It’s a paradigm shift – an anomaly in the matrix,
We are walking,
Yes we’re walking,
On Holy ground

I have never seen it like this before
More people are talking
More people are walking
And they’re headed for the door

We’re through the looking glass
Standing on the river’s shore
The beast is rising up
We can’t go back no more

The siren’s song comes to us
Across the waves
And through the night
We’re through the looking glass
Standing on the river’s shore
The beast is rising up
And we can’t go back no more

We call you from Gallipoli – the Light Brigade – the River Kwai
From death camps on the Mekong, and from mountain’s cave and den
We call you from desertion to the wilderness and scented bed

From Flanders Fields and Auschwitz – from Stalingrad and Diamond Head
From hulls of sulking vessels where you there entombed let out your desperate cry
From revolutions barricades and terror in the night

Rise up you citizens of Dresden, Hiroshima, and ye men of countless other struggles, wars and conflicts, ye who bore the sword and died in trenches, lost at sea or given to the scourge of barren inhumanity
We call you – here to witness
We call you to proclaim
The futility of our supposed
Redemption of ourselves

The darkness that surrounds us
That we all know all too well

We summon you to stand before us
And in simplicity to tell
That we might find the way to honor
All your sacrifice

Ye perished from the conflicts
All who’ve borne the searing flame of the men who rode in conquest
We are calling out your names

For the scourge is come upon us
And we’re drifting into night
The wars are on every side
Soon to ebb and flow to one
These earthly kingdoms failing
Tribulation has begun

Seers and prophets gone before
Have given warning of these days
Now the skies are full of violence
All around we see the haze
Of the burning and the night
Is filled with tremors and
With cries

So we summon you before us
In your endless ranks
To tell, that the road
Of our determination
Is most sure the road to Hell

We call you here as witnesses
Against the rising tide
When destruction comes upon us
That you’ll stand here by our side

Give us your voice
Seasoned and tempered
Yea, one hundred million strong
Gather here from every nation
Every corner of the Earth
Every tongue and every tribe
Every child, every bride

Sing to us a song of redemption
Lest we follow thee in vain
Call upon us to prevent
Further bloodshed, further stain
Further war and further slaughter
Further insolence and pain

Close your ranks
As you surround us
From the killing fields
Now past

Shout your anthems
Stand before us
Yours to speak and signify
That in war we’re all consumed
In the adverse flames and wrought
For a futile celebration
That your lives were given for naught

We call you from Gallipoli
From Flanders Fields
From Nagasaki’s bomb
We call you from your killing fields
We call you from your tombs

We call in desperation
For we see the hour come
That except these days
Are shortened – none
Will prevail, all will perish
Every war was fought in vain

We are calling you as witnesses
We are calling you by name

The night is falling
And we are alone
The cold is overcoming
And though the stars shine bright
We seek to walk among you
O’ surround us with your light
Purchased with the
Gift and treasure
Of your substance and your lives.

(My Window Sill)
Shifting light, shifting emphasis

Glancing down a darkened hallway

Watching for the sun to rise

Subtle nuances of light

Giving credence to the vision of our eyes

Tonal clarity, amber in the dance

Sunset on a hillside and on stone

And mortar, casting shadows

Sparkling on the lake

Walking hand in hand with wind upon the meadows

Grey and white, black and ice

Every hue from pink to gold and embers

Adding rivulets of smoke

And rain and freezing crystal,

Fire and sudden shredding lightning’s stroke

Every bold statement of color

Delicate hues, faded, peeled and bleached

Each one has its tale to tell

Looking through the glass

As the light falls on my widow sill.

]]> http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2008/07/23/shifting-light/feed/ 0 http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2008/07/11/charlie/ http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2008/07/11/charlie/#comments Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:42:40 +0000 BBennettJ http://www.undertheolivetree.com/?p=97 Charlie

Charlie is done in pencil

He can’t afford ink

Or artist’s palette

Or to be immortalized in song

There is no studio to have him sit

And capture subtle hues

Of the color of his eyes

Or hair

Or any of the lines that etched his face

From all the challenges of life

That made him strong.

These days if it’s important

Charlie has to stop

And meditate a moment

Just to catch his thoughts.

He loves a lot of simple things

Tomato plants and sun dog rings.

He walks a lot.

And in the afternoon he sleeps.

But Charlie’s life is full

Of all the finer things

Neighbors, and children that he loves

Panoramic blue skies

With thunder storms

And lightning’s crash

The sunset and the misty dawn.

Sometime soon before you know it

Charlie will be passing on.

We are crossing a river

Deep and wide

And before we enter, let’s pray

And then I have something to say.

We have picked the safest way across

And we’ve tried to think it through

There are some of us who could cross alone

But they are reticent and few

The current is dangerous and swift

But cross the river we must

For here we face annihilation

That far bank is our salvation

Perish none or perish all

We have determined and agreed

So to each other we’ll hold on

And Peter and his men will lead

Remember our deliberations

And calm the little ones – take heed

To each and every admonition

Let’s proceed most carefully

And as we enter into the water

Do not fear or hesitate

Remember angels watching o’er us

On that far shore we’ll celebrate.

Fool enough to follow

Fool enough to believe

Fool enough to take a stand

Fool enough to speak up

Fool enough to ask

Fool enough to listen

Fool enough to trust His Word

Fool enough to to play the fool

For all the fools who won’t

Fool enough to see the foolishness

Of all the great accomplishments of men

To watch the river carry

All the memory of days and nights

Of toil and struggle

Anguish and conflict

All out war

And even the delight

Of the softest touch

And warm embrace

And kisses in the night

All foolishness and vanity

Destined to be weighed

And judged

The chaff to wind

The stubble, fire

The ashes and the dust

In rivulets to flow

Beneath the grass and weeds

And what remains and will endure?

The foolishness of Love.

]]> http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2008/05/29/fool-for-christ/feed/ 0 http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2008/05/29/refugees/ http://www.undertheolivetree.com/2008/05/29/refugees/#comments Thu, 29 May 2008 16:02:38 +0000 BBennettJ http://www.undertheolivetree.com/?p=90 Refugees

Bowing their heads as they go

Shoulders drooped

Discouraged

Tattered

Empty and stressed

Looking for something to save them

Longing for peace

Longing for rest

Battling out of the swift pollution

Crawling up on the shore

Bound for chains and slavery

Bound to suffer more

If only I could save them

There’s no choice but passing on

The time of escape from the horror

Slipped away and is gone

Men and women

And babes in arms

Feeble

Not able to stand

Clinging to some battered treasure

Some are walking

Some are wavering

Some groping forth

On their hands

And their knees

Refugees

Twas then that I began

To play the fool

For all reason was abandoned

Good and Evil were embraced

So answer not the fool

Lest thou be just like him

For folly has an end

As the darkness yields to dawn

The sun will rise

The seeds will grow

We’ll reap a mighty harvest

Then we will be moving on

A fool to be a pilgrim?

You’re a fool to chase the wind.

For a Prince, it’s unbecoming

And your foolishness is sin.

So answer not the fool

Lest thou be just like him

For folly has an end

As the darkness yields to dawn

The sun will rise

The seeds will grow

We’ll reap a mighty harvest

Then we will be moving on

I will play the fool tomorrow

And again in days to come

I’m The Fool – you can’t ignore me

With all I’ve said and done

So answer not the fool

Lest thou be just like him

For folly has an end

As the darkness yields to dawn

The sun will rise

The seeds will grow

We’ll reap a mighty harvest

Then we will be moving on.

Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.

War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subding the force, of the people.

[There is also an] inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and … degeneracy of manners and of morals. … No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.

James Madison – fourth president of the United States, from Letters And Other Writings

War

by Justin Paone

Last night I had a dream

That I was a soldier in camo green

In front lines I took my place

Then blessed by my commanders face

He said

This war’s for freedom

This war’s for peace

This war’s to conquer those ugly beasts

With that I ran into the fray

My heart beating with the task of the day

I saw a man both strong and bold

But in his eyes the truth was told

I saw his joy

I saw his fear

And heard words from his commander’s call

He said

This war’s for freedom

This war’s for peace

This war’s to conquer those ugly beasts

I saw him and he saw me

So I pulled the trigger to set him free

As I stood there and watched him die

He looked at me with tear stained eyes

And said

I’m just like you with a different skin

What is war but to waste a friend

That day blood was shed

I killed a man

Was it right in the end?

(Call to America)

Lift up the voice of lamentation

For destruction and the whirlwind are upon us

We were as children playing before the storm

Famine, sword, pestilence

We did not heed the call or warning

And they are come upon us unawares

For we were all as in the days of

Prosperity and merriment and festival

We played the carnival

We indulged

We sang, we drank

Lift up the voice of lamentation

Cry aloud

For destruction and the whirlwind are upon us

And there is no remedy for our mistake

Say not His hand is unrighteous

For when did we measure the cost?

And how often did we reflect upon

The abundance and the waste?

Lift up the voice of lamentation

And cry aloud

For destruction and the whirlwind are upon us

And that which had no ending is taken away

As in the night, and in the storm

And in the washing away

And in the flight

We’re tossed and driven

Refugees

For our safe haven is abandoned

Our substance withers

And our expectation vanishes

And we go down the road, heads bowed

Humbled and contrite

Lift up the voice of lamentation

For destruction and the whirlwind

Are upon us.

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