Tag: Spoken Word

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S-wordplay. (a written, spoken word)

Posted on by Wick

He came not to bring peace, but a sword.
Not a knife to spread the butter, not uttering words that pacify the masses
No rose-colored glasses here.
But Truth, Capital “T”, completely free of bend or filter
The off-kilter ways of sin, and what a mess we were in.sword
Valuing money over time, entertained by crime, the signs were all there
Jesus looked it square in the eye, and dared evil to deny –
It was fooling you and I. Sure enough, evil sighed.
More like roared, seeing the sword as wolves surrounded the sheep
Daring Christ to keep each one safe, taunting with flashing teeth
And clenched jaw. But what evil saw next was powerful.
All-powerful God became lamb. Jamming signals of the expected.
Rejected by men, by those He came to save,
Brave wasn’t the aim, the lame walking and the mute talking had one word on their message:
Love.
Not love with construction paper hearts, sweet tarts, and doilies glued on for measure

Not treasure tempting us to come near, appearing like the obviously better choice

But a soft voice, speaking divisive words, beginning with “Follow Me”
Not because it’s easy, because you’ll probably die. And as he cried, he knew
His fate, the plate would not pass from him, nor does it leave our tables,
He enables us to follow, to swallow the red pill, releasing our will to His
And the life that He gives echoes our first breath.
But to the world, looks like death.
And so, a sword.
Man against his father, daughter against her mother, not apologizing
Or making excuses, just revealing what the Truth is,
and the Truth. Is. Love.
The Truth is, it’s enough.
The World wants a conquering savior, flashing sword not meant to divide but to slash and kill.
To spill blood like wolves on dusty ground, but instead? the sound of sheep.
Not threatening, they bleat, and keep following their master in ways of love.
In a “one-up” contest, they’re one-ing down. Setting down crowns of gold,
Crowned with thorns, receiving the scorn of an empire built on sand, no demands
Freed from the burden to sway the uncertain.
Not called to win in His name, but to realize He’s changed the game.
When the swords cease to sound, and fall to the ground, they’ll finally realize
Love abounds.
And they’ll stop fighting for it.

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not guilty?

Posted on by Wick

“Not guilty”

the verdict flashes, and the masses don’t take long for their chance to pounce

To own just an ounce of the minutes that come after, to be a voice in the chatter

To say the one thing that remains unsaid, but the fact remains –

Someone is dead.

Someone died at the hands of another, a mother lost her son,

a gun that ripped through more than flesh and marrow,

but through the narrow veins of racism still pulsing through a nation

still committed to pretending it’s United. It’s invited all sorts of analytics, and politics, and tricks

of logic boosted by words spoken with great emotion.

All the while it’s simply a stream leading to an ocean.

There’s a larger problem than this case, or that person, or that issue

Something worth wetting more than single tissues,

Worth mourning floods and wails of confession,

and worth both individual and communal confessions

of we.

We’re comforted by pronouns that point the finger, the fact that guilty feelings never linger as long as we keep tuned in to the latest thing, the latest stream of others doing worse than what we’ve done.

But we’ve become numb, and so dumb – unable to speak for our lack of practice, but the fact is

We have a choice, and we’ve chosen against those without voice.

We strive for dreams labeled by nationality, but in reality an empty promise,

and throwing Doubting Thomas off the boat…see if he’ll float.

Authors wrote about days like these, and called them “last”.

But don’t move too fast, and twist my words into a chance to merchandise,

Rather, view this moment with new eyes…

Let the blasts of accusations fade, even the ones most recently made as the feed ticks slowly by

Your need to reply, or question why goes slowly the way of realizing the ocean beyond the stream.
See what I mean?

In the silence that follows, find solace in the hollows of comments never made

Take shade from the torrents of words and emotions, pray over that ocean.

Because even though the words spoken were “not guilty”, there is not end to what has happened

Neither was this the beginning, as our grip on morality is thinning

We realize it was not he, but we, who were on trial.

And We. Are. Guilty.

But there. Is. Grace.

Amazing.

Seek His Face.

(To hear this spoken by a young man who used to be a student in my youth ministry, click here!!!!)