Thoughts on Ephesians Four

This captive bound in Jesus chains

I urge you therefore to walk the same

Humility and patience each other we bear

One Body, one Spirit, one Father we share

Then by grace was given to all

We captives freed from Adam's fall

Ascending, descending, and back again

And to the church he gave us men

Not just one burdened tired old preacher

But prophets, apostles, evangelists, shepherds, 

and teachers

To equip the saints for work of truth

And in unity will be our proof

Until that day we come to fruition 

Each member and joint fulling the mission 

How it is that I fall asleep.

When the days become troublesome 

and my heart is pricked by melancholy I find myself walking a tree lined lane. Great trees that watched over our betters and those which before us came. I have that within me and go there often where the air is cool inside my lungs and my beard makes small sounds upon my collar. 

Gravel, damp with dew, quietens my footfalls and I walk slowly as to delay the sun and keep the dawn as long as she will stay. But the dawn is passing and the day’s trial is at hand. Hardships flood back into my mind. Then birds, warmed by the light, sing, and my repose maintained for their sake and I keep them in my mind until this day. 

Me, You, and Jonah

Oh, what a calling so great

To preach the Gospel to those in lost state

But after I listen then do I flee

For my rebellion I will not submit to thee

But You are the tempest the wind and the wave

And from your pursuit I cannot be saved

But then at last my nature is strong

And I will drown myself before I admit to my wrong

Yet you in your sovereignty my death refuse

And by your grace my life you use

And after three days my will it was broken

To whom you command your word will be spoken

But then to my horror your spirit it moved

And through mercy not wrath you choose to reprove

And the Lord said to me "you are the same,

consider your rebellion and look at your shame.

For you, most wicked of all

I gave you life and you refused my call"

-Written in 2003

To my Father

I am not the first 

Another man this ground traversed 

And from his steps my steps start 

Two strides in time though worlds apart

“How can we stop there’s work to be done” 

The preacher preached to his preacher son

"Their death is our enemy but ours is friend

Now come my son there’s souls to win."

Far from Home

Far from home I have been

Away from kith away from kin

Far from Rachel's calming way

Away from Dorie's special day

Far from Kathy's gentle smile

Away from home I've been awhile

Oh my father I miss your side

Where so often I did stride

And to my mother I hold so dear

I miss your words and content cheer

Many travels and many a mile

Away from home I've been awhile

I have...

I have dreamed of things my mind in flight 
I have walked in the darkness and slept in light
I have lived in a kaleidoscope of color to which I add     white

I have had my wrongs come to right
I have seen the blind regain sight 
I have worked in fields white unto harvest yet black  unto blight

I have heard men for hate and ignorance fight 
I have preached a thousand sermons trite
I have walked a rope tight
I have seen the same sun set many times in a night

I have given my weakness and received might

I have...

I have been absent from silence

The woods are only silent in photographs

And children when they sleep

There are some who have lived a quiet life

But I envy them not

The joys of song and story 

Of cheers and praise are seldom tame

The docile life is always short 

For a great number of small years amounts to little

The thing about me

It's an odd kind of thing 

The one that fits anywhere 

Yet nowhere calls it home 

The one which now is common

If it's there, it's with you 

If it is not, it is still

It's inside both of us 

And always give us light

Some have abandoned it 

And cut it from their hearts

Scars remains where once was light

I have mine 

I carry it with me 

It shines upon everything that is good 

And helps me see evil clearly

With me it moves for a short time 

All the time 

Upon this earth it is upon me

Seeking, forgiven, loving that's its acts

It only exist as a whole

 But, someday sadness will coat its edges 

But remaining

It will not be cut from me 

And I will never shed its skin

It is within me and moves and changes 

The Boy and the Baboon...