What might the crescendo of catastrophic global events be signaling?

There’re wars, earthquakes and tidal waves.
Then deadly aftershocks.
Could Armageddon be on deck?
So ask newsmen on Fox.

And hurricanes are on the rise
with killer floods in tow.
There’s talk of bird flu and mad cow.
St. Helens’s set to blow.

A Carpenter from Nazareth
once hammered home the truth
that escalating tragedies
would wake prophetic sleuths.

So could the end be drawing close
for late great planet Earth?
Are all these headlines labor pains
that mark redemption’s birth?

We can’t be sure, but let’s beware.
The Scriptures make it clear.
That Carpenter will come again.
Perhaps this is the year.

Arnold Schwarzenegger weighs in on traditional marriage

At last the Terminator’s back.
He killed that recent bill
that would have let a Jeremy
get married to a Phil.

Although the legislation passed
allowing gays to wed,
the Governor enforced his will
and vetoed it instead.

I’m grateful for this muscle man
who leveraged his own weight
so marriage won’t be undermined
within the Golden State.

And yet the jury still is out
across the USA
as pressure mounts to let Diane
exchange vows with Danae.

The next few years will no doubt find
our nation scarred by strife
when values claimed for centuries
are stabbed as with a knife.

It’s one thing to grant equal rights
to same sex liaisons,
but calling such husband and wife
is nothing less than wrong.

Remembering James Dean on the 50th anniversary of his death

East of Eden, north of Indy
James Dean headed west.
But it wasn’t long
before his dreams came up short
and things went south.

His fast-paced lifestyle
stole his smile (and his tomorrows)
as the reckless speed at which he lived
became the reckless speed
from which he died.

For this baby-faced
rebel without a cause,
a fleeting taste of adulthood
was swallowed up in death.

Fairmount’s fair-haired native son
had won the fame for which he’d longed
only to lose the chance to enjoy it.

No wonder America wept
as this bright falling star
(who burned out prematurely)
was swept from celebrity’s stage.

And although Central Indiana
is left with the right
to claim the final resting place,
it’s a somber privilege at best.

Even though James grew up a Quaker,
he seemed at odds with his Maker
when he cashed it all in
as he crashed.

It’s likely James Dean once knew
what it meant to be Friends with God,
but God only knows
if (through faith) they embraced
the day that he died…
forever young.

Why Sandra Day O’Connor’s decision to retire is noteworthy

Judge Sandra Day is on her way
to leave the court behind
O’Connor, whom she dearly loves,
is lost within his mind.

She’s taking time to ease John’s climb
toward Alzheimer’s peak.
It is a slippery scary slope
and she knows he is weak.

She’s laying down her judge’s gown
to claim a walking stick
that she might be the stable force
for one who’s awfully sick.

In Sandra Day I see love’s way
of putting others first.
It dies to self and offers help
to quench another’s thirst.

Why our dream for peace on earth remains a nightmare

The war goes on. Gas prices rise.
Katrina’s wake’s left angry “whys?”
And four years after terror struck
our nation reels in fear.

There’s tribal chaos and there’s AIDS.
In Africa the hues and shades
are colors paled by hopelessness
no spectrum’s ever known.

The homeless wander streets and parks
while hatred rules the human heart.
And peace on earth remains a dream
on which our nightmares feed.

O God, preserve us from despair.
Please listen to this heartfelt prayer
and show us something we can do
to slow the speed of pain.