They say that mermaids were invented
in the minds of lonely sailors
as they set out to find their fortune
beyond the empty seas.
Their minds made lovely voices
of the whisper of the waves,
caresses of the tug of winds,
and kisses of the salt laced breeze.
Be warned, it’s said, the truth will set you free
We see how things are and how they’re meant to be.
It’s hard to live in a world full of lies
With truth, ever present, pressed behind your eyes.
Fabricated meanings, unravel in the light
Revelation is bondage, this clarity our plight
When people are blinded, searching in vain
Those who see clearly are deemed quite insane
You search for truth, but beware you will find,
The world wont reflect what is clear in your mind
For once the truth begins to unfold,
You will see ugliness in what you’ve been told
Now we know truth, you would think we’d be glad
But if truth is freedom, being free drove us mad.
written in 2012
Sometime late September, when the evenings are less fair, If you listen very closely you will hear the whispers in the air.
Of the goblins, sprites, and ghouls, and all the wicked sort.
Of the wild, old, and free, and of the Autumn Court
Mothers and Fathers bring children in,
before the sun goes down.
For fear of the wile and wicked things,
The changing brings to town.
The dog days are over, with all summer fun.
And faced with the school year, children will run.
Away to the woods, lured by Pixies and Fey,
Who linger by windows, to take children away.
To the endless October in the big wondrous wood,
Wouldn’t you join them if only you could?
There live the Autumn King and Queen with all their wild things,
And within all children, large and small, there lurks a wildling
The Autumn King smells like dark soil and fog, he’s cold and a little grey.
He’s the chill that settles deep in your bones at the end of a long Autumn’s day.
He brings the death of summer, and beats back the winter winds.
He tames the dead and ghastly, and the goblins wicked whims.
The Autumn Queen’s quite different from the strange, old, mysterious King.
Her hair is as orange as Maples, and her skin’s flushed pink from dancing.
Foxes, Fairies and Woodland Beasts they love her one and all.
She is the warm October sun, and smells like frosted leaf fall.
The goblin king lives deep in the forest, not found till you’ve lost your way.
But the queen’s home is the entire wood, open wide for her fairies to play.
So run little children, be free, but take care
As you trade out the flowers for leaves in your hair.
Fairies and foxes may come to play
And beg you to waste the days away.
But they will be gone with the cold winter frost
And old man winter is not kind to the lost.
So as the days get dark, make your way home
Where your parents have places to settle your bones
The woods are where adventure and imagination abound.
But home has warmth, comfort, and love to be found.
How do we introduce ourselves and our faith to others?
Are we Christians?
Or are we Lutheran?
Reformed?
Baptist?
Catholic?
We tend to hold to our denominations like a home team in sports.
And like in sports, we glory in the strength of other men we have chosen to align ourselves with.
Our denomination is not a team, in competition with all the others.
Now I believe we should strive for truth- to align ourselves with a body of believers we feel is exemplifying the Christian life, in love, action and in teaching. In life and theology.
But when we cling to our own understanding as opposed to one another in Christian love we have a problem.
When we look so hard to find the perfect church, we are trying to find heaven on earth. To attach ourselves to the sanctification of others in order to separate ourselves from the “lesser” Christian. To gain acceptance by our associations rather than the cleansing blood of Christ.
Now we are all responsible for where we raise our families, but we also do not get to choose wether or not to place ourselves under authority.
We are already under the authority of the leaders of the church wether we choose to recognize it or not. And when you are trying to find that “right” church that will help you raise your children correctly- make sure you are not raising them to believe they are too good to worship along someone who is worshiping Christ Jesus- Even if they disagree with you about baptism. Or communion. Or musical instruments.
By all means condemn lies. Call out heresies. Challenge wrong thinking. But with the ultimate love of valuing another creatures soul. In the manner that possesses the fruit of the spirit, and the humility of a man or woman who is learning, growing, and who does not possess the mind of God. Who can only look at the words of truth with helplessly dim and twisted minds.
And Christian, do not ever, ever add gates to the already narrow path of Christianity.
When we treat our fellow lover of Christ, our brothers, as the enemy, as False Teachers, are we not Pharisees? How then can we claim Christ’s love?
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
This verse should not cause us to go brain dead. It should not be looked at as overused and simple. As an unconverted, simpleton’s get out of jail ticket. As excuse based theology for living an unchallenged life.
This verse is the crux of all we believe. It is the promise of the Gospel. This one verse is packed with more beauty and more grace than so many snarky Internet articles, trying to reason people to God.
It is the Word of God. The Promise of God. Something we need to look back to, every time we want to doubt the soul of someone who seems a little too liberal, or a little too legalistic, in their practices and understanding.
God’s charge to us has been to love one another. How often have we completely disregarded that charge, given up our birthright to a Christian family, in order to cling instead to our own understanding? To align ourselves not with a Heavenly Father who is so much greater than our understanding, but to our team? The team with rules we’ve fully hammered out and agreed to?
Surely we are sad creatures, following in the footsteps of our first parents, getting distracted from our walks with God to chase down the fruit of knowledge, desiring wisdom, and not willing to step further until we unlock and understand all that God knows.
We know not the fullness, and wonder of God. We cannot fathom someone fully good, who created space, time, and souls, and delights in His creation of hummingbird wings.
So let us join together in worshiping Christ. In our limited, and veil covered understanding, holding one another close as we draw near to our beloved Father.
I like stories.
I like stories that defy genres, or that fill them to the brim, and explode out of them.
I like stories that shouldn’t fit together but do.
Stories that are hard to explain, beyond saying that they’re wonderful.
Stories that collide another world into our own.
Stories that place westerns in space, dragons into romance, or magic into science where it belongs.
Stories that remind us that it is wise to be afraid of the dark.
Stories that show us how small we truly are, while reminding us that we are so much bigger than what we live like.
Stories that remind us that Truth, Hope, Love and God are real and cannot be reasoned away or killed.
Stories that speak of the old magic we haven’t quite forgotten. Stories that show us the enchantment in a single leaf.
Stories that speak the most human like experience, and give it to a dog so that we can understand it.
Stories that pull us up off of our sofas and out of our doors to explore the world we just read about, or to build one of our own.
Stories that open our hearts as much as our minds and grow our souls capacity.
I like stories where demons are pen pals and beavers declare the kingship of Christ.
I like stories where the damned choose righteousness, the righteous are damned, and the one that we choose will always be the one that is chosen for us.
I like stories that remind us that nothing is truly gone, Childhood, Grandpa, Faith, Dinosaurs.
Stories open doors, so the light can shine in. They turn complicated to simple, and make murky things clear.
They move and stir our dusty souls when we have tucked them away. They can touch them, ignite them and rekindle their purpose.