Simon the Cyrenian Speaks

He never spoke a word to me
And yet He called my name.
He never gave a sign to me
And yet I knew and came.

At first I said, “I will not bear
His cross upon my back.
He only seeks to place it there
Because my skin is black.”

But He was dying for a dream
And He was very meek.
And in His eyes there shone a gleam
Men journey far to seek.

It was Himself my pity bought,
I did for Christ alone,
What all of Rome could not have wrought
With bruise of lash or stone.
~Countee Cullen

I'm Free

As some may know, my grandma jean died last february, and this was in her memorial folder. she lived a great life, even if it was cut short and i thank god that he's brought my family through the difficulty of losing her. this poem tells her story well.



I’m Free


Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free
I’m following the path God laid for me.
I took his hand when I heard him call
I turned my back and left it all.
I could not stay another day
To laugh, to love, to work or play.
Tasks undone must stay that way.
I found that peace at close of day.
If my parting has left a void
Then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss,
And, yes, these things I too will miss.
Be not burdened with times of sorrow
I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.
My life’s been full, I’ve savored much,
Good friends, good times,
A loved one’s touch.
Lift up your hearts and share with me
God wanted me now:
He set me free.

God's Plea

This is a Leslie creation, and i have always thought it was beautiful. though it is addressed to adam (i inserted it awhile ago) it is to anyone who reads it, as you will see.


Adam,
I love you, I need you. You were made solely for me. I created you to do a good work in me. You are not useless. I don’t design things that don’t have a purpose. I knew what I had in mind for you long before you were born. I knew that you would go through a lot of garbage in your life, and lose a lot of people really close to you, but would you have believed in me otherwise? You wouldn’t be the strong man you are growing up to be. Adam, I love you so much and I don’t want you to forget that. I will never leave you or forsake you. Never. You are my son; I will take care of you, if you ask me to. Don’t worry about life, give me all your problems, all your worries, everything. Let me take care of it. I know what you need in life. If you let me, I can give you your hearts desire. It may not be easy, living your life for me, but son, it’s worth it! I’m building a mansion in heaven, where I will visit you and we can talk. I died for you because I love you. I saw your face, I was thinking of you when they were flogging me, when they were pounding the nails in my hands and feet. I just kept thinking, “I’m doing this for Adam; I can’t bear to be without him”. And I can’t. I want you with me. Please let me into your life. Let me fix your breaking heart. I just wanted to let you know that I love you. I’m always here, waiting for you. I’m running to you. Let me catch you in my arms. Let me clothe you in the best clothes; let me have a feast telling everyone that my son has come home. I love you Adam. I’m waiting for you. Will you run to me?

Blindness

i wrote this in september 2004 and it still holds very true to my life. even if the movie that inspired me really sucks. :P


I was just watching the movie Daredevil in which the main character, Matt is blind.

I thought of something that I wrote in one of my poems before, and that I’ve thought of psychologically for awhile now.

At first I thought, in a perfect world, wouldn’t everyone be blind? So much of what people are judged for today is what we look like, and we make such an effort to look good. But then, still being the flawed humans that we are, we would find something else to judge and ridicule people for. If only for that reason, I have an even greater respect for blind people in this materialistic society.

How can those who cannot see what the people around them look like judge on anything but personality? What they hear and feel and smell, not what they see, is what they make their assumptions on. Which is advantageous in the world we live in, they could be thought of as the purest of heart, being able to only know people for who they are and what they say.

I was watching videos on MTV, which I do so rarely now for this reason, in which all those rappers who think they’re “all that” have all these scantily clad women around them flaunting their bodies. This passes the message that they are no more than just a nice body, and they have admitted themselves to this conclusion by agreeing to appear in that manner with these men. And why? Because that’s what society has told us a beautiful woman is, and everyone who doesn’t look like that, wishes they did. They strive to be like a plastic image, going to painstaking measures to achieve this “beauty”. This part of life is completely void in a blind person’s life because since they can’t see, how would they know what to look like, and why would they care? To them, this isn’t the most important part of their lives, looking a certain way to impress others when they can’t even see it themselves.

This blindness is not a handicap, like is it is commonly referred to as. It is a gift to be able to see into peoples hearts. To see what they truly are, and not being able to simply accept what is presented before one’s eyes. Too often is this route taken by those with eyesight, because they believe it to be the “easy way out”.

This blindness issue could be looked at metaphorically as well. Compare us humans to God. We’re puny, flawed, mentally blind beings. We think as a race we have achieved so much throughout history. With our computers, our journeys into space, and countless inventions to make life easier for us, many times we believe that we don’t need God, or we have overcome that concept of having a Lord in our minds. But really, if we look at the big picture, we are nothing. We may have some accomplishments, but comparing that to what Christ has done for us is folly. Look closer at the history of man and you will see the holocaust, insidious tyrants claiming superiority, enslavement of many peoples, the conquering of the Americas and countless other acts against what we have come to believe as morality.

So when you really look at it, humans are blind, searching for someone to lead them. Everyone in life is trying to find who they are, and what their purpose is. We look for guidance, but know not who to seek for this counsel. We go to fellow humans without realizing they are blind as well. Where will the human race go in this blindness they render as confusion? They take the hands of others, pushing aside the hands of God, right in front of them, waiting to take them into His arms and guide them in the journey of life.

Even those who have chosen to hold His hand will lose grasp of it again, and go plundering blindly through the world, believing they can go on by themselves. I don’t need God, they say. But when they fall down so far they think they’ll never rise again, He pulls them up if they will let Him.

Those who are blind must have complete trust in the one leading them, for they know not where they are going. How can they tell if they can’t see?! Blind people give us a lesson in faith and trust, because so much of their life depends on that. They have to have it in order to live, even if it is simply in that seeing eye dog leading them across a street.

When we do humble ourselves enough to go back to Him, He welcomes us with open arms. That’s where I want to be. ~ A. Rose