" they have guns, but we have flowers .. "

it's crazy ..
wanton destruction of human life
for what ??
Allah said
apocalpyse

..

sound familiar ?

Left Behind
" better get saved now.. the Rapture is coming, and you don't want to be here when the Tribulation happens "
" the roman catholic church is the Antichrist !"
" the Muslim religion is the Antichrist !"

Y2k
people, as in christians, selling their properties, withdrawing their savings, buying food and weapons and making plans to hide in these mountains or those valleys because the year 2,000 is the dawn of the End Times

..

apocalypse
the end of the world
directed by Allah/God

..

fear

..

i sit in this here coffee shop and listen to ' the good ol' boys ' back there talking paris/isis/whatdowedonow

one bush talks restricting refugee imports to 'christians'
one carrot wants everybody dead or gone - wipe them out !

and, Godhelpme, one 'christian' leader cracker, trying hard to walk in the boots of his father, wants all muslims banned from this 'ere country

`|`

let's see
any ol' person can walk into a walmart or a homedepot, buy the makings for a homemade boom, drive into Anytown or Anycity in Anystate and blow the hell out of whatever and whoever anytime
..
or walk into a Anychurch and kill 9
or into Anyschool
..

it's the Injuns!
it's the English!
it's the damned Union/Confederate!
it's the Commies!
it's the Nazis!
it's the KKK!
it's the Muslims!
it's Saddam!
it's ..

..

somehow we forget that the good ol' usa has earned a bad bad rep in this world, and absolutely deservedly so
somehow we forget that christianity has killed more people in the name of their God than most
..
some old proverb about when you live in a glass house you shouldn't be tossin' rocks

and then we walk around like we be pure and righteous and above it all ..
damned liars that we are
pushing the indigenous before-we-were-here people back and back and killing them off 'cause they jes won't lissen, tow the damn line
stepping all over black people, chattel, like you can own a person, kinda like a cow or a chicken
hunting them down and stringing them up
nothin' but animals!
.. and we're still struggling with that
and with secondclass wimin an' asians an' mexicans and them damn homos and ..

`|`

my mind has been running, sometimes in circles, sometimes away, sometimes just wanting to shutdown, block it all out, pretend this just ain't happening

God! what's going on?
can't You do something?
people are dying
innocent people
children!
heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllp !!

`|`

and then i remember .. God has done something
and it's big .. huge!
God stepped in
Godself
and started a whole new thing by a man named Jesus ..
and they killed him for it
guns blazing, hateteeth bared ..

God sent flowers and we stepped all over them

and Jesus said something very interesting
   while he was hanging naked on a pole on the interstate
he said " Father .. forgive them; they don't know what they're doing "
they don't understand what they're doing
forgive them

and a few peasants somehow walked away and began a movement that was supposed to, as in, the plan is, change the world
change the world
a new world
a different world is in view
a world where lions and lambs play ball, sickness and death gone (read about them in history books), guns melted-down and made into golf clubs and basketball hoops ..
like that
.. where have all the flowers gone

..

somehow .. we ruined it
we made a bloody mess of it all
killing in God's name
overrunning countries so we could rape their women and steal their wealth, and their souls
wiping out entire civilizations wholesale ............

sound familiar ?

and we fly a christian flag and a national flag sidebyside, in 'church'
like ' we christians '
like God really gives a rip about our country, our politics, our thievery, our abuse, our wicked ways ..

really ..

..

this isn't at all a bashing party - i accuse myself of that often enough
it's just that, hey, a spade is a spade
so when someone raises a bloody hand to point a finger at a bloody hand ..

it's simply this: never ever forget who i am
what part I played in it all
who i give my allegiance to
who i admit as my authority

`|`

if i claim the name of Jesus, then i need to be like Jesus
i need to know Jesus
what he thinks
what he likes
what he dislikes
what kind of a person he is
and i need to do that
i need to be that

..

i don't have answers for the politicians or the preacher people
i couldn't be either .. don't have the wherewithal, the wisdom or the guts

all i know is this
somehow i have to speak peace into the air
somehow i have to bring hope
somehow there needs to be a smile, a word of encouragement, an ear that listens intently, an extended hand
a willingness to help
flowers
in Jesus' name

i can't offer advice
just me

i don't presume to know what should be done with isis
i don't know

all i know is
' they have guns, but we have flowers '
a father's words in the mouth of his son
in the face of the mass of mess in the aftermath of reckless wanton wickedness and death and destruction

..

a wisened statement ..
" darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that;
hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that "
and flowers ..

..

all i know is that ' blessed are the peacemakers .. they will be called children of God '

all i know is that the farthest extent of Jesus' teaching and example is
love your enemy

craziest thing!
the most unnatural thing i can think of
'cause my intestinal reaction is to hurt back, defend, overpower
show the bastards !

i'll not soon forget backintheday when i had this most unJesuslike thought that somebody ought to takeout saddam ( influenced in my naivete by the american fox ), and somebody said .. " pray for him "

..
you can love your friend and your family .. that ain't nuthin' 'cause they love you right back
the thing is to love those that hate you
love the ones that despise you for who you are
love the person that abuses you
that curses you
and pray for them

..

and then
turn the cheek

and pick a flower
or a handfull
and decorate somebody's day