Vituperation

 

Vituperation,

Invective fulmination,

Assassins of peace.

(17 syllables)

My life as a military ambassador

 

Loyal citizen of The Eternal Kingdom 
temporary alien status; 
authorized ambassador of Great News
on assignment to the US

Purchased, redeemed, subject of The King
with a message to betrayed men;
invisibly armored, thrust into war
wielding sword mightier than pen.

Bearing rough scars of battles hard-fought
offering hope to ears that will hear.
“Through death comes life, trials bring grace,
and Love casts out all fear.

Awaiting my change

 
Appreciate your youth, where noise is resounding,
possessing strong bodies, energy abounding,
copious bright prospects drift on the offing;
bright is the light, the sun, moon and stars,
no clouds follow rain, deep breath reservoirs,
unplagued by wheezing and coughing.

For rapidly approaches unchecked ephemerality,
strong men bow low; dimmed windows portend sure mortality
when one rises early at the sound of a bird;
exhaustion comes quickly, recovery protracted,
the almond tree blossoms, conversations redacted,
when aches grasp new life in The Word.

Day by day brings decay, the outward man perishes,
his strength is dried up, resting he cherishes,
awaiting his ultimate change;
where the sun never sets, the new man in full bloom,
realizing reality, escaping due doom
death for life his exchange.

Be admonished by these, making books has no end,
much study is a wearisome, meditation a friend;
let not anxiety cause you to fall.
Hear the conclusion, set free all attachments:
“Fear God and keep His commandments”,
For this acquiescence is man's all.

1/9/2022

Ecclesiastes 12:1-14
Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the difficult days come,
And the years draw near when you say,
"I have no pleasure in them":
While the sun and the light,
The moon and the stars,
Are not darkened,
And the clouds do not return after the rain; 
In the day when the keepers of the house tremble,
And the strong men bow down;
When the grinders cease because they are few,
And those that look through the windows grow dim; 
When the doors are shut in the streets,
And the sound of grinding is low;
When one rises up at the sound of a bird,
And all the daughters of music are brought low;
Also they are afraid of height,
And of terrors in the way;
When the almond tree blossoms,
The grasshopper is a burden,
And desire fails.
For man goes to his eternal home,
And the mourners go about the streets.

Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed,
Or the golden bowl is broken,
Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,
Or the wheel broken at the well.
Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,
And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "All is vanity."
 And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs.

The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright--words of truth. 
The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd.

And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.

 

anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi, 2022

 anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi, 2022

In the year of our Lord, Jesus the Christ, 2022

 Fling wide the gate! Release the padlock!
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock”
How oft to our era His voice says anew?
Two thousand times and twenty-two!

from Domini nostri Jesu Christi is heard,
anno Domini, this fresh new year’s word
“I am the gate!”; His voice calls to His sheep.
“I am the door!” awakes us from sleep.

 
Fling wide your gate! Begin the unlocking!
Run to the door; answer His knocking!
Fall to your knees, cast-off your scrapheap
embrace Him, He lays down His life for His sheep.

L-O-V-E

L-O-V-E

Search distant east to farthest west, from highest heaven to lowest hell 
no other word has suffered more, purloined of home,  bereft befell
a skeleton, but lines and arcs, naked stripped of all but shell;  
an L, an O, a V, an E, tossed from a cup would serve as well.

Careless used, like pocket pennies, lost in cracks, on sidewalk's curb;
in songs abused, in prose ill-used, exploited by crude billboard blurb,
by grammar shunned, defined like stew, foggy noun or murky verb,
four letters that can soften hearts can also war to hearts disturb.

Agape, eros, philia, storge, attrition Greeks try hold at bay
to curtail lack of definition, four classes helped delay decay.
Yet noble English blinds her eye while lays to context final say
and renders hearer lost at sea, no anchor, compass, or charted way.

Passion? Fondness? Feeling? Ardor? Selfish lust? Selfless bequest?
“My dear", "my darling", "my one devotion"; or "object of my craving chest"?
“I love my wife”, “I love my dog”, “the love of money gives no rest”.
Is it "in the air"? Does it "hurt" or "stink"? Or is it just which serves me best?

“Love your enemy”. “Love your neighbor”. “Love is all”. “Love is myth”.
“If you can’t be with the one you love, then just love the one you’re with”
“Love is blind”. “Love yourself”. “The world needs love, and that forthwith”.
The Apostle John unabashed spoke “God is Love!”; a monolith.

“I love you” chant we off to bed, or hanging up our phone’s handset;
But why? Is love oft spoke a proof, a verity lest they forget?

In THIS way God so Loved the world, sent sinless Son to pay my debt,  
gifting righteousness and life, His ACT His stainless epithet.