modern + ancient
My wife Amber delivered a healthy little boy today, and I thought I’d share it with friends here. We are wavering between naming him Kew Finn and Finn Kew…
NOTE: The above post is an unrelated personal matter, which I hope doesn’t offend the very serious, time-constrained readers who want only The Truth All The Time (for free! without delay!).
Just a few thoughts.
Do we really want God coming back
and messing with YouTube, Apple, Google,
Science, Dollars, Robots, all that?
Carnal security ain’t so bad. Sofas for souls.
Nephi, howdoya feel about that?
He’s unpredictable, we know that
from Moses, and Jesus, Jeez, and so
on, trust us; Moroni’s face zapped off, and black’d
at Bountiful, are we sure we want him back? Yet?
Maybe just wait a little, Old Man, we’ll get back on track
no need to bring back thy unruly reign, terrible
to crooked shepherds, grinding shiny hypocrites’ faces,
lawless it seems, unbeatable rule, just, like…
like Shaq, on crack, Macklemore said that
about a bouncer, his fake ID did he take,
in a song attack, warning every ear,
Hear hear: never take an MC’s fake ID.
So it is with us Mormons, sure, fake IDs we have,
with “Zion, established 4004 BC, WASP, Eyes…Not for seeing,”
IDs that got us dirtying a lot o’ holy places,
like souls, hearts, books, Iron pen engravin
foolish notions, atonements as payments,
and yep, we’re really just a lame corporation.
Will lightning bolts to Moroni’s face fix all that?
Insurance we have, redeeming bolts, tornados
tsunamis, floods, all your crazy YahWay.
Will signs in the heavens fix all that, a corporation
in the business of salvation, temples oath making
to whom, exactly? We’re not saying. Fix that?
Probably not, and so, God, what’re ye gonna do,
if we just go on doing what we do? Zap us? hah, you won’t do us like that.
We’ll go on, proclaiming our gospel,
reverently, in Tweets, on Apostle FaceBook Feeds,
singing hymns about Him nailed up and bloody, ugh,
and gushin’ bout his establishin’ freedom of business religion,
maybe excommunicatin’ a dude or two, just
for believin somethin diffrent, Lou, a dad
looking for real religion, drinking his sacrament
and teaching bout vision, just seeking something
you ain’t offering, like can he hang with Jesus,
the One calved son of Kendrick’s Gansta, deity.
“I know the Devil fancy me, but that don’t mean the mXfX get to dance with me”
-Macklemore, St.Ides , is the caption, censored, true;
just as God cannot speak but through our Idols, say Zeke 14,
our idol is Temple, Hollow Statuary, verily Apostolic Posters in Seminary
Memes dishing salvation to tweens hauling wagons,
in Wyoming of all places. Speak through these, uncensored,
old man. It’ll just be nonesense, trust us. Gibberish.
Jesus, Abide! Wait your time, you know your place is.
not here, not with false Zion, we won’t awaken
don’t anticipate it, movements won’t make it.
Happen. Nothing of our will. Will. So we go on,
you see, pretending to be like unto thee. Speak through
an image of thee, of our own making, and you
will only say, what we’ve already been saying.
Worship Nothings, Fill thy soul with Hannities.
Ah, But Now we have Zeke 20, and more, being read,
saying that God is done with Idol speaking, if Israel we like to be.
and again leaves us to hear our own thoughts, nothing
and the voices of whatever, in our heads creeping.
Hush. Church Over? Everyone’s leaving? Why do you think?
because Google Facebook Psychology,
genetic geniuses, have disproven God’s being,
and his gold bible, that’s just a relic,
really? Maybe. Maybe because God is about
to start speaking. For himself. Hush. And hearing
cussing from his mouth, will be
the least of our worries.
Are you sure you want Him back, you can’t send Him back.
It’s one way from Kolob to Zion.
What’ll you do, if he treads holy places, and at Zion’s Meeting
camping Adam-on-di-Aman, sets
angels to rapping, thrice, but not for white ritual,
No: they’re waiting ‘pon Compton, sealing the poor
and the black, the downtrodden, with the rich, learned, the wise,
white red yellow too, altogether, good feasting in Christ?
If Lamanites with Rephaim, seated near Thor,
Buddha, the Dude who abides, that drowned refugee,
folks you’d never expect to see, and the bass is so loud
at Zion House Party, if that light you see, be really
a spotlight on purple, light tunnels to stars,
calling more, come live free?
What if he shakes down your temples, your states,
overturns the foundations, your Constitutions
are burned being nothing but paper, liberation
proclaimed by some tiny bell, shaken
by smiling children, nappy headed, former slaves
by NRA targeted (they won’t make it), guns
into ploughshares beaten, your powers forsaken?
what then? Tell Him, Wait…for a second, wait?
We’d like to keep some keepsakes: False Zion,
White God Business, Gay Pride, Black Anger…corporations,
memento Dollars, Wall Street, TVvangelists,
Epic Fails, shirts with collars, broken colleges,
tenured fools, lucred administration, textbooks, too,
booze and drugs, anatomical illustrations (for excitation),
stats, analysis, Big Data. Then we’ll make our demands,
if with us you’d like to stay, Jesus. We ain’t Satan!
Will he stay his ire, many angelic frustrations
at our taking up space that ain’t ours to be taking?
Of our making up truths that ain’t ours to make?
Making up kings to lead us to Satan?
I doubt it, though he’s patient, long suffering
maybe pleased, even, by some art, sport, science not ism-ed,
we’ll get to keep a lot, in the Millennium:
Falcons, Skywalkers, Hobbits, Elves, playstations.
But not Our justice, not our policied traditions,
political correcting masking evil intentions,
police military violence to please us,
gain seeking, drone killing, easy forgetting,
drug fleecing, bribery, mantras, advertisements,
dogma, and probably a whole lot more will be going,
the way of the dodo, extinct cliches of Satan,
never again walking in darkness,
whispering, none see us, who made us?
He sees you.
The ax mocketh the maker, the smith, the wood that wants chopping.
Listen to the ax, or grind it to sharpen?
Hasten the work? Ha. Stay your labors, suckers,
he’ll come when he’s ready. sweaty from logging
time in Hades, with David, Elijah, Ty Cobb, some mason,
without a shower, he’ll come, splitting rainbows,
And then, my friends, hold on to your butts,
a friend’s fond of saying,
when Jesus comes back, because bros, sistas, fathers, mutha-
That shit? Zap. That shit gonna get real.
A little story about internal research at LDS.org has been picked up by various news outlets, though it isn’t clear how this will affect the actual project discussed in the report.
I’m working on the Doubt Talk, and hope to have something posted soon. In the meantime, I give you the conclusion to the Talk: Ezekiel 20, a nice bookend to Ezekiel 14.
1 And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD, and sat before me.
2 Then came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,
3 Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye come to enquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.
4 Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:
5 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the LORD your God;
6 In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:
7 Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
8 But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
9 But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.
10 Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.
11 And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.
12 Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.
13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.
14 But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.
15 Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;
16 Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
17 Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.
18 But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:
19 I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them;
20 And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.
21 Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
22 Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth.
23 I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries;
24 Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.
25 Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;
26 And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.
27 Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.
28 For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings.
29 Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name whereof is called Bamah unto this day.
30 Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations?
31 For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.
32 And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.
33 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:
34 And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.
36 Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD.
37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:
38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.
40 For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.
41 I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.
42 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.
43 And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.
44 And ye shall know that I am the LORD when I have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
45 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
46 Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
48 And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.
49 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?
these mystry woods
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