Tag Archives: Faith

HOW I LOST MY FAITH – In Preachers

Ranch Life / tagged , , , , / / by

It was a cold and muddy Sunday
Our little caravan of Christians
children, parents and student minister
stuck in the spring mud a mile from church

Me and city cousin Wayne
the chosen ones at age seven
chosen to walk
to the nearest neighbour
while the others wait in the cars

The neighbor’s not home
but his Cockshutt 40 tractor is

Some combination of farm boy bravado
and reluctance to slog
back to the cars in defeat
comes out as “I can drive a tractor!”

One foot each on the clutch
and a good deal of grinding
gets us into low gear
and off at about two miles per

The student minister meets us
two thirds of the way back

As our leader
in all things spiritual
and practical
he decrees that we are going
far too slow
and selects another gear
(probably at random, he’s from the city too)

The one he picks is the fastest
known in these parts as “Road Gear”
and we quickly accelerate to thirty

which causes the preacher to panic
(or remember that he forgot his bible)
and leap off

leaving us to wrestle the big red monster
now wildly careening from rut to rut
and rocketing toward the mired cars
and fearful families

Wrenching the wheel to the right
at the last possible moment
we narrowly avoid death and destruction
and stall to a stop in the water-filled ditch
amidst the prayers of the congregation

MARX AND GOD IN NEW ORLEANS

Uncategorized / tagged , , / / by

MARX AND GOD IN NEW ORLEANS

The people of New Orleans are still singing

If religion is indeed the opiate of the people
seldom was it more needed and more used
than last September down in New Orleans

And yet strangely and much I suspect
to the relief of the administration
the God of the people of New Orleans
is not a God of revenge

The God of the people of New Orleans
is a God of mysterious intent
not blamed for those who die
but praised by those who live

Theirs is the God that rocks you to sleep
in the belly of the slave ship
surrounded by water

The God that rocks you to sleep
in the hold of the Superdome
surrounded by water

A KINDER GENTLER GOD

Audio Recordings / tagged , , , , , , , , / / by

A KINDER GENTLER GOD

As we look around the world today we see
with God as our father in trouble all are we

Fathers as you know, often have a tendency
towards discipline, judgement and wrath
while grandparents almost always
take a wiser, gentler path

There may be much to learn
as we choose, or create our deity
from the Blackfoot, Sioux and Cree
who still gather at Grandfather’s knee