Ceremonial

Ceremonial

The moon flashes on his finger.
As he mounts,
He shakes the glitter from his robe:
Stars drift down.
And

then,
With graceful gallop,
With the medallion sun softly swinging
In time to roaring hooves,
God is riding horseback.


(c) 2008 J.J. Jackson Jr.

Well, YEAH ... the stuff of real faith

"Take from the church the miraculous, the supernatural, the incomprehensible, the unreasonable, the impossible, the unknowable, the absurd, and nothing but a vacuum remains."

The above is the quote randomly loaded today by Quote Database. It's from Robert G. Ingersoll.

My response is, "Well, yeah ... Your point is?"

Ingersoll's point, of course, is to mock Christianity and the church. However, with this quote we see that God spoke truth through a jackass more than once! Ingersoll's motive was wrong, but his words were right.

MY point is that if you have a church without the named ingredients, you certainly do not have the real thing, just an empty shell. Biblical faith is exciting and radical. JESUS does not call us to a safe, reasonable, moderate life; He calls us to the miraculous, the supernatural, the incomprehensible, the unreasonable, the impossible, the unknowable, the absurd -- a life of FAITH. Most believers, including me, fall too short of this challenge. We should be more daring, and not be ashamed of the supernatural, unreasonable aspect of following Christ. As my friend, evangelist Bill Stafford, says, "Extreme death scares me a lot more than extreme life!"

If you're in a dead church, either raise it from the dead, or get out and find a live one! Life's too short to live in the shell.

"For the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ... For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." (I Corinthians 1:18-25)

Recommended Reading ... and Listening

As you may or may not know, Don Imus is back on the air -- it's about time! -- on WABC radio in New York, and on RFD-TV. Last week he had a fascinating, refreshing, and startling give and take interview with Dr. Debra Dickerson, who blogs for Mother Jones magazine. The subject was race, and particularly her observations about who can legitinately be called "black" and whether the term still has any validity.

Dr. D has written about her appearance on Imus in the Morning, and shared other thoughts, in a blog post you can read here. I highly recommend it. She includes links to the Imus interview, and you definitely should listen to that!

Warning: it is not light reading, or light listening. Put on your thinking cap! Whether or not you are a racist, everybody in America has been influenced and affected by racism, including you and me. It's worth thinking about.

Writer's Haiku

Writer's Haiku

Pages stare back -- like
Stones we washed in rivers, and
Laid aside to dry.


(c) 2008 J.J. Jackson Jr.

Having to Howl

Having to Howl
(For Tanya)

Look at me with big brown eyes.
See yourself
in my big brown eyes.
Study yourself, primp a little.
Read my door
(a special sign just for you)
ANIMAL SHELTER
Come on in and pet me.

(c) 2008 J.J. Jackson Jr.

The Poet Returns

More like a resurrection, really, than a return. I haven't written any poetry in years. But when I mentioned in an earlier post that in 1969 the poet laureate of Arkansas dubbed me Arkansas' Poet of the Future, oldest daughter suggested I should market my little volumes of verse on the Internet. Probably not ready for that ... but I've dragged out some of my old notebooks, and from time to time, when I have no other inspiration, I'll post a poem or two for your consideration and critique. First one in the next post.

Negotiate? NEGOTIATE?!@!

Handicapped bombers kill dozens in Iraq
Officials say 2 handicapped female suicide bombers struck pet markets

Iraqi soldiers walk past a pile of slippers that belonged to victims of a suicide bombing in central Baghdad on Friday. (Ali Yussef / AFP-Getty Images)

AP, BAGHDAD - Remote-controlled explosives strapped to two mentally handicapped women detonated in a coordinated attack on pet bazaars Friday, police and Iraqi officials said, killing at least 73 people in the deadliest day since the U.S. sent 30,000 extra troops to the capital this spring.

OK, now who is it that thinks we can negotiate with animals like these? The only good terrorist is ...