The First Supper #IamMatthew

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* Matthew, Holy Church pray for me
* Saints pray for me
*  Dedicated to #IamMatthew

+------The First Supper; Matthew's (Tax Collector) Thoughts While Having Dinner With Jesus 

Blessed the persevering
hands plowing, that scattered
the seed, feet, perhaps
misshapen, scabrous,
of slaves. Treading the
grapes of mercy, fruit
clement, libations of the
goddess Eleos usually left for me
by Greeks for whom I delayed
coin collection. But after all these
years now this –Wine By Candle-
mirth of being regarded human,
my first taste of communal smiling
forever denied me- lamb,
singing, raised goblets of souls
teetering on inebriation. Laughter.
So this is what it feels like
…to be loved.  


-----Matthew 9:9-13
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Something Like Baptism #IamNaaman

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* Elisha, Holy Church pray for me
*  Dedicated to #IamNaaman

+------Something Like Baptism;The Thoughts Of Naaman The Leper Bathing In The Jordan River At Elisha's Request 

The only life I have ever
known – boils and scabs
and barbarism.  To veil
my face (tears), my dignity beneath
layering of war’s blood like shame.
Resent-screams masked by
the bull horn.
Delaying my wife’s company until
moonrise, our smiles candlelit,
her forever aloof shadow-husband.
Loving and lusting in
darkness for light. And…my sin
is my skin is sores and pustules
wicked, begging for righteousness
like cleansing. Seeking virtue
in currents, the Jordan River
like rebirth. Waters please don’t
forsake me now….(God of Israel).

------2 Kings 5:1-15
Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.” As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!” When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage. Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”

Tony Conti's Rich Young Ruler Disappointed By Taylor Swift THE GREAT #TaylorDateTony

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* Mark, Holy Church pray for me
* Saints pray for me
* Dedicated to #TaylorDateTony

+--------Tony Conti's Rich Young Ruler Disappointed By Taylor Swift THE GREAT

Taylor, my singleness
is a Hebrew man, ruler hedonistic,
dropping to his knees, reverently.
Seeking your tutelage, naïve to
the enormity of your
spellbinding grandeur – lips,
enchanting, the song of
gushing rivers (still) in Eden,
your eyes as blue as the sky
revealed when light was created.
Wanting to know methods to
ensure his eternal life, my
loneliness, the riches that
entangle, girls who decline
my dating offers; soulless
adherence to commandments
of misery – not stealing (my romantic
woe), not giving false testimony (of
wanting me to be happy truly),
adultery (of my dull weekends). Oh
but Babes, if you took me to
Starbucks, his rigidity.
Your kiss like requiring full divestiture,
his every ambition to deprive me
of a Bae: wealth that corrupts him.
He’d walk away sad…writhing over
his weaknesses before the lambent
moon, before you and me smiling
at each other over coffee.

------Mark 10:17-31
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Escaping Death

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* Luke, Paul, Stephen, Holy Church pray for me
* Saints pray for me
* Dedicated to #IamStephen

+--------Escaping Death; Stephen's Thoughts While Being Stoned

Its time; By now I can
hear the lilting of angel
choirs, harps of Orpheus,
(but I wont look back) the most
blessed of serenades - Above
the crass clamor of these men who
could never see what I see. The
face of Jesus, evanescent, in
my dreaming, his whispers
“follow me” fading beneath my
fingers outstretched, waking. I
remember how He danced on
water…I want to dance now too.

Jagged rocks heretic-hurled,
precious tinder, my blood
the sweetest spark for
a soul’s love-immolation. Lord
do not hold my death against
them – stones for my sleeping,
(my body pulled over dirt, feces)
so I can awake in your presence.
Dead to them, but Truly Alive.


------Acts 7:54-60
When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.  “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him,  dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Dignity

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* John, Mary Magdalene, Holy Church pray for me
* Saints pray for me
* Dedicated to #IamMary Magdalene

+--------"Dignity; The Response Of Mary Magdalene To The Angels At Jesus' Empty Tomb 'Why Are You Weeping?'"

He alone understood my
soul’s tyranny…the dissimulation
about the life-scars, the pretenses
of being a woman, something
altogether different than
what I was; A vulture glaring
at its reflection in still lakes,
through mascara moonlit, sunken
eyes. I resented everyone, my heart
berating Rome, Caesar, Caiaphas,
Herod to no end, I was Antigone before
suicide seething at King Creon in
dreams. I preyed on sanity…peace I
knew not. I weep because He
was the first to look past the
prostitution without prevarication.
Come follow me, He said,
“You can be my friend.”  

------John 20:11-17
Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Bryce Harper In A Chariot Of Fire #TonyandBryce

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* Elijah, Elisha, Holy Church pray for me
*  Dedicated to #TonyandBryce  #BryceisElijah

+------Bryce Harper In A Chariot Of Fire

Bryce, your baseball acumen a
cachet most revered: outfield
play selfless, moving to your
teammates…a widow’s son
miraculously raised from death;
Your home runs fire, heaven’s-skies
-invoked, reducing visitor's pitchers
to enemy soldiers of Ahazaiah
turned char and ash, loss-smoke.
Your hair august, the magic of ravens
providing meat of wonder to DC fans.
Your RBI’s like manifold jars of
oil multiplying forever. And now, the
MLB playoffs a whirlwind
before you spiraling wildly with
opportunity, the World Series a
chariot awaiting, circumscribed
by flames, horses with red eyes
on two legs neighing otherworldly.
I’m Elisha on the other side of
the Jordan, watching steadfastly.
When you win MVP, please…leave
me a double portion of your spirit.

------2 Kings 2:1-14
When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.”
But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.” Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.” Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on. Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.” As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two. Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

The Manna of Kirk Cousins #TonyandKirk

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* Moses, Holy Church pray for me
* Saints pray for me
* Dedicated to #TonyandKirk

+--------The Manna of Kirk Cousins

Kirk, by now the Redskins duly
famished, a team harangued as
Hebrew people, robes, hair disheveled
sand speckled cheeks
from sleeping and running,
sleeping and running (through
NFL seasons) scurrying from an
oppressor’s fate of missing the
playoffs - Pharaoh
imprecatory on opposite shores of
the Red Sea (MetLife Stadium).
And you are Moses, Terrelle
Pryor, Aaron. The Egyptian paradox of
fans, people screaming for
pots of meat they had before:
you traded, a team bereft of
greatness- ertswhile whips of mediocrity
of Dallas Cowboy taskmasters.
Now is the time…feed the people.
This season your touchdown
passes, rushing yards like prayers
yielding bread as rain from heaven.
Miraculous MVP success like angel food.
We will name your 2018 Superbowl
Trophy: Manna.


------Exodus 16
The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt,  and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.” Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud. The Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’” That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’” The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed. Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.” However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’” So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.” Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” So the people rested on the seventh day. The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.  Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’” So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.” As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved. The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. (An omer is one-tenth of an ephah.)

The (Formerly) Dry Bones Of Tony Conti's Dating Life; The Life Of Taylor Swift #TaylorDateTony

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* Ezekiel, Holy Church pray for me
* Saints pray for me
*  Dedicated to #TaylorDateTony

+------The (Formerly) Dry Bones Of Tony Conti's Dating Life; The Life Of Taylor Swift 

 Taylor, single life is my
heart bastardized, a peoples
yoked from beneath wool
sheets in the middle of the
night and whipped, enslaved…
assimilated into a Pagan life
of loneliness, dating rejection,
all girls the cruelest of captors,
Nebuchadnezzar. My emotions
dried bones in the midst of a valley,
broad, open, hopeless. Oh but
babes, I imagine you altruistic.
Your smile, your face, your lips…
two blue eyes like my sinews, flesh,
skin. If you took me to Starbucks,
a commotion of assemblage
of bones of romance- bone to bone.
If you smiled at me, kissed me…
An animating gust of sweet
breath, my soul windswept. Like
my desire to fall in love a lively
Hebrew people sitting erect tossing
aside gravestones, standing tall…
tall again.

-----Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the LORD was upon me, and the LORD carried me out in a spirit, and set me down in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones; and He caused me to pass by them round about, and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And He said unto me: ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ And I answered: ‘O Lord GOD, Thou knowest.’ Then He said unto me: ‘Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them: O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD: Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.’ So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a commotion, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I beheld, and, lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. Then said He unto me: ‘Prophesy unto the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath: Thus saith the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great host. Then He said unto me: ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say: Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.
Therefore prophesy, and say unto them: Thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, O My people. And I will put My spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I will place you in your own land; and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken, and performed it, saith the LORD.’

Babylon's Lost and Found

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* Ezekiel, Holy Church pray for me
* Saints pray for me
*  Dedicated to #IamEzekiel

+------Babylon's Lost and Found; The Thoughts Of Ezekiel On The Bank Of The Chebar River

On the banks of the Chebar,
sitting, slumped shouldered
with Babylon’s slaves, our
feet dipped in water, the
current of its streams like
blood of Hebrews wrenched
from houses slaughtered,
raped, or beaten and enchained.
The current washing over
like justice. And I’ve begun
to see things others
have not, can not (in stormy
winds from the north): Four
creatures, four faces (lion, ox, man,
eagle), four wings, feet like calves.
Hasting towards me with wheels
with rings full of eyes: A message
of God (a throne of fire, rainbow),
of liberation. “Go tell your people…
'Hope.' ...Israel Redeemed.”

------Ezekiel 1:1-28
Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar that the heavens opened, and I saw visions of God. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity, the word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar. And the hand of the Lord was there upon him. And I looked, and, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with a fire flashing up, so that a brightness was round about it; and out of the midst as the color of electrum, out of the midst of the fire. And out of the midst came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one of them had four wings. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and as for the faces and wings of them four. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man; and they four had the face of a lion on the right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four had also the face of an eagle. Thus were their faces; and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies. And they went every one straight forward; whither the spirit was to go, they went; they turned not when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like coals of fire, burning like the appearance of torches; it flashed up and down among the living creatures; and there was brightness to the fire, and out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel at the bottom hard by the living creatures, at the four faces thereof. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the color of a beryl; and they four had one likeness; and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went toward their four sides; they turned not when they went. As for their rings, they were high and they were dreadful; and they four had their rings full of eyes round about. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went hard by them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the bottom, the wheels were lifted up. Whithersoever the spirit was to go, as the spirit was to go thither, so they went; and the wheels were lifted up beside them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. When those went, these went, and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up beside them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. And over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of a firmament, like the color of the terrible ice, stretched forth over their heads above. And under the firmament were their wings conformable the one to the other; this one of them had two which covered, and that one of them had two which covered, their bodies. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a noise of tumult like the noise of a host; when they stood, they let down their wings. For, when there was a voice above the firmament that was over their heads, as they stood, they let down their wings. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man upon it above. And I saw as the color of electrum, as the appearance of fire round about enclosing it, from the appearance of his loins and upward; and from the appearance of his loins and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.

The Discernment Of A Girl

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* Luke, Peter, Holy Church pray for me
*  Dedicated to #Iamtheservantgirl

+------The Discernment Of A Girl; The Words Of The Servant Girl To Peter In The Chief Priest's Courtyard 

The crackling of thorns of
a courtyard’s fire…hammer of
Daedalus building, striking wood
and nail, your conscience,
the iron blade smoothing
mortar for tonight’s Labyrinth.
And your heart the Minotaur futilely,
frantically apace, tracing memory’s
cherished fingers across remorse-
brick haunted by lying. Back and forth.
I see it in your eyes, a soul
otherworldly; you’ve witnessed
things no one else has,
furrows in your brow of angst
of sorrow, attesting to it. You
twitch unconsciously, fearfully like
you know deep within…if that Man
dies in the priest’s house, you die.
Surely, you know Him.

------Luke 22:54-57
Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.”

The Rise Of John Wall, Ancient Assyria's 2018 NBA King #TonyandWall

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* Isaiah, Holy Church pray for me
*  Dedicated to #TonyandWall, #JohnisTiglath-Pileser

+------The Rise Of John Wall, Ancient Assyria's 2018 NBA King 

And Lebron, you are Pikah,
NBA’s King of Israel. On
the court your Superteams- political
effrontery like oppressive decrees
unjust, other NBA teams: the poor,
the widowed, subjects fatherless.
You bow before idols unattainable,
6 rings, Michael Jordan’s greatness
-sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat.
And now a savage nation rises
in DC... of teamwork, defense,
rebounding ingenious; 3 point shots
like horses that snort thick black
nostril ash, teeth of coals the opposing
cities’ playoff hopes flailing in
agony’s defeat. Their King,
John Wall, Tiglath-Pileser of
Assyria, his assists like burning
and looting. His dunks, iron
arrows, slings and daggers of a
barbarian. In 2018 marching to
slay your “big three,” to right
all your wrongs, to punish with
a Championship ring. Divine
judgement.

------Isaiah 10:1-11; 2 Kings 15:27-31
Woe to those who make unjust laws,
    to those who issue oppressive decrees,
to deprive the poor of their rights
    and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
    and robbing the fatherless.
What will you do on the day of reckoning,
    when disaster comes from afar?
To whom will you run for help?
    Where will you leave your riches?
Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives
    or fall among the slain.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
    his hand is still upraised.
God’s Judgment on Assyria
“Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger,
    in whose hand is the club of my wrath!
I send him against a godless nation,
    I dispatch him against a people who anger me,
to seize loot and snatch plunder,
    and to trample them down like mud in the streets.
But this is not what he intends,
    this is not what he has in mind;
his purpose is to destroy,
    to put an end to many nations.
‘Are not my commanders all kings?’ he says.
     ‘Has not Kalno fared like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad,
    and Samaria like Damascus?
As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols,
    kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—
shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images
    as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’”;
In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.
In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maakah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people to Assyria. Then Hoshea son of Elah conspired against Pekah son of Remaliah. He attacked and assassinated him, and then succeeded him as king in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah. As for the other events of Pekah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

Taylor Swift Walking On Tony Conti's Loneliness As Dry Land #TaylorDateTony

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* Matthew pray for me
* Saints pray for me
*  Dedicated to #TaylorDateTony

+------Taylor Swift Walking On Tony Conti's Loneliness As Dry Land 

Taylor, my singleness is a boat
teetering, twelve men drifting, shifting,
disciples of romantic ideals
unconvinced, beneath the full dating
moon’s sorrowful shining (exploitative)
glare. The tears. And there are
no other girls supportive, soft winds,
just silence, the occasional
flutter of Leviathan beneath,
lurking in Galilee’s Sea, the prospect
of being lonely forever, bursting from
below to devour my heart alive. Oh but
babes, I imagine you glorious,
at the pinnacle of the tallest mountain
of my fantasies tracking me. Your
blue eyes diamonds lowering
from heaven, your soft lips corals
from Eden stirring angelic waves
as you descend. If we went to Starbucks,
held my hands, a cute ghost of hope.
Like you dancing on waters of
the impossible as if love was
dry land to your beautiful feet.

------Matthew 14:22-27
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

The Voice Of (My) God

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* Elijah pray for me
* Saints pray for me
*  Dedicated to #IamElijah

+------The Voice Of (My) God; Elijah's Thoughts At Horeb's Peak 

This is the beginning and end
of all that I am and know; The apogee
of Horeb, the highest of mountains,
the curious staring of scraggly
mountain goats, the cutting wolf-
blood-stained-fur-glares…growling
as from remorse of murdering
too many innocent souls
stranded while climbing. Me face
to face, eyes closed, with the
gales of my insecurities, tremors of
earth of past failures that haunt
my sleep. The blazing, obstinate
fire of rage at all the abuses
I’ve suffered from wicked men,
wicked hands. But then,
a gentle comforting whisper
like a cool, soft breeze: “I am
still God…don’t lose heart.”

------1 Kings 19:9b-13
And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

The Last Words Of An Eternal King

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* David, Solomon pray for me
* Saints pray for me
*  Dedicated to #IamDavid

+------ The Last Words Of An Eternal King; David's Thoughts As Solomon Rode To Gihon

In hindsight I’ve always yearned
for this…in the cave of Adullam’s
darkness in devil death whispers of
phantoms spasmodic; The recesses of
Saul’s chambers within the flash of
the second it took me to duck his spear,
hallucinate…through the saline
eulogies for Uriah, my bedsheets
the flood of Noah sweeping my
craven Old World’s heart away. And
I first felt it in Jonathan’s covenant-hug
when we met. And now this...gasping
my last breaths: the silhouette of a
mule carrying my son to Jerusalem:
his head, my Crown, the first of many to
rule my Kingdom forever. God is good,
the prophecies of Samuel all true.
I rest in peace now, my spirit eternal.

------1 Kings 1:28-40
Then King David said, “Call in Bathsheba.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him. The king then took an oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, I will surely carry out this very day what I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel: Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.” Then Bathsheba bowed down with her face to the ground, prostrating herself before the king, and said, “May my lord King David live forever!” King David said, “Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” When they came before the king, he said to them: “Take your lord’s servants with you and have Solomon my son mount my own mule and take him down to Gihon. There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ Then you are to go up with him, and he is to come and sit on my throne and reign in my place. I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah.” Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, so declare it. As the Lord was with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon to make his throne even greater than the throne of my lord King David!” So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon mount King David’s mule, and they escorted him to Gihon. Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon. Then they sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!” And all the people went up after him, playing pipes and rejoicing greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound.

A Prisoner's Dream

* Spirit of Jesus pray for me
* Paul, Peter, Luke, Holy Church pray for me
* Saints pray for me
*  Dedicated to #IamPeter

+------A Prisoner's Dream; Peter's Thoughts Chained In Prison Before Falling Asleep 

Ive made peace with it:
death, a stygian drift
into paradisiac lands. I
remember John’s recollection
of Jesus’ body hanging,
languid, the vacant eyes,
him wondering what to make
of it all…and now this.
I imagine myself Spartacus
I imagine myself noble,
a son of the revolution to come,
flanked by two sentries
who despise me, these shackles
about my wrists, an old way of life
that can trap the body not the soul.
I can sleep in peace- when I die I see
Jesus. This prison a castle in Heaven’s
Empire coming. Sempiternal.

-----Acts 12:1-10
t was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

The Writing On Tom Brady's Wall; Kirk Cousins Hand In Babylon #TonyandKirk #HTTR

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* Daniel, Holy Church pray for me
* Saints pray for me
* Dedicated to #TonyandKirk #HTTR

+--------The Writing On Tom Brady's Wall; Kirk Cousins Hand In Babylon

Kirk, Tom Brady is
Belshazzar, ignominious
King of the Patriots, of Babylon:
at a palace feast. His teammates a
thousand barbarous lords praising
their own talent as gods of gold, silver,
brass, iron, wood, stone. Debauched
and dissolute, gluttonous- coach
Belichick and assistants, all
barbarous princes smug, inebriated
from champion’s wine of
Lombardi trophies…Superbowl
Rings: golden and silver vessels
plundered from Jerusalem’s temple,
Fed Ex Field in Landover, MD. But
your forthcoming MVP season
retributive disembodied fingers
of a man's hand. Writing suddenly
over the candlestick upon the plaister
of the wall: “Mene, Mene, Tekel,
Upharsin.”“The Redskins Will Destroy
The Patriots In 2018’s Superbowl.”

------Daniel 5
Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof. Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied. Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed: There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers; Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation. Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry? I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing: And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom. Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. And this is the writing that was written, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. This is the interpretation of the thing: Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Peres; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

Tony Conti's Conversion On Damascus's Road: His Heart Falling For Taylor Swift #TaylorDateTony

* Spirit of Jesus pray for me
* Paul, Luke, Ananais, Holy Church pray for me
* Saints pray for me
*  Dedicated to #TaylorDateTony

+------Tony Conti's Conversion On Damascus's Road: His Heart Falling For Taylor Swift

Taylor, I was blind before, really.
My heart a pious Hebrew,
galloping fiery eyed for Damascus,
strident…self-assured, a false
sense of security girded by
Gamaliel’s precepts- that sincerity
charms, vulnerability’s appreciated;
a sword in my soul’s hands hell-bent
on destroying my rejection from
girls, heartbreak on dateless nights:
Christians, the most loathsome
of peoples. But babes, your smile,
resplendent (blinding), your blue
eyes a thunderous ethereal
voice of enchantment chiding my
emotions: “Tony, Tony why are
you persecuting [love’s ideal]?” If
you took me to Starbucks, like my
cynicism flung to the ground blinded,
the horse of all I knew standing
on two legs neighing manically; Me
sore, disavowing old romantic pieties
of bowing before other girls.
Because with you, over coffee
all things become new. If you kissed
me, Ananais laying two hands on
my face, lovelornness like scales
falling from my joy’s eyes. To be
your boyfriend’d be like seeing life
for the first time.

-----Acts 9:1-19
Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.

Ready When You Come

* Spirit of Jesus pray for me
* David, Samuel, Holy Church pray for me
* Saints pray for me
*  Dedicated to #IamBathsheba

+------Ready When You Come; Bathsheba's Words To Uriah While Washing On Her Roof 

And when youre away….
every day a summer solstice,
my heart an owl forever staring
at the midnight sun
praying to it’s moon. My mourning
body yearning for seasons,
for cycles of change, my
menstrual blood, mercurial,
streaming like tears from
my soul staining my clothes.
So whenever kings go to war…
I feel the most unclean, I feel
an unremitting need to wash,
wash, wash; my grief, my loneliness.
A bath, a ceremony, to be ritually
pure when you come back home.  

-----2 Samuel 11:2
David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.