Although hospitality is generally a culturally-imposed idea, it is also a biblical one. We are commanded to be hospitable (1 Peter 4:9). I think it's because Christians are supposed to be loving or something. The jury is still out on that one.
So in our quest to be hospitable, parents and teachers will find themselves in some mad rush to "instill" some form of an idea of hospitality in the children under their guidance. Because it is, as mentioned, a culturally imposed ideal, how polite and hospitable the children under one's care appear to be directly reflects the guardian responsible. So it is often more "coerced" rather than "instilled" into them, because of the parents' or guardians' pride.
Still, some avoid learning hospitality altogether. Up to a certain point, one may blame the parents for acquired rudeness, but when someone is old enough to drive, dress themselves, go to law school, etc., and can't figure out the concept of, say, feeding their guests, the blame falls squarely upon their great, logical shoulders.
When hospitality is involved, there are deviations. Yet even with cultural differences in different countries, what remains the same throughout are these two opposing ways to view the same subject. There are two types of hospitality that are "instilled" or "coerced," and they are as follows:
1. Hospitality from Reception - "Do not be an inconvenience"
2. Hospitality from Giving - "Nothing is an inconvenience, you are guests"
The two are very different, even though the focus for both is on not being "impolite." However, Hospitality from Reception focuses on the receiving end of hospitality, while Hospitality from Giving focuses on the giving end. One is self-centered, the other is focused on other people.
In the doctrine of Hospitality from Reception, what's being taught is not hospitality, but rather the opposite. The theme is "Don't be an inconvenience! Don't put people out of their way." The children are taught that this is what being polite is - not being noticed. But this is actually rubbish. Because the emphasis is on how those on the receiving end behave, entertaining others will become almost impossible. Besides the fact that guests are few and far between in these types of homes, everyone is taught that it is impolite to be an "inconvenience," therefore they will be quick to see the "impoliteness" in their guests, making it extremely difficult to tolerate them at all.
Most people who teach their children Hospitality from Reception are those whose pride is greater than Mount Everest, deeper than the ocean, and fatter than that man at Burger King. They are intensely afraid of being noticed - they are paranoid of discovery. They often have a facade of neatness that is their only security. Hospitality is their enemy, because guests or hosts may discover the inner-workings of their lives, and that it isn't as pretty as it first appears. And, as fatty-pride takes over, it becomes a horrifying fear.
Not only does this grossly analytical approach make it impossible to teach true hospitality, but it makes it exceedingly difficult to teach manners. Not only is the comfort of the guests not even considered (because people are simply objects of which to calculate cost and expense), but the focus is disgustingly on self, money, and pride. If we follow this doctrine devoutly to its end, we will find that it is not actually a type of hospitality, but rather a disguised Anti-Hospitality. Too afraid to accept gifts from others, Receptionists will often rudely disallow Givers the pleasure of hosting them. Even though:
The doctrine of Hospitality from Giving states that while someone is a guest, it is the host's pleasure to entertain. What is overly emphasized is that it is extremely rude to not treat guests like royalty. Not only is anyone welcome for however long they desire, the Giver-host will be extremely embarrassed and/or appalled to find that their guest has been uncomfortable in any way, or needed something and didn't ask for it. The theme is "You are not an inconvenience. When you're under this roof, you are a guest, and will be treated like one." The guest is treated like a human instead of like an object of capital.
What you'll find is that with Hospitality from Giving, the Giver-hosts are taught to try to be as accommodating as possible, so they are in a sense at the guests' mercy. Because of this, they will often make better guests, because they will understand politeness to be whatever type of guest they would like to host themselves. Therefore, because the emphasis is on others, politeness as a guest never really needs to be taught, because they will already have a mindset of trying to accommodate and please others that will remain even when roles are switched.
The difference between the two angles is that one of them looks at the self, and the other looks inherently to others. One loves with true hospitality, while the other pretends to be polite, so that no one can hold them accountable or topple their self-importance. One treats the guests like human souls, the other like capital. Unsurprisingly, it all comes back to love.
While Christians are told to be hospitable, it seems important to also figure out what exactly that means. And since Christians are to love others like Christ loved us, it is only natural that love should find its way into the discussion.
"Without love I am nothing." And without love, so is our hospitality.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Friday, April 17, 2015
More Credible Advice on Relationships from Another Unknown Blogger Who is Probably Single
As you probably guessed from the
title (and rightly so), this post is primarily about illiterate and ignorant
fools who have the audacity to get involved in relationships with other people
without the slightest notion of how to absolve conflict, and with very little
desire to either.
No, this is not a joke. There are
actual, breathing people who wonder why they have no prospective mates lining
up at their doors, why they have no one really close to them, and they actually
have no desire to ever work problems out. So I suppose I could go on and on
about how it is completely logical to work things out when you get in an
argument with someone you desire future friendship with. But being that that
falls under the illustrious category of “common sense,” I feel as though stating
it will do no good. Let’s face it; if you don’t see the importance of solving
conflicts, some intellectual stimulation will be as useful to you as underwear
on a bowling ball. Digression.
It would seem the fathomable idea
would be for me to instead list the top eight logical ways friends and
abhorrent apes can dare scale the great Mount Ego and lower themselves and
their guttural grunts to the level of understanding befitting humanity, in
order to form a more perfect friendship with harp music and dancing angelic
beings that are hopefully not demonic. Digression.
Top Eight Logical Ways:
#1
Actually Have the Desire to Solve the Conflict.
This seems like it would be a given. But then… it seems like it would be a
given that toilet paper would be available in public restrooms, but a quick
trip to Europe reminds us that sometimes we as humans overestimate the mental
capacity of other people and their foresight (I’m certain the construction of a
Taco Bell would quickly change their no-toilet-paper policy, but as of yet, you
may want to bring your own).
It doesn’t seem like it should need
to be said, or written, but this actually seems to be a common problem in
relationships with all types of people. They have no actual desire to work out
problems and then they go about the earth in a confused and appalling manner,
masticating large chocolates, drooling heavily from their crooked lips, and
wondering why on earth they are not in the midst of some wondrous friendship.
The reason is that while they may say they are working problems out, in reality
they are being immature, sniveling three-year-olds, crying about their problems
but never explaining their feelings.
I would guess the reason they don’t
like talking about their feelings is that they have convinced themselves they
do not have any feelings. Which is
ridiculous, for how else would they be in this mess to begin with, and why else
would this very rude blog post offend them so much?
#2
Communicate. This cannot be
overstated, although I will attempt to. When someone is involved in a
relationship of any type, it is of the most basic practicality that those two
people must develop some means of communication. If you have some aversion and
repugnance to speaking with someone, why are you even friends? What do you
expect, for Charles Xavier to read your mind for you and then broadcast your
thoughts and emotions onto your friend or partner so you don’t have to bother
with the tedious and arduous task of moving your mouth into shapes that will
convey the secrets of your heart? Because I don’t think that sounds very fair,
both for your friend or for Charles Xavier. Do you think he really has time for
that? He has a mutant school to run, the Scarlet Witch to mentally obstruct,
the government to war with, not to mention his good friend Magneto who hates
humanity. Your little spat will mean nothing to that bald, crippled genius. And
really, if you won’t explain yourself, why should it mean anything to anyone else
either?
#3
Communicate. I told you I would attempt to overstate it. There is no greater importance to
solving conflicts than having that simple ability to work things out. And here
are some good tips to keep in mind whilst “communicating.”
a.
Listen. If you want to understand their point of
view, listening to them when they say things is essential. If most of this
stuff sounds like obvious rubbish everyone should already know, that’s probably
because it is. But just because something is obvious rubbish that we know we
should do does not automatically mean we do it without reminders, nagging,
and/or a good humiliatingly mocking blog post.
b.
Listen more, because simply not talking does not
equate listening. There must be an active engagement of the mind, focused on
the words that spill forth from their mouths, not simply to ensnare them in
their words, but to actually understand what they mean by them. Try to
empathize with their pain, which should be easy, since their pain was probably
caused by your senselessness and lunacy.
c.
Speak. There will come a time when you must draw
yourself out of that gloriously kingly shell and lower your humble royalty to
the level of your friend or partner in order to tell them exactly what the
issue is. This does not mean you rip into them with your witty sarcasm or
overpower them with the sound of your commanding, mighty voice. This means you
treat them with the same respect you are at that very moment expecting they
have for you, and that respect does not and should not be determined by whether
or not they are affording it to you at that time, otherwise it is relative
respect and therefore nonexistent. If you have any respect for them (and if you
don’t, stop being friends), then act like it even when you feel slighted by
their attitude.
d.
Give and take. This does not mean a compromise.
If it did, I would be compromising the extreme rudeness with which I address
you, perhaps crossing off most of the words already written (the last thing I want to be is a hypocrite!).
But as you may have noticed, I did not
write “compromise,” neither have I compromised one word on this frigging post.
Give and take means that as you are listening to their point of view, you are ready
to admit you may have been wrong, and be willing to try to understand their
grievances, just as you hope for them to understand yours. A conflict involves
two people; the resolution ought to as well.
e.
Avoid being cruel or apologizing when you don’t
mean it. If there is one issue, whether or not the pain that was heaped upon
you was intentional or not, their meanness doesn’t actually make any difference
in how you treat them. They are responsible for what they said, not what they
“made you say.” You alone are responsible for your actions and for your reactions. Don’t make it two issues by compounding the
argument into a cesspool of your depraved selfishness.
And what good does a
sarcastic apology do when things are already heating up? That only makes the
word “sorry” into another weapon, and weapons are mean. Do not be mean to
people, or you are a Nasty. And if you’re a Nasty, you don’t need any good
people surrounding you, being mistreated at your royal expense. Your meanness
alone should be enough. After all, aren’t other people just crutches to help
you when you need them, and at all other times they can just suck it? That’s
what meanness conveys. It’s mean.
#4
Communicate. Isn’t that what most of the problem comes down to? Obviously
if they still don’t know what the crap is wrong with you, your communicating is
as workable as the seventh draft of the mysterious healthcare bill proposed to
congress. It’s rubbish. Try again. If you really think that dangling a donut in
front of them to entice them to approach you so they can ask you all the right
questions until they have figured out the problem is equivalent to
communication, think again, hairy ape. Turns out, there is a difference between
two friends, and the CIA, just as there is a difference between telling someone
your problems, and having to be water-boarded and interrogated in order to
spill the beans.
Spilling the beans is a nauseating
idiom that Americans really had no reason to invent, and even less reason to
use, so I must apologize for that. Calling all readers hairy apes is one thing.
Using the spill the beans expression is another. I beg your forgiveness, which
brings us to the next Logical Way.
#5
Apologize for Your Single-minded Dumptitude. I know, “dumptitude” isn’t a
word, but I kind of think it should be, because it reminds me of the dumpy
attitude involved when someone thinks they are so much far above all others
that they have no reason to ever think about apologizing to another human being.
For some people, the thought of uttering a sincere apology makes them convulse
violently and it curdles their milk. Surely there is merit in not wanting to
taint your magnificent lips with the sounds of repentance, especially towards
inglorious scum such as your friends and acquaintances or whatever objects of
affection these meager beasts that surround you are titled. It makes no
difference.
#6
Avoid Feudal Friendships. Familiar with the feudal system? As a brief
reminder, there were mean lords and there were cute peasants. The peasants
worked in the fields that the lords owned – the peasants did all the dirty
work, and they didn’t even get to reap the rewards for their labor; it all went
to the fat lords up in their castles. The only benefit they got from the whole
rubbishy ordeal was the ability to claim protection in the castle from wild
people.
Some people are self-proclaimed
lords, and unfortunately, befriending them makes you a peasant. You are
required and expected to chase them, labor for the friendship, do all the dirty
work, resolve all the conflicts, and you don’t even reap the benefits of having
their appreciation or even the acknowledgement of your horrifying existence in
their extraordinary lives. The only thing you gain is perhaps security in
having someone to alleviate loneliness. Or perhaps security knowing that you
are not being mean. But does that matter if they don’t even notice your daily
sacrifices? You’re just a peasant after all, and the lords are much too busy to
bother with you. Go muck the cows.
But seriously, relationships are not
impossible if both parties cooperate. And I’m not talking one person is the
lord and the other is the peasant. When two human beings or even a human and a
bestial creature of scum such as yourself come together in friendship, there is
a sense of equality that has to be striven for, or it is not really a friendship:
it is slavery by the manipulation and egotistical superiority of the being
purporting to be more important than the other through words and deeds.
Overthrow the paper kingdom of
meanness. Refuse to muck the cow. Do not become the supplier of narcissism,
forsaking all other roles and identity for the sake of one selfish beast. And
for the love of the entire kingdom, don’t demand others to muck the cows
either. You are not the lord.
#7
Be Attuned to Other People’s Feelings. I really don’t care what lame excuse
you are coming up with right now. You and I both know how pitiful it will be,
when it only reflects your own selfishness. Other people have feelings. You do
too, or you wouldn’t be so nasty. The trick is remembering that just because
they aren’t YOUR feelings does not mean they are up for dismissal.
#8
Be Willing to Bend and Change. There is no reason to notice other people’s
feelings if you are not willing to do a confounded thing about it. Since there
is no known cure for prolific farmyard tendencies to act like a bovine or sow,
this type of decision must be up to the beast in question. You cannot expect
others to do all the heavy lifting for you; this is not a volunteer work day
(there’s always that one guy).
If there is no change, there was no
logical purpose for the whole conflict. Envision each argument and clash as an
opportunity to become a better friend, partner, brother, sister, etc. In that
way, even though fighting is bad, it can be for what is usually known as “the
greater good.” But let’s face it; the “greater good” phrase is a bunch of
rubbish. If you’re so selfish that you have to be told to communicate, commit,
humble your royal self, and listen to the person with whom you have the
conflict, why in the name of Adolf Hitler would you be concerned with the good
of all people?
Wherein
I Sell Your Selfishness Back to You: So let me sell it back to you, Mr.
Selfish Beast, he that resides in each of us, to whom this post is addressed.
Let me tell you the secrets of friendship, although it will sound sickening to
those who prefer the self-righteousness of not feeling as selfish as they
really are. But let’s be honest.
A friendship wherein both parties
are sacrificing, stretching, growing, and changing into better people together
will feel much more fulfilling and rewarding than being even the king in a
feudal friendship. The service, love and commitment will all mean so much more,
because it wasn’t demanded. It was earned.
Friday, April 3, 2015
“I Love You”
It
takes much cruelty to kill a man
Whilst
happy and so whimsical
Which
pain is more unbearable?
Emotional
or physical?
Beaten
to a bloody pulp
Is
still a better deal
Than
getting beaten in your soul
At
least the body heals
Love
songs may be love songs
But
love cannot be love
To
be in love or to be in lust
Or
is it all of the above?
We
say we love someone
Because
that person gives
That
person makes us happy
That
person makes us live
Our
idol isn’t that person
But
the feelings that’re invoked
If
our idols are our feelings
Love’s
the punchline – we’re the joke
Our
hearts are many-layered
A
tangled stratification
And
all along we’ve loved ourselves
Love:
instant gratification
How
dare we say I do!
And
promise to love ourselves?
We
stand there at God’s alter
And
propagate for hell
Lucifer
the Laugher
As
we play into his hands
As
we lie straight through our teeth
And
slip on the betting bands
“I
[bet] I’ll always love you”
You
lie to the man with the Bible
(“Unless
I don’t really love her later
“With
divorce papers I’m not liable!”)
Love
is not what’s broken
It’s
not even in the equation
What
we sell is mutilated
Like
a butter knife with serration
We
feel this lust and think it’s love
In
a way it’s true, if you delve
For
there may be love in the picture
But
the love is for ourselves
How
else can you say one day
“I
love you with all my heart”
And
the next day decide the opposite
Like
erasing a work of art
How
else can you murder a man?
How
else can you disown him?
As
he finds out those promises
Are
like spit in the raging ocean
If
after all it’s better
To
be physically demolished
Death
is best served bodily
Than
to be symbolically abolished
It
would be better if you hated him
And
disdained him like a cist
Than
to ignore his painful presence
Like
he doesn’t even exist
If
you’ve made him dead to you
Like
the bitterest of daughters
You’re
not guilty of ignorance
But
of emotional man-slaughter
How
dare you take a spark of love
And
in your stupid foolish brain
Because
you didn’t understand it
Just
wash it down the drain?
How
dare you murder in your mind
And
sear the deepest wounds
And
in your cowardly pitiful fear
You
cannot even visit the tomb
I
think the greatest cover-up
Is
pretending to be fake
As
souls pile up behind you
Decaying
in your wake
If
in a house surrounded by souls
You’d
be Samson and break down the pillar
Is
it just a sickness or are you angry?
You
sweet little serial killer
Monday, October 6, 2014
Selfish Seeking
Everyone
is a selfish beast. From the time we are born we are wicked and self-serving.
Every human craves whatever leads to personal gain, and there is no possibility
to desire anything but that which profits us individually. An honest man will
quickly concur, that is, not a man who is outwardly what the world calls
“honest,” but one who is honest with himself. He will have seen this beast
rising up. He will have noticed that you cannot escape the beast. He will
acknowledge that he is the beast. This is the problem with humans: we are
incapable of shrugging off this coat of selfishness: it is our very skin.
Now
you are angry, or perhaps you agree. Either way, once you accept the reality,
there is a much more profound depth to it that we do not at first grasp. Why am
I addressing you? Why am I singling you out, dear reader? Because I am proving
this point: even the creators of rhetorical design understood that humans do not like to be
singled out individually. It does not appeal to our pride. Is pride the same as
selfishness? Is greed? Is vanity? Perhaps not, but without selfishness, these
would not exist. Selfishness is the root of almost every foul sin we commit,
and it is not something that the human can shrug off its shoulders. Selfishness
is the Great Sin. Selfishness was the source of Lucifer’s pride; pride that
made him desire the Throne of the Most High, and become the lord of Wickedness.
So
if we the Christians have now accepted God’s grace, and we are living not for
ourselves, but for Christ, what does everything look like then? “We are not
selfish,” we now argue. Let us examine our goals. We are striving for the
Kingdom of God, to honor Him, to glorify Him, and our greatest motivation: to
live eternally with God. Ultimately, it goes back to our desires: Our desires
to seek the Kingdom of God and heap up eternal reward. We sometimes perhaps
worship out of ultimate humility, but at the end of the day we still feel deep
down that we not only worked hard for our righteousness, but that we deserve the eternity we have been
promised. But we are once again thinking selfishly. In the New Testament, James
says to put away “selfish ambition.”
I
began by suggesting that we cannot escape selfishness, and we cannot
completely: not until we arrive in a place devoid of sin where our flesh has no
say in the matter. But on earth, we can put
it off. There is a motivation to work for: our own crowns, but it is not
this that is supposed to drive us. Rather, the gospel is this: “Love your
neighbors as yourselves, and love the Lord your God.” We do not have to work
for our rewards, for whether we “earn” them or not, we all know we could never deserve them.
But
we need a motivation to do what God has commanded. We need this motivation,
because we are selfish. Given this,
we have two workable choices: look for our reward, or look for others’
wellbeing.
We
can look for a reward. We can look to heaven and say, “I’m going to do good
deeds, because I want the crowns.” We
can take scripture and say, “Hey look, Jesus says to ‘seek first the kingdom of
God,’ and in Hebrews it says that Moses was faithful, because he ‘was looking
toward the reward.’” But this can get out of hand, because selfishness is
selfishness, whether or not it is masked by what we call “good intentions.” If our goal is our eternal wellbeing, it
becomes incredibly easy to hurt others. We begin by fixating so heavily on our
reward, that our righteousness and understanding of theology becomes more
important than the lost souls who are battered by Christians’ debating amongst
themselves, and we eventually are throwing each other to the ground in an
attempt to achieve what we call “gospel clarity.” The lost can be turned away
by our very inability to demonstrate all that we argue for, and this “love” we
are so adamant about. Our self-conviction that spiritually we can see – this
knowledge that we “know” we possess – this
is what blinds us more than confusion, for our selfish pride turns even God’s
grace into something to lift up our own image. When we are our own goal, we
will accept anything that helps us achieve that, and we will trample anything
that gets in our way. It is not a given that looking to the reward, or seeking
out gospel clarity induces such behavior and hurt, but pride is always lurking
dangerously in the background when selfishness is our propeller.
Perhaps
this is not what “seek the Kingdom” really means. Jesus tells us in the New
Testament what the Kingdom of God will be like. One of the parables Jesus uses
is, “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on
finding one pearl of great value, went and sold
all that he had and bought it.” To those who try to live as if they are
working for the kingdom’s rewards, those people are inadvertently working for
themselves. Jesus tells us to give everything we have to the poor. He tells us
to sell our Everything so that He can take up the space. He wants us to get rid
of the “Great and Wise Us” and become
Him. Jesus came to us to teach us selflessness and humility. He died on a
ragged cross and was scourged and spit on, and though He had done nothing
wrong, He accepted the punishment because it was ours, and we were unable to
save ourselves and always will be. He showed us the greatest act of mercy and
grace possible to man, and provided us with salvation that is dependent solely
on Him, “not by works of righteousness, lest we should boast.” Jesus showed us
that love is the way to heaven, and the way to His side. But not any love; only
His. So then, if we have received grace, our motivation – our selfish ambition –
should not be selfishness, but it should be selflessness. It should be seeking
the needs of others, seeking to love as we were so loved. It should not be
“what can I do for my own reward?” but it should be “who can I reward today by
showing Christ’s love that He showed me?” And once you begin pursuing loving
others and putting them first, you may come to find that the Kingdom of God has
never been clearer to see. Perhaps seeking the Kingdom of Heaven, and looking
out for the needs of others are one in the same. Either way, compassion is more
important than spiritual passion. Righteousness is much greater than
self-righteousness. And eternity is too important for us to waste time pursuing, instead of simply living for it instead.
“And
though I understand all mysteries and all knowledge, but have no love, I am
nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13: 2a
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Beginning of the End
Vultures chew the carnage
Flap around the corpses
Death and judgment come
Riding on black horses
Kingdoms from the east
In such a large array
Xerxes's horde was nothing
Compared to this display
John said they are coming
He said "prepare the way"
But a way for evil comes
Before we pass away
The chosen people fight
Surrounded on all sides
While prisoners from the USA
Are left alone to die
As global elite take power
And the Nations stand United
Your waxen candles of your faith
Should finally be lighted
Ask about the Americans
Forsaken in Benghazi
Ask about the FEMA camps
And about the Illuminati
Ask about the reestablishment
Of Kingdoms such as Rome
Daniel told of prophecies
We could not have known
Ask about the recreation
Of wicked Babylon
By a man - Saddam Hussein
Known as Satan's spawn
Ask about the world
And look up at the moon
Repent of all your evilness
The Judge is coming soon!
Ask about the temple
Ask about the plans
Ask your dearest friends
If they are saved or damned
Ask about the sanctifying
With extinct Red Heifer ash
Ask the American farmers
Raising one for Israel fast
Ask about the anointing oil
Lost but now located
Everything all but in place
As if it's coordinated
Ask about the ELS
Encoded in the scripture
Ask about the references
To the holocaust and Hitler
Ask the statisticians
Who calculated the odds
That throughout history mankind's pain
Was there - "the Word was God"!
The Word of God unfeasible!
He cried out in secret text
In such a way that's mathematically
Impossible to be correct
Ask about the Cross
About the burial place
Ask about but don't forget
There are others with a faith
Ask about the warriors
Committed to the Qur'an
Ask about the book of Surah
The Jihad of Islam
Ask about the bombers
And speak to those who doubt
These are not the radicals
These are the devout
The kingdom from the East
Will dry up the Euphrates
And Daniel says when they draw near
We're closer then to Hades
Ask about the birth rate
Of males who are Chinese
Ask about their highway
Being built for warring ease
Ask about the other kingdoms
Nebuchadnezzar's dreams
Ask about the prophecies
And what these things all mean
This is our generation
The fig tree and its roots
The battle has begun
So let us bear some fruit
The harvest is upon us
The vineyard looks so bare
What if He comes and finds us
Caught up in these snares?
So ask about the Judgement Day
And the King upon His throne
But before you ask about The End
Ask about your own.
Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
Luke 21:28
Friday, September 19, 2014
Pride Before Destruction
Pride goes before
destruction
Pride went before the fall
Before the fall of angels
And Eden’s guarded walls
It went before the kings of
old
Like Pharaoh and
Nebuchadnezzar
I AM said “Let my people go”
Pharaoh answered “Never!”
It went before the Pharisees
Who slew the Son of Man
He came in humble mercy
They nailed Him through the
hands
Pride goes before
destruction
And the evil that it brings
Pride throws us in a pigsty
And declares that we’re the
“king”
Pride says “Live it up”
And then we go in debt
Jesus says “Give it up”
And we live with no regret
We become Egyptian kings
We hoard till there’s no
room
Foolishly we crave and grab
To fill a lifeless tomb
Pride goes before
destruction
It leads us by the hand
It owns us all like cattle
And we bear the devil’s
brand
Our lord and savior “me”
Our god and king “ourselves”
The only kingdom that we
rule
Is emptiness of hell
In hot pursuit of value
That we don’t even have
We think that voicing
lordship
Will build us golden calves
Pride goes before
destruction
And then it follows later
It covers up its failures
Like a shifty debater
Pride makes us all ashamed
To be just who we are
God made us in His image
Pride says we’re under par
Pride hints that we deserve
To meet some greater standard
Pride says since we don’t
Our bodies can be bantered
Pride goes before
destruction
And others do not wait
To pass the greatest
judgment
Woven through with hate
Pride takes our inner
standard
And measures those we see
As if we are lord and king
Of what is Right to Be
Pride destroys ourselves
And then it turns on others
Pride makes us all be
elevated
Trade your staircase for
your brother
Pride goes before
destruction
Before “ego,” before
“esteem”
Pride goes before the knife
And the bloody scars that
stream
Pride in who we want to be
Pride in who we’re not
Illogically it makes much
sense
Like most of Satan’s plots
Cut your body, cut your soul
Pride only hates you more
Pride never rewards you for
your service
It even cast Satan away from
the Lord
Pride goes before
destruction
Pride is a monster of all
sins
Pride makes you feel so
special
As it kills you on a whim
Pride is a great disease
It just cannot be cured
Fight against it all you can
For when it rains it pours
Pride says “stand up
straight”
So kneel in prayer as you
deplete
It’s better to live on your
knees
Then to die standing on your
feet
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Temporary Tomb
A
man lies in his comfort
His
eyes are closed in slumber
All
around his sides
His
bed is cushioned lumber
His
body is relaxed
His
breathing is so deep
He
feels so undisturbed
As
he gets his sleep
Jolted
wide awake
From
something in his room
His
deepest sleep and recluse
Was
a temporary tomb
A
man lies in his comfort
His
eyes are closed in slumber
All
around his sides
His
coffin's made of lumber
His
body is relaxed
But
his spirit's in the Deep
His
soul is far away
As
his body gets its sleep
Jolted
by some robbers
Lit
up by the moon
The
gravesite is exploited
A
temporary tomb
The
man lies in discomfort
By
souls of men - encumbered
His
sides are slashed and torn
As
he dangles from the lumber
His
body is racked with pains
His
breathing is so labored
So
thirsty that a sponge
In
vinegar is savored
The
man says "It is finished!"
They
seal away the Groom
But
the stone can't keep Him locked
Within
His temporary tomb
The
girl looks in the mirror
With
disgust written on her face
And
with her cuts she tells herself
Her
body's a waste of space
Her
soul is what's eternal
Her
body is a home
The
Holy Spirit and her soul
Inside
her flesh and bones
She's
based her worth on Nothing
She'll
have a new body soon
And
now she holds the Great I AM
In
her temporary tomb
We're
dying once we're born
Our
bodies all decay
Yet
we seem to base our worth
On
what will pass away
But
if we derive such meaning
From
our bodies and our minds
Who
then are we once we die
And
leave those things behind?
You're
beautiful, Beloved
And
have been since the womb
Don't
base your eternal value
On
a temporary tomb
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