The Calm Storm

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+-----The Calm Storm; Jesus' Thoughts As He Walked To His  Disciples Languishing  On The Sea

At times, I hate
the natural order
of things; the pervasive
paradigm of unbelief in
the pliability of matter
peddled: Edenic
schemes of Satan....
I think of Poseidon whirling
his trident, eyes hollowed,
his shell-carriage flanked
by nymphs cleaving
the surface of the ocean
as if wood cut. His sea
horses wailing, full of rage.
Wishing to drive this point
home to my disciples
trembling – if by faith's
power you can walk on
water as dry land -
you can do anything. 

------Matthew 14:22-25
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.

Bargaining

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*  Dedicated to #IamLonginus

+------Bargaining; The Thoughts Of The Centurion After Jesus Died

I have known Demeter's
heart now- broken
for Persephone, pining
for a compromise
propitious with Death.
If I could rescind time: pry
nails rusted from hands
and feet, pin the thick briar
crown on my own crude head,
not his, slap the water bowl from
Pilate’s hands, I would.
And Ive seen men die for
country, but never devote
dying breaths to redeem their
killers. Truly, this was God’s
Son. And I am sorry.  If only with
horses Hades would return…
snatch me into his chariot instead.

------Mark 15:33-39
At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

Eternity Without Walls

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*  Dedicated to #thetransfiguration

+------Eternity Without Walls; Jesus'  Thoughts While Transfigured

And this…is Love
safely atomized, Semele
beholding Zeus’s true
form without Impossibility’s
fire devouring her soul
whole. Her arms stretched
to Mt Olympus as if
saluting the gods for
reversing time; To you -my
closest friends - I manifest,
now, God’s glory, unbridled,
without consequence. Eden
naked, bare, the Tree
of Life vulnerable, (trepid).
Formally extending
the invitation to all mankind:
“follow after me, Ive come
to bring you back Home.”


------Matthew 17:1-9
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Alex Smith In The Lions' Den #httr #Redskins #tonyandalex

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*  Dedicated to #httr #tonyandalex #redskins

+------Alex Smith  In The Lions' Den

Alex, Dak Prescott
and the Cowboys- 120 gridiron
satraps and administrators
of King Darius (Roger Goodell)
Persian, minatory, sinister. Their
breath odious. They’ve propagated
a decree perverse:
that you, your teammates, Skins’s
fans bow to a gargantuan Goodell
stone monument of your 2019 NFL
playoff absence, a Patriots/Cowboys
Superbowl. Washington’s dreams
hurled into a den of mediocrity, savage
lions of NFC East despair within snarling.
Hungry for broken hearts of losing
players. But today, your sharp
passing’ll be an angel legion
encircling, valiant. Your speed/agility
on 3rd and long, wild beasts of
ineptitude tamed. When you throw
the game winning TD, like the first
light of dawn revealing you victorious.
The King astounded, the lions of the
Redskins’s past failures purring. 


------Daniel 6:13-23
Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.” When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him. Then the men went as a group to King Darius and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.” So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep. At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.” The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

Alexandra Daddario In Tony Conti's Lion Pit Of Despair #tonyandalexandra

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*  Dedicated to #tonyandalexandra

+------Alexandra  Daddario In Tony Conti's Lion Pit Of  Despair

Alexandra, the girls
in my life before you- 120
satraps and 2 administrators
of King Darius (singleness)
in Persia conspiring; To contrive of
ham-fisted means to snare
my heart for rebuffing loneliness’s
idolatry: An edict to bow to a
monument of stone of dating
rejection as Love’s God. My sorrow
a stygian pit, the prospects of me
bae-less forever: fierce lions therein
unfed, roaring, swiping claws at
captivity’s regret. But Alex! Your eyes
are fulgent archangels, blue romantic
Guardians of my soul. Your lips like a
miracle of wild sadistic beasts tamed.
If you took me to McDonald’s,
my joy and safety. If we held hands
over coffee -the light at first dawn
illumining that once morose pit,
the King amazed at me (with a bae)-
rubbing lion bellies of all silly
girls’ ploys. Smiling broadly.


------Daniel 6:13-23
Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.” When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him. Then the men went as a group to King Darius and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.” So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep. At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.” The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

Just One More Night

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* Saints pray for me
*  Dedicated to #IamDaniel

+------Just One More Night; Daniel's Words To The Lions In  Captivity

As soon as my feet touch earth,
6 sets of eyes, red,
encircle; a snarl-
convocation descending
to quickly determine
its division of blood labor.
(Then pitch black.) I stand and
make my appeal: "my brothers (gaunt,
weary) I have gleaned with my own
ears prophecies of Isaiah, fortuitous.”
That a lion’s true dwelling
is above, not in a den constricted.
Comingling with his creation- sleeping
on lamb’s wool, to climb, perched atop
the Tree of Life surveying the world
picturesque, to slake his thirst in
Rivers eternal. Hunger pangs 
abolished forever.
That my God is a Lion (of Judah) too.
“Just give me one night, and I swear…
tomorrow I will set you all free” 


------Daniel 6:13-23
Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.” When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him. Then the men went as a group to King Darius and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.” So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep. At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.” The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

Chris Thompson's, The Redskins' Temple Tax Paid In Full #httr #Redskins #tonyandchris

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*  Dedicated to #tonyandchris #httr #Redskins

+------Chris Thompson's, The Redskins'  Temple Tax Paid  In Full 

Chris, Drew Brees and
Sean Peyton - collectors
of the NFL playoff’s
two-drachma Temple tax
grim, implacable; standing
contrary to your Superbowl
dreams in Capernaum
(New Orleans) football’s
epicenter of panache: But
your speed, agility, soft
hands are a (scatback) line
thrown out into a lake of Redskin
Superbowl hopes. Tonight
when you juke your defender,
score your 3rd touchdown, currency
miraculous. Like a fish with a
four-drachma coin in its mouth,
shooting from destiny’s shores
to the surface. Your post season
taxes paid in full; for you,
all Skins fans worldwide.


------Matthew 17:24-27
After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

Capernaum: Something Like Mount Olympus

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*  Dedicated to #IamPeter

+------Capernaum: Something Like Mount Olympus; Peter's Thoughts  While Grabbing The Four-Drachma Coin From The Fish's Mouth

The (yellow) four-drachma
coin in my hand miraculous,
still wet, stirs hallucinations
vivid – I see Zeus brandishing
his gold aegis before
Titans, courageously fighting
for his most culminating victory:
freedom from slavery. And now…
12 Hebrews, disciples, follow
a Savior, Virgin-Born, into war
(spiritual) -something like Greek myth
– to repeal classism [like Titans].
First in Jerusalem, then Rome,
then the world. “That coin will pay
the Temple tax for us both”
Jesus said. As if to say “share
the aegis with me. When the battle
against Herod/Caesar/Satan [injustice,
poverty, sickness, sin] is won, you…
and all men…will be like Zeus too.”

------Matthew 17:24-27
After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” From others,” Peter answered. “Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

Alexandra Daddario Paying Tony Conti's Temple Tax #tonyandalexandra

* Spirit of Jesus pray for me
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*  Dedicated to #tonyandalexandra

+------Alexandra Daddario Paying Tony Conti's Temple Tax

Alex, singleness is 12 disciples
banded together, frayed-robes
-ragged-sandals-clad; scruffy
beards the degenerative effect
of loneliness. My heart, Peter
haggling with cruel girls’ dating
refusals like two-drachma
coin collectors barring entry
into Love’s Temple.
Wolves snarling before a carcass
freshly hunted. But your smile:
the currency of angels,
your eyes as turquoise as Love’s
Savior's, as the adjoining lake –
the Alcyonian lake – your voice
like soft winds and ripples
therein. If you took me to
McDonald’s it’d be a caught fish;
Our kiss a four drachma coin of your
altruism in its mouth to pay the tax. 

------Matthew 17:24-27
After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

(Shaq's) Reckoning In The Valley Of Achor #tonyandDwight #wizards #nba

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*  Dedicated to #TonyandDwight #Wizards #NBA

+------(Shaq's)  Reckoning  In The Valley Of  Achor

Shaq, your insults against
Dwight, intractable; your insolent
IG rant like coveting.
Like Achan’s theft of a robe
from Babylonia, shekels of silver
and a bar of gold, a pox
on your legacy, fatal: 36 men
of Israel, innocent (The Wizards’
Organization), routed by swords
of soldiers of Ai (your public folly).
And Dwight’s 2018/19 NBA dominance
will be your indictment. His monstrous
dunks Joshua leading a coerced
procession- sons, daughters, cattle,
donkeys, sheep (of your haughtiness)
to the Valley of Achor (social media)
for reckoning. When he merits
All Star status, the communal stoning
of your vapidity. The burning
of your “Superman” delusion, finally. 

------Joshua 7:19-26
Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.” Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: When I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord. Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor.  Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today. Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since.