The Death of a President

Remembering my reactions to the news from Dallas

A half a century has passed
since deafening and shocking gasps
were heard throughout all fifty states
that bleak November day.

“From Dallas,” Walter Cronkite said,
“The president’s been shot. He’s dead!
The victim of a sniper’s aim
has left us leaderless.”

It seemed as if my world stood still
although I could not get my fill
of non-stop news that chronicled
the nightmare of that day.

I still recall that long weekend.
I was eleven way back then.
But not too young to fully feel
the sting of corporate grief.

I watched as Oswald flinched in pain
and as we learned Jack Ruby’s name.
And though I went to Sunday School,
my mind was not on God.

The images on our TV
were black and white (ironically).
The brilliant colors of my world
had suddenly turned gray.

The simple view of life I’d had
was shattered by this glimpse of bad.
The death of John F. Kennedy
had opened my young eyes.

Fast-forward half-a-century
to where I look back soberly
and glimpse the day I first beheld
how evil stalks our land.

The New Biggest Loser

Why Toronto’s mayor should step down

Well, that mayor in Toronto
swears he won’t use crack again,
says he smoked it only once while really drunk.
And perhaps he’s learned his lesson
and deserves a second chance.
But I’m prone to think he’s guilty as a skunk.

Mayor Ford is not a Lexus.
What he looks like is a wreck.
He needs body work to earn respect again.
And a tune-up is in order.
He’s not hitting on all eight.
If this hot rod runs again Rob will not win.

Put him on “The Biggest Loser.”
Let him sweat for what he’s done.
Maybe Jillian can help the mayor learn
that bad choices get you fired.
Your career goes up in smoke
and it’s calories that you’d do best to burn.

Held Hostage By Fear

What the constant gun violence is doing to us

Another shooting?
God, forbid that bloodshed be the norm.
Those trigger-happy madmen aim at will.
The frequency of terror
finds us fearing what awaits
as those rifle-toting crazies shoot to kill.

At airports, schools or shopping malls,
at theatres or homes,
it is hunting season twelve months of the year.
And the hunters aren’t just grownups.
Far too often they are kids.
Without answers, we’re imprisoned by our fear.

We are hostages just living.
And it?s fear that holds us fast
in a mental cell of raw anxiety.
God alone knows who’s around us
with the means to do us harm
who are kidnapped by their brain?s complexity.

Lord, please help us help the helpless
who are haunted in their minds
by the voices and the thoughts that fill their heads.
Gun laws aren’t the only answer
when the mentally deranged
victimize the unassuming till they’re dead.

Our Trick, God’s Treat

A sweet message to share with pint-size doorbellers on Halloween

It was really quite neat
that you asked for a treat
when you stopped by
and rang our doorbell.
Though we don’t know your name
we are still glad you came
and would like to pass this on as well.

Long before time began,
Father God had a plan
for His people to all get along.
But we blew it, you see,
when we chose selfishly
to insist on OUR WAY and do wrong.

What we did was a trick
that made God really sick.
But He didn’t trick us in return.
He reached out with a treat
that is sweeter than sweet.
It’s a treat that we never could earn.

God says, “I’ll be your friend!
I’ll forgive all your sin.
I sent Jesus to make you brand new.
On this Halloween night
as you turn out your light,
just remember how much I love you!”

* check out http://itstracts.org/22532-trick-treat-pack-tracts-p-1062.html

The Autumn Classic

Memories of my first World Series

When I was just a boy of ten
they rolled the tv in the gym
to let our elementary school
watch New York beat San Fran.

With Maris, Mantle, Mays and more,
I learned the joy of keeping score
while drinking in the ambiance
of baseball in the fall.

And ever since I’ve had an itch
to watch the first World Series pitch
and as I pick a team to cheer,
I am a kid again.

The autumn classic casts a spell
as any baseball fan knows well.
Regardless who the teams may be,
it’s fun to watch the best.