(begin Laments in Midlothian series with part I of V here)
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(begin Laments in Midlothian series with part I of V here. The following is an intro to a commentary I plan on writing for the series of poems linked above)
A kind of essay, of Midlothian, and Saint Lucia’s son, and St Lucie’s sound, and settlement in the case of ~turn that music down or you might get $4 paid to your family after you get ended because you are disturbing my daily routine and, even before the music began, I could hear the rumbling, the rumbling before the roaring, and I don’t have to know what it means, only that it drives me to feed the lion, feed him you, because I neither know, nor care what you are, or could one day be through HIS eyes, but instead know that today, you are noisome and a nuisance, and that more importantly, you could be prey, and if I serve you to the lion then, I believe, he isn’t eating me also, and I can see, through my mind’s eye, what you can’t/won’t/don’t see yet, and want to make sure I never do see it, before my body’s eyes, in my daughter’s eyes, in my society either. It makes me tremble.
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And, more importantly, the lion sicks the killer on the prey [you, who should have turned your music down] because it can see what you could/would/should be, through HIS eyes and wants to make sure that neither you, nor I see it, (because he sees it, he trembles)
Because, YHWH… YHWH sees, and longs for, yearns for… and would send a SON and send shepherds and co-laborers to lead you to what you could/would/should be in sonship. And HE trembles. Oh how HE trembles, oh how HE loves!
And the lion, rumbling, and I, as his thrall, (because who can resist the rumble, who can resist the roar?) will have us none of that. I would stop all of this trembling and be fine. And see no more.
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or
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That’s what I call an abortion (?) or Right to life (? maybe not) or All lives matter, just some not as much as others, apparently, because like, there are qualifiers, and…. well… you[/rs] don’t
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Via amazon.com via Google images https://goo.gl/images/sQeo4r
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And, it’s something like: with great power comes great responsibility… responsibility to not be a bully (because you have that power), or a jerk (because you benefit from and/or have that power), or an a** (because you benefit from and have that power), but you know what? you’re kinda really acting like a… like a real bully (because you have that power), and a jerk (because you benefit from and/or have that power), and an a**, because you benefit from and have that power, AND you’re a teacher’s pet, at the same time. and that seems nonsensical, and makes my head hurt… and confused… and mad.
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and, it’s the idolatry, stupid!
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Screwtape from the Screwtape Letters Illustrated http://www.amazon.com/Screwtape-Letters-Special-Illustrated/dp/0061708186
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and why the prince chortles “the skin, the skin, is just a way in” because, it’s not about race! It’s about identity and idolatry, and then, race (of course!), because, seek ye first, and then all these things will be added, and will follow, and they follow, they follow you home, and to sleep at night, and you worship, and you sow, and you reap, strange fruit, and enmity, and what did it doth profiteth you then, to gain, and to lose?
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and HE gave us the ministry of reconciliation and so of course, the other guy [that lion, rumbling, growling, rumbling] gives us the industry of division and consumerism, where the product is the perversion of the imago dei, and the breaking and sundering and consuming of the image bearers (because who can resist his rumbling, it gets in the chest, in the lungs, who can resist his roaring? I have heard it since before the birth)
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or, it is funny, how we are, some of us, so moved by tragedy, like GOD.
and some of us, are moved, in a spirit more in tune with something like that of the rumbling, that growling, that roaring, but would claim that our own rumblings are merely homonymous, when they really, really, really seem synonymous… like
(Via CBS Miami’s YouTube channel)
“I’m not calling [him] a racist. I’m simply saying the racists believe he’s a racist” (and that they really like that about him… rumbling)
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or maybe
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I should acknowledge, that maybe, some of us get caught up in our own tribalism, and that maybe, “Sin is crouching at [my/our] door, and its desire is to have [me/us] and that [I/we] must rule over it” and be aware of that bitter root, because the rumbling waters that root, the roaring nurtures that root, and who can resist? ([I/We] have heard it since before the birth, and in the after birth, in the lungs, in the chest, in the air)
and [I/you/we] only see [me/you/y’all] marching when the killer is white, or blue, and the victim is like [me/us/y’all], folk from the tribe
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and how some of us…. don’t seem to care at all (which is another problem)
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and how that’s not like HIM, WHOSE image we were made in the image of, but how HE had compassion on them, and also, frankly, called it like it was and is,
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and, it’s not nearly as complicated as some people are making it. And, it’s okay to judge, just, judge not lest ye be judged, so count the cost first, and judge carefully, and act kindly in truth and in love, and make a judgement call –before you throw pearls to swine– decide if it’s worth getting your pearls swiney, and if it’s not, then, well, don’t, and if it is, well then, expect your pearls to get swiney. Because pigs gonna be piggy, so don’t be offended. “A hit dog will holler” (does that seem appropriate?).
(But keep in mind, pigs are also really smart…. so they can learn…. But the housebreaking takes work, and they might get piggy on your pearls, and your carpets, and pig on your shoes, and the furniture, before you can teach them to play nice, and not jump on strangers or outsiders, but one day, hey, one day, you just might say, they’re like part of the family! so)
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instead, be moved by compassion, and weep, for Jerusalem(! Oh, Jerusalem! or Midlothian, Chicago, St. Lucie, [or Ferguson, or, Flint, or Baltimore, et al]), because, some (or many?) of the teachers and the teachers of the law don’t get it, and the law doesn’t get it, and those that occupy her with the Pax and the pugio, and the pilum, and the hasta, and the spatha, and the gladius, and the glock, and the Zero Tolerance, and the Broken Windows, and the rough rides, and the Mandatory Minimums, and the lead paint, and the dirty water, and the Bail Bonds Industry, et al, et al, God would gather them all like a mother hen, all like a mother hen, and they are beset on all sides, they are all of them beset on all sides, and some of them are tax collectors, and some of them are centurions, and some of them are prostitutes, and some of them are d-boys, and some of them are dope fiends, and some of them are unjust judges, and some of them are kings and governors, and some of them are zealots, and radicals, and some of them are beggars, and homeless, and some of them are captives, and prisoners, (and such were/are some of you [/these/us]) and some of them will be asked to go a mile, or to turn the other cheek, and some of them will be compelled to restore what they have taken by false accusation (or defrauding) from the populace, legally and not, by the authority of their office and the law of the state, and its principles and -palities, some will be compelled, by another LAW, to restore four times over what was taken, and to declare years of Jubilee, and tax free weekends, and student loan forgiveness, and affordable [healthcare/ housing/ heat/cooling and clean water in schools/ quality food/ access to resources, etc], and some of them are Samaritans and Canaanites, and have been ostracized, and looked down upon, and racially and ethnically marginalized, for generations, like dogs, and have ingested, and believed the lies of the culture (that rumbling, that growling, that rumbling, in the chest, in the lungs) of inferiority, that they are less than whole image bearers, that they are not yet “like GOD”, and have to be reminded that they are worthy, but also, and more importantly, the religious folk, and the church people, and the followers of Christ, they [we?] have to be reminded of that too. Because if they [we?] don’t get it, then they [we?] would build a nation on false identity, motivated and motived by land grabs and low labor costs and minimal overhead and tax breaks by force and gunpowder, and build it with exceptional success, so exceptional in fact, that that nation, as a light, would shine, could do nothing but shine, like a city, on a hill, that cannot be hidden.
But if they [we?] do get it, then the repairers of the breach would live, and work, and live, and steward, and shepherd, and worship, and they [we] would all, together [all], be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and resist the rumbling, and the roar, shut up the roar and the roarer, overwhelm the rumble, and the growl and the roar with the praise and the worship, and establish a throne of praise for the KING, here, like a city, on a hill, so shiny, that cannot be hidden, and destroy the works of the devil, and resist, and he’d flee, as they [as we] move from glory to glory, and a little closer, to what they [we] will [would] be, when they [we] see HIM, for they [we] will [would] be like HIM, and see GOD, just like the poor in spirit, who know that they [we?] are poor in spirit. And rightly, righteously mourn.
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We are all of us poor in spirit, as evidenced, by the Laments and rejoicing in Midlothian and St Lucia, and that sound in St Lucie, and the $4 for the ending of a fiance and father and son (“that’s what I call an abortion”) and the very questions of “By the way, how have you treated the least of these?” and who can resist the rumble, and the roaring, (for it is in the chest, and the lungs)? but woefully, we [we] do not all of us mourn, as evidenced, by the Laments and rejoicing in Midlothian and St Lucia, and the sound in St Lucie, and the $4 for the ending of a fiance and father and son (“now that’s what I call an abortion”) and the very questions of “By the way, how have you treated the least of these?” and who can resist the rumble and the roaring (it has been in the chest, and in the lungs, from before the birth… [of a nation])?
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and so, who will see GOD? and who will see like GOD? And lament?
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: A Commentary, will be coming soon (or, eventually, Lord willing, and writer diligent). The essay(s) will delve further into the inspirations for the Midlothian series, and provide some more works cited and influences, and address all (or most) of the tangential musings listed above in much cleaner, direct prose.
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Nods to Andrew Gillum for the “I’m not calling [him] a racist. I’m simply saying the racists believe he’s a racist” and the “Hit dog will holler” lines. An article can be found here.
Nod to Bizzle for keeping it “Equal Opportunity” consistently, and checking that that tribal zeal doesn’t get unjust on the scales.
Big nods to Derek Minor for that “By the way, how have you treated the least of these?” line from the track “Walls” (ft. Urban Rescue) from the amazing album High Above and the line “Now that’s what I call an abortion” from the track “It Is What It Is” from the amazing album The Trap. GOD bless it.
All images via unsplash unless otherwise noted
Festival of Booths 