In the beginning of modern faith
It was all about love.

In the early days love ruled
Love over hate
Greater than faith or hope
Both internal qualities, but love is
The collective over the individual
“They will know we are christians by our love”

How do people see christians today?
Fighting for the christian right
Fighting the libs
Fighting for pro-life
Fighting against LGBTQ+
Fighting wokeness

As with any group
You can’t lump them all together
But as a community
Christians were about love
Until the hate came
And then there was a cult

A version of christians
Focused on hell
“Sinners in the hand of an angry god”
Hate the sin, love the sinner
Reduced simply to
Hate the sinner

Many embraced this version
Though some never retreated into it
But settled in to help where they could
Now a new uglier version appears
Red-hatted zealots, foaming at the mouth
For revenge and to reclaim lost glory

Not the glory of Jesus
But the glory of religious freedom
That early christians didn’t seek
And Jesus never experienced
And yet he never gave up on love
To bring love’s kingdom to earth

I’m not in the cult of evangelicalism
I don’t believe in hell or heaven
A finite life of love is enough
And so I believe in love
Its power to heal
Even in the darkest of times

Right now it’s a fight for humanity
To dare to feed the hungry
Care for the poor, the sick, the immigrant
To seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly
And even in this red-hat, deep-hate world
The true way hasn’t changed

There is no path to love
Love is the path

There is a problem with the premise
that the original sin is passed
to everyone who ever lived.
Even though millennia have passed,
an angry god seeks retribution
and still holds a young earth grudge.

The problem of the premise
is that that blood is required
to appease this feuding god.
The worst of ancient religion’s practice,
shunned by civilization,
is worshipped by faith communities.

The problem is in the premise
that genocide is the answer
to build utopian societies.
Yet millions hold out for the end of days
and a god’s torturous massacre to
bring a new heaven and earth.

The problem throughout this premise,
is that god is not better
than the best of us.
The worst of mankind breeds
blood-lust and revenge.
A god should be greater than, not less than.

There is a promise with a new premise,
not about bloody retribution,
but individual and societal recalibration
to align with ancient-future greater ideals
of peace that compounds
and love that surrounds.

The promise of this premise
is that peace and love are not postponed,
but active in the actions of those who
live out justice by leveraging peace
and work out that peace by mentoring love
as their legacy for this world’s future.

The promise in this premise,
is that together we can
reclaim the world to what it could be and
recalibrate society to how it should be;
reclaiming peace, restoring justice
and redeeming everything through love.

The promise through this premise
is that as others have,
we can live in self-changing peace
and live out world-changing love,
nurturing justice through our commitment
to walk this path and redeem this world.

Pops 2014

Life’s a journey, age is just a road sign
Take a step
Take a breath
Love someone
Love yourself
Be present
Be you
Life’s a journey, age is just a road sign

all of the things
that sometimes are left
not said and unsayable
not known and unknowable
alone without a muse
a quiet spell ensues

all the things
that are left
are not said
and not known
alone and without
a quiet spell

the things
that left
are unsaid
and unknown
all alone
a quiet

things
left
unsaid
unknown
alone
quiet

reading my life like a book
turning pages so fast it’s a blur
that makes my head spin
and scarcely gives me time to wonder
what just happened
to another year

chapter and verse
for better or worse
here I am

each page written is the last
one I can barely read with blurry eyes
yet what is around the bend
keeps me foraging and wondering
what is coming
with another year

chapter and verse
for better or worse
here I am

the story is of loss and love
and triumph and defeat so glorious
that the protagonist and antagonist
merge in a Gemini sort of way
standing together
to face a new year

chapter and verse
for better or worse
here I am

unfinished, the end is unwritten
and perhaps the climax is not past
As I wade for inspiration
in the lost and found of muses
turning the page
to this new year

chapter and verse
for better or worse
here I am