Freedom
There are places the winds cannot blow,
Hidden pools and shielded coves,
He sinks in heat and slows,
As the golden sun rides the sway-back stream and reins in
Until
In October rains, he shakes himself like Samson,
Summer-shorn,
Wonders if the spirit will come on him,
Will he see the sea in Gaza?
Settling, swanky in silver and white, ice cold rules.
The way grows narrow and strait,
Unshielded now
Under the wind’s whip
Until
The sway-back sphere
Heads south again,
Gold trumping silver,
Before the battle begins,
These masters have sown the unfettering seed,
In Temple Frost pillars fall and he feeds
On their dissolution.
Unchained, he roils and roars,
Rips and undercuts and runs away,
Carries the day.
And he is free.
Until,
There are places where the winds cannot blow,
Hidden pools and shielded coves,
Sinking heat and slow,
As the spurred sun rides and reins in.
And still,
The mighty one abides
His seasons of bondage
On his way
To wide waves
Unbridled, unbroken
Until
*****
I suppose my topical point here is that we Americans have come to assume freedom as our default state. We think it comes as one unbroken Spring, without seasons and without struggle. It appears to me that we are headed, in this springing of the natural year, into a season of either wintry bondage or flooding anarchy. The golden mean will be hard to find -- if it exists.
In a more general sense, seasons are not the end but only a passage. One feeding into another, as external circumstances change and we find ourselves straitened or unfettered. We are always free even under the oppressor's lash, though liberty may be occluded for a time. That is not to say we should resign ourselves to oppression. Without the battle to maintain an unchained spirit, we become eternal victims of circumstance, as that great philosopher Curly might say.
Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, double-minded people! Be miserable and mourn and weep. Your laughter must change to mourning and your joy to sorrow. Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you. (James 4:7-10)
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7 comments:
So true. I'll say it again: Obama, et al., are a chastisement.
And even the Jews who didn't sacrifice to Ba'al ended up in Babylon.
The Anchoress had a great post, and comments, on this very subject the other day.
Great minds...
I really liked the poem. It is a blessing to be friends with talented people.
Thanks, Sal. I always appreciate kind words.
Dennis Prager played a clip from Obama's speech at (I forget which) University, today. The line that got the greatest cheering and applause was where the 0 told the students in attendance that under his new plan they would be allowed to remain on their parents' insurance until they were twenty six years old. The crowd went wild. Think for a moment of the implications, here. They cheered having their dependence on Mom and Dad extended five years past their graduation. They cheered the fact that their parents would be bound by law to pay for their insurance. They cheered the fact that the law was going to force them to buy insurance whether they wanted it or not. They cheered the fact that their liberty was being taken from them. We are in for a hard cold season, I fear.
JWM
JWM, I always thought that scene in the Ten Commandments with the golden calf was sort of laughable. All the people dancing around and just minutes ago they were happy to be dancing out of bondage with nothing but their lives. I mean, Moses was right up there, you could throw a rock and hit the guy. What was wrong with these people? Like I said, used to think it was laughable.
Great post, Mushroom. Not much we can do about it. But we can do every bit of it. Many times I feel like just doing what I can to keep my job and trying to maintain some kind of normalcy around here is a duty larger than it used to be. If only more people in congress felt this way. One of them "goes" and it makes it so much easier for the other guy to give in. I don't know how they can, or will, live with themselves.
Wow, I guess we can't call it "failure to launch" anymore -- the government is scrubbing the mission.
We'll be OK because we know that "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty". But there are some folks that just think freedom is too dangerous and too much responsibility. You can take the slave out of bondage, but you can't take the bondage out of the slave.
Rick, can we look forward to tales of your adventures in the Great Southwest?
I don't know Mushroom. We did a lot of driving and took a lot of pictures. It was a strange land in a great way, but now I'm trying to fit into this strange land we came back to. Hard to know what to make of any of it.
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