Spiritual insight, no matter how meager, is literally nothing, if not calm.
each century has three or four end times now
since the papacy confused the shit out of Calvary
sheep are sure they’ve been saved but cannot say how
with a false lust that verges on gluttony
best not to inquire how lapel flags fit in
outsiders seem more prevalent than decades ago
& opportune pastors conjure mantras for solace
covered with the blood of Jesus in Ohio
once things are made right there’ll be raptures, and burgers
but for now we need vigilance and more AR-15s
Satan’s minions crept onto TV and into our Walmarts
there’s proper virtue and un-American but little in-between
dare not engage the pious in discussions or queries
if you don’t trust Fake Prez is all they need to know
they’ll soon triumph and ascend while you rot in hell
covered with the blood of Jesus in Ohio
seek in vain through the verses, the Sermon on the Mount
if you’re trying to plumb the roots of their makeup
save for Sunday’s social dirges down by the chapel
the chief concerns are local gossip and a D-cup
don’t need no stinkin’ masks; they just look queer
the Holy Spirit drives with them wherever they go
but Good News and conviction seems not to ward off much fear
covered with the blood of Jesus in Ohio
now I once felt religious or so some might call it
so I spent some years noticing things in the wild wood
and I sought what wise ones sussed by oceans and bookshops
and came to outgrow mediators when seeking good
with a confidence not unholy I took a great resolve
disdaining imposed belief & making God an oath to know
and that knowing issued succor I never need betray
covered with the blood of Jesus in Ohio
_______RS
[ Image : widespread news photo from an early April video, in which a church-goer who violated local recommendations explained why she was protected from the virus (while seemingly ignoring the implications for those she came in contact with) ; I in no way wish to pick on this lady or single her out, and I find the quasi-papparazzi tactics of the ‘journalist’ equally disturbing. On top of all this I also have sympathies for skepticisms surrounding the pandemic. Still, something primal was felt towards the end of the ‘interview’. The closest thing it reminded me of was a similar news blurb with a nearly crazed woman in Georgia, I believe, in 2008, during the Obama presidency campaign. That woman screeched into the camera that any righteous person can see that Obama is a devil, and has to be, and will be, defeated. ] video link
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||skirmishes|| ||with|| ||reality|| 
Indeed, this is not the Christ I know, nor is it the Christ I know in Ohio (I live in Cincinnati). A bad imitation of something is not the thing it so inaccurately represents.
All true, and yet the bad imitations abound. 🙂
This pandemic has opened my eyes to the lunacy of the extremely faithful. How they can ignore science, medicine and logic is beyond me. Do they bother going to the dr for checkups — if their time will come when the lord deems it? I want to ask them that but I dare not deny their freedom of religion.
So many essays and directions I could go with off of this comment, which I thank you for. 🙂 The attitude I am noticing and drawing attention towards in this post is not one I would describe as extremely faithful. Closer to extremely fearful snd xenophobic. But out of whack positions can be disguised as many different things. The social and economic stability we’ve gotten inured to, and all its familiar structures are evaporating so rapidly now — within a generation. People respond to this in off the edge ways. Plus, the centralizing distortion and intrusion of the web into our private lives is attacking what humans are worth in a way which radically will force more and more of us to undertake inner transformation. I both pity and am excited for younger people today, and people who are still coming of age. The lack of security combined with the sheer potential for new, more human-driven development is dizzying, scary, and hopeful for those who can overcome both orthodoxy and selfishness. (I don’t believe in checkups, by the way. I prefer to seek consultations when experiencing a symptom I dislike, and I do plenty of my own research when that happens. The pharmaceutical industry and the AMA have their claws into everything. But that is a whole nother story…)
They are fearful? I believe, extremely unfearful…w complete faith in a deity to protect them.
Did you watch the newsreel? Especially the end part? Yes, fear. Pronounced. Fear of having their inner rigidity confronted. Needing their world to conform to their picturing of it, with zero tolerance for dispute. Not too different from germophobia, actually. People think ‘physical’ is the root cause of everything. Untrue. This outlook is unconsciously reflexive from several centuries of material thinking in the West. In reality, soul and spirit causes are behind all physical manifestaitions. When conventional medicine confronts this reality, it can begin to become insightful and healing, rather than a business beset by bizarre legal protections for its practitioners.
in reality its mental and emotional causes behind SOME physical manifestations.
behind all, within humans.
disagree. you are right, of course it is arrogant, but the root of the arrogance is fear of having their (religious in this case) opinion investigated.
So wonderfully written. The frustration is poetic yet apparent.
thanks, yes that photo is pretty eloquent. 🙂