Human Flesh

Bone chips of the flesh-eating lions

from decaying Roman coliseums

lay buried under the Italian city of fountains.

Column fragments, scrolls, and carved capitols

cover the ground too just below top soil.

The ancient particles of history condemn

and commend at once

past civilizations.

The untamed still stalk the earth,

lion-roaring cannibals, wagging their

ill-formed heads with dirty manes on

the streets of every man. Belching

cities with flaming eyes of the night

force feed the jaded monsters from

between the slits of society.

Human flesh is craved.

Fashionistas drape it with silk and satin, wizards

lubricate the skin with creams, and medicine men inject it to

keep it plum and young or alive.

Cannibals devour it, salivate for the

nirvana opium

mixed for the masses

that goes down in effervescent heated gulps.

Burnt, bloody or bare. Tender flesh bitten by demons.

The tastes of post-modern, post-God

society are more refined than the Roman coliseums.

Few raw performances. Film is more cultured

and couth. Whipped up by filthy

rich producer-chefs in super-sized portions.

Get yours today, salty and hot,

on the nearest TV or in a theater close to you.

~Bonnie Saul Wilks, November 19, 2009

bleak autumn evening

Edgar Allan Poe rap, rap,

rapping at my door

I guess it is not enough that we have been like nomads these last few weeks while in the states. Since our house is rented for a season, we have stayed in four homes in four weeks! We are so dependent upon the kindness and goodwill of our hosts, and we have had some incredible friends to keep us in their homes until we return to Israel in a couple of weeks…

Yesterday, we hopped in the car and drove three hours west to Abilene. It was so refreshing to get on the road. I had such a sense of  ”leaving my burdens behind.”

I have learned to love the Texas hill country, the roadside farms and cattle ranches, and the big spaces of Texas!

Right now, my hubby is meeting with a few key donors for the MJBI, and I am enjoying a good book, a Starbuck’s Soy Vanilla Latte with my feet up.

And the book I am reading is so inspiring…

“I Asked for Wonder” by Abraham Joshua Heschel. I have to stop and meditate and ponder about every three sentences. I love that.

You’ll excuse me now, if I bury my nose into my book and sip my coffee alone now…

More later…

tangerine sunset

spills upon the banquet hall

no one notices

This is a prophetic word or a modern parable delivered by Charlotte Baker at a Worship Symposium in Dallas in 1981. Every word is weighty and applicable to our lives today. You can find this modern parable and other parables to the Church by Charlotte Baker here. Enjoy the inspiring read.

“I have brought this people together today to make unto you a choice. You can minister unto men…or you can minister unto the King of Glory!”

I stood among the sons of men, strong and tall. My heart was filled with enthusiasm. My life was given to the purposes of God. Upon that day, I said to the Lord,”I will do mighty exploits in the name of my God.”

The Lord came unto me and He said,”What is it, son of man, that thou would have?”

I said, “Lord, if I could only be among those who play sweetly upon an instrument and who sing well in the house of the Lord, then I would do great things for my God.” The Lord came to me and He gave unto me the desire of my heart. He let me play and He let me sing. I saw the day when the hearts of men were moved by that thing the Lord had given unto me. After hearts of men were moved, I stood back and I said to myself, ”Now I will be content for I have been able to move the hearts of men.”

But in my secret hour I bowed my head before my God and said, “Lord, You have given me what I asked for but my heart is heavy. I have a longing for something more.”

He came again unto me in the night season. He asked me again, “Son of man, ask Me again the thing that thou would have of Me.” I said, “Lord I see men bowed by burdens low. I see hearts that are broken. I see sadness and discouragement. Oh give me the power of the spoken word that I might speak the word and their hearts be delivered.”

The Lord came unto me and said, “Son of man, I have given thee the things which thou hast desired.” With great joy, I marched before the people of God. In my youth and in my enthusiasm, I spoke the Word and men were delivered. I spoke the Word and their hearts were made whole. I knew what it was to bind up the broken-hearted and to pour in the oil of joy replacing their mourning. While men were yet praising Him, glorifying His name, I went back to my secret chamber, I bowed my head in sorrow. I said, “Oh my God, my God, I am not satisfied.”

He came again unto me and He said, “Son of man, what is it that thou desireth of Me?” And I said, “Oh my God, give me power in my hands that as You did, I might lay my hands upon the sick and see the healing flow.”

He said unto me, “It is done as thou has commanded.”

God healed the sick. I went to the nations of the earth and I saw the sick raised from their beds. I saw pain and suffering go away. I was rejoicing as I went to my secret place. I bowed my head before my God.

I said, “Now my God, I will be satisfied for you have given me that which I have desired.” No sooner had the words come out of my mouth when the heart within me began to ache and cry. I said, “God, I don’t understand. Again my heart is sad. Lord, will You, just one more time, give me the thing I ask of Thee?”

He said, “It is done.”

“God, I desire to go against principalities and powers, the powers of the wickedness of this world and spiritual darkness in high places. He said, “Surely I give it unto thee. Now go.”

So I went and the Lord allowed me to go into dens of iniquity, the holes and dives where men hide from the light because of the sin and evil that is upon them. There was a day when I saw demons cry out at the very presence of the power of God that rested on me. Then I went back to my secret place broken.

I said, “God, I have asked You for all that I desired and still my heart is not yet satisfied. Nor do I feel that I have touched the thing that You have called me to. In my youth I have expended myself with all the things that my heart had desired.”

Then one more time a gracious and loving God visited me in the night season.

He said, “Now – what is it that thou dost desire?” In brokenness of heart, I bowed before Him and I said, “God, only that thing which You desire to give unto me.”

He came unto me and said, “Come with Me and I will take you on a journey.”

He took me past my friends. He took me past those with whom I had come into the house of the Lord. He took me into a desolate place. He caused me to go into a place alone in the wilderness.

I said, “Oh my God, what are you doing to me? You have cut me off from those I love.” He said, “I take thee to the place where all men must come if their heart’s cry is to be fulfilled.” At a certain hour, I bowed before a gate that is called.… The Eye of the Needle, The gate of Worship! There before the Eye of the Needle I heard the voice of the Lord say, “Bow low.” So I bowed lower.

He said “Yet lower. Thou does not go low enough.” So I went as low as I could possibly go. But I had upon my back my books of learning. I had with me my instruments of music. I had with me my gifts and abilities. He said unto me, “Thou has too much, thou can not go through this gate.”

I said, “But God, You have given me these books. You have given me these abilities.”

He said, “Drop them or thou dost not go.”

So I dropped them. I went through a very small gate that is called ‘The Eye of the Needle’. As I went through this gate, I heard the voice of the Lord say, “Now rise to the other side.” As I rose, a very strange thing happened to me. You see, the gate which was so small on one side that I must lay aside everything, was now so wide I could not fill it.

As I stood in the presence of the Lord I said, “God, what is this thing that You have done unto me, for my soul is now satisfied?” He said, ”Thou has come through the gate of worship. Now come up to the circle of the earth and I will show thee a great mystery. I will reveal unto thee the thing that I am doing among the sons of men.”

The Spirit of the Lord caught me away. He took me to the circle of the earth, higher than where the eagle flies, beyond where the clouds can rumble, beyond where the sun shines or the moon finds her path. There at the throne of my God, He said, “Look down upon My people. I saw strange things. I saw my companions gathered around a very small gate that is, ‘The Eye of the Needle, the gate of worship’. I saw them wringing their hands and crying. They were saying one to another,”But God has given us these instruments of war. This sword is my sword and I will work with it against the enemy to bring him down. I cannot go through this gate, for, if I go through this gate, I must put down my sword. God has called me to be a warrior and therefore, I will not do it.”

And I heard another one say,”Me? Lay down my instruments of music? Lay down all God has given me, just to go through that silly little gate, to be nothing but a bare man who comes out the other side stripped of everything? I cannot do this thing.”  I saw them as they stood aside in their pride, afraid to bow themselves before a very small gate. Then I saw again, as the Lord brought me closer to the gate. I saw a man bow low, laying down everything that he had. As he came through the very wide gate on the other side, his instruments of music were there. His sword was there. His books were there. The power was there.

The Word of the Lord came to me,”Go now and tell this people before you, I have given unto this people extreme talents and much ability. But I say unto you today, if you do not come through the very small gate, which is the gate of worship, and bow low and lay before me thine instruments, thy talents, abilities, vision and power, thou shall always be among those who will only be able to minister to the hearts of men, and bless the hearts of men.

But there is a gate open to the Church in this hour, a very small gate. And through this gate, only men and women who are worshippers will go. These people will lay their talents before their God. These people will say, ”God, we will be Your worshippers.”

Through that wide gate they will come and they will arise on the other side, not to minister unto men, but to minister unto their God. I have brought you together this day, to make unto you a choice. You can minister unto men and I will cause you to sway the hearts of men with your talent. Or, you can go through a very small gate,that is ‘The Eye of the Needle’, the gate of worship, and while making new worshippers, you will minister unto the King of Kings and Lord of lords!”

Follow…

… this link.

Susan Boyle singing on Dancing with the Stars!

I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses, pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it. ~Their faithful servant, C. D.

This is the preface of “A Christmas Carol” written by Charles Dickens in December 1843. Social concerns motivated much of Dickens’ writing, and this enduring Christmas tale or in his words “ghostly little book,” leads his causes for justice well. Dickens illustrated the plight of the poor during England’s economic depression, and indeed, left a “ghost of an idea” that the “better-off” of society should take care of those less fortunate, especially on Christmas.

It was not peace and goodwill completely, however, that drove Dickens to write “A Christmas Carol.” His last novels were not selling well, and his wife was pregnant with their fifth child. He was forced to make some quick money. Although the book became immediately popular, it was illustrated in color which raised the price. In the end, the novel did not bring in the profit Dickens desired.

Still, the magical tale endures.

Imagine writing a story so memorable, so compelling that generations of literate people of the Western World would embrace its meaning and remember its characters by name decade after decade. Hats off to Charles Dickens! Thank you, Chuck!

Who knows how many times the story has been read or re-enacted since it was penned in the dim light and strain of England’s economic struggles in the 1840’s.

Last evening, my husband and daughter and I saw Disney’s remake of the Christmas tale starring Jim Carrey in 3D at an IMAX theater, and it was brilliant. I want to see it again.  I can’t tell you how much I loved it. The old themes sprang to life again in my heart: the brevity of the past that is out like a candle  and that we will pay for  our actions with “chains” someday; the huge merriment of the present, and the fear and sometimes eeriness of the future. And no one wants to be forgotten at their death because their deeds were selfish. And lastly, the joy of giving and just how each individual has the power to change the world and his own disposition by giving to others.

As believers this is the message we live by everyday… an unspoken code of conduct that directs our choices. But I must say, as I watched the movie I had the response that old Charles Dickens was hoping for, that “ghost of an idea” planted new seeds in my heart that I need to give to others of myself, my time, and my finances to bring God’s kingdom to the earth.

In fact, that is the job entrusted to us by our Lord and Savior the day he ascended. Christmas is just a good season to reaffirm with action our duty.

silent moments quell
the chaos, muffle the din
and nourish the soul

You make my life pleasant, and my future is bright. Psalm 16:6