Find your voice

The thought police

have struck again.

Intimidation wraps

its suffocating bands

around those who

would consider

something

different

from the

forced philosophies

expressed at every turn

during a total fire ban

on free speech.

Moderate, conservative,
family friendly, upstanding.

Words of former generations
respected now reviled,

and increasingly linked
with hate crimes.

Biblical world views

once the revered bedrock

of Western Civilization

have been more than discarded.

They are attacked, shredded,
as intolerant and unacceptable.

How has what was known as good
become so vilified?

How has what was known as evil
become so praised?

Am I guilty of remaining silent

when I should be speaking?

Is there still time to speak?


Do I need at this late hour

to clear my throat,

and begin to say what I believe

rather than being silenced by fear

of what might happen to me?

I cannot go into all the world

and make disciples

if I do not speak.

God give me courage to find my voice.

Strange People

Strange people

with their idiosyncrasies,

their failures,

and flaws,

hurt
and causing hurt,

jagged edges
produced by pain

others cannot begin
to comprehend.

Selfish and
self-serving,

ignorant of heard heart cries,

longing for calm
to still their own storms.

Unable to safely settle,

or completely commit,

or clearly count their blessings.

Stirring trouble,

or resisting

those rallying
to help.

We come across
them every day.

Don't judge them.

They look a lot

like me and you.

How long, Lord?

How long

will the people refuse to listen

to Your prophets?

The ones who speak

what they hear

Your Spirit saying.

The words get

lost

in the information overload

that marks the modern world

in all its flaws.

We are too busy

to wait on You,

to read Your Word,

to sit in silence,

and rest in Your presence.

We are torn

a hundred ways,

and none of them

is towards You.

You wait patiently,

and speak to each generation,

and some hear

and follow,

and are criticized for doing too much.

How can we live

if we do not pray?

How can we pray

unless we believe You hear us?

How can we be

assured of Your answer,

when we are unsure

of the question?

Help us Lord, in this time of confusion.

When will Your glory be seen?

How long, Lord?