Project 5782 | Day 16

Depravity!

Scripture Portion

Job 34.21-22

21 For his eyes are on the ways of a man,
and he sees all his steps.
22 There is no gloom or deep darkness
where evildoers may hide themselves.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

Quote from Reading

“Contrary to the ‘myths to live by’ created by Alex Haley and others, Africans were by no means the innocents portrayed in Roots, baffled as to why white men were coming in and taking their people way in chains. On the contrary, the region of West Africa from which Kunte Kinte supposedly came was one of the great slave-trading regions of the continent – before, during, and after the white man arrived. It was the Africans who enslaved their fellow Africans, selling some of these slaves to Europeans or to Arabs and keeping others for themselves. Even at the peak of the Atlantic slave trade, Africans retained more slaves for themselves than they sent to the Western Hemisphere.
“This pattern was not confined to West Africa, from which most slaves were sent to the Western Hemisphere. In East Africa, the Masai were feared slave raiders and other African tribes – either alone or in conjunction with Arabs – enslaved their more vulnerable neighbors. As late as 1891, it was reported that ‘Manyuema slavers had demoralized surrounding tribes, destroying crops, and famine reigned everywhere.’ Even in the early twentieth century, Abyssinians were still raiding other Africans and carrying off slaves. It was 1922 before the British had gained sufficient control in Tanganyika to stamp out slavery there. Arabs were the leading slave raiders in East Africa, ranging over an area larger than all of Europe. The total number of slaves exported from East Africa during the nineteenth century has been estimated to be at least two million.”

Sowell, Thomas, Black Rednecks and White Liberals, Encounter Books: New York, 2005, pgs. 120-121

Provocative Language

“We all at times feel somewhat painfully our human isolation from the subhuman world – the atrophy of instinct which our intelligence entails, our excessive self-consciousness, the innumerable complexities of our situation, our inability to live in the present. If only we could shuffle it all off! We must not – and incidentally we can’t – become beasts.”

Lewis, C.S., The Four Loves: An Exploration of the Nature of Love, Mariner Books: New York, 2012 edition, pg. 52
Published in: on 7 AMpWed, 06 Oct 2021 10:06:00 -040006Wednesday 2016 at 10:06 am  Leave a Comment  
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Tapestry

This home you’ve given me – such beauty!
No! You know you don’t deserve this place!
The designs, furnishings and décor of tapestry!
Remember who you are – you cannot embrace.

So warm and clean; built for a king.
A king?! No, stick to what you know!
It’s a glorious gift I can hardly fathom.
Because it’s not for you – it’s all show!

But He calls me to this place – it’s mine.
Isn’t better to stay where you feel at home,
But he has graciously given us much more,
No! You need to make your own shalom!

Father, this home is so wonderful,
Come back to the comfort of the dark.
Thank you for being so merciful and kind,
NO! Don’t do it! It’s too glorious; too stark!

But, look at …
Stop talking now! It’s built with light,
Furnished in such beauty, full of majesty
Look at your wretched and filthy plight,

You don’t deserve something with such tapestry,
Furnishings built for kings, a place so warm,
You sinner! You don’t deserve his grace!
Come back home and prepare for this storm –

It’s funny you thought you could live in that place!
Take my embrace! Yes this place is dark and dank,
But it’s our home. Remember your place; your rank.
Remember your vile thoughts? My how they stank!
Still denying and setting your hopes? I’ll be more frank!

Remember when …
No, stop! You’ve said enough…much of it is true,
I don’t deserve it; my heart is sick like the flu,
I shouldn’t long for such glory, but stay here with you.

But, like always you miss the point that’s so clear,
And you don’t see or perceive what’s reality,
Open your eyes to the beauty; dissolve that fear,
What you keep thinking is that all of this is about me!

Look at the King – the glorious One who gives the gift,
It’s Him you need to again clearly see and bend your knee,
It’s about his faithfulness and promises – He’s done the work –
The sin in me – you – I flee and trust His word; His guarantee!

My King – may all these voices be silenced inside of me,
Please forgive me of my sins I continue to choose,
All of you – here at your feet – is all I want to see,
In your home, full of peace, arrayed in such beauty!

Published in: on 7 AMpSun, 12 Jan 2020 08:14:29 -050014Sunday 2016 at 8:14 am  Leave a Comment  
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W.P. | Installment 3 | “Gluttony”

Looks like I’m finally back! Hope you all have been well. I have missed being on here and seeing the amazing work everyone has been doing. I’m hoping to catch up soon!

I am going to just pick up where I left off, which was a Tuesday (writing prompt day). I got this writing prompt from my blogging buddy, Dr. Suchie. Her prompt to me was, “In poetry form, write about Gluttony,” so this is my attempt.

It’s good to be back and I hope you enjoy!


“Gluttony”

Stress,
Upon my mind,
With fists of fury,
Irately beating!
My peace it’s clawing, eating and gnawing;
A frenzied feast.
Blood upon his jaw;
Giving into this beastly fiend, as I smash more sweets,
My flaw!

~~~

“I don’t feel well,
And my weight, much overdue for
Forgone numeric fell!”
‘Come on, just eat another piece,
It’s just cake! This is who you are my friend!
A lover of sweets – just like compelling beats,
Peppery meats and epic feats –
Just get one more.
Besides, you have to feed that beast,
Stress will have his feast! AND, you work hard,
You deserve that extra piece!
Don’t be fake! That piece with extra frosting; partake!’
I fail, I falter, eat to appease my take
On being pleased.
Out of shape, breath wheezed
As I regret each wrong decision I make…

~~~

I’m tired; seeking a break.
This stress and heartburn
Are eating away at me.
I hop on social media,
See what’s going on in the world.



Just more toxic garbage
Being gobbled up in large poisonous portions,
Guess whose dating such and such…
Never interested me too much,
Blah blah blah; this is why everyone who doesn’t
Agree with me is a stupid, ignorant bigot!
“Well, have you ever considered…
Shut up you racist! Your only a product of
White privilege you white male supremacist!
Whelp, there the … Trump Card …
And to further the discombobulating stump,
Besides, I have more followers than you, so you’re irrelevant!
As I continue strolling,
Consuming preservatives and dyes, wasting precious time,
Even after my eyes realize…

~

Gluttony!
© Joshua Curtis, 2019

Published in: on 7 AMpTue, 06 Aug 2019 07:23:02 -040023Tuesday 2016 at 7:23 am  Comments (6)  
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