Could it be that Hard Rock and Elaine
Would be one in the same,
But for the place where each
Grew weathered
And felt the effects of the game,
In the dark alley littered with trash
As on those streets with no name,
Or in those forests of green
Came of age
Beside the Camp Hall of Fame?
Each one stood for something innate,
A need to stand fierce for what’s true,
Holding tight to all that is right
Forsaking
The many to bless the few.
Copyright 2015. L.L. Shelton.
When one is large as you
There is no place
For we to stand
May as well go looking
For some other promised land.
Wanted to walk with you
Path so worn
From pacing on your own
Instead was forced to skirt the edge
Traipsing through weeds overgrown.
Copyright 2014, L.L. Shelton
Something wicked
This way comes
It’s behind the shower curtain
Run run run
Something wicked
This way comes
It’s underneath the table
Run run run
Something wicked
This way comes
It’s crawling in the wall
Run run run
Something wicked
This way comes
It’s crouching round the door
Run run run
Something wicked
This way comes
It’s waiting to devour you
Run run run
Something righteous
This way comes
It’s holding up a mirror
Dumb dumb dumb
Something righteous
This way comes
Put your fingers in your ears
Hum hum hum
Copyright 2016. L.L. Shelton
Here am I.
I’m so confused.
Standing here wondering
What more have I to lose…
My only hope,
To comprehend
How this came to be
And the purpose in His hand.
I need to know.
My drug’s the clarity I seek.
When I find it for a moment
I can scarcely breathe;
Everything is slowed.
Whirlwind ride that’s killing me,
Brought to a pause and I
See Whom I believe.
Copyright 2016, L.L. Shelton
Grow! Grow!
You shouted,
As your fingers crushed
The delicate blossom.
Live! Live!
You screamed,
As your hands strangled
Away all the air.
Be glad! Be glad!
You insisted,
As your sneer wiped clean
A wisp of a smile.
Be light! Be light!
You demanded,
As your feet stomped out
Faint glow of embers.
Be full! Be full!
You commanded,
As your words emptied
Last crumbs from the bowl.
Copyright 2016, L.L. Shelton
My Beloved Father in Heaven,
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to make this plea in a public place for I hope that it will find a home in the hearts of others who want these same things for which I pray.
Please forgive me when I fail you and provide me the strength to be more nearly representative of you each day.
By your Grace, please allow that I am never made to stand against my fellow human being. Yet if it must be, grant me the fortitude to bear it.
By your Grace, allow me rather in spite of all my human frailty to forgive, and yet in Truth to uphold your mercy and your justice knowing and accepting you to be the judge of souls and that your’s is the only legitimate judgement; giving me leave to enjoy others in both loving fellowship and loving witness and permitting me the discernment to realize the difference.
By your Grace, please allow my human American brothers within and outside of The Faith sight, that we may continue to imagine a pure vision free of the persecution of one another, and full of love for one another as human beings created in your image.
By your Grace, allow America to continue in true wisdom and to provide a secure home in which all have opportunity to worship you freely; a home for the weak, the downtrodden, and the oppressed- though it be of great cost to us, and do continue your blessing upon us and make a great human family of us in spite of our diversity and because of our commonalities.
By Your Grace, My Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
2017, L.L. Shelton
Have you heard the one about the psychotic and the neurotic? The psychotic knows that two plus two equals five. The neurotic knows that two plus two equals four, but he worries about it. There’s an education is this bit of humor!
How does one arrive at a disturbed character? This is not a rhetorical question. One arrives at a disturbed character by continually ignoring three things:
1. The Genuine Existence of God
2. The Authentic Character of God
3. The Justice System of God
The Bible tells us clearly that every human is equipped with a conscience and that the conscience is there to point him or her toward God; to reveal His very genuine existence as well as His authentic character, and to make obvious His definition of right and wrong- His system of justice.
The Scriptures also tell us that the man or woman who does not see any benefit in retaining this knowledge of conscience will eventually be possessed of the depraved mind that is left to him or to her. The Bible tells us that this depraved mind is capable of all types of evil- probably beyond what some who have thoroughly nurtured the conscience are capable of imagining.
This depraved mind is the one that displays the disturbed or disordered character; this mind is held captive by a system of belief that has developed a set of core values (to direct the soul) that is selfish to the degree of being diabolical. This mind is the antithesis of the mind of God, if you will allow, an anti-Christ.
How does one keep himself or herself from arriving at this reprehensible state?This also is not a rhetorical question. The answer is evident. One must continually nurture belief in the three things one’s conscience has been designed to bring to attention:
1. The Genuine Existence of God
2. The Authentic Character of God
3. The Justice System of God
From the beginning, each and every time one is situationally placed so that it is necessary to purposely acknowledge these three things one must be made to do so- forced by his or her own will to acknowledge the conscience or by the will of an earthly authority figure such as a parent, a teacher, or other official to do so as the conscience must be the arbitrator of what many theologians refer to as common grace; and the truly converted under specific grace if momentarily and specifically submissive, shall be aided further by yielding to the will of The Holy Spirit of God within the self so accessing the wisdom and power available to him or her.
The person who consciously and continually engages in an effort to refute or to silence the conscience will naturally digress to the condition of the disturbed character. The disturbed character will appear as having no conscience and will yet be a “functioning” member of the community. A disordered character is displayed by one who was once only disturbed but has now slipped into the realm of the surely dysfunctional (rendered incapable of carrying out the requisite responsibilities of society).
The failure to nurture the conscience is the failure to nurture Truth and will surely result in the demise of the individual and the eventual destruction of any general population in which these individuals are prevalent.
Notably, George K. Simon, Jr., Ph.D., has done a beautiful job of further explanation, and in giving socially acceptable as well as academically responsible language to the subject matter found here and in our Bibles (particularly in the book of Romans), in the book he authored: Character Disturbance, The Phenomenon of Our Age.
We must take seriously the view of ourselves found in God’s Holy Word for the protection of ourselves, our loved ones, and for the benefit of humanity as a whole. May God help us!
Copyright 2017. L.L. Shelton
You are the first page and the last.
You are the future and the past.
You are the epitome of every view.
The Story belongs to you.
You are the reason and the rhyme.
You are the space and the time.
You are the old and you are the new.
The Story belongs to you.
You are the whole and so the part.
You are the mind and so the heart.
You are the One; we await your cue.
The Story belongs to you.
Copyright 2017. L.L. Shelton.