For John Paul

For John Paul                                                            

The old Father said to me
'Don't you want to share
in the suffering of the world'
I thought for a moment and then replied
'I didn't know I was'
he replied sharply
'Well you are and be thankful'

He then stood up went over to a cupboard
and began to rummage through it

I began to think how selfish I was
for expecting a carefree life
in the midst of a world of suffering

He reappeared with an old Bible
thumbed through it and tore out a page
then walked out of the room
and down the hall toward the front door
I hurried after him 
he opend the door and I stepped outside
he handed me the page 
'Read this when you get home'- He said 
'this is where you'll find Christ'
Then he stuck his head around the door 
and said - 'I'll pray for you tonight'
'Thank you' I blurted out
to the closing door

Feeling disappointed I made my way home

The next morning
finding the page in my pocket
I sat on my bed and began to read it
This is what it said 

I was hungry
and you gave me food
I was thirsty
and you gave me a drink
I was a stranger
and you made me welcome
I was in rags
and you gave me clothes
I was ill
and you came and took care of me
I was in prison
and you came to see me there
I was despised
and you showed me respect

And in that moment it became clear to me
that the suffering of Christ
and the suffering of humanity
are indivisible and ongoing

In the afternoon
I went back to see the old Father
He answered the door
'I've got it' - I said
'I know what you mean'
He opened the door wider
and gestured with his hand
for me to come in
walking into the hall - I said
'You must have prayed for me right enough'
'I did ' he replied
'I prayed for you all night'

Reposted from   28-2-2010.

Mafia and the Evangelist

Silhouette

Silhouette

Do not ask
Who is standing in the doorway

Do not ask
Where they have been
Do not ask about their sin
Call out quickly  "Come in"  "Come in"


Do not ask
Who is standing in the doorway

Do not ask

For a sign of appearance to please us

Do not even ask their name 

Their name is  Jesus.

Maelstrom

Dada.

When I was 20 I thought that 50
was a thousand years away
and now I'm 50 I think that 60 and 70 
are tomorrow and the next day
and now I'm 50 (no matter what you say)
I know that 20 is a thousand years away

If I was 20 again
I would Get out Get out Get out
and you should do the same
Relatives are a wonderful childhood accompaniment
and in adulthood they are also good
but on a different continent

Don't become the Hobby horse
from your Father's carpentry box
ridden into the ground for the rest of your life

Don't become the wedding dress
from your Mother's pattern box
another Wedding another Bride another Mother

Don't become the chattel
of a Priest or a Mullah
When all they are teaching is
Be me Be me Be me
Grasp your God given right to
Be you Be you Be you

Break the mould
shatter it beyond repair
leave no ambiguous pieces of doubt
and Get out Get out Get out.

This post has the most page views on my blog
I've reposted it from  6-11-2010.

Life and Light

                                                Lift up your heads  O you gates

                                               And be lifted up you everlasting doors

                                               And the King of glory shall come in

                                               Who is this King of glory

                                               The Lord strong and mighty

                                               The Lord mighty in battle

                                               Lift up your heads  O you gates

                                               Lift up  you everlasting doors

                                               And the King of glory shall come in

                                               Who is this King of glory

                                               The Lord of hosts

                                               He is the King of glory

                                               Psalm 24

What If -

What if – Human suffering is a gift from God
and we are being honoured by God
by being permitted to share in the suffering of Christ.

Longanimity

I believe Jesus Saves I accept your right to disagree
But I know of at least two men he has saved from me.

Media Truth.

                                          Link to Liverpool Hillsborough Disaster

                                          Information on Wikipedia.



Camouflage

Camouflage is an important word and practice in the military.

Camouflage is also an important word and practice in politics.

To begin to understand War you must first begin to understand
who or what is ruling the world, who or what is in control.

The world is ruled and controlled by the faceless and unaccountable
Executives who sit on the boards of world corporations.

The Leaders who sit in these boardrooms have no concern for people,
they have no concern for justice, they have no concern for peace,
they have no concern for democracy and no concern for the environment.

What concerns them is the control of the world's resources
for the purpose of establishing and maintaining their power and wealth.

If killing people and destroying their property is peace then they bring peace
If imposing upon a people a puppet Dictator is democracy then they bring democracy.

When soldiers are in the theatre of conflict
it is no longer about why they are there. It is about their Regiment, their friends,
it is about watching each others back, about killing or being killed.
It is about surviving and coming home to their families.

When the bodies start to come home it becomes disrespectful to ask why.
Now it becomes about service and duty and honour.
People appear on the news saying - "That's what they wanted"
And families who do not say the right things don't get to appear on the news.
The reason for this is that the corporations also control the media.

Politicians are the mediators between the boardrooms and the public.

When they retire from politics they graduate to the boardrooms.

And in graduating to the boardrooms
they complete the cycle and structure of  Global Plutocracy.

Reposted from   6 - 8 - 2010.

Caught

The Willow Trees

Omagh

A day
can seem like a lifetime                   
a moment like a year
hopes and dreams
contained and lost
in one exploding tear

Caught
in the freeze frame
moving in slo-mo
another imagined 
retrospective scenario

When those loved
more than life
do not survive
the deepest wound 
is the hurt
of being alive
To stand beneath
the willow trees
and weep aloud 
lost in grief
wander Market street
among the crowd

Caught
in the freeze frame
moving in slo-mo
another imagined
retrospective scenario.

The Ball Chaos Theory

The Beach

I began to focus
on blurred images
and was trying to listen
to muffled sounds
slowly I could hear water
and was standing on a Beach
looking out upon
an endless translucent sea

A young man walking on the Beach
walks over to me
smiling he says
'I am here to welcome you'

'Thank you'-I reply
'But where is this place?'

' 'This'  he answered  'Is Eternity'
'We are standing outside linear time
and touching all time
here the past is alive
and the future is remembered
this is spiritual time
the eternal loop of consciousness'

Then he asks me
'Do you know - 'The ball chaos theory?'

'I do' I reply
'Jesus caught the ball
and the car ran him over'

'Well this place' He replied
is where the chaos ends'

'I have often wondered
and wonder now - could you tell me
'Why is there chaos?'

To this question He replied

'The Universe The Earth
and Humanity upon the Earth
are the outcome of infinite variables
you should understand
they are as they are
because it was never possible
for them to be any other way'
'And for you
Believe and also Trust in this
The hand that threw the first
still reaches out to catch the last'

At this I enquired -
'Is Jesus here that I may worship him?'

The young man replied
'He is not far from you my child'

I knelt to worship
and then I heard someone saying
'He's coming round
he's going to make it'
I opened my eyes
someone was pressing my chest
I was coughing up water
Someone else was saying
'We need to take off your shirt
open your hand
and let go of the ball.'

The ball chaos theory.

A child is playing with a ball on the pavement
their hand misses the catch
and it runs out onto the road
because the child's mind is occupied by playing
they run out after it straight in front of a car
Any Parent would choose to go after that ball
instead of their child
and any Parent would say
'How could God let this happen'
We cannot fully understand why God allows
so much that is wrong to happen in the world
or why instead of taking the wrong away
God chose in the person of Christ
to take upon himself
the uncertainty the suffering
and the grief of Humanity
When Jesus died on the cross
the ball that had run out onto the road
fell from his hand
'Jesus caught the ball
and the car ran him over'
this is the ball chaos theory.

I know this could be seen as simplistic.
But I've posted it because I believe there is
a few grains of truth in it.

Compliments

It is a compliment to be disliked by some people.

The Boxer

The Boxer

1. A Boxer stands in the ring
who has learned to accept the pain 
squaring up defying his opponent
to hit him again

2. Backed into a corner
devoid of all hope
being picked off at will
held up by the rope

3. A tirade of blows
rain down on his head
his opponent thinks he's finished
the crowd think he's dead

4. The fans are chanting
celebrating the win
when he turns like a panther
to connect with his chin

5. His opponent unconscious
drops on the canvas
celebrating with Dorothy
somewhere in Kansas

6. He walks to a corner
and patiently stands
until the Referee
raises his hands

7.  He commiserates with his opponent
acknowledges the crowd
then steps from the ring
neither humbled nor proud

8. When asked for a comment
at the end of the bout
He replies:
'No one is finished
until counted out'

9. 'When he didn't have the power
to put me away
he should have boxed
and kept me at bay'

10. 'Boxing's not a sport
Boxing's not a game
it's not about inflicting
but bearing the pain.'

Questions.

Nicky Gumbel interviews Tony Blair at Holy Trinity Brompton.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke of his personal Christian faith, his work in the Middle East and his vision for his Faith Foundation at a church event attended by 1,200 people on Tuesday night. 21st July 2009.

Tell me the mystery
the half light
of your dark fantasy
the black day
the white night
of amoral innocence

Tell me the truth
your truth made mine
and show me the proof
the proof ephemeral
animated in your mind

Tell me your mind
the clinical ambition
the gregarious charm
the sociopathic innocence
the earnest pernicious desire
the benevolent funeral pyre

It is not right for a man
to judge his worth
by denying worth to another

It is not right for a man
to injure what he cannot heal
or destroy what he cannot build

It is not right for a man
to kill like Cain
or die like Abel
killed in the twilight
of good overcome by evil

Hear the whisper of his blood
utter a bewildered sigh
for the innocents caught up
in our devious violent world.

Another repost.

"Thank you"

Abyss

He who gazes long into the abyss does not find that the abyss gazes back into him.
He finds that he is the abyss and the only abyss he can gaze into is the abyss of self.

The Question

The Question

My spirit is a stranger in a foreign land
wide eyed and bemused by linear time
in a galaxy in a grain of sand
tracing echoes of the divine

My soul in reconnaissance scouts the terrain
it's been around and here it comes around again
moving like a wheel within a wheel
capturing images of the surreal

My mind conceded long ago
at the foot of a mountain
I named - 'Things I cannot know'
on an outcrop I scrawled this graffiti -
'The answer is a question'

My heart is a boy lost in a wood
he thinks it's because he wasn't good
at first distracted in his play
until longer shadows strike his day
he begins to feel hungry lost alone
he cries out-"Father find me and take me home"

My body is my dwelling and my cell
too sinful for heaven too wounded for hell
a little lower than an angel
a little higher than a beast
an ebullience of life soon to be deceased

Sometimes
you think you have everything
and you have nothing

Sometimes
you think you have nothing
and you have the whole world at your fingertips

Sometimes
you get clean away
only to turn around turn around again
like a moth to the flame

Will tomorrow bring an answer
to yesterday's dilemma
the picture's not worth watching
I can't move the antenna
I'm in a dream state
paralysed but wide awake
and in this dream within a dream
events are not what they seem
walking on the mountain
drinking from the fountain
asking the question
receiving the answer
creates another question
why am I told
things I cannot hold
sitting up in my bed
I clasp my hands for molten lead

Such spiritual wickedness
in such high places
camouflaged by airs and graces
the pseudo-socio religious farce
in Sunday best and washed arse
and all the learning
and all the knowledge
and all the posturing
of science and art
have never and can never
wash one human heart

And my own heart is just as dark
and just as ready to kill
and less delusion and less pretence
will not make it white as snow
my knees may kneel upon the ground
but it's upon the mass graves below.

I wrote this a few years ago and decided to repost it.

Amanda Thatcher

"Let me tell you a story"

"There was a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants. When he had started calling in his accounts, a man was brought to him who owed him millions of pounds. And when it was plain that he had no means of repaying the debt, his master gave orders for him to be sold as a slave, and his wife and children and all his possessions as well, and the money to be paid over. At this the servant fell on his knees before his master, ‘Oh, be patient with me!’ he cried, ‘and I will pay you back every penny!’ Then his master was moved with pity for him, set him free and cancelled his debt.

“But when this same servant had left his master’s presence, he found one of his fellow-servants who owed him a few pounds. He grabbed him and seized him by the throat, crying, ‘Pay up what you owe me!’ At this his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and implored him, ‘Oh, be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’ But he refused and went out and had him put in prison until he should repay the debt.

When the other fellow-servants saw what had happened, they were saddened  and told their master the whole incident.

Then his master called him in."You wicked servant!’ he said. ‘Didn’t I cancel all that debt when you begged me to do so?  Should you not have learnt from me to  take pity on your fellow-servant as I your master, took pity on you?  And his master in anger handed him over to the Jailer till he should repay the whole debt. This is how my Heavenly Father will treat you unless you forgive from your heart.” Jesus.  Matthew 18.

Deliquescence of hurt

Every relationship is on some level abusive.

Whether it is mental, emotional, psychological, spiritual or physical
We have a natural aptitude for hurting others and also for being hurt.

Unmerited unconditional forgiveness is the deliquescence of hurt.

A forgiving heart is like a vessel where the shards of hurt
distil into a  transforming new wine of healing.

The reason a parent will always love their child
is because a parent will always forgive their child.

The picture is of Charles Bronson.  p o h m.

Whet's in a Name.

The Superhuman

All that can happen to a human being in this world

Is happening moment by moment

Someone is being born someone is dying
Someone is being rescued someone is being killed
Someone is being comforted someone is being tortured
Someone is falling in love someone is learning to hate
Someone is full of joy someone is full of dread
Someone is in tranquil peace someone is in anguished fear
Someone is losing hope someone is finding a new beginning

This is the inherent sentience we cannot sense
This is the graffitied vision we cannot see
This is the background noise we cannot hear

In this moment is the feeling in the air
The essence of this moment is the Superhuman.

Hunky - Dory.

After the War in Iraq and it's ongoing aftermath.
The continuing embroilment in Afghanistan.
The Banking crisis caused by bankers pursuing 'paper profit' to boost their bonuses.
The billions of pounds of British people's money handed away to stop the banks going under.
Then as an encore the MP's expenses scandal.

We have this solution presented to us - 'Hammer the Poor'

It seems if the Oligarchs controlling the conglomerates with billions floating around the world economy are made aware that Mrs Smith in Glasgow has just turned her heating off
so that she can buy food - then everything will be hunky-dory.

I posted this on the 13th of May 2010, as people are now choosing between heating and eating I think it has become more current.

I've also changed my mind about the Banks. I now think what happened to the Banks
was an intentionally planned and deliberate act.

The rich are richer the poor are poorer and we are all much more controllable.

Learning things I do not know

I keep on learning things I do not know.
Every day I  learn new things I do not know.
Not that I understand them I just add them to the things I do not know.

Scotland and Europe.

The headlines on the BBC and in other media yesterday evening (16 February 2014) were highlighting comments from current European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, who claims that it will be "difficult, if not impossible" for an independent Scotland to join the European Union.

This is not the first time that Mr Barroso's sentiments have been trumpeted in this way, and given that he repeats them regularly it will presumably not be the last.

So far none of the mainstream media reports have really questioned the basis of Mr Barroso's claim – a bizarre comparison between Scotland, which is pursuing a constitutional referendum on the issue of statehood, and Kosovo, which has attempted an unconstitutional secession. They have not reported what the Spanish government has actually said (as distinct from what it is being assumed or implied to have said). Nor have they pointed out that Mr Barroso's opinion cannot simply be taken as that of the European Commission, which has protocol on such issues, but is rather the personal viewpoint of a conservative Portugese politician with a particular agenda.

These are significant omissions. Even if they are eventually corrected, by online researchers and commentators if nowhere else, it is first impressions which sow seeds of doubt with many onlookers – as the well-funded anti-independence lobby, utilising the weapons of its self-titled 'Project Fear', knows all too well.

In Mr Barroso's argument, Scotland will be a new EU accession country and will require unanimous approval from existing member states. This will be "very difficult" because Spain is likely to oppose its membership in order to be able to thwart its own Catalan separatists. Such canards have, of course, been repeated and demolished several times already.

First, Scotland has been a member of the European Union as part of the UK for many years, and would be looking for continuity with current arrangements as an independent state whose existing broad legal, political and economic framework remains in line with EU requirements. It also holds potential for some 25 per cent of Europe's prime natural energy resources (36.5 GW of wind and 7.5 GW of tidal power) and in its own right would be one of the most prosperous nations on the planet. The idea that existing EU members would suddenly want to bar such a country from contributing to the European project and their shared wealth is politically unsustainable.

Second, the comparison with Kosovo is completely inappropriate. Spain has opposed the Kosovan membership bid. But why? Because Kosovo, which has never been a part of an EU member state (unlike Scotland), declared unilateral independence (unlike Scotland), despite the fact that the Belgrade constitution forbids the independence of any part of Serbian territory (unlike the UK in relation to Scotland).

Constitutional expert Graham Avery, the European Commission's honorary Director General, appearing before the European and External Relations Committee of the Scottish Parliament, said in January 2014 that the position on Scotland in Europe taken by the UK government (and those who adopt postures similar to Mr Barroso) was "perplexing" and "absurd".

From Simon Barrow's Blog on Ekklesia.

Being Human

It is not possible to deny, diminish or invalidate the humanity of another human being.
But it is possible to deny, diminish and invalidate our own humanity by attempting to do so.

Law

From the law abiding, we have everything to fear.

Should the Earth ever become a cinder in space
such an outcome would be brought about by ordinary men and women
dutifully obeying bad laws and willingly going through pedantic procedures.

Lety

Lyon and Tay

Where the rivers Lyon and Tay meet
1
The Salmon in the sea
to the river they must go
why or how to get there
the salmon do not know

And man in this river
though ignorant he may be
will yet find his way
to that eternal sea

It doesn't matter if we don't know
or don't care to understand
assembled before God
we all will yet stand
2
God is our Father
our Saviour
and our friend
our beginning without beginning
our ending without end

Step into
a billion galaxies
open a door
east,west,north,south
find a billion more

In all of this
he will find us
and deliver us from sin
for he is a part of us
and we are a part him
3
God is our glory
our natural our spiritual breath
without him we are no more
than lice upon the Earth

And the Earth itself
a speck of dust
without power to resist
caught on the edge of a storm
without purpose to exist

And all of our endeavours
and all our grief and care
are played out in the void
of nothing and nowhere
4
God is such a reality
that the atheistic mind
can only theorise
a god of a different kind

Intelligent to reason
we did not make ourselves
we look for a maker
along the library shelves

We find the time god
of Evolution
to whom educators defer
and explain the origin of life
as though they were there

If you add X million years
to Pre-amoebic slime
it will become consciousness
given enough time

Add more time to form the mind
more time the heart the soul
with endless strands of D.N.A.
all in complete control

But the theory contains a flaw
a factor has been missed
linear time is not the only
timescape to exist
5
Watching Earthrise from the moon
we see the cradle
of the human race
glimmering like a sapphire
set in the jewelled crown of space

The Earth in orbit around the Sun
returns to solstice
on Salisbury plain
is this the beginning of another year
or the year begun again

The ancient builders
of the standing stones
wrote in sarsen on the ground
that for them
time and space
was perceived as round

The montage of the seasons
meld into each other
autumn into winter
spring into summer

Time moving in a cycle
where the first will meet the last
and all are yet alive to God
who have lived in our past

Eternal in the knowledge
of the eternal mind
where is the beginning
or ending of mankind

The Alpha and the Omega
unfold this mystery
The living God is God of the living past
and every future is - History
6
So be careful
how you live your life
before Judgement
meets you in a fury
with all you've done and left undone
assembled as your Jury

But mercy triumphs over Judgement
so when you stand alone
a voice in your defence will be
the mercy you have shown

Mercy,Tolerance and Kindness
the elements of grace
search within your heart
and find for them a place
7
Should a man own the World
and the World control
the price would be too high
if it cost his soul

Should every plan be accomplished
and every goal fulfilled
then crumbling around us
everything we build

Cities return to rubble
overgrown with vegetation
children will be taught
that used to be a Nation

Factories are silent
with nothing left to do
only wonder why so many worked
to make wealth for so few.

Passing Thoughts

 There is no greater emptiness than being full with all that the world has to offer.

One toy is enough for a child but all the toys in the world are not enough for a man.

The shortest journey in the world is the journey of our life.