Poem: Fountain

If you fill an empthy bottle, it is prone to overflow
It can hold no greater quantity than it was made to hold
But the ocean, though it's always full, is ever being filled
It cannot rise above itself, not even if it willed

If you turn a full glass over, it will drain until it's dry
but a fountain, ever spilling, loses nothing by and by
It will flow and pour continually, and never lose a drop
But the drinking glass, designed to bear, will flow until it stops

Is the ocean now deficient 'cause it cannot be increased?
Is it lesser than all other bodies: rivers, lakes and seas?
Or is the very nature of its greatness, to be sure
in that it is the source of ALL the water, and no more?

Further,
Is a fountain failing to be prudent with its store
if it always runneth over -- will it soon be there no more?
Is there something wrong about it if it doesn't keep a lid
on its oh so precious contents, and let it thus be hid?

If you think so, then, you have no clue, the purpose of a fountain
is not to stay immobile, like tranquil, distant mountains
The essence of its beauty is to always overflow
which could never be accomplished if the current were to slow

Fountains don't run dry, because the water that they spill
returns at once, and purposes the fountain to refill
Fountains fill and empty all at once in the same motion
So are they therefore any more deficient than the ocean?

God is always loving us and giving us Himself
Consider, then, the fountain, and let us now dispel
the myth that says that giving implies loss of what you give
God did not begin to die because He made us live
He doesn't grow more hateful as He showers us with love
More of Him on earth does not make less of Him above

Everything is from Him, and it ultimately does
return, because it's for Him, too, and that's including us
We cannot hope to weaken Him, or strengthen Him, at that --
He's perfectly self-sufficient, and that's the simple fact.




Inspiration for this poem:

"[God’s pleasure] is a pleasure in diffusing and communicating to, than in receiving from, the creature. Surely, it is no argument of indigence in God that he is inclined to communicate of his infinite fullness. It is no argument of the emptiness or deficiency of a fountain, that it is inclined to overflow."
~ Jonathan Edwards

~ Rak Chazak

Poem: Spiritual Eyes

This is rap/free verse. I figured I'd do something different. Basically it's just a long thought with as much rhyming as I could fit in to a page on paper. :)

Spiritual Eyes
Welcome to the beginning of the end of time, and when you find yourself next in line to receive the deceit that's beneath all the lies and disguises, I hope you take note and devote your attention to study all mentions of truth so you won't be confused by emotionalism and half-baked reason, in or out of season, when falsehoods and all good pursuits are reduced to the fruits of intellectualism, or made into a litmus test to prove your patriotism. No, I pray that your eyes will be keen to perceive and discern between true and almost true, you do know who can be trusted, but how can you tell which is which in the field, where the slippery eels who peddle raw deals hide behind every sign of authenticity, concealing their duplicity by acts of omission, with one face in public and one in secret; I tell you, make it your mission to search out their false teaching with which they're seeking to generate division and cause a collision to derail the Great Commission. Who knows whether you came into the kingdom for such a time as this? Don't miss what you're here for, no one can care more than you about what you're burdened to do -- let your yearning drive you to turn your life to an effective tool in the hands of the Master who grants you the zeal to plead and intercede to ask Him to heal the souls of those whose whole life is a joke without hope and an empty lie. The more truth you know, the more fools you hope figure out that they don't know it and need to be found. it's a shame that the same refrain repeats again and again, where people don't study to learn, they fail to discern, and are destined to burn if they don't wake up and TURN -- it's urgent and why won't they listen? The consequences are too severe to be dismissin'. But you can't convert anyone, even yourself, so who can you help unless you depend on the selfless support of the Lord of Hosts who saves to the uttermost and has promised to fight for you -- every word you express is not aimed to impress but offered in prayer for the Father to bless and grant success for His name's sake and not by any other measure -- it's for His pleasure and you heap up heavenly treasure when you trust Him even when the crowd is in a hostile fuss and not a single convert comes up to thank you. We walk by faith, not by sight, and when the night closes in and it might seem like the whole world is against you, don't forget where you are: behind enemy lines, in the fight of your life, with the objective to strive for of helping as many of your enemies as you can to win it. Keep the faith. It's an exciting time to be alive.

~ Rak Chazak

Poem: Community

When in the beginning, all of the stuff of the cosmos had been organized
And not one creation deviated from the Creator's perfect design
All was not well, for man by himself, was lacking in something besides

He lacked not in purity, intellect, strength, creativity, life or desire
If labor was favored, Adam was capable. No goal could not be acquired
But there was a whole other realm of experience to which he could not aspire

Man by himself does poor company keep, and his actions are wholly self-serving
But give him relations, and for a plot twist, make them all, of his love, undeserving
And fix within each the capacity for selfless love and its requisite yearning

NOW! Man in community is more of a model of a relational Father above
When, denying himself, he freely surrenders -- expressing the Trinity's love --
And loves his own wife with no thought of reward: this is how marriage is done

"It is not good for man to be alone" -- and this is what that Scripture means:
That, though we are physical beings, we know, all is not what it seems:
When a man connects spiritually with his friend, his joy will surpass his best dreams.

~ Rak Chazak

Poem: Do Us Part

This is best understood in light of the insights I shared in The Extrapolation Principle, and Intimacy in Heaven.

Do Us Part

You and me
indefinitely
not forever but together,
that's how it's meant to be.
True love will stick
but knows its place
our human bonds will yield before
eternity's embrace.
Another's love
is lovely, sure
but even though it's the best thing we know
I promise you there's more.
Keep in mind
symbols are signs
and marriage is a symbol
of a grander still design.
Ecstasy
we just can't foresee
how much better, in heaven
our love and joy will be.
Let us not
be easily caught
by believing that receiving
earthly joy is the best thing we've got.
Lift your eyes
eternity is out of sight
in more ways than one, we face a ton
of surprises when we arrive.
Our intimacy
will surpass physicality
this poem will end, but I and my friend
will love better than we ever dreamed...
indefinitely.

Matthew 22:30 "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven."

~ Rak Chazak

PS background: the "You and me indefinitely" was initially inspired by a rejection of the Francis Chan book "You and me forever," which is ostensibly a book about how to make the most of Christian marriage. I might suggest to Mr. Chan and wife that telling the truth about the place of marriage in the context of God's divine plan would be a good place to start.

PPS something "indefinite" is something that doesn't have a defined limit (or a known one, from human perspective), yet which nevertheless is not practically infinite in extent. Our lives in eternity will go on forever, but the amount of time we've spent there will always be a finite number, even if it's 10^100^100^100^100 years and beyond. In a similar vein, human life and marriage has a distinct beginning and therefore the time from the beginning to the present is always definite -- but the time from the present to the unknown future ending (when "death do us part") is uncertain from our point of view of not knowing the future, and so the word 'indefinite' rather than 'forever' is better to describe something that has no foreseeable ending, like a committed earthly marriage. 

Poem: We Are the Judges

This is my first attempt at a non-rhyming poem. Not having any formal education regarding poetic structure or styles, I've attempted a little bit of antithetical parallelism.


A queer thing is afoot in America.

We no longer individually judge,
but we collectively heap condemnation.

We abhor the death penalty for murderers,
but transgressors must never be allowed to forget their past sins.

American forgiveness is expressed as legal clemency for felonies
but losing your job over your personal opinion.

The Court of Public Opinion is an unfair tribunal,
where the judges are unelected and their verdicts abide by no law.

There is no statute of limitations,
because restraint is one thing Americans do not have.

We eat, sleep, drink, speak, buy, keep, and excuse ourselves in excess,
and we admit to knowing it's wrong when we criticize others for the same.

Everything must be done to our liking,
because we like ourselves most.

When someone does something bad,
we contrast them to ourselves.

That way, everyone different from us is wrong,
but we never are.

If someone should tell us that our standard is not correct,
we say that judging others is wrong, and judge them as being wrong.

In these days, there is no king;
everyone does what is right in his own eyes.



~ Rak Chazak

PS The Bible verse cited in the final stanza is repeated frequently in the book of the Judges, for example Judges 17:6 . But rather than refer to want of gubernatorial jurisprudence, I am indicating the lack of God's lordship in the hearts of the people in this country. Far fewer follow His precepts -- whether believer, nominal professing believer, or unbeliever alike -- than did in the past, and their actions and opinions are unruly, not being in submission to the Judge of the universe. I'm not talking about lawbreakers, here, I'm talking about those who attempt to pursue or impose punishment on others. Romans 1 describes the unregenerate as unmerciful and unforgiving. Can anyone deny that this is an apt description of our popular culture?

Despite not following God's law, our countrymen insist that there are rules that must be followed, and in so doing fulfill Romans 2:14 -- they "are a law unto themselves," revealing the knowledge, in their conscience, that certain things are right and wrong. But because they do not submit to the revelation of Scripture, their conclusions about what those things are, and what a suitable remedy is for them, is way out of wack. They do what is right in their own eyes because they do not honor the King. 

Poem Hub: All My Original Poems, Linked From One Place

This is for my convenience as well as anyone else. I've uploaded a number of original poems I've created, from time to time (and a few from others that I appreciate). I determined that it would be worth it to place a permanent link to a hub page for those poems on the sidebar of the blog.

Poems Original to "Single Christian Guy"
Ode to An Outdoorsy Wife
Of June
What's Wrong
What About the Jews?
Dove to Serpent
Seoul
Preach Unto Death
Who Can Find?
The Bible for Girls
Awe
It's A Virtue

Poems by others
A Rolling Stone by Robert William Service
The Gods of the Copybook Headings by Rudyard Kipling

If you need a suggestion, my favorite short poem is Awe, and the one I'm most pleased with for the theological content I managed to work into it is What About the Jews, which explores the question of whether praying for Jesus to return could be in opposition to praying for the safety and salvation of other people, in particular the Jews. You might be surprised at the answer.

~ Rak Chazak

I'll eventually update this hub with a short description of each poem, I figure. But for now, I'm fine with how clean and crisp it looks with just the links themselves.

Poem: It's A Virtue

It’s a Virtue

I

The woman who, engaged with me,

in 2 or 3 more years will be

(if even I am ready then

to bring on board that lifelong friend)

will need to have a patient heart

to tolerate our time apart.

I move more slowly than the moon

and won’t commit to marry soon,

but will commit to study whether

it’s worth committing, altogether.

II

I’ve lived two decades and a half

and as I tread my lonely path

I’ve pondered which fate would be worse—

—to never marry, or divorce.

In my view, I have but one shot:

to try, and do, or try it not.

And so, I know that when I find

that beauty which can make me blind

to ever wanting to do more

than show her what I’ve waited for,

I know the wise thing is to show

her who I am, so we can know

each other’s hearts before we stake

our future on what choice we make.

III

I’m not a fool, I don’t expect

to marry someone who’s perfect,

but rather, I am well aware

that such a view precedes despair.

Indeed, in part because of sin

I want,  before I enter in,

to bare the blackness of my heart

so that it’s out, before we start.

That way, neither has excuse

to say that “it is no more use,

I don’t even know you any more.

I’m done, I’m walking out the door.”

IV

Perhaps my rationale now shows.

The longer courtship I propose

is absolute necessity.

It will take time for use to be

acquainted to the level which

will spare us from a common ditch.

And that is why my perfect girl

is simply she who will endure

and understands that first we must

build up a strong and mutual trust

so that we can discern, and see

if she can be a part of me,

and I a part of her as well;

these things take time, and time will tell.

~ Rak Chazak

The Gods of the Copybook Headings

I found this absolute gem a year or so ago. It appears to be an excellent metaphor for the cyclical nature of cultural rise and decline. Indeed, the peculiar first person singular and plural in the poem (“I” and “We”) seem best to identify the speaker as symbolic of Society. This is borne out by the second line in the second to last stanza.

As for the identification of the Gods of the Market and the Gods of the Copybook Headings, both are best understood when the word “Gods” is thus defined:

• gods are mighty beings who create, sustain order, and rule over things (governing destiny and imposing laws). In this regard, they can be people, divine spiritual beings, or simply symbolic references to the forces that lie behind, in a causative manner, some phenomenon.
• following that, the Gods of the Market appear to be both the micro and macro level mechanics of the economy, and prominent economists, academics and politicians. Take note that the market need not be as narrowly defined as merely monetary exchange, but the exchange of ideas and on the broadest level, the interactions of people in large groups with each other. So I take the Gods of the Market to be, on a level, the voice of a portion of mankind, those  having lofty ideas about how to order society—as the poem shows their respective failure to do.
• the Gods of the Copybook Headings, then, are to be identified as both the laws of nature that ensure that the proverbial “common wisdom” is always proven true by history, and the outspoken ‘wise men’ who propound these truths and stand against the tide of public opinion and endeavor to teach the wisdom of history to Society.

What is a copybook heading? Remember that Kipling wrote around the turn of the 20^th century. Copybooks were notebooks used in British schools, where sentences were copied by students over and over, both to drill in the knowledge of what they were writing, and to practice their script. On each page at the top or bottom, there would typically be short proverbs printed. I don’t recall if I read that these were what was copied, or if they were just included as a publisher’s design. If they were what was copied, the symbolism gets even stronger, because there is the added implication that Society has had common sense drilled into its head, again and again, only to ignore it in favor of the promises of the Gods of the Market, until finally the adage, “those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it” comes true. Copybook headings imbued wisdom in pithy, easily remembered ways. With that in mind, enjoy one of the most poignant poems I’ve ever read:

What About the Jews?

Should We or Should We Not Pray for God to Come Back Soon?

Poem: "What of the Jews?"

I recently wrote a poem exploring the conundrum I've had regarding whether it's best to ask for God to come back as soon as possible or whether it's best for Him to be as patient as possible, letting history drag out and waiting for more people to be saved before the final 7-year period of Earth history known as the Tribulation.

I think I explain the issue pretty well in the rhyme scheme itself. Without further ado, please enjoy the below poem, and feel free to read the footnotes for background information on the things I make reference to in the poem. It is my favorite poem I've written yet, because of how much complex thought I was able to fit into it without upsetting the scheme. 

Reading note: Lines will have the stress on the second syllable, a la "dut-duu," unless there is an asterisk -- * -- at the beginning of the line, in which case the stress will be on the first syllable, a la "duu." 

What Of the Jews?

A thought about the Rapture’s¹ struck my mind in recent days
It came about as I was contemplating how to pray
Should I petition for the Lord to come to Earth with speed?
Or should I ask that individual Jewish souls be freed?
The Bible says that, in the end, “All Israel shall be saved.”²
But in the years before that, many more go to their graves³
* What, then, ought my focus be in praying for my friends?
* What will give them the best chance to make it in the end?
The way to life is death, as their whole hist’ry goes to show⁴
I yearn for them to sooner meet the Savior that I know
Before the Time of Jacob’s Trouble,⁵ many will refuse
A “partial hardening”⁶ has become the norm among the Jews
I wish it were not so, but it is hard to reach them now*
As a nation, one could say, their heart is far too proud.⁷
Could this be reason, then, to hope for Tribulation⁸ come?
That hardship would ensure all live, instead of only some?
But if the Tribulation came today, what of my friends?
* Would they be unsaved if they should meet untimely ends?
The fear of asking carelessly is keeping me awake
And anxiously considering the lives which are at stake
* What’s a bigger roadblock to a Jew’s accepting Christ?
Is it prosperity or is it deadly human strife?⁹
* War can make a man more urgent, peace can make him slack.
* Should we then hope that the Jews come soon under attack?
* May it not be so! Let me suggest another way:
The many  Jewish tribesmen sealed descend from those today¹⁰
Implicit in that they believe is that they’ve heard it preached—
The Gospel cannot save the men to whom it hasn’t reached¹¹
So whether they believe through trial, or escape before
The answer to my doubt, it seems, is: Preach the Gospel more!
We can’t assume the end will come so soon s’ as to be lazy
Few things in life are truer than [that] the future is quite hazy
* We don’t know when time runs out. We can’t afford to quit
So carry on, and do God’s will—yes, every little bit!
I love the Jews, and want them saved, from great to very small
But best of all for them ‘s to join us at the Trumpet call¹²
“Escaping all these things,”¹³ to spite their stubborn ancestry
Rejoicing at the Wedding Feast¹⁴ about God’s majesty
* Meanwhile, those we left behind will have another shot
To flee their sin, repent and put their faith and hope in God¹⁵
* Stubborn Israel took two thousand years to learn the truth:¹⁶
That God, in choosing men for heaven, cares not what we do
* We can only e’er do any good by His great grace
To try to work our way to Him is, in His eyes, disgrace
* My dear Jewish friends, I hope you’ll come to Faith today
But if you don’t, as we have seen, God still will have His way.
Baruch HaShem¹⁷

Footnotes for those curious:

1. The Rapture is a Biblical concept supported by the theological reasoning behind the purpose of the present Church Age and future Tribulation. Put shortly, in the final 7-year period of human history before the return of Jesus Christ, God punishes the pagan gentile nations and disciplines rebellious Israel. As the Church is neither pagan gentiles nor rebellious Jews, there is no reason for it to be present on earth during this time. Concurrently, the book of Revelation nowhere mentions the Church after the description of the end-times begins, although Israel is mentioned many times. The letter to the Thessalonians explains why the Church is not present by saying that all believers in Christ will be “caught up” (Grk. harpazo, Lat. rapturo, from which we get ‘rapture’) 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 introduces this doctrine, and 1 Thessalonians 5:9 supports it by saying “we are not appointed to suffer wrath.” A subsection of the Tribulation period is known as The Wrath, where God releases His righteous anger on the world. See Revelation 6:16-17. Logically, 5:9 indicates that the Church won’t be on earth during that time period. For clarification, the Church is defined as the sum total of all those who are saved by faith in Christ. It does not refer to a building or religious institution. The Roman Catholic Church is not THE Church, and neither is any other church. There are unsaved people in every religious institution that calls itself “christian,” and there are probably at least some who are saved, in every such institution as well. Do not be mistaken: affiliation with a religion does not save you, only faith in Christ can save you.

2. Romans 11:26

3. This refers to two things: one is that for as long as the Church Age draws on, Jews will continue to live and die natural lives and most of them will remain in unbelief, dying in their sins, and this is a great tragedy. The other thing is that it is quite possible that even though many will come to faith in the Tribulation, many will also die, and it is presently unclear to me whether there is any guarantee in Scripture against the possibility that those who die before the Return of the King will be unsaved. If there is no such guarantee, then the Tribulation will result in the deaths of many unbelieving Jews, and thus for those who do not convert before the end of the 7-year period, and die, the calamity means nothing but damnation for them, and not salvation. Such a possibility urges me strongly against wanting to ask for the end to come soon, lest I inadvertently be praying damnation on someone.

4. The first part of this, “the way to life is death,” refers to Christ dying on the Cross for us. His death made possible our eternal lives, if we repent and receive His sacrifice as a substitute for the punishment we deserve because of our sin. Consequently, Romans 6:11 “Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” To live, we must die. The second part of the line is just a clever artistic reference to the fact that it is the very history of the Jewish race that has brought us the message of life as delivered to them by God, through continual national calamities after calamities. Even today, the Jewish story is not yet over, because even though they are still killed throughout the world, and will yet be in the future, those who are alive at the end of the Tribulation will be alive in Christ even as the whole world has died – and those who live now have the opportunity to live by the power of God through dying to their Jewishness and accepting the Gospel of salvation through faith and not nationality.

5. The Time of Jacob’s Trouble is another name for the Tribulation, further lending support to the doctrine of the Rapture of the Church. Jacob is Israel. The primary reference for this is Jeremiah 30:7 “How awful will that day be! No other will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.”

6. Romans 11:25

7.  That the Jews have stumbled because of a general case of religious-nationalist pride (being the “Chosen Ones,” you know – it can make you arrogant, and it did) is a common theme in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament where the prophets preach continuously against their countrymen’s sins. Here is how Paul—the Jewish Pharisee—puts it in Romans 10:19-21 :

“Again I ask, Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, “I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding,” And Isaiah boldly says, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.” But concerning Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.””

8. The term Tribulation comes from Jesus’ discourse in Matthew 24:21, where the word He uses to describe the future events He’s foretelling about has historically been translated ‘tribulation,’ meaning distress, trouble, etc.

9. Proverbs 30:7-9, the sayings of Agur:

“Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you, and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”

10. Simple logic. Revelation 7:4-8 describes 144,000 people of Jewish descent, 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes, as being “sealed” by a mark on the forehead before the earth was subjected to the Trumpet and Bowl judgments, but after the Seals (read Revelation for more details. The three categories described are telescoping sequences of catastrophes unleashed on the earth during the Tribulation period). Those sealed were supernaturally protected from death and suffering throughout the course of the Tribulation, in the vision John saw. The hope that these could be Jews who turn to Christ very shortly after the Rapture and Seal judgments is a potential motivation to pray for God’s Second Coming to happen soon. Revelation here blatantly guarantees that 144,000 Jewish people who were NOT believers prior to the Rapture WILL be saved. This is very encouraging news. And so the logic that I lay out in the poem above is, if they come to faith, they must have had access to New Testaments and/or the preaching of Christians prior to the Tribulation, so that the events would have provoked them to faith in Christ. The reasoning for this is in the point below.

11. Romans 10:13-14 “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved  (ref: Joel 2:32). How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”  The following verses go on to say, “How can anyone preach unless they are sent?...Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” The conclusion, then, is to preach the Gospel so that the Jews may hear and believe.

12. The ‘trumpet call’ phrase is inspired by the line in the song “Days of Elijah” by Twilah Paris, that goes, “behold He comes, riding on the clouds, shining like the sun, at the Trumpet call.” In comparing Matthew 24:30-31 with 1 Thessalonians 4:16, these passages identify a trumpet of some sort with the Rapture, as well as informing that God Himself will make a “Second Appearing,” coming down but not touching down on earth, before the Tribulation, but not to be confused with the Second Coming.

13. Luke 21:36 (Luke 21 is the parallel passage to Matthew 24 in Luke’s Gospel).

14. Revelation 19:6-9. The Wedding Feast of the Lamb is a celebration that takes place in heaven during the Tribulation, where all those who belong to God participate in glorifying Him. It is called a Wedding because the Church is symbolically represented as a bride, such as in Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her…”

15. Romans 9:31-32. “But the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.”

16. I don’t mean anything concrete by this. It simply indicates that if the end of history is within the next century, then it took roughly 2,000 years after the Messiah came for the Jews to finally believe in Him, one and all. It doesn’t mean that no Jews ever have. Remember, it was a partial hardening. Romans 11:23 says, “And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.”

17. This is a common Hebrew phrase meaning "praise God," "thank God," or literally, "blessed be the name of the Lord."

Further reading about Israel: Romans 9-12.

Note: the verse quotations were taken from my NIV Bible. I have a KJV and NIV, so the way I phrase something may appear to look different from the actual quote I put up, but this is simply a matter of translation. For that matter, the verse pop-up feature uses the ESV version. Variety is the spice of life!

~ Rak Chazak

Of June

I wrote another poem. After the last one, I realized how much fun it was. I hadn't written a rhyme in years. Apparently, there's a distinction between "poetry" and "verse," the latter of which must rhyme. The poetry that doesn't rhyme often strikes me as very weird, anyway. Verse is the sort of thing that Rudyard Kipling wrote a lot of.

Here's my work, and I'll put an interpretation below. This dovetails nicely with my earlier entry about work.

Of June

June has brought cascading rains that clean the dusty air

Something tells me farmers will delight

My nose rejoices over that the pollen isn't there

It's getting washed away 'bout every night

Soon the star charts will proclaim that summer's finally come

The heat's already trying to break through

The soil enriched, rain fills the ditch. Our task has now begun

to work the yard again, but we are few.

Upkeep is a full-time task when you're the only ones

who, hands and feet, must daily work, and plan

to work some more until you've made a dent in all the tons

of things to do for each and every man

Seeing the fruit of your labor lets you silently rejoice

-- or loudly, if it happens to be your style

With satisfaction, head turned skyward, prayer lifts your voice

to thank God for another day worthwhile

Working is no curse if what you're doing is infused

with worth according to a divine end

The ability to tell apart bad things from good misused

separates the godly men from men

Rain in this life can at times be undeniably cruel

when instead of falling calmly, it monsoons

Because I don't see work and rain as goods instead of tools

I'm thus disposed to make the most of June.

I don't think it needs much explaining, but here's some background:
* The farmers will delight because it's critical for crops to get rain right now. Last year we had a drought.
* Prior to the rains, I was congested and sneezy. Now I'm nearly completely uncongested. Rain does have a cleaning effect on the atmosphere. It takes the dust particles that the droplets form around, and brings them back to the ground during the storms.
* By 'star charts,' I'm referring to the astronomical definition of summer as beginning June 20, which coincides with the solstice being June 21. We've had a few days of hot summer-like weather already in May, but the rains have cooled the temperatures a bit. It seems that this year, we're going to get the hot weather nearly right "on time."
* Working the yard refers to my immediate family taking time out of our week to maintain the house and property, which takes up nearly all the time left over when you're working full-time. I myself am still unemployed, but for me, looking for employment and otherwise working around the house is my full-time task. Our house is shaded by trees, so we get lots of stick litter to clean up.
* The fifth stanza refers to the article "Leisurely Labor" that I wrote about a week ago. Not all bad things are necessarily inherently bad. The realization helps to get more enjoyment out of work, which isn't being done for no purpose. See the image above. The sixth stanza wraps up this thought and asserts that with the proper perspective, I can enjoy the season. Those who are begrudgingly laboring might benefit from a change of perspective.

As a neat coincidence, the title I chose for the poem (which wrote itself) is the same as the title for Adam Young's (Owl City) first album, one he self-released. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_June) I figured that giving it this name would be a nice homage to Adam's music, which is itself an example of how a different perspective can give you much more enjoyment out of the simple, even mundane, things in life.

~ Rak Chazak

Ode to An Outdoorsy Wife

This is original to me. Feel free to copy it but if you want to give attribution, use the title above and attribute it to Hakam Adam. I just felt a creative spark and wrote this this evening. I hope you enjoy it!

Come, let me read you a tale from the heart

And soon you will quite understand

How a person like me could consider it art

How the mind works inside of a man

Dusk, when the sun sinks below all the trees

Is my favorite time of the day

Why should it be that the sweet evening breeze

And the night sky incline me to say,

"God, I am thankful to be here this night

And I love what I see with my eyes. 

Please give me grace that I walk in the Light

And to not fail to strive for your prize." ?

Nature, I reckon, inclines me to worship

The One who created it all

One day, yet future, a songbird in courtship

My bride it shall also enthrall

For if we would ever be joined in one flesh

We can't be too different, you know

As husband and wife, our interests should mesh

And our differences help us to grow

No doubt, she'll be unlike myself in most ways

But I figure we both can agree

That a walk in the evening outside on most days

Will us both inspire genuinely

There's something quite soothing 'bout being outside

And it's something that I want to share

With a wonderful woman--my sister, my bride

I am anxious until I get there

For now, it's just me and my awesome Creator

Conversing on star-studded nights

The hills and the trees are a natural theater

The world is afire with lights

It is easy to see when the sun is up high

And the colors are vibrant and stark

But the light that I seek is a different design

It is one that will shine in the dark.

It is true that I'm never truly alone

My Savior is with me always

But until that day when He bids me come home

There's something inside me that says,

"Lord, let me grow and become a good man,

So that one day a woman will find

That our mutual love could be part of Your plan,

That I will be hers and she mine

Let her be someone who like me loves mountains

And let her also love You

Give me the strength to love like a fountain

Always outpouring anew."

I hope against hope that I'll find her one day

And that when I do, I don't miss her

So until I am ready, I still watch and pray

Until finally, I get to kiss her.

Artful, perhaps, is the mind of this writer

Full of God, nature, women and more

Against loneliness, romance is a fighter

But it's God who foreknows what's in store.

~ Rak Chazak