An Appalachian Country Rag-- By Faith Alone

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A Country Rag

By Faith Alone

Merry Christmas 2007!

"You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." -- Matthew 16:13-19 (quoted from The Work of God)

"Sovereign Creator, just as your creating Word brought forth the natural order, and all that is in it, so you promise to create new heavens and a new earth, free from injustice, oppression, and brokenness. Yet we live in fear and despair, as though sin and war and death were final words. In mercy, forgive us for doubting the Gospel. Transform us by your spirit, that we would witness ceaselessly to the certain triumph of your grace, inaugurated in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of all. Amen."
-- Rev. Beth Yarborough, Pastor Jonesborough Presbyterian Church

"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen." -- The Apostle's Creed (quoted from New Advent, Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary)

Graphic: "Jesus Wept, oil by John Charles, Kingsport TN, oil, 1997, 13x24, $500

Blood for drowning

(click graphic for Cabala trilogy)

I make you no grave,
no flowers for the fathered
seed of mayhem.
Aborting children of rape
while soldiers rail
in shades unknown,
may your souls return to innocence,
forgetfully,
and find through
ferment, strained with
slices of unleavened bread,
strength for the fire,
purified wine.

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen" -- The Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:10-14 and Luke 11:2-4 (Prayer Guide)

"Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." -- Doxology (from the hymn Awake, My Soul, and with the Sun Awake by Thomas Ken, 1674, The Cyber Hymnal)

"Let us give thanks to God our Creator for all gifts so freely bestowed upon us: For the beauty and wonder of creation, in earth and sky and sea; For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women, revealing the image of Christ; For our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and our friends; For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve; For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest and play; For the brave and courageous who are patient in suffering and faithful in adversity; For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, justice, and peace; For the communion of saints, in all times and places. Above all, let us give thanks for the great promises and mercies given to us and to all the world in Jesus Christ, our Lord. To Christ be praise and glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen."
-- Rev. Beth Yarborough, Pastor Jonesborough Presbyterian Church

Ave

Our Lady of Sorrow
holds out her arms
to capture the harm
that's become you,

Comrades lost in
primal wars
by sores and scars
unhealed, concealed.

Then she lays on your bed
of earthern fear
to hear and seal
the tears of your passing

And bears a protest
of love undone
to the radiant fusion
of her sun.

Triage

I'm the angel on your shoulder.
Pushing the other ones aside, I whisper
spinning tales of magic mystery in your ear.

Swirling, stretching, diving sheening
colors through your mind,
I smooth away the darkness
and the catacombs of pain.

When you feel a soft caress
Slow sliding on your skin,
There I am.

That tickling tingle in your toes?
I'm playing with you now.
That's not the wind!
I'm running, dancing in your hair.

Stay awhile. Rest with me.
There's music everywhere.
Time for love, time for peace
for the covenant of
souls.

"Yahshua is the Hebrew name of the Son of God. It is what His mother Miriam (Mary) called Him when He was born, as recorded in Matthew 1:21. The footnote for this verse in the NIV New Testament reads: Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua. In Hebrew, as in old English, there is no 'J' sound, and the name is more accurately rendered Yahshua. It means 'I am salvation,' since it is constructed from Yah, the name of the Father (Psalm 68:4 KJV; also as in Hallelujah, 'Praise Yah'), which means 'I AM," and shua, which means 'salvation.' We call Him Yahshua because that is truly His name. It is how He introduced Himself when addressing Saul (Paul) on the road to Damascus -- He spoke not in Greek, but in the Hebrew language (Acts 26:14-15)." -- A Twelve Tribes Freepaper, Asheville, NC

"Know thyself" and "Get real!"

"To do any injury ... to a guest violated the sacred Mediterranean concept of ... reciprocal hospitality. This hospitality is central to Jesus' teaching.... St. Papias of Hierapolis, St. Matthew, a disciple of Jesus, transcribed the logia, or sayings, of his master. These logia became that document now known as Q (from Quelle, German for 'source'), which has been reconstructed from materials in the canonical gospels of Sts. Matthew and Luke and in the Gnostic Gospel of St. Thomas.... In the Gospel of Q, Jesus blesses the meek and the peacemakers, instructs his followers to love their enemies, and urges humility in all things (Matthew 5:3-11; Luke 6: 20-24).... Although one is supposed to refrain from passing judgment, hypocrisy, it seems, is to be exposed (Matthew 7:1-5; Luke 6-37)....

It would be an error to conclude that, among Jesus' teachings, there is nothing to give Christians guidance in living alongside homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgender individuals. The peccatum sodomiticum, as Jesus described it in the logia, is not the sex crime described by Sts. Paul and Jude in remote antiquity or decried by mobs of fire-and-brimstone fundamentalists down the corridors of history. It is incivility, the antithesis of the Golden Rule. Such incivility may be no more than boorishness, perhaps coldness in a house of worship or on the street.... The scourging and execution of Christ recall the savagery the men of Sodom would have visited on Lot's angelic guests. With inhospitality, the animal destroys what is holy....

In truth the Golden Rule requires no slanted critique, no philological examination of its Hebrew and Greek components; its beauty is in its simplicity. It is, as both Jesus and Hillel observed, the whole of the Torah and the Prophets in one little sentence. In the Epistle of James, 2:8, it is rendered: 'If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well.'... 'Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.' (Romans 12:20)..."
-- A Homily for Christmas Day by James Dye, OIA: News, Thought & Lifestyles, Asheville NC