Payton’s Place

It’s time for the Saints to go marching in;
Singing My Mama’s Praise!

Payton’s Place
It’s time for the Saints to go marching in

It’s Payton’s place and time to win.
Sean’s Saints have earned their wings.
They’ve proved their faith through grit and grace.
They each deserve a ring.

The Big Easy fought so very hard
to stem Katrina’s scorn.
They improvised and played it cool
much like Pete Fountain’s horn.

When tackled they lined up again.
This town refused to punt.
They persevered converting downs
with blood, sweat, tears and grunts.

It seems to me that ravaged town’s
entitled to a win.
There’d be poetic justice
if “the Saints go marching in.”

Another Peyton will protest
and try to end their dream
(despite the fact his dad once lived
and played in New Orleans).

But Peyton’s protests will subside
come Sunday after dark.
His Colts won’t buck as in years past.
Their bite won’t match their bark.

* One of the reasons I’m pulling for the New Orleans Saints is because Sean Payton, their head coach, graduated from Naperville Central High School in Naperville, IL. That is where my two oldest daughters earned their diploma.

Singing My Mama’s Praise!
Why I love the mother-of-all bowl games

The football game of football games
will be played this weekend.
Gentlemen (and ladies)
start your junk food intake engines.
We’re on track for a memorable day.
Our hearts start to race just thinking about it.
It’s Super Bowl Sunday.

The Super Bowl is not
the granddaddy of all bowl games.
That title is already taken.
The Rose Bowl played each New Years Day
was so crowned decades ago.

But, the Super Bowl can claim
undisputed rights to being
the mother-of-all bowl games.
And what a mom she is.

Having set the family table
with a certain flair,
she guarantees us a feast for the eyes.
It’s a seven-course meal.
From pre-game appetizers
to post-game desserts.

But what Mama cooks up
is more than just football.
Mother knows best
when it comes to commercials.

Those Super Bowl ads are so funny
they can make us dads
laugh to the point of tears.
For crying out loud,
what those sixty-second spots yield
are often more fun
than the sixty minutes on the field.

Mother has a way
of getting our family and friends together
as we spend four hours
in front of the flat screen
rounding out our less-than-flat tummies
munching on our favorite snacks.

Six-packs of pop.
Buckets of beer.
Chips and dip.
Popcorn, peanuts, Crackerjacks.
But even if a brat is all I’ve got,
I’m singing my mama’s praise.

A Book (of Eli) Review

Reflecting on a walk of faith;
No Catcher In The Rye

A Book (of Eli) Review
Reflecting on a walk of faith

The Book of Eli pictures
(most apocalyptically)
a bombed-out world in sepia.
There’s no prosperity.

What once was very commonplace
is gone. It’s so absurd.
Clean water, food and decency
(and knowledge of God’s Word).

The last surviving Bible
had to find its way out west.
It’s not as easy as it sounds.
It proves a bloody test.

One man who lived by faith (not sight)
prompts us to do the same.
With Scripture hidden in his heart,
he has a single aim.

Eli’s committed to live out
what he has heard God say.
He’s not content to read the Word.
His passion’s to obey.

Eli (like Christ) is tempted by
a man named Carnegie.
This Satan-figure knows The Book
has power (don’t you see).

Its words inspire, motivate,
convict and magnetize.
The key (of course) is who unlocks
The Book. The fool or wise?

And in this wilderness of beige
anticipating Hell,
we see that trusting God by faith
resembles reading braille.

The walk of faith is not a dash.
It is a daily stroll.
Obeying is a lifelong trek.
It’s what defines your soul.

No Catcher in the Rye
Thoughts on J.D. Salinger’s death, our own and journaling

Young Holden Caulfield was the means
for Salinger to share his dreams
and rail against hypocrisy
in our dishonest world.

Now JD Salinger is dead,
but not the book most kids have read
about a catcher in the rye
and teenage hopes and fears.

His voice (though stilled) will yet be heard.
There’s power in the written word.
It’s bound to help extend our lives
when we are six feet down.

So, write about what you believe.
Describe the things that make you grieve.
Jot lessons you have learned in life
through failure and success.

Relate the way you met your spouse
and how you purchased your first house.
What insights on God’s faithfulness
could fuel your children’s faith?

The things you journal will live on
when they are grown and you are gone.
It’s never wrong to write it down
while you still have a chance.

Our years of playing in the rye
will soon be done and we will die.
And there’s no catcher near the cliff.
We all must face that fall.

Hope Refuses to Be Buried

What is missing from Haiti’s landfills?

The estimates are staggering.
We try, but can’t ignore
a tragedy that will not quit.
This hell on earth is horror.

We see those grave reminders
of the loss of human lives.
The landfills of the lifeless
we had prayed would yet survive.

Like trash within a garbage truck,
those corpses were stacked high
and driven to a local dump
where circling vultures fly.

It’s inhumane. Unthinkable.
But what else could be done?
The stench of death hung in the air
beneath the Haitian sun.

Yet while they bury bodies,
hope refuses to comply.
It can’t be ditched and left for dead.
Hope won’t give up and die.

Hope germinates within the hearts
of those who can’t escape
the fact that they are still alive
when with the dawn they wake.

Hope penetrates the sun-baked soil
of flattened lifelong dreams.
It pushes sun-ward from the earth.
It’s stronger than it seems.

Hope is the seed of faith that grows
in all those who have gone
to give the hopeless ways and means
to cope and carry on.

Sleeping Where Rodents Breed

A prayer for the victims in Haiti;
Faith Quakes

Sleeping Where Rodents Breed
A prayer for the victims in Haiti

In Haiti millions are displaced
by that demonic quake.
Demolished and demoralized,
they hunger, thirst and ache.

We ache with these who fear the worst,
who’ve searched in vain for hope,
who question if God does exist
with little faith to cope.

This island nation beckons us
to reach down deep inside
and find the money, time and aid
to carry these deprived.

In short, dear Lord, we long to be
Your arms to those in need,
to paupers there in Port au Prince
who sleep where rodents breed.

Faith Quakes
Surviving 7.0 doubt

The death toll mounts
The body count
exceeds our greatest fear.
This dreaded quake
and anguished wakes
prompt questions. Is God here?

This tragedy
it seems to me
(much like we’ve seen before)
is hardly fair.
How could God care?
The victims are so poor!

In Port au Prince
we have a glimpse
of how a nation grieves.
Their plight of pain
means God is blamed.
Doubt mocks faith
to believe.

But nonetheless,
I will confess
I cannot understand
these “acts of God”
that seem so odd
(allowed or by command).

As body count
increases doubt
in One who claims control,
I choose to trust
(because I must)
the Shepherd of my soul.

Sofa Spud No Longer

How The Biggest Loser changed my life;
I Am But One, But I Am One

Sofa Spud No Longer
How The Biggest Loser changed my life

The Biggest Loser’s more than just
a TV show phenom.
It motivates me to get fit
whenever it is on.

It’s virtual community.
I feel for these so large.
They win my heart as they lose pounds
obeying those in charge.

The trainers, Bob and  Jillian,
insist, rebuke, demand.
A loser’s wish is not enough.
That wish is their command.

And as they heed their trainers’ bark,
the scales reveal good news.
By sweating more and eating less
contestants really lose.

It’s true, I need to drop fifteen
avoiding fast-food crud.
And “Loser” spurs me on to shed
my nickname… “sofa spud.”

Don’t think this show is just my shtick.
You, too, can benefit.
This fat-free love-fest Tuesday nights
will help you to get fit.

One-third of all Americans
are clinically obese.
So tell your too-fat friends to watch
before they are deceased. I Am But One, But I Am One
Never underestimate the difference you can make

I hear the Savior calling me to rescue the oppressed.
I choose to answer willingly for I’ve been richly blessed.
I am but one but I am one whose candle mocks the dark.
I am available to Him who owns my willing heart.

I cannot disregard abuse in brothels, fields or slums.
I will not rest until I work that justice might be done.
I am but one but I am one who feels the children’s pain.
I am available to Him who calls each one by name.

I’ll be a voice for those enslaved by power, lust and greed.
I’ll advocate for those in chains until they have been freed.
I am but one but I am one who will not be denied.
I am available to Him who with the victim sides.

* January 11, 2010 has been designated as Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

** The above poem can be sung to the Norwegian folk tune ordinarily associated with the hymn “My Soul Has Found a Resting Place.”