Praying to Father God for Mother Liberty

Eighteen years ago this day,
Mother Liberty looked on in horror
as she witnessed a nightmare
that will forever challenge the dream
for which she proudly stands.

Without warning, twins
(she bravely birthed) collapsed at her feet.
Symbols of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
(and thousands who cherished them) perished.

What had towered above Manhattan for decades
were reduced to nothing more than a smoldering mess of rubble.
And it was not just the Big Apple that was shaken to the core.
Our entire nation quaked.
Two hundred and twenty stories of capitalism’s success,
(once an anthology of corporate commerce and trade)
became ancient history in a few hours.
All the same those collapsed stories
are bound to be catalogued as tragedies for decades to come.

The light is forever gone from eyes that innocently looked on.
The skies above New York, Washington and Pennsylvania
billowed with black smoke.
The earth beneath was an eery sight.
It became a bloody graveyard.

Unthinkable. Unbelievable.
Unmistakably, the act of ungodly beasts
who undeniably admitted to a sense of pleasure
derived from attempts to undermine the treasure of freedom
many of us continue to take for granted.

O God, rouse us from our routine slumber.
Teach us to number our days. To confess our sin
and once again recognize our dependence on You.
Teach us to eschew our complacency and apathy.
Give us courage to rethink our false sense of national security.
Help us repent of values we have come to confess as a nation
that violate Your holiness and mock Your gifts of grace.

O Lord, as we admit our vulnerability this day,
be with those whose grief and loss remains greater than they can say.
We pray that You would guide our President and our leaders,
that You would purge our sin and protect our land.

Father God, please stand by Mother Liberty,
so that the torch she holds forth will continue to flame
with the promise of freedom and hope.
May she continue to illuminate our feet
as we attempt to walk in Your ways
to a place where once again the phrase on our money
actually describes the ways and the means of our lives.
“In God We Trust” Amen.

Paying respect to the twisting winds of summer

What rainbow hues are hurricanes?
I picture Dorian gray.
Colorless with shades of fear
as night morphs into day.

Bahamians have stood the test
while standing on their knees.
Their praying posture served them well
amid the surging seas.

And now the Carolinas brace
for winds and pounding rain
while hoping Dorian will die
or pass by them more tame.

The colors of a hurricane
are on nobody’s mind.
But rather we are gripped with how
it pummels, floods and grinds.

With gratitude for work I love

This Labor Day
I’m grateful
I get paid
for what I do.
And what I do
means doing
what I love.
When what needs done
aligns itself
with what
you long to do,
what some call work
to you is hand-in-glove.

It is a gift
if what you do
for income
brings you joy.
It’s just a job
if you despise
your work.
If that’s the case
I hope you have
a hobby
(maybe two)
since without joy
you’ll likely go berserk.

Celebrating the land of Israel

To the City of David.
To the City of Peace.
To a tiny nation of cities and towns
where our mighty God revealed Himself
in unique and awesome ways.

To a holy land
in whose soil grow the roots
of our timeless faith.

To the land
of milk and honey,
a land promised to Abraham,
glimpsed by Moses,
conquered by Joshua,
irrigated by the blood of disobedience,
vacated through exile,
yet populated again
by the providence of God
who left His footprints
in this sacred sand
and fingerprints of grace
on the lives of those He touched.

To the land
that has touched our lives
through what our eyes have seen,
what our ears have heard
and what our hearts have embraced.

Here’s to a land
laced with the continuous thread
of redemption.
A land where it all began
and where it all will end.

What has become of our world?

Bulletproof backpacks?
On back-to-school lists?
My God, what’s become of our world?
Our young pint-size scholars
we send off to class
must be mindful of evil unfurled.

Their innocence stolen.
Their Paradise lost.
Their freedom from fear is long gone.
The risk of a shooter
requires they drill
to rehearse what to do if there’s one.

Enough of this madness!
Can’t something be done?
Our children (at risk) are at stake.
It’s time we remembered
what God’s Word declares.
Our need for revival is great!