Waiting For You

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* John, Phillip, Nathaniel, Holy Church pray for me
* Saints pray for me
*  Dedicated to #IamNathaniel

+------Waiting For You; Nathaniel Revealing His Prior Thoughts Beneath The Fig Tree Upon Meeting Jesus 

Under the fig tree I mused,
a wolf surveying the skyline
dappled with glimmering of stars
before howling, about the prospect
of demise of the Empire (Caesar’s).
How even Achilles, implacable, had
a vulnerability, at least one. That
for Hebrews, these privations of
justice are too many. Too
many women snatched by Roman
guards, scuffed shields always bloody,
the foul stench of skin unwashed; At
synagogue too many babies gaunt, shrieking.
I thought: “Moses, you promised us
a Savior. Where is he? Its time.”

------John 1:43-51
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”.

Not Tempted

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

+------Not Tempted; Jesus' Response To Satan In The Wilderness

I have known, in this plane,
post-Edenic decay, disenchantment;
An eagle, wings clipped, in
a frenzied tailspin plunging
from celestial tufts of clouds
now bipedal. Talons submerged
in mud, waste, byproduct of
mortals. Of this I know you’re
familiar: discharged in dishonor, a
blazing ball cratering the ground
of an illusory kingdom. And we
both know what glitters here
isnt gold. Dross of dying pervasive,
man’s misery like dregs of
black holes, Hell’s masochistic fury of
comets intent to massacre all. And
you ask me…to bow before you
to share this? No. I'd rather
go back to heaven.

------Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

"The Bush That Forever Burns #taylordatetony

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

+------The Bush That Forever Burns 

Taylor, singleness, I swear
is sandals frazzling in Midian, is casting
uninspired glances at past
rejection from girls as insipid
barely woolen sheep, (in a cynics
linen robe, wrapped turban), it
is wandering full of yearning,
sand specks o’ regret stinging eyes
of extrapolating, for romance. It’s
barrenness of Love at Mount Horeb’s
base.  But babes! Us as pure metonymy…
your blue eyes, lustrous hair a
bush glorious – burning wildly but not
consumed. Your soft lips like a
coaxing “Moses! Moses! [Tony! Tony!]”
Coffee with you at Starbucks’d be
sublime, like removing the sandals,
asking you your secret name.
If we kissed, courage to go back
to Egypt (my loneliness) a conqueror. 

------Exodus 3:1-14
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

The Oath

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* David, Samuel Holy Church pray for me
* Saints pray for me
*  Dedicated to #IamDavid

+------The Oath; David's Offer To Fight Goliath 

Brothers, I am not scared.
My milieu prepped me for this,
for this exactly I have filed down
stone, sharpened rocks as spear tips.
Nightly, I address my sheep in the
sheepfold in soft tones, a battalion
in woolen armor: “do not run, stand
pat.” …Your shepherd will waylay the
lion, bear. "The ephemeral
stars often glitter then fade, but
this pledge is perpetual." So why
would I run from an insolent dog, a
Giant, a blight on humankind, a
filthy Philistine God-profaning?
My Shepherd, in turn, goes before me. 
…I willingly fight this Goliath, no fear.

------1 Samuel 17:26-33
David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.” When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”
“Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

For My People

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* Esther, Holy Church pray for me
*  Dedicated to #IamEsther

+------ For My People; Esther's Plea To The King

When I was young,
nestled in my bed in solitude,
my fears thick like wool
of sheep, arms wrapped
about my knees bent,
staring into constellations
seeking consolation for my
Mom, Dad, deceased but still
soul whisperers…I begged
God for a family. And now,
at the ledge of the flat earth
of genocide, my life at risk for my kin.
But I know the dark-evils. I have lurked
in shadows of being alone, unwanted.
To the king, my husband...curse me
if you wish for imposing. But I beg,
save my people…or give me death.


------Esther 7:1-10
So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet, and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.” Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.” King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?” Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life. Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?” As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.” The king said, “Impale him on it!” So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.

The Raiders Devoured #TonyandKirk #HTTR

* Spirit Of Jesus pray for me
* John, Mary, Holy Church pray for me
*  Dedicated to #TonyandKirk #KirkisElisha


+------The Raiders Devoured

Kirk, the running of Marshawn
Lynch, passes of Derek
Carr: connivance, the mob
-clatter infernal of charlatan
youths lurching onto main
roads to Bethel, Fed Ex Field.
Marshawn’s dance like epithets
spewed at Washington DC,
“Get out of here, baldy!” “Get out
of here, baldy!” …worthy
of divine recrimination. But your QB
intelligence like Raiders curses,
agility of Chris Thompson
imprecatory snark. It is the scent of
prey to fans, stirred out of dark foliage
of losing seasons like two bears
starved, ravenous. A Redskins
win tonight 42 pirate-punks mauled.  

------2 Kings 2:23-25
From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.

Ladder Of Opportunit

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

+------Ladder Of Opportunity; Jacob's Thoughts After Dreaming Of The Ladder 

It haunts me at night, my
fears. The stars transmuting,
fusing together to form a grand dragon
pale…the clouds, smoke fumes
discharged from his mouth’s
roaring. Red eyes glaring at
me like failure. In the distance, I hear
intensifying epithets of my father for
being deceived. I often wake
panting, sweat like streams fleeing
Eden recently lost. But this night, this land
is different, Angels as proselytes,
working fate, ascending and
descending a ladder of God in the sky
on my behalf. Like they want to
believe too…all of this isn’t chance.
Like my dream of a better life suddenly
calls; Heaven’s Gate unbarred, opening.
Bethel: city of my seed forever.

------Genesis 28:10-22
Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran.  When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”