAUSE CARRYING A BURDEN
WAS WORK.

THE PERFORMANCE OF RITUAL
IN THE TEMPLE WAS SUCH
THAT
ON ANY PASSOVER
OVER 250,000 LAMBS WERE SOLD
AND SLAIN IN ONE DAY
MAKING GOD’S HOUSE
MORE A SLAUGHTER FACTORY
THAN A HOUSE OF GOD.

THIS IS WHAT HIS FATHER’S RELIGION
HAD BECOME
AND HE IS SADDENED.
SO LAST WEEK
HE SLOWLY COMEDOWN THE MOUNTAIN
AND PREACHED THE BEATITUDES.


LUKE HAS A SENTENCE
AT THE BEGINNING
OF THE BEATITUDES
THAT SAYS
THERE WERE PEOPLE
FROM SIDON AND TYRE
IN THE CROWD.
HE DID THIS DELIBERATELY
BECAUSE THE JEWS ALSO HATED
THOSE FROM SIDON AND TYRE

SO JESUS LOOKED AT THE CROWD
THAT HAD SO MUCH HATE
AND PREACHED A SERMON ON FORGIVENESS.
A SERMON, WHICH SAYS
IF ANYONE HITS YOU,
TURN THE OTHER CHEEK.
EASY TO SAY DIFFICULT TO DO.

JESUS SAYS
FORGIVE YOUR ENEMIES,
DO GOOD TO THOSE WHO HURT YOU.
WHEN EVERY PART OF YOUR BEING
SAYS MAKE A FIST
AND HURT YOUR ENEMY
JESUS SAYS LOVE THEM.
JESUS HAS GOT TO BE KIDDING HERE
RIGHT

BUT ULTIMATELY
JESUS IS RIGHT.
FOR WITHOUT FORGIVENESS
NATIONS WILL FIGHT
LONG PAST REMEMBERING
WHY THEY ARE FIGHTING,






NEIGHBORS WILL FIGHT
LONG PAST REMEMBERING
WHY THEY ARE FIGHTING,

FAMILIES WILL FIGHT
LONG PAST REMEMBERING
WHY THEY ARE FIGHTING

HUSBAND AND WIVES
WILL FIGHT
LONG PAST REMEMBERING
WHY THEY ARE FIGHTING,

BROTHERS AND SISTERS
YOUNG OR GROWN OLD
TILL NEAR DEATH
WILL FIGHT
LONG PAST REMEMBERING
WHY THEY ARE FIGHTING.

WHEN WILL IT END.
AS THE SONG SAYS
LET THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH
AND LET IT BEGIN WITH ME.

WHAT I WOULD LIKE YOU TO DO
RIGHT NOW
AS A REACTION TO JESUS' SERMON
IS WRITE DOWN WITH YOUR FINGER
ON THE PALM OF YOUR HAND
THE NAME OF THAT PERSON
YOU FIND IT HARD TO FORGIVE.

THEN RUB YOUR HANDS TOGETHER
AND ERASE THEIR NAME.
THINKING AS YOU DO IT
THEY ARE FORGIVEN.
TRY IT



LET GO THOSE CHUNKS OF ICE
WHICH WE ALL CARRY
THOSE CHUNKS OF ICE OF HATRED
WHICH WE ALL CARRY
LONG PAST REMEMBERING
WHY WE ARE CARRYING THEM

HARD YOU SAY.
TOO HARD.
AND I AGREE.
BUT IT IS JESUS
NOT ME
WHOM IS SPEAKING
WHEN HE SAYS
LOVE YOUR ENEMIES,
DO GOOD TO THEM,
LEND ACCORDING TO THEIR NEED
EXPECTING NOTHING BACK.
BE MERCIFUL
AS YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS MERCIFUL.
STILL TOO HARD.

LET ME PAINT YOU A PICTURE.
THERE IS A MAN WHO IS DYING.
CONDEMNED TO DEATH
FOR A CRIME
HE DIDN’T COMMIT.

CONDEMNED TO DEATH
OUT OF JEALOUSY
AND FEAR OF LOSING POWER.

ALL HIS FRIENDS
HAVE DESERTED HIM
OUT OF FEAR.






ONE OF HIS FRIENDS
HAS SOLD HIM FOR A PRICE.
ONE OF HIS FRIENDS DENIED
HE EVER KNEW HIM.

HIS HEART
WHICH IS STRUGGLING
TO STAY ALIVE
IS STILL FILLED WITH LOVE
FOR ALL MANKIND.

AND HE IS GIVING THINGS AWAY.
HE WILL DIE POOR.

HIS CLOTHES ARE GONE.
HE HAS GIVEN HIS MOTHER
TO THE CARE OF HIS FRIEND JOHN.

NOW HE GIVES AWAY HIS ANGER.
STRUGGLING UPRIGHT ON THE NAILS
HE CRIES OUT
FATHER FORGIVE THEM
THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.

FORGIVE THE RULERS
OF TEMPLE AND STATE,
FORGIVE THE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE CRUEL TO ME,
FORGIVE THE CROWD
GATHERED LIKE VULTURES
TO SEE ME DIE,
FORGIVE THE THIEF WHO CURSED ME
FORGIVE ALL
WHO HAVE DESERTED ME,
LIED ABOUT ME,
SOLD ME FOR A PRICE






JESUS
LOOKING DOWN FROM HIS HIGH PLACE
ON THE CROSS
LOOKING DOWN THE YEARS
FORGIVING ALL WHO HAD EVER LIVED,
WHO WERE LIVING THEN
WHO WOULD LIVE IN THE FUTURE.

LOOKING DOWN FROM HIS HIGH PLACE
HE COMES TO THIS ROOM
AND CRIES OUT
FATHER FORGIVE FRANK
AND BARBARA,
JOE AND TOM,
ALICE AND JAN,
FATHER FORGIVE ALL
FROM EMANUEL IN WARWICK,
FATHER FORGIVE ALL
FROM FIRST LUTHERAN
IN BROCKTON,
FATHER FORGIVE ALL
FROM ST JOHN’S
IN PEABODY,

AND WE CRY IN RESPONSE
FATHER FORGIVE US
AND FORGIVE THE ONE
WE FIND IT HARD
TO FORGIVE
WE
AND THEY
KNOW NOT WHAT WE DO.



IN THE LIGHT OF OUR FORGIVENESS
CAN WE NOT TAKE
THE NAME OF THAT ONE PERSON
WE FIND IT HARD TO FORGIVE.
WRITE IT ON THE PALM OF OUR HAND.
RUB OUR HANDS TOGETHER
TO MAKE IT DISAPPEAR.

AND SAY TO THAT PERSON
THAT CHUNK OF ICE
THAT I HAVE CARRIED
WITH YOUR NAME ON IT
IS MELTED.
I FORGIVE YOU

AND JESUS SAYS
WELL DONE MY BROTHERS
AND SISTERS
WELL DONE

IN YOU
I AM WELL PLEASED.
MAY IT BE SO AMEN



Frank A Vollmer

CEREMONY FOR REMEMBERING

A CEREMONY FOR REMEMBERING









PROLOGUE

LET US SUMMON TO MIND OUR DEAD
BE THEY PARENTS CHILDREN LOVED ONES OR DREAMS
BUT WHEN WE ARE DONE
LET US GENTLY CLOSE THE DOOR
AND LET THEM SLEEP




EMMAUS

THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT HIS EYES
LIKE A SOLDIER OFF TO WAR
SAYING GOODBYE TO LOVED ONES
OR A SAILOR FOR A LONG LONG TRIP

WE'D WALKED THAT ROAD MANY TIMES
MY FRIEND AND I
IT HAD BECOME A BIT OF A TASK
WITH NOTHING NEW
TO BE DONE WITH SWIFTLY
AND DONE WITH
WITH PLEASURE AT EITHER END
BUT NOTHING IN THE JOURNEY

UNTIL THE STRANGER CAME TO WALK WITH US
THIS STRANGER
WITH RELUCTANT EYES
HE'D SIGHT A TREE AND CALL IT OUT BY NAME
A FLOWER
BIRD
OR SOME CREEPING THING
THE WAY THE SUN TOOK A CLOUD
AND LIT IT UP WITHIN
OR CAST LONG SHADOWS
LIKE THE SHADOWS
THAT SAT UPON OUR HEARTS
THAT DAY

WHY ARE YOU SO SAD
HE ASKED
AFTER A WHILE

WE'D LET HIM TALK FIRST
OUT OF COURTESY
HE SEEMED TO NEED TO TALK
WHY ARE YOU SO SAD

AND SO TO THIS MAN
WHO SEEMED SO EAGER FOR LIVING THINGS
WE TOLD HIM OF A DEATH
OF OUR FRIEND JESUS
WHO HAD DIED
AND TO USE HIS IMAGERY
PLUCKED LIKE A FLOWER
THAT WAS THROWN AWAY
PICKED WITHOUT PURPOSE

OF A MAN
WHO WHEN HE SPOKE
BOTH TESTED US AND JOYED US

OF THIS JOURNEY
THAT WE TOOK
WHICH WAS DOUBLY LONG
FOR WE CARRIED SADNESS TO EMMAUS
THERE WOULD BE NO PLEASURE THERE

THE BODY WAS GONE
OH THE WOMEN HYSTERICAL
HAD SAID HE WAS RISEN
BUT THE BODY WAS GONE

WHY SHOULD HE DIE
WE BELIEVED HIM CHOSEN OF GOD
WHY SHOULD HE DIE

PERHAPS BECAUSE WE WERE TOO NUMB TO SPEAK
HE TOOK OVER THE CONVERSATION
WHEN DID YOU LEARN TO LOVE YOUR FATHER HE SAID

WHEN I BECAME THE AGE HE WAS
WHEN I DISLIKED HIM
IT SOMEHOW MADE HIM DIFFERENT THEN
AND UNDERSTANDABLE

SO JESUS CAME HE SAID
TO BE THAT PARENT
TO BE THE ONE WHO WENT BEFORE
TO BE THE ONE WHO LIVED AND DIED
AND TO BE TRULY RISEN
AS THE WOMEN SAID
TO BE THE PARENT
WHO HAD GONE BEFORE
SO YOU COULD LEARN
TO LOVE HIM AS YOU GREW
AND THROUGH HIM
THE FATHER TOO

PERHAPS IT WAS THE CADENCE OF HIS VOICE
OR THE WORDS OR THE MAN HIMSELF
BUT WE FELT CALM
WE INVITED HIM TO SUP WITH US
IN OUR GARDEN IN THE EVENING COOL
FOR THE DAY HAD RUN AWAY

AND WE KNEW HIM IN THE BREAKING BREAD
AND THE WINE
THAT TOOK THE JOURNEY'S DUST AWAY





THE SHAWL


THE SHAWL IS FINISHED
I HAVE WOVEN THE WOOL WITH TEARS
I HAVE HURT MY FINGERS
AND SUCKED SORROW

BUT I AM DONE WITH WEEPING NOW

IT WAS FITTING HE SHOULD DIE IN FALL
OR EARLY WINTER REALLY
WHEN GRAYNESS COMES UPON THE LAND

WOULD I CALL HIM BACK
TO RE-SUFFER ALL HIS PAINS
TO ELIMINATE MY OWN

DID I NOT LOVE HIM TO THE POINT I COULD LET HIM GO
IF GOING WERE THE BETTER CHOICE

BUT I AM DONE WITH WEEPING

THE SHAWL IS FINISHED

I SHALL FIND OTHER THINGS TO DO














BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

BRING OUT YOUR DEAD THE WATCHMAN CRIED
IN THE CITY WHERE HE WAS RIDING
ON A CART PILED HIGH WITH LAST YEARS DREAMS
AND LONG REMEMBERED ANGERS
BRING OUT YOUR DEAD
THIS CITY THAT WAS ONCE SO FAIR
WHOSE WALLS WERE WHITE AND RIVERS CLEAR
WHERE MEN WALKED OUT ALONE AND UNAFRAID
HAS BECOME A STINK HOUSE OF REMEMBERED PAIN
AND PENT UP SORROW
BRING OUT YOUR DEAD
LET WINDOWS ONCE MORE OPEN TO THE BREEZE
AND PIPERS PLAY NO MORE THE FUNERAL MARCH BUT GAY
BRING OUT YOUR DEAD
THAT MEN MAY SAY ON PASSING BY
A FAIR CITY THERE PLEASING TO THE EYE
AND HEAR
THE LAUGHTER RINGING IN THE AIR
BRING OUT YOUR DEAD




STARS


HE LIKED TO WATCH THE STARS
THEIR SENSE OF ORDER AND HIS FILIAL PRIDE
BOTH GAVE HIM WARMTH
HE LIKED THE LEGENDS THAT MEN TOLD
ABOUT THESE LANTERNS IN THE SKY
HE LIKED THE WAY THEY LED A SHIP
OR CARAVAN TO FIND A HOME
HE SOMETIMES THOUGHT HE HEARD THE SOUND OF SILVER BELLS
WHEN THE WIND WAS IN THE TREES
AND NIGHT CLOUDS CAME SCUDDING ACROSS THE MOON


WHEN WILD DOGS BARKED
AND SHEEP BELLS RANG CLEARLY IN THE DARK
HE THOUGHT HE HEARD THE STARS SING

PERHAPS THAT'S WHY HIS FATHER
MADE THE SKY GO DARK
BEFORE HE DIED




THE OLD HOUSE

WE FOUND IT DEEP IN THE WOODS
FAR FROM THE PATH
THE RUINS OF THE HOUSE
AND THE OLD STONE FENCE
YOU COULD TELL THE GARDEN
IN THE DIFFERENCE IN TREES
AND BUSHES GONE WILD
THE MOUNTAINEER'S CABIN
HARD BY A STREAM
YOU COULD MARK OFF HIS FIELDS
BY FOLLOWING HIS FENCE
EACH STONE HAND CARRIED TO BUILD IT
AS HE FOUND THEM
ON A SLOOP SO STEEP
YOU COULD PICTURE THEIR SAYING
IF YOU DON'T HOLD ONTO THE PLOW
YOU'LL FALL OUT OF THE FIELD
YOU WONDER WHEN HE BUILT THE HOUSE AND FENCE AND PLOWED
DID HE THINK IT WOULD COME TO THIS
OR DID HE SEE A LINE OF SONS COMING AFTER
LOVING THE LAND AS HE DID
IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER I SUPPOSE
WHAT COUNTS IS
HE HAD A DREAM
AND TRIED TO MAKE IT REAL



ABSALOM DAVID'S SON



HE COULD REMEMBER HIS SWINGING ON TREES
WATCHING HIM NOW
HANGING FROM THE TREE BY HIS HAIR

HE WISHED HIS FACE WAS LESS CONTORTED
HIS FACE LINES LAUGHTER CAUSED

WHEN THEY TOLD HIM HOW HE DIED
HOW HE SWUNG FROM THE TREE BY HIS HAIR
THE SOLDIERS SPEARS IMPALING
HE ONLY ASKED
DID HE CALL MY NAME

I WOULD NOT WANT HIM DEAD IN ANGER
THIS CHILD OF MINE
WHO TREE CLIMBED OFTEN IN HIS YOUTH
WHO TREE CLIMBED OFTEN AND WOULD CALL
FIND ME IF YOU CAN

WHAT HAPPENED AS HE GREW THAT I LOST MY CHILD
WHAT HAPPENED AS WE GREW THAT I LOST MY CHILD
WHEN DID HE CLIMB DOWN UNHEEDED
AND WENT HIS WAY

DID HE TIRE OF HIDE AND SEEK
WHEN I WOULD NOT PLAY
WHERE DID I LOSE MY SON
WHEN DID THE SILENCE GO TO ANGER
AND THE NEED TO HURT

SO MANY CALLS UPON ME
SO MANY PLACES TO BE
OH ABSALOM
ABSALOM
TREE CLIMBER
MY CHILD
STRANGE FRUIT ON THE TREE
STIFF IN DEATH
AS YOU WERE IN LIFE
I KISS YOUR STILL UNFEELING LIPS


WOULD TO GOD I HAD DIED
WOULD TO GOD I HAD DIED
THAN BE HERE TO WATCH
THE SUN GO DOWN
ON YOUR ANGER
AND YOUR DEATH




METAL FENCE

METAL FENCE WITH GATE DOOR OPEN
STANDING IN A FIELD BEFORE A HOUSE LONG GONE
THE GARDEN OVERGROWN
AND GONE TO SEED IN WINTER
WHAT POSSESSED ME I DO NOT KNOW
TO LEAVE THE ROAD
AND GO AND CLOSE THE GATE
WHOSE GHOSTS DID I WANT TO RESTRAIN
THEIRS OR MINE
WHAT VISIONS OF PARENTHOOD
HOPES
DREAMS
STILL DWELL IN THE GARDEN
STAY CLOSED GATE
I HAVE GHOSTS ENOUGH
OF MY OWN TO KEEP


JOSEPH'S DEATH

IT WAS SUMMER AND THE WINDOWS WERE OPEN
THROUGH THEM HE COULD HEAR THE SOUND OF HOUSEWORK BEING DONE
THE SNATCH OF A SONG THE RUNNING OF WATER
THE SOUND OF A BROOM
IT WAS HOT BUT HE COULDN'T FEEL IT
HIS SHAWL WAS ABOUT HIS SHOULDERS
BUT HIS COLD WASN'T IN THE WEATHER
THE SOUND OF THE BROOM RAN ALL HIS DAYS TOGETHER
SO THAT HE THOUGHT HIMSELF ONCE MORE YOUNG
AND COMING TO CALL FLOWERS FRESHLY PICKED
UPON HIS YOUNG SWEET LOVE
HIS MARY
BUT THEN HIS MEMORY DARKENED
AND HIS BLOOD IN SPITE OF YEARS RAN HOT
ANGER POUNDED IN HIS BRAIN
I AM WITH CHILD
NO A THOUSAND RAVENS CRIED
NO A THOUSAND CROWS REPLIED
PANDEMONIUM OF THUNDER
LIGHTNING FLASH
AND DRIVING RAIN
NO HE CRIED TO NO ONE LISTENING
RACING FROM THE SUMMER STORM
RACING LOSING AND WAS CAUGHT
DRENCHED
THE RAIN RUNNING DOWN HIS FACE MIXING WITH HIS TEARS
NO HE WHISPERED TO THE EARTH
FACE PRESSED DOWN IN SOGGY GRASS
WHY HE SOBBED OH GOD WHY..
BUT NO ANSWER CAME THEN SOMETHING CAME
THE MEMORY OF HER WORDS
REMEMBER I LOVE YOU
HOW QUICK THE STORM
HOW SUDDEN THE SUN'S RETURN
SO THAT THE OLD MAN FELT ONCE MORE ITS HEAT
HE STRUGGLED TO FORM THE WORDS
FROM IN THE HOUSE THE QUESTION
DID YOU CALL
I LOVE YOU
DID YOU CALL
I LOVE YOU
DID YOU CALL
THEN JOSEPH DIED
ON THE DEATH OF A FATHER OF MY FRIEND

I MOURN YOU
THOUGH I NEVER KNEW YOU
I NEVER BOUGHT YOU A BEER
LAUGHED AT YOUR JOKES
OR SHARED YOUR VIEWS
YET I MOURN YOU STILL
FOR YOUR DEATH IS A LOSS TO ONE I LOVE
AND I AM DIMINISHED BY IT
AND SO I MOURN YOU
BUT MORE
FOR YOU SHAPED AND BROUGHT INTO BEING
MY FRIEND
SOMEWHERE IN YOU THEN WAS A GIFT OF BEAUTY
AND THAT MUCH BEAUTY IS NOW GONE
AND I MOURN YOU
NOW YOU SLEEP OUT IN THE RAIN
ALL YOUR ELEMENTS GOING BACK TO GOD
NOW THE SENSE OF LOSS GIVES MY FRIEND PAIN
BUT IN THE SPRING
WHEN CROCUS BUDS PEEK THROUGH THE SNOW
COME BACK
WITH MEMORIES WARM
ALL HARSH THOUGHTS FORGOTTEN
COME BACK WITH MEMORIES OF LAUGHTER
AND MAKE MY HEART-FRIEND
SMILE














THE ULTIMATE IS SILENCE

I THINK PERHAPS THE ULTIMATE IS SILENCE
WHEN ALL LOVE COMES HOME TO GOD TO REST
WHEN WORDS
WHICH DO NOT TELL THE HEART
ARE OVER
I THINK PERHAPS WE SHALL REVERT TO THE BEGINNING
AND WITH A SIGH BREATHE OUT OUR SOULS TO REST
WHEN SPIRIT OF GOD AND LOVE ARE REUNITED
AND SAFELY DWELL FOREVER IN GOD'S BREAST




FRANK A VOLLMER

IMMIGRANT

The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:34).

“I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35)..





IMMIGRANT


SO QUICK HAD THEY LEFT
THE ANGEL HAD GIVEN THEM NO TIME
HEROD WOULD DIM HIS SMILE
FOREVER
QUICK
BE GONE

WHERE SHALL I FIND WORK
TO FEED AND CLOTHE
AND SHELTER MY FAMILY

I
A STRANGER
IN A STRANGE LAND
WHOSE WAYS ARE DIFFERENT FROM MINE
WHOSE GODS ARE DIFFERENT FROM MINE
WHOSE SPEECH IS DIFFERENT FROM MINE

I HAVE SKILLS
IF THEY’LL LET ME USE THEM
PERHAPS THE SHIPYARDS ON THE SUEZ
WILL HAVE WORK
BUT WHATEVER WORK IS THERE
I’LL DO

WILL PEOPLE LOOK ASKANCE AT OUR CLOTHES
WE DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO PACK
WHAT WE’RE WEARING
IS WHAT WE HAVE

WE ARE TOLD TO WELCOME THE STRANGER
IN OUR MIDST
A RULE THAT TRANSCENDS ALL RELIGIONS
MAY GOD BE WITH ME IN THE NEW LAND

IF THINGS WE’RE BETTER AT HOME
I WOULD NEVER HAVE LEFT
BUT THE CHOICE IS NOT MINE
IF THE CHILD SHOULD LIVE
AND BRING HIS SMILE
TO THE WORLD

FRANK A VOLLMER

REQUIEM FOR A DAD

ON THE DEATH OF A FATHER OF MY FRIEND

I MOURN YOU
THOUGH I NEVER KNEW YOU
I NEVER BOUGHT YOU A BEER
LAUGHED AT YOUR JOKES
OR SHARED YOUR VIEWS
YET I MOURN YOU STILL
FOR YOUR DEATH IS A LOSS TO ONE I LOVE
AND I AM DIMINISHED BY IT
AND SO I MOURN YOU
BUT MORE
FOR YOU SHAPED AND BROUGHT INTO BEING
MY FRIEND
SOMEWHERE IN YOU THEN WAS A GIFT OF BEAUTY
AND THAT MUCH BEAUTY IS NOW GONE
AND I MOURN YOU
NOW YOU SLEEP OUT IN THE RAIN
ALL YOUR ELEMENTS GOING BACK TO GOD
NOW THE SENSE OF LOSS GIVES MY FRIEND PAIN
BUT IN THE SPRING
WHEN CROCUS BUDS PEEK THROUGH THE SNOW
COME BACK
WITH MEMORIES WARM
ALL HARSH THOUGHTS FORGOTTEN
COME BACK WITH MEMORIES OF LAUGHTER
AND MAKE MY HEART-FRIEND
SMILE


JOURNEY'S END

STANDING BY MY WINDOW
WATCHING THE SUNSET GO
FROM MULTI-HUED TO LUMINESCENT PEARL
WATCHING A BIRD FLY
LONELY
ACROSS THE SKY
AND WONDER ING
WHY IS HE NOT HOME
AS I AM
WARM AND SHELTERED
AND WITH THE ONE I LOVE

WHY DOES HE FLY ACROSS THE SKY

THE LEGEND GOES
THAT 0N THE ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR DEATH
THE SOULS OF THOSE WHO HAVE DIED THAT DAY
COME BACK TO VISIT FOR AWHILE
THEN FLY BACK TOWARD THE SUN

I WATCH THE SOUL OF THIS ONE FLY AND WONDER
WHY THERE IS SADNESS IN MY SOUL
FOR HE HAS GONE ON THAT LAST JOURNEY
ON WHICH WE ALL SHALL GO
AND HAS FOUND PEACE

AND LEFT ME CRYING
WITH A PIECE OF ME TORN OUT
AND FLYING TOWARD THE SUN

SHALL I LAUGH WITH TEARS
OR CRY WITH LAUGHTER
OR WISH YOU WELL ON YOUR JOURNEY

TO DREAMS FOR YOU
TO SORROW FOR US
AND TO THE CONSOLING THOUGHT
THAT IT IS GOD'S HAND AWAITING THE BIRD OF YOUR SOUL
TO GIVE IT SHELTER
TO GIVE IT A HOME
A PLACE OF WARMTH
OF LOVE
AND AN END TO THE JOURNEY
















THE SHAWL


THE SHAWL IS FINISHED
I HAVE WOVEN THE WOOL WITH TEARS
I HAVE HURT MY FINGERS
AND SUCKED SORROW

BUT I AM DONE WITH WEEPING NOW

IT WAS FITTING HE SHOULD DIE IN FALL
OR EARLY WINTER REALLY
WHEN GRAYNESS COMES UPON THE LAND

WOULD I CALL HIM BACK
TO RE-SUFFER ALL HIS PAINS
TO ELIMINATE MY OWN

DID I NOT LOVE HIM TO THE POINT I COULD LET HIM GO
IF GOING WERE THE BETTER CHOICE

BUT I AM DONE WITH WEEPING

THE SHAWL IS FINISHED

I SHALL FIND OTHER THINGS TO DO



TO MY FATHER

I DID NOT ALWAYS LOVE YOU
THERE WERE TIMES WHEN YOUR PARENTAL CARE
CHAFED ACROSS MY FREEDOM DREAMS
LIKE A CAGED SPARROW I BEAT AGAINST THE BARS
NOT KNOWING I WAS TOO YOUNG TO FLY
BUT THEN I WAS MARRIED
AND THEN I GREW UP
AND MY CHILDREN HEARD IN MY VOICE THE ECHO OF YOURS

I SAW THE SAME BIRD BEATING IN THEIR EYES
I FELT THE SAME SAD BEWILDERMENT OF A FATHER
WITH HIS CHILD
AND I LEARNED TO LOVE YOU
IT IS PROBABLY IN THE NATURE OF THINGS
THAT A PERSON SHOULD ONLY KNOW HIS FATHER AS HE AGES
AS HE HIMSELF BECOMES FATHER TO THE CHILD
IF IT WILL COMFORT
KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU
AND I REGRET
IT TOOK SO LONG


WHY

WHY
OF ALL THE LEAVES THAT FELL IN AUTUMN
THAT ONE TOOK MY EYE
PERHAPS IT WAS THE WAY IT FELL
RELUCTANT TO COME DOWN
SOARING HIGHER THAN THE TREE IT LEFT
WHIRLING AND WHIRLING UNTIL WITH ONE LONG GLIDE
IT SETTLED ON THE POND
MOVING ON THE WATER WITH THE BREEZE
THEY WILL NOT COME
THEY CANNOT COME
NOT EVEN IF WE CAME FOR THEM
THEY ARE SICK AT CHRISTMAS
AND CANNOT COME
MY PARENTS TO THE HOMECOMING
THE GATHERING OF THE CLAN
MY HOUSE THE LARGEST
THEY CANNOT COME
SOMEDAY I KNOW THE UMBILICAL CORD OF WHERE I CAME FROM
MUST BE CUT
AND I AM CHRISTIAN BORN AND BRED
AND DO BELIEVE
THAT LIFE FLOWS ON PAST DEATH
BUT THERE IS THAT PART OF ME THAT CRIES OUT STOP
STOP CLOCKS AND TIDES AND SEASONS ROLL
LET IT ALWAYS BE SPRING
OR AT LEAST AUTUMN
FOR AUTUMN IS WHERE THEY ARE
LATE AUTUMN
BUT DO I REALLY WISH THIS FOR MY FATHER
HE WHOM I FEARED THEN LOVED THEN WORRIED OVER LIKE A BABY
SHALL I KEEP HIM LATE IN AUTUMN
AND MY MOTHER GENTLE WITCH
DRUID PRIESTESS FROM ANOTHER TIME
PROTECTOR OF LIFE TEACHER OF ROBINS TO FLY
MAKER OF WHO I AM
SHOULD SHE STAY IN AUTUMN
DOES SHE NOT YEARN ONCE MORE TO BE JOINED TO MOTHER EARTH
TO CHANGE TO TRANSMUTE HER LIFE
TO BECOME TREES AND FLOWERS AND FLOWING GRASS
MY MOTHER EVER YOUNG
SHOULD SHE STAY IN AUTUMN
I THINK WHAT FRIGHTENS ME MOST
IS THAT WHEN THEY'RE GONE
I SHALL HAVE NO HISTORY
OR IS IT THAT I SHALL BE PROMOTED TO THEIR PLACE
AS ELDEST OF THE LINE
I'M SURE THIS CHRISTMAS WILL BE WARM
THE CLAN GATHERING LIKE MANY CANDLES
COMING TO MAKE A FIRE
THAT WE WILL CALL MY PARENTS ON CHRISTMAS EVE
AND WISH THEM WELL
MAKE PLANS FOR OUR VISIT
BUT KNOWING ME
THERE WILL BE A TIME ON CHRISTMAS EVE
WHEN I SHALL DRAW THE CURTAINS ON THE HOUSE
SIT BY THE FIRE
AND TRY TO GET WARM


ON THE EVENING OF THE DAY HE DIED

ON THE EVENING OF THE DAY HE DIED
THROUGH THE WINDOW WHERE WE SAT
WAITING ON THE WORD
A RISING SUN AND QUARTER MOON
WERE VISIBLE IN THE SKY
BUSY BIRDS IN MORNING FLIGHT
AND ICICLES NOT YET WARMED BY DAY
ALPHA AND OMEGA
BEGINNING AND ENDING
BEGINNING
MY FATHER'S DEAD
I TOOK HIS FACE INTO MY HANDS
AND CALLED TO HIM PAST HIS UNCONSCIOUSNESS
GO TO SLEEP DAD
WE'RE ALL HERE
MOM IS WITH US AND WE ARE SAFE
THEN HE DIED
I HAD WISHED HIM DEAD
I HAD TOLD THE DOCTORS
THAT I WISHED HIM DEAD
NOT A BODY BREATHING
BUT HE WOULD NOT GO
TILL LIKE IN YOUNGER DAYS
HE WOULD NOT SLEEP TILL WE WERE HOME
TILL I COULD SAY
SLEEP WELL DAD
WE ARE HOME AND WE ARE SAFE
IN THE EVENING OF THAT DAY HE SLIPPED AWAY
MY MOTHER STOOD BY HIS BED AND SAID
YOU'RE STILL A HANDSOME MAN
I COULD NOT CRY


THE SHELL


IS IT JUST HIS DEATH THAT WE REMEMBER
IN THIS GIVING OF THIS CUP
THIS SHELL THIS BAPTISMAL DEVICE
THAT SCOOPS UP WATER FROM THE FONT
AND TRICKLES IT DOWN OUR HEAD
AND CALL US TO BE CHRISTIAN
DO WE JUST REMEMBER HIS DEATH
OR MORE FOR IS NOT THE CUP A SYMBOL POOR
OF SOME GREAT WAVE THAT OVERWHELMS US
SPILLING US FROM OUR FEET
PLUNGING US INTO A VIOLENT SEA
BEATING PUMMELING CHOKING BRUISING
UNTIL WE STRUGGLE TO OUR FEET
GASPING AIR AS SOMETHING PRECIOUS
WILLING TO LIVE
A BETTER SYMBOL PERHAPS OF THAT TIME
WHEN ALL THAT WAS MY FATHER CEASED
AND ALL HE WANTED TO BE BECAME
A GOING AWAY AND COMING BACK
A SAYING OF HELLO GOODBYE
TO CALL MY FATHER A SAINT
WOULD BE TO NOT REMEMBER HIM
BUT TO CALL HIM A MAN
WHO LAUGHED AND LONGED YEARNED AND DREAMED
WHO CRIED OUT OFTEN IN THE DARKNESS OF HIS BEING
WHO WAS OFTEN ANGRY HURT OR IN SOME PAIN
WHO LOVED WITH BOTH A LARGE AND NARROW HEART
WHO WANTED LOVE APPLAUSE AND OTHER MAN'S ESTEEM
WHO SAW DREAMS CRUMBLE IN HIS ALL THUMBS HAND
WHO CRIED OH GOD TELL ME WHO I AM
THIS PICTURE OF A MAN WHO AS I GROW
BECOMES SURPRISINGLY JUST LIKE ME
THIS CUP IN WHOSE HOLLOW I CAN HEAR THE OCEAN'S ROAR
THIS SYMBOL OF AN OCEAN POOR
THIS GOING DOWN TO DEATH
TO BE CALLED BACK BY WATER RUNNING LIKE RAINDROPS ON THE FACE
LIKE MY TEARS FALLING AS MY FATHER WENT
FOR REBIRTH
AND THE BEGINNING OF DREAMS

FRANK A VOLLMER

LYMPHOMANIA - THE MUSICAL

LYMPHOMANIA



THE MUSICAL




BY

FRANK A VOLLMER


BEING A REFLECTION
ON HIS CANCER
AND SUBSEQUENT ILL HEALTH




AUTUMN NOW

ON LEARNING HE HAD LYMPHOMA

I AM MORE IN TUNE WITH AUTUMN NOW
I HAVE FELT WINTER'S FIRST CHILL
AND COULD NOT GET WARM
BUT I AM MORE IN TUNE WITH AUTUMN NOW

I HAVE WONDERED AT THE MARVEL OF THE LEAVES
AT THE BEAUTY OF THEIR PASSING
AND THEIR RELUCTANCE TO LET GO
RELUCTANT TO LEAVE THOSE THEY CARE ABOUT
BECAUSE I LOVE
AND AM LOVED
THEREBY SHARING IN THE DIVINITY

AND IN FACING THE DIVINITY
KNOW
THAT NOT EVERY DAY WAS PERFECT
EVERY DAY
WEEK
MONTH
YEAR
EVERY PAGE
CHAPTER
BOOK
EVERY I NOT DOTTED
EVERY T NOT CROSSED
AND WHEN DONE
NOT DONE WELL
WINTER THOUGHTS
WINTER THOUGHTS
BUT I AM IN TUNE WITH AUTUMN NOW

I ASK THE PAST FOR FORGIVENESS
TO LET ME LAY MY BURDEN DOWN
KNOWING THAT FORGIVENESS
IS ALSO REQUIRED OF ME
IF I WOULD LAY MY BURDEN DOWN


BUT THE DAYS OF AUTUMN ARE NOT OVER
OH THAT I COULD MAKE MY AUTUMN BEAUTIFUL
TO CLING TENACIOUSLY TO THE TREE
NEITHER WILLING DEPARTURE
IN MIND OR BODY
OR THE LEAVING OF LOVED ONES

UNTIL CALLED BY THAT GREAT SUMMONS
TO BEGIN
THAT PEACEFUL
NOSTALGIC
ACCEPTING
JOURNEY HOME

BUT
AS FOR NOW
I AM MORE IN TUNE WITH AUTUMN NOW
AND THERE IS SERENITY IN MY SOUL


THE NAMING OF PILLS

TODAY WE HAD THE NAMING OF PILLS
BUT FIRST WE HAD THE DISMISSAL OF PILLS
THE MULTI VITAMIN AND THE E
GONE
AS IF IN DISGRACE
THEY HAD NOT PREVENTED THE CONDITION

A BIT OF WHIMSY THERE

ACTUALLY THE WERE NOT COMPATIBLE
WITH THE NEW

ONE TO KEEP THE BLOOD FLOWING
ONE FOR NAUSEA
IF I NEED IT
ONE TO KEEP MY SYSTEM HEALTHY
ONE TO ATTACK THE TUMOR
BUT THIS ONE WE NUMBER AMONG THE PILLS

THE PILLS ARE LOWLY SERVANTS
INFERIOR TO THE INFUSIONS
WHICH HAVE A BETTER PRESS

BUT ALL IN ALL A TOXIC COCKTAIL
BOTTOMS UP
AND HAIR LOSS TOO
HOW COULD I BE SO LUCKY

THE JOURNEY STARTS
A HESITANT STEP
THE DRINKS ARE SERVED

TO YOUR HEALTH GOOD SIR
I'LL DRINK TO THAT



THAT WORD

WHEN THE DOCTOR FIRST SAID THAT WORD
IT WAS AS IF THE WORLD HAD STOPPED

A CLICHÉ MOST TIMES
EXCEPT WHEN IT HAPPENS TO YOU

BUT IT ONLY HAPPENS TO YOU

ALL AROUND YOU
EVERYONE ELSE
WAS GOING ON
WITH THEIR JOURNEYS
ONE OF WHICH WAS THE DOCTOR'S TASK
OF TELLING ME
WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME

AND AS HE SPOKE
A DIFFERENT DIRECTION
WAS GIVEN TO MY JOURNEY

NO TRAVELING
IT WOULD BE INAPPROPRIATE
AT THIS TIME

WE NEED THE FOLLOWING TESTS
DONE IMMEDIATELY
TILL A WEEK OF TESTS
HAD GONE BY
WHICH WHEN READ
REQUIRED MORE TESTS
A BIOPSY
AND A SHUNT INSTALLED

IT'S ALL DONE NOW
AND I SIT NOW
AS IF BEFORE A MAGIC CUP
CHALICE
GRAIL
A MAGIC CUP OF HEALING POISON

IT REMINDS ME OF GRACE
DESTROYING SIN
BUT NOT THE SINNER

DESTROYING A PART OF ME
TO LEAVE ME WHOLE

THIS IS NOT THE CUP
THAT I WOULD CHOOSE TO DRINK

BUT THIS CUP IS A NECESSARY ONE
THAT I MUST DRINK

I FEEL LIKE PETER
WHEN JESUS SAID
SOMEONE ELSE WILL DRESS
AND LEAD YOU

SHELTER ME AS I DRINK THIS POTION
SURELY YOUR GOODNESS
AND KINDNESS
HAVE ALWAYS BEEN WITH ME
AND I REST IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND
LIKE BABY BIRD
BEING FED BY ITS MOTHER



THE C WORD

WHEN PILATE
FIRST SAID THE C WORD
TO YOU JESUS

DID YOU STEP BACK
BLINK
PRAY FOR COURAGE
DID THE WORLD GO AWAY FOR AN INSTANT

SAYING YES LORD JESUS
ENDEARS YOU TO MY HEART

IN OUR MUTUAL PASSIONS
I FIND MUCH THAT IS SIMILAR

STRUGGLING UP YOUR HILL
YOU FELL OFTEN

STRUGGLING UP MY HILL
I FIND MANY WEAK TIMES

YOU HAD SIMON
I HAVE THE DOCTOR

YOU HAD THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM
I HAVE THE NURSES
WHO HAVE PUT AWAY THEIR WAILING RAGS
AND BECOME TRUE PROFESSIONALS

A TRIBUTE TO YOU
WHO RAISED THE STATUS OF WOMEN
BY BEING BORN

AND THEREBY SAYING
THAT ALL CREATION IS BEAUTIFUL
AND THEREFORE EQUAL

AND ON THE HILLTOP
YOU DESTROYED THE CANCER OF…
THERE I'VE SAID THE WORD
YOU DESTROYED THE CANCER OF MY SIN
YOU SET ME FREE
TO LIVE A HOLY AND A WHOLLY LIFE

AND ON MY HILLTOP
LET ME SAY WITH YOU
FATHER IT IS FINISHED
CURED OR AT LEAST IN REMISSION

AND WE SHALL WALK
OUR EASTER MORNINGS
SIDE BY SIDE

FRIENDS AS ALWAYS
WE HAVE WALKED
THROUGH THE DARK PORTAL
AND FOUND SUN SHINE


BUT FIRST
WHEN PILATE SAID THE C WORD TO YOU JESUS
DID YOU STEP BACK
BLINK
PRAY FOR COURAGE
DID THE WORLD GO AWAY FOR AN INSTANT

SAYING YES LORD JESUS
ENDEARS YOU TO MY HEART
BECAUSE SO DID I


HOSPITAL GOWN


MY FRONT BEING PROPERLY HIDDEN
I SHALL NOT MENTION IT
BUT IN THE REAR
MY DERRIERE
PROVOKES LAUGHTER

AND AMUSEMENT

I DO NOT SHARE

MODESTY IS OUT THE WINDOW
ALAS ALACK ALAY
ANY ONE HAVE A SAFETY PIN
IT WOULD REALLY SAVE THE DAY
HOLDING CANE
AND CATHETER
I DO NOT HAVE A HAND
TO HIDE
MY
(FOR OTHERS)
AMUSING BUTT
AND SO I STAND A GAPING
FOR ALL THE WORLD TOO SEE
BUT SEE NO ONE’S LOOKING
AT MY
HEINIE
OR ME

DRUID ROCKS - THE TREATMENT ROOM

WE WERE SITTING ROUND THE WALLS
LIKE DRUID ROCKS
WAITING FOR THE SOLSTICE

ONE CHAIR MISSING
THROUGH WHICH THE PRIESTESS CAME
DISPENSING THE MAGIC FLUID
THE EYE OF THE NEWT
THE TAIL OF A DRAGON
THE HEALING POISON

AND WE SIT IN A RING
AROUND THE ROOM
LIKE DRUID ROCKS
WAITING FOR THE SOLSTICE

LIKE DRUIDS SITTING IN A RING
PRAYING TO THE GODS
THAT THE DAYLIGHT WOULD STAY
OR THAT THE DAYLIGHT WOULD COME BACK

DRUIDS SITTING IN A RING
TRYING TO PLACATE AN ANGRY GOD

DRUIDS SITTING IN A RING
WHILE THE PRIESTESS
CHECKS OUR PULSE
OUR BLOOD PRESSURE
AND OUR TEMPERATURE
WHETHER WE ARE THIRSTY
OR ANY OTHER NEED
DRUIDS SITTING IN A RING

I AM PART OF THAT RING
BUT MY GOD IS NOT ANGRY
WHERE TWO OR THREE…
FOR WE ARE GATHERED IN HIS NAME
EVEN THOUGH SOME OF US MAY NOT KNOW IT

DRUIDS SITTING IN A RING
LOOKING PAST THE WITCH'S BREW
KNOWING THAT NO MATTER HOW DARK THE DAY
THE SUN IS SHINING
AND WILL NOT GO AWAY

PS 121/TAPS/ NIGHT PRAYER


ALL IS WELL
SAFELY REST
GOD IS NIGH

HE DOES NOT SLEEP OR SLUMBER

WATCHING ALL THE NIGHT

HE IS MY GUIDE AND PATHFINDER

MY FOOT SHALL NOT SLIP

THE BREEZE COMES DOWN THE MOUNTAIN

COOLING THE VALLEY AND DESERT BELOW

HE GUARDS ME FROM THE NIGHT DEMONS

AND THE EFFECTS OF THE MOON

HE NEITHER SLUMBERS NOR SLEEPS

HE WATCHES OVER ME

MY GOING IN AND GOING OUT

HE IS MY SHADE IN THE SUN

AND MY SHAWL FOR THE NIGHT CHILL

HE NEITHER SLUMBERS NOR SLEEPS

ALL IS WELL
SAFELY REST
GOD IS NIGH

AND NEVER SLEEPS


WHO.....

WHERE HAVE I BEEN
WHERE HAVE I BEEN WANDERING
IN THE DESERT
IN THE WARRENS OF CHEMO
WHERE WORDS DO NOT MAKE SENSE
AND SENTENCES DO NOT CONNECT

BUT WHO HAS PRAYED FOR ME
WHEN I WAS ELSEWHERE
AND KNOW THE ANSWER IN THE QUESTION

BANDS OF ANGELS HOVERING
ALL THE SAINTS ARE GATHERED

BEHOLD WHO YOU ARE
THE BODY OF CHRIST
NOT GUARANTEED SAFE JOURNEY
BIT JOINED WITH THAT GREAT COMPANY
GUARANTEED SAFE DELIVERY

WE ARE STILL IN TREATMENT
THE DOCTOR CLINGS TO ME
LIKE A LOVER HE WILL NOT LET GO
NEW TREATMENTS ARE TO FOLLOW
A LOW POINT THERE
I THOUGHT I WAS DONE
TILL I WAS TOLD
REST AWHILE
THEN WE START AGAIN
DOWN A DIFFERENT PATH
DOWN WHICH I WILL GO
JOYFULLY BURDENED
BY ALL WHO HOLD ME IN THEIR HEART
AND PRAYER

WHO PRAYS FOR YOU
WHEN YOU CANNOT PRAY
GOD DOES
AND ALL HIS FRIENDS


BEHOLD WHO YOU ARE
THE BODY OF CHRIST

AND ALL THE ASSEMBLY SINGS
HOLY
HOLY
HOLY
A SOUND THAT RESONATES
WHEN ALL OTHER SOUNDS HAVE FADED


AMONG THE STONES


I AM DOWN AMONG THE STONES
AMONG THE ROCKS THAT LITTER THE SHORE
AMONG THE POOLS THE OCEAN HAS LEFT
LITTLE TREASURE TROVES OF SEA LIFE
I AM DOWN AMONG THE STONES
IT IS PEACEFUL HERE
THE OCEAN IS A SIBILANT IN THE DISTANCE

I AM BETWEEN THE TIDES
I AM BETWEEN INFUSIONS
THE POURING IN OF MEDICINES
TO MAKE ME WELL

ODD WORD FOR ME
IT HAS ALWAYS MEANT
THE POURING IN OF THE SPIRIT
HIS INDWELLING IN ME
HIS WORKING LIKE THE MEDICINES
DRIVING OUT THE BAD

THE MEDICINE
IS GIVEN TO ME
WHEN I AM AT MY BEST
BETWEEN THESE TIMES
THERE COMES THE POINT
WHEN I AM AT MY WORST
PHYSICALLY
EMOTIONALLY
THEY CALL IT THE NADIR

I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN TROUBLED
AND UNSURE
ABOUT HOW TO HANDLE
PAIN AND SORROW
SHOULD I BE ANGRY AT MY FATE
SHOULD I ACCEPT IT
AND MAKE IT WORK
OR WILL I BE OVERWHELMED BY IT
IN TRUTH I OFTEN HAVE DONE ALL THREE
SOMETIMES SIMULTANEOUSLY

THE BEST SEEMS TO BE
TAKE IT AND MAKE IT WORK
TO TRY TO BE AT PEACE

SO I AM DOWN
AMONG THE STONES
AMONG THE ROCKS
QUIET AND PEACEFUL IN THIS PLACE
BETWEEN THE TIDES
BETWEEN INFUSIONS
I AM OPEN
TO THE WHISPERINGS OF THE SPIRIT
WHICH STRANGELY SOUND
LIKE THE SIBILANT SOUNDS OF THE SEA


GOOD MORNING BROTHER ASS

ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI DIED AT THE AGE OF 44 AFTER INCREASING ILL HEALTH, DUE IN PART TO THE WAY HE MISTREATED BROTHER ASS, AS HE CALLED HIS BODY.




GOOD MORNING BROTHER ASS
HOW ARE YOU THIS MORNING

BROTHER MULE IF YOU DON'T MIND

AH WE'RE INTO PROPRIETY TODAY ARE WE

ONLY FITTING
AFTER THE INDIGNITIES YOU PUT ME THROUGH

I'M ONLY DOING WHAT'S BEST FOR YOU
AND ME

WELL ANYWAY
I'D RATHER BE KNOWN AS BROTHER MULE TODAY

TODAY AND EVERYDAY IF YOU SO DESIRE

OH DON'T BE SO POMPOUS
SOMETIMES YOU ACT LIKE AN ASS

BROTHER ASS IF YOU DON'T MIND
THIS SOUNDS LIKE A CONVERSATION
RUNNING AROUND IN A CIRCLE
SHALL WE BEGIN AGAIN

GOOD MORNING BROTHER MULE

GOOD MORNING BROTHER SOUL

SHALL WE BEGIN BY TAKING OUR PILLS
AS A SIGN OF PROMISE FOR THE DAY
YOU SEEM DOWN BROTHER MULE

I HAVE A QUESTION

ASK AWAY
YOU WILL NOT LEAVE ME WILLY-NILLY
AS IF YOU DIDN'T CARE

YOU HAVE MY WORD
WE WILL NOT PART BY CHOICE
SHALL WE BEGIN OUR DAY

MISTY LAND


IN THIS MISTY LAND IN WHICH I DWELL
PRODUCT OF FATIGUE AND CHEMICALS
THE CAROLS COME
THE CAROLS GO
ECHOES NOT QUITE RIGHTLY HEARD
EXCEPT THE ONES
THAT TALK OF SIMPLER THINGS
A MAN
A WOMAN
AND A BABY
WORKING AGAINST THE ODDS
WITH HELP FROM GOOD HEARTED PEOPLE

THE CHRISTMAS STORY REDUCED
TO A WOMAN
HOLDING HER BABY
USING HER BODY TO KEEP IT WARM
WHILE THE HUSBAND TENDS THE FIRE
AND FEEDS HIS WIFE
THEIR MEAGER MEAL
BUT IN THE JOY OF THE BABY
THEY KNOW NO PRIVATION

I WANTED TO SAY
THAT MARY'S HANDLING OF THE ANGEL'S MESSAGE
WHAT YOU WANT OF ME GOD
DO
WHAT IS WITHIN ME
MAY IT BEAR FRUIT

WHAT I WANTED TO SAY
IS THAT
MY OWN ACCEPTANCE IS SIMILAR

BUT IT IS TOO BIG A STRETCH
INSTEAD I WANT TO SAY
YES TO GOD
NOT AS A SLAVE
BUT AS A LOVED ONE

YES TO GOD
THAT I WILL DILIGENTLY FOLLOW
WHERE I AM LED
AND WILLINGLY ACCEPT
THE OUTCOME

SO FROM THIS MISTY LAND
WHERE NOW I DWELL
WHERE I FEEL LIKE THE BABY
WARMED BY ALL THE LOVE AROUND ME

WHILE I WAIT FOR THE MIST TO CLEAR
I WISH YOU ALL OF YOU
THAT ARE HOLDING ME
CLOSE TO YOUR HEART
I WISH FOR YOU
THE BABY'S BLESSINGS
AND ASK
THAT HIS TINY HANDS
BEGRIME YOUR SOUL
WITH MARKS OF LOVE
PEACE
JOY AND UNDERSTANDING


ABC……

THE PROBLEM IS
THAT WHEN THE MEDICINE
IS WORKING
IT CLOUDS THE MIND
AND PRAYING BECOMES DIFFICULT
AND SOMETIMES INCOHERENT

THE LEGEND IS
THAT THE JEWISH SHEPHERD
COMING HOME FROM THE HILLS
TO SPEND SABBATH WITH HIS FAMILY
COUNTED HIS SHEEP AND FOUND ONE MISSING
SENDING HIS SON AHEAD WITH THE FLOCK
HE RETURNED TO THE HILL
RACING THE STAR
THAT TOLD THE BEGINNING OF SABBATH
HE FOUND THE SHEEP
AND LOST THE RACE
AND TRUE TO HIS FAITH
SPENT SABBATH ON THE HILLSIDE
WITH HIS SHEEP

ON COMING HOME
HIS WIFE ASKED
HOW ARE YOU HUSBAND
WELL HE SAID
IT WAS AN INTERESTING
DISQUIETING TIME
HOW SHE SAID

I WAS ANXIOUS TO FIND MY SHEEP
I WAS HURRYING AND SWEATING
THEN THE SWEAT WENT COLD
AND THE SHEEP AND I HUDDLED BY THE FIRE
NEVER SEEMING TO GET WARM
I SAW IN THE FLAME
YOUR BEAUTIFUL SABBATH MEAL
I WANTED TO BE HOME SO MUCH
IN THE WARMTH OF MY HOME AND FAMILY

I WANTED TO PRAY
BUT THE WORDS SPILLED OUT
IN AN INCOMPREHENSIBLE KALEIDOSCOPE
OF FEELING
OF WANTING
OF DISAPPOINTMENT

SO WHAT DID YOU DO MY HUSBAND

I SAID THE ALPHABET
FIGURING GOD COULD MAKE THE WORDS

THE PROBLEM IS
THE MEDICINE MAKES THE MIND GROW DIM

A
B
C
D…

AMEN


WERE THERE NOT TEN HEALED…



FORGIVE ME LORD
I HAVE BEEN GUILTY OF POOR THINKING

WHEN I RECOVERED
AT LEAST TO EXTENT
I CAN RECOVER
DID I SAY THANK YOU
I WISH I COULD SAY YES

BUT LIKE A MAN
WHOSE VACATION
IS MARRED BY RAIN
AND FEELS HIS VACATION RUINED
FORGETS THE BEAUTIFUL DAYS HE DID HAVE
THEY MIGHT AS WELL NOT HAVE EXISTED

SO I THANK YOU LORD
FOR LIMITED RECOVERY
AND NO MIRACLES
EXCEPT THE DAILY BEAUTY OF EACH DAY

FORGIVE ME LORD
I HAVE NOT BEEN A GOOD SERVANT
BUT UNGRATEFUL
AND MAY BE AGAIN

BUT FOR NOW
THANK YOU LORD



WERE THERE NOT TEN HEALED…