The Vanishing Girl

The bell clanged loudly; it was time to go back to class. It was my duty, being the newest and youngest teacher at King Elementary School, in the ghetto, to supervise the children at recess and herd them back into the building when it ended.

I was busily doing so when I noticed a little Negro girl pressed close against the schoolyard’s iron fence, looking in from the outside. She appeared to be a year or so younger than the children in my class of first graders. She wore a handed down blue dress which was clean and neatly ironed, an old red jacket and sneakers without socks. Her hair was combed and braided with care, blue ribbons adorned each end. Her brown eyes, wide with wonder and excitement, disclosed that she had been watching the school children play. A tiny brown finger rested on her pale lips as if to hold back a secret wish ready to burst forth.

When the last of my wards was safely in the door, I looked for her, but she was gone. Had I only imagined her? As I looked around at the aging apartments across the street, I didn’t see her, but looking down by the fence I noticed a blue ribbon laying there on the ground! Perhaps I will see her in the school over the coming years!

I AM

I was regretting the past
and fearing the future.
Suddenly my Lord was speaking:
“My name is I AM”
He paused.
I waited. He continued,
“When you live in the past
with its mistakes and regrets,
it is hard. I am not there.
My name is not I WAS.
When you live in the future,
with its problems and fears,
it is hard. I am not there.
My name is not I WILL BE.
When you live in this moment
it is not hard. I am here,
My name is I AM.”

by Helen Mallicoat

Dream Vs Reality

By C.S. Bosse
 

When I was young,
I dreamed of a knight in shining armor, a picket fence,
Someone to love and protect me,
We would grow old together.

When I was young,

I dreamed of a family, children of my own,
Loving little ones who’d hang on every word I said,
I’d care for them, tuck them safely into bed.

When I was young,

I had this dream of how my life should be,
But now I’m older and somehow
Life just isn’t how I dreamed it would be.

What I got,

A man deep in depression after losing his job,
Not at all the father I’d hoped he would be,
Sometimes I wonder if he even loves me.

What I got,

Children sweet and innocent while they were young,
Now they’ve grown up to become unruly,
Sometimes I wonder where I went wrong.

What I got,

Just isn’t what I dreamed it would be,
But I know there’s a reason it has to be,
There’s someone up there looking out for me.

And He put me here because He knew

That it is just where I needed to be,
So I would find my way to Him.

So although I didn’t get all that I dreamed,

I’m thankful for what I got,
And that He put me right where He wants me

I know there’s a reason I’m here

Although it’s not always clear
Because I believe He wants what’s best for me.

So now I’ll stay and I’ll pray to God

Knowing that it will all be ok
When I enter Heaven on that day.

Song of the Carpenter King

By C.S. Bosse

Jesus, carpenter of the soul 
Gone ahead to prepare room for us
In Heaven’s golden estate
Jesus, born to a carpenter by trade
But God has made no mistake
Sent to rebuild a world torn asunder

Jesus born to be King

So let all creation sing
Of the carpenter King
Sent to repair the damage done
The battle he has won

Jesus, the carpenter of life

A million broken and empty hearts
He’s come to mend in love
Jesus, the cornerstone was made
He left His throne above
And came down to give us life

Jesus born to be King

So let all creation sing
Of the carpenter King
Sent to repair the damage done
The battle he has won

Jesus, the Father’s only Son

Has made restoration for our sin  
Built a home for all eternity
Jesus, the good Sheppard
Will return one day
To lead us in His Kingdom 

Jesus born to be King

So let all creation sing
Of the carpenter King
Sent to repair the damage done
The battle He has won

Tragedy In Life

One of the most tragic things I have ever heard of happened back in May of 2008. The teenage son of the Christian artist Steven Curtis Chapman was returning home when he struck and killed one of his younger adopted sisters with the vehicle he was driving as she ran to greet him. His parents, older brother and two other adopted sisters were all close by and were left in shocked horror as this sad story unfolded. How and why? They were a tight knit family with a strong faith in God, why would God choose to take away one of their beloved daughters in this manner? Especially one who expressed a strong desire to know God? 

The Lord's ways are not our ways; we do not see the total picture of life, only God can! But we do see the impact God has on our lives and the lives of others and we trust that what he does is for our good, no matter how devastating it seems at the time! Our suffering actually brings us closer to God as we depend on Him for comfort and help getting through life's trials!

The Chapman family must have felt a lot like Job from the Old Testament, who lost everything, his wealth, his family, and even his health, but never gave up his faith in God. Neither he nor Ezekiel who lost his wife, cursed God or felt any hate towards Him, their attitude was one of understanding "that to have God was to have everything"! Steven and his family did not blame their son, but just as Job did, they embraced their sorrow and held on even tighter to God and each other! In time they were able to share their loss and grief with the world and in doing so, offered help and comfort to others feeling the pain of loss. They are now confident that their little princess is with Jesus in Heaven just as she wanted to be!

As a memorial to their precious child, they all got tattoos! The lesson here is one of trusting the Lord in all our circumstances, whether good or bad and being able to show more compassion and mercy toward others by doing so. Steven wrote the song “Cinderella” which was dedicated to her memory; we all have our ways of dealing with loss and sorrow. Over the years since this tragic loss, the Lord has blessed and strengthened Steven Curtis Chapman and his family! His story is truly an amazing one of faith, hope and love! 

Amazing insight by George Carlin

Isn't it amazing that George Carlin - comedian of the 70's and 80's - could write something so very eloquent...and so very appropriate. 

A Message by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

If you don't share this with anyone....Who cares?

George Carlin

Mistaken Identity or the Perfect Crime

We hear all the time about identity theft, a crime in which people have their identities stolen and how it can ruin their lives if not caught in time, but we rarely hear about this next scenario!

Who does this, creates an identity under one kind of genre to release their music, then ten years later claims it was all a mistake and something they never wanted! I recently found out that a group I liked was living a false life! I had been listening to their music for almost ten years; I even own five of their albums! They were a relatively unknown band from Seattle on the West Coast, but my niece had one of their albums and I began seeing their videos on a Christian TV station and started to like the sound of their music. As time went on I began hearing their music played on more and more Christian radio stations, so my assumption was that this band was Christian, what else would I think?

Since I live in Jersey on the East Coast and they are from the West Coast, I believe I wouldn't have heard of them at all, had it not been for the airplay on the Christian stations, I never heard them played on any of my local mainstream stations!

As I began to like their music more and more, I started collecting their CDs, because collecting music has been my passion for years. I started stock piling music back in the ‘60s with vinyl albums and continue to this day! Although it’s a lot easier these days, in the old days you only had two options, the single in vinyl which was actually two songs or the album which usually had about 10 to 12 songs all together. So if you were buying the album because of one or two favorite songs, you might not end up liking the whole album at first. Today it’s so easy to buy just a single song or as many as you want from places like iTunes and Amazon, where you can even listen to them first. I like having physical copies, whether I buy them or make them myself from iTunes.

So anyway getting back to this tale of woe and deceit, I liked them enough to buy their CDs and usually liked the entire album. I even went to see them live at a Christian music festival and their performance was really good! They recently released their latest album called “How to Be Human” and I heard they released a single as well, so I was curious about the album and the song. I checked them out on iTunes and was surprised to find the album marked “Explicit” along with the song!

Shortly after there was a big hullabaloo on FaceBook, because the lead singer Matt MacDonald had posted a rant in which he said in no uncertain terms was he or the band the Classic Crime ever a part of the Christian genre! His exact statement was “I do not associate with any aspects of the Christian genre, or the culture and belief system that comes with it.” I found this quite amusing, since their music was only played on Christian radio stations across the country and even overseas! Their albums were sold in Christian bookstores as well! Then Robbie Negrin the guitarist chimes in saying they signed with a Christian record company thinking the company was starting a mainstream or non Christian division. Something is very wrong if it took them almost 10 years to come out of the closet! Contracts or not, they could easily have extracted themselves from the Christian music genre, the record company would not have wanted to continue passing them off as something they weren’t, because that would have been fraudulent and against Christian ethics!

I believe, like it or not, they had found a way to sell their music and make money, doing big Christian festivals and concerts was bringing in a lot more money than playing in bars! The Christian radio airplay itself was getting their music out to the rest of us and increasing album sales! They used this ploy to build a big enough fan base so they could eventually get funding on future independent projects, smart or just plain evil?

What was even stranger, was the fact that there were two versions of the song "Wonder" from the album, a "clean" version was also offered, which made no sense. Why offer a clean version if the "Explicit" was what you were going for in the first place? The thing I find the most interesting is that even after the sheepskin cloak was removed, they still manage to show up in Christian music! A song from the new album was featured on a Christian music poll called Christian Rock 20 which is featured weekly on different Christian stations as a PodCast. So they seem to be still milking the Christian genre even though they have expressed their hate and disgust for it in multiple articles online and elsewhere!

I just don’t see the reason to continue using the disguise of Christian music, if they claim it’s limiting their exposure to the kind of audiences they want! Why not be real men by taking off all their music from Christian radio stations and stop submitting their new music to those stations and start submitting where it was intended in the first place, mainstream radio stations, either local or licensed streaming?

Something doesn’t seem right, was it really all just a case of mistaken identity or were they trying to kill two birds with one stone! It would seem as though in the end the Classic Crime is getting away with the “Perfect Crime”!