Partial Observer

A Prayer for the President-Elect

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

A new hymn text to a time-honored tune

God, bless our President and those elected
who seek to lead one nation under You.
Give them the grace to lead while serving others
denying self in everything they do.
Grant them the courage to stand up to terror
protecting both the masses and the few.

God, bless our President and bless his family
who recognize the spotlight they now face.
Grant them protection from those who oppose them.
Help them to rest from such a grueling race.
Give them the will to model godly standards
and help them trust in Your amazing grace.

God, bless our President with needed wisdom
as he considers options far and near.
Infuse him with uncanny comprehension
that he might calm us from the things we fear.
Give him the confidence to pray believing
that when he seeks Your face You always hear.

* the above text can be sung to the familiar hymn tune “FINLANDIA”

Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Cubs Win!

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

Spiritual lessons from my team’s World Series victory

‘Twas a World Series win for the ages.
Down three games to one, they came back.
Game seven then went extra innings.
Both players and fans were a wreck.

A weather delay added tension.
The rain was a portent it seemed.
The Cubs’ drought from ’08 had ended.
‘Twas the storybook ending we dreamed.

Just wait ’til next year we’ve been sayin’.
And I’m thinking it’s no time to stop.
Our Lovable Losers are winners
and they plan to remain at the top.

A repeat as champions suits us.
Our young team has talent galore.
With Rizzo and Russell and Bryant,
there’s bound to be much more in store.

And likewise in life we keep hoping
that what God has promised is true.
The Cubs are a lesson in patience.
Don’t give up! Don’t despair. God comes through!

So keep trusting and keep on believing.
The droughts that we face fuel our faith.
Perseverance in time is rewarded.
Like the Cubs, we’ll be blest if we wait!

* This poem is dedicated to my dad who died eight years ago today (November 4, 2008). He played catch with me when I was a kid. He faithfully came to my little league games. He took me to my first major league baseball game. A week before he died I lay down next to my dad on his bed as we watched the World Series together on the TV in my folks’ bedroom. (Curiously, Joe Maddon’s team Tampa Bay Rays lost in five games that year.) How I wish I could share in the joy of the Cubs win with him this year (now that Joe Maddon is Chicago’s manager). But like the poem suggests, I will just have to wait for that ultimate family reunion to come. I miss you, Dad.

A Series to Remember

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

Cubs fans are living their dream

It’s a weekend to remember
at historic Wrigley Field.
It’s a three-game match-up Cubs fans dreamed would be.
Not since troop ships headed homeward
at the end of World War 2
have the Cubbies claimed their place in history.

It’s a season to remember
for the losers we have loved.
Holy Cow! They won the most of all this year.
Rizzo, Russell, Baez, Bryant
led their team all summer long
and have given baseball fans much cause to cheer.

It’s a series to remember
‘tween the Indians and Cubs.
Both Lebron and Michael’s cities crave this crown.
How I wish that Banks and Santo
could have lived to see these games
in a slugfest on the north side of Chi-town.

A Centennial Worth Celebrating

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

Paying tribute to the Boeing Airplane Company

For 100 years at Boeing
they’ve been making planes to fly.
Thanks to Boeing we found ways to win a war.
Boeing’s given wings to visions.
Far-fetched dreams were realized.
And in partnership with NASA rockets soared.

In their fact’ries in Seattle,
Wichita and Charleston,
Boeing’s birthed their birds with engineering pride.
Air Bus and McDonnell Douglas
can’t compete with Boeing’s class,
though for decades (Heaven knows) those two have tried.

Orv and Wilbur couldn’t fathom
how Bill Boeing would take-off.
He took flight in ways that caught the world by storm.
And the planes that Boeing gave us,
though a novelty at first,
have become (for lack of better terms) the norm.

Here’s to Boeing and their workers
as they celebrate this year.
What a milestone this is to say the least.
Thanks to Boeing and its partners,
airline travel’s safe and sound
as we fly the friendly skies from west to east.

The White House Race is a Mud Bowl

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

Just how low can they go?

Trump’s “locker room talk” in the Bush league
was disgraceful, demeaning and lewd.
And his running back (Mike Pence) is pensive
from his quarterback’s comments most crude.

Still Hillary isn’t much better.
She’s been intercepted a lot.
And those emails ruled out-of-bounds clearly
were illegal. Good thing she got caught.

This gridiron game is a mud bowl.
What’s slung by each team should be flagged.
The offensive lines are insulting.
They’re enough to make anyone gag.

Where’s the NFL commissioner when you need him?