PARADOX OF THE CHURCH

PARADOX OF THE CHURCH


We are light --
An invincible spectrum
Of piercing rays,

We become visible white light
As our integral colors
Invisibly mesh,

We are light
Beaming through
Darkness

As a beacon projecting
Through space into the
Atmosphere around us,

We are light
With our diverse frequencies
And variance of intensity,

We are one
As visible light
Is one

But through the crystal prism
We are as diverse as the colors
That we now see,

We are one...and we are light!


By: Cheryl Ellen Baxter (c)

After The Rain

AFTER THE RAIN


Raining in the night
Washed her weary face
And when the sun came up
Her worry lines erased,

No more war or battle cries,
Floods, fires, famine or lies...
No Johnny at the corner store
Pointing a barrel at Melvin's face,

The sun begins to dry her crust
And for a moment things are clean,
Fresh and new, then tug-o-war begins
Again, and debris begins to litter the land

Between this moment of innocence
And evil, she shudders, shakes, spits and
Sputters, creating quite an upheaval
As she starts her day all over again.


by: Cheryl Ellen Baxter (c)

Two Thousand one, Nine Eleven (2001-911)

Two thousand one, nine eleven
Three thousand plus arrive in heaven
As they pass through the gate,
Thousands more appear in wait
A bearded man with stovepipe hat
Steps forward saying, "Lets sit, lets chat"

They settle down in seats of clouds
A man named Martin shouts out proud
"I have a dream!" and once he did
The Newcomer said, "Your dream still lives.

" Groups of soldiers in blue and gray
Others in khaki, and green then say
"We're from Bull Run, Yorktown, the Maine"
The Newcomer said, "You died not in vain."

From a man on sticks one could hear
"The only thing we have to fear.
The Newcomer said, "We know the rest,
trust us sir, we've passed that test."

"Courage doesn't hide in caves
You can't bury freedom, in a grave,
" The Newcomers had heard this voice before
A distinct Yankees twang from Hyannisport shores

A silence fell within the mist
Somehow the Newcomer knew that this
Meant time had come for her to say
What was in the hearts of the five thousand plus that day

"Back on Earth, we wrote reports,
Watched our children play in sports
Worked our gardens, sang our songs
Went to church and clipped coupons
We smiled, we laughed, we cried,
we fought Unlike you, great we're not"

The tall man in the stovepipe hat
Stood and said, "Don't talk like that!
Look at your country, look and see
You died for freedom, just like me"

Then, before them all appeared a scene
Of rubbled streets and twisted beams
Death, destruction, smoke and dust
And people working just 'cause they must

Hauling ash, lifting stones,
Knee deep in h*ll, but not alone
"Look! Blackman, Whiteman, Brownman, Yellowman
Side by side helping their fellow man!"

So said Martin, as he watched the scene
"Even from nightmares, can be born a dream."

Down below three firemen raised
The colors high into ashen haze
The soldiers above had seen it before
On Iwo Jima back in '45

The man on sticks studied everything closely
Then shared his perceptions on what he saw mostly
"I see pain, I see tears,
I see sorrow -- but I don't see fear."

"You left behind husbands and wives
Daughters and sons and so many lives
are suffering now because of this wrong
But look very closely. You're not really gone.

All of those people, even those who've never met you
All of their lives, they'll never forget you
Don't you see what has happened?
Don't you see what you've done?
You've brought them together, together as one.

With that the man in the stovepipe hat said
"Take my hand," and from there he led
three thousand plus heroes, Newcomers to heaven
On this day, two thousand one, nine eleven

Author UNKNOWN What a shame!

DON'T KEEP SUCH MEANINGFUL WORDS AND FEELINGS TO YOURSELF.
PLEASE PASS THIS ONE ALONG.

A Rememberance Poem for 9/11

A Day to Remember... not far away
Seems long ago on a sunny day
Men, women working up in the sky
Then into the Towers a plane does fly

News flashes suddenly over the screen
A plane crashes down and makes a sad scene
Peril and screaming in more than one place
Makes it a terrible crises to face

Pentagon staff at their jobs work away
Not knowing that something awful
Will soon change their whole day

Brave Firemen called to a smoke-filled scene
See smoke-burning buildings and
Adults and children that scream

When does all the insanity end?
How do we know we'll be safe again?
The world as we know it all changed in one day
But somehow by faith we can go on our way

By Carla Cash (c) 2006

Dedicated to Brian

(He was a smiling safe face in a harsh place)

Like a pebble tossed into a pond,
the effect of one person on earth
creates a ripple that goes on
to touch all others until it reaches the shore.

Energy, strength and joy
can overcome your fears and darkness.
You will be missed like a little boy
who was always smiling.

It seemed long but you didn't know
it was only a little while.
Our days here are longer when you go
to a different place.

They say the trip is faster on the way home.
Did you know how many people knew you?
When you thought you were alone,
you didn't know the next day they would miss you.

"Did you know Brian? He always wore that goofy hat."
"Yeah I know him! But where's he at?"
Like a pebble tossed into a pond,
your ripples are still felt and never gone.

By Kathleen VanBeekom

A Little While Ago I Didn't Even Know You

I remember that time I was on my way to a party,wearing a dress. I rarely wear dresses.Driving downtown realizing I needed to bring something,I stopped into a small store in a crummy neighborhoodwhere I had never been before.

Then I saw you, I won't forget your dimples, long hairpulled back in a ponytail, eating a large cookie becauseyou had no customers right then. Brian. I won't forget.You thought I was a different kind of lady, out at night.

I came back a week later dressed as me, and you were stillthe night manager. So young, so smart, you told me you wantedto really be a systems analyst. What's a systems analyst?Something that is not usually next after managing a liquor store.

You said you probably couldn't be what you dreamed ofbecause you had an artificial leg. Do you need two good legsto be a systems analyst? You stand firm in your job all nightin a bad place, with just that thing your fanny-pack to protect you.

I was fascinated with your face, your smile, those dimples,all the dreams. You were always late when we were supposedto meet someplace. You said it was because you had to driveyour gun home first. Brian.

Too many things are long ago and still just like today. You letsmall things get in the way of your dreams, like having a removableleg, so what? Nothing stopped you from reading, reading, readingabout everything you couldn't chase after or run from.

But no one wrote a book about you, just a small column one day.Brian D., age 26, passed away suddenly.It didn't mention that when you drove your gun home that night,you didn't go back out. You thought your leg was holding you back,but did you realize it would be around a lot longer than you?

I knew that night when I went to see you and there was a sign inthe store window, "Closed because of emergency."I always wondered who wrote it.No flowers at the suicide funeral, very few people. You didn't looklike my dreams, your hair was either under you or they cut it.

Silence. Didn't you know you were enough? More thanenough to manage a store in a bad neighborhood at night, more than enough to be a systems analyst, to fill your head withmore than most people would want to know. You deserved flowers.

You deserve to be in a place where all men are not potential robbersand all women dressed up at night are not hookers. Are you there, Brian? Always late because you had to drive your gun home. Always late.

I went to your house a long while after that, walked up your porch steps,heard the wood boards creaking under my shoes. I touched your mailbox,your front doorknob, I saw the patch of gravel next to the house whereyou used to park your car. A neighbor saw me, looked right at me, knowing.

Did you know you were only a few miles, a few minutes away from someplaceless desolate? In real distance and in your mind, it wasn't far away.You didn't get to have any gray hairs, no one will ever call you middle-aged. Your good leg will never get old and painful. Is this what you wished for?

Did you know your parents had to make a long drive to get to you afterwards?Do you know every blade of grass is still green, the sun is still warm?Your neighborhood is still the same, people are careful not to get lost there, and reckless when they have to spend every day there. It's not far from here.

by Kathleen VanBeekom 1997

The Guardian Angel

I am and have alway been your friend
I am your Guardian Angel
A master of life
A husband
A Father
An honest man, not looking to get something from nothing
My resources are unlimited
They come from the Great Wite Father
Who loves us all.
I have learned the wisdom of the ancients
I have studied with children, learned to speak with the animals
I am one with the Earth
I chance along to meet with you
I see you in my dreams for I am the Spirit Warrior
Who walks in the clouds and sees forever
I was with you when time began and I find glorious paths
For you and me to follow
I am the joy that you feel when you see a newborn child
I am the pleasure that you seek when you stray off the path
I am that deep dark corner of your mind where no one is meant to enter
Yes I am a man, but not just a man
But I am a being of light with incredible power:
Power to heal
Power to help
Power to Love

By Robert Talmadge (c)

Have you ever felt

Have you ever felt
That something inside you
It had begun to wither and melt

Something, you'd wanted to keep under your belt
Until you could find something new
Have you ever felt

That if it didn't return and be dealt
with, you whole life would be blue
It had begun to wither and melt

Many of us have knelt
and taken abuse we weren't due
Have you ever felt

That this something fading inside had kept
stuff locked out, that wasn't true
It had begun to wither and melt

Being the victim of too much sh*t, it left
Maybe, in search of something new too
Have you ever felt,
It had begun to wither and melt?

By: Lucy Walker (c)

Summer's end is near

September starts the end of summer
Soon the lazy days are over
Children get back on the school bus
Mothers sigh to see them going

Watch the leaves soon start turning
Red,orange, yellow even brown
Such a beautiful array of colors
Before they all fall on the ground

Enjoy the last days of the summer
Savor each moment while you can
Absorb each warm day to the fullest
Catching the sun's rays in your hand

Carla Cash (c) 2006

YOU ARE BEING DECEIVED!!!!

why do you trust me?
I could be an absolute con!
You could give me loads of your money
and then find suddenly that I have gone!

You could think that I am your best friend
and give me your every trust,
I could tell you to join my fantastic team
and you could then, feel that you must!

I could say that I am a millionare
and that I will make you a star,
then you would be oh so star-struck
and you'de take it, I wonder how far?

I could say that Im an 'old lady'
and I really need to be supported!
I could say 'I am so desperate for your help
I'm about to be deported!

I could tell you that I am a guru
and that your finances will now be just fine!
I could say that I am an expertat building you a downline!

I could give you my 'heartfelt' friendship
and 'chat to you everyday
I could say that I really 'do love you'
though I dont KNOW YOU in any way!

The internet is dangerous
we all think that we know each other,
we build relationships and spread the love
as if we were sister and brother,

But We don't know each other at all
we just 'crave' to be some-ones best friend
we believe all the hype and the bullshit
and don't care that it could be pretend!

There's one thing that people should heed
"we can all be who you want us to be!"
I tell you that because it is the truth
I wonder, do you trust me?

That's the power of the internet!!!!!

COPYRIGHT JULIANA BOND 2006

The Yups and The Nopes

There is a place within the world,

so secret that only I know where

And I was finally given permission,

it's location I now can share



They live in a different time called Not Even,

a continuum we used to know long ago

Where ideals and imagination,

are kept in a constant flow



The little town is called Whatever,

and is surrounded by sound proof walls

You try so hard to listen,

but cannot hear their pleading calls



As a people they are called the Yups and the Nopes,

I realize they are unusual names

and all they want to do,

is to play their silly mind games



They all are desperately seeking attention,

but for us their world is much too small

Constantly trying to show the elders,

that one day they will walk proud and tall



If you have not figured it out yet,

it is our children I am writing about

And one day they will be the adults

the ones that have the clout.



By Nick Sym (C) 2006

Our Dear Little Children

For all our little Children
I've cried a million tears
I've suffered many sleepless nights
with worry for their fears

I cannot bear the thought
of a little child in pain
I want to hold them in my arms
and take away their shame

I feel we have a duty
to protect our children to the hilt
to give them all the love they need
to overcome their guilt

You see Children blame themselves
for upsetting those around them
they feel that they are to blame
for the chaos and the mayhem

they take these things on board
and then they're too shy to ask for help
they suffer the brunt of frustration
and are too afraid to yelp

It's time we adults listened
to the cries of kids in pain
and took a stand to stop it
from happening again and again!!!!

copyright Juliana Bond 2006

Please visit MY SPACE




“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr.