Has there ever been a time?

Has there ever been a time when we did not 

Tend to stray from the straight and narrow,

And get tangled in the sinful affairs of others?

"How could such a thing happen?" That is what 

We say when we realize our iniquities 

And we are crushed with the burden of our sins.

Our eyes fill with pitiful tears of sorrow,

But with each teardrop should come a lesson.

Alas, where is our promise of faithfulness? 

Where is the remorse of our conscience? 

Oh Lord, you who keeps track of my many sins,

You in whom my soul takes refuge from my ego,

Remind me that only my undying faith in you 

Will deliver me from the abyss of oblivion. 

Wipe away the stain of guilt from my soul,

Replace my sorrow with boundless hope, 

Remove the stumbling block from my feet.

Oh Lord, I stretch out my arms to you. 

I thirst for you like a desert thirsts for water.

Reach out your hand from on high. Rescue me

From those whose mouths speak lies and whose

Right hand is a right hand of false friendship.

Lord, you are the one to whom I look.

Instill in me the truth that will set me free.

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Their blood cries out for justice

During the last few weeks of bad news we learned about so many tragedies involving children. The first and foremost that comes to mind was the bombing of the bus in Yemen that killed and injured so many young boys on their way to a school outing. Their little blue knapsacks were left in the street covered with their blood that cries out for justice. There is the never ending saga of wars in Syria and Afghanistan and the crowded refugee camps of Palestine, Jordan, and other places scattered throughout the war torn Middle East. Closer to home we have the children being separated from their parents at the U.S. Mexican border by the Trump administration. They will never convince me that this was necessary and justified. Today in the news I saw a newborn baby that was screaming and shaking uncontrollably as it suffered from chemical withdrawal symptoms from the opioids that its addicted mother had been taking during pregnancy and I learned that this is not uncommon.

Add to the above the tragedies of countless abortions, childhood poverty, slavery, malnutrition, and sexual abuse by pedophile priests, etc., and one wonders how we can call ourselves "civilized." I say "we" because there is no "they." We are all in this together, and those who look the other way and make excuses are guiltier than the rest. The very least that we can do is to raise our voices and bring light to the dark corners where these atrocities take place and the demons lay in wait for the innocent.

"If anyone causes one of these little ones--those who believe in me--to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses. For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes." (Matthew !8:7)

"Beware that you don't look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father." (Matthew 18:10)

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Truth - Now you see it and now you don't.

At times the truth is quite apparent.

One might say it's as plain as day.

Then comes a cloud to obscure the truth

Plunging us into the shadows of doubt.

Then truth comes back like a lightening bolt

Out of a clear blue sky or the dark of night.

It makes us jump right out of our pants

Like multiple flashes of cannons in war.

Sometimes only one flash and then the grave.

It may also be the glow of a bright star

Bidding us to seek out the mystery beneath.

The truth can be nebulous and illusive

Like the "ignis fatui" or will-o'-the-wisp,

Now you see it and now you don't, like 

The flame of the biblical rotating sword

That guards the padlocked gates of Eden.

Truth may be withheld if you don't seek it.

The Lord is near to all who call on him, 

So call on Him and He will answer you and

He will show you great and many truths.

Ask, and it will be given to you;

Seek, and you will find; knock, 

And it will be opened unto you.

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The Eternal Presence of Attraction

In our mind's eye we recognize a power

Spanning all space, and linking together

Every one of the worlds without end

That spangle the robe of the Infinite.

This illimitable power we call "gravitation"

Which resides in every form of matter, and

By which, particle is attracted to particle,

Mass to mass, the less towards the greater.

The smallest speck that floats upon the breeze

Carries this attraction of eternal presence

And we attribute its overarching influence

To that center of all, the will of the Creator.

Gravity unites the whole by the power of God.

If one of the most remote specks of starlight,

Flickering in the distant dark of a moonless night,

Was removed from its place in the starry vault,

The disturbance would be felt through all Creation.

Attraction, Connection, Complexity, Consciousness.

The unity of progression in the Divine Milieu.