I want to stay beside the pond

I want to stay beside the pond

In the grass and

Listen as the wind rushes through the trees!

The breeze is cool and

I come alive as the sun warms my bones.

 

I want to stay beside the pond

Where the birds and

Squirrels run through the grass, looking for seeds

The hunt is on and

I can see the sights of nature through my eyes.

 

I want to stay beside the pond

In the sunshine and

Feel at peace as if all is right and good.

The shadows grow and

I can hear the supper bell ringing in my mind.

 

I want to stay beside the pond

Where all is calm and

Clean, as if pollution nowhere came

And Loud was hushed away. Then

I can see the world alive and know that all is fine.

 

 

Sometimes I stare ( poem)

Sometimes I stare

Sometimes I stare off into space and into my own world

It is peaceful there. I mean no harm.

You see, life here is over-focused, over-stimulated, over- cluttered.

I do not mean to be rude. . .

But, I did not listen. You are right. I did not hear or see.

What was that you wanted me to know?

Input not received.

 

Sometimes I stare off into space

 And notice a little bug, or brightly colored leaf.

They make me happy. They bring me peace.

Even though, I know. . .

That my staring may seem out of place.

“Look!” you say,

“Over here, is the main event. The show we came to see, the game we bought tickets for.”

“You missed the play. What were you doing?”

Something alone.

 

Sometimes I stare off into space,

 And see that man with the funny hat

Or that little girl who seems sad, when everyone else is happy.

I notice things.

Not the things that everyone else is looking at,

But things nonetheless.

I mean no harm. I like this world, for it is mine.

It is safe. It is serene. It is real.

In my mind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the News: Commentary

9-23-13

A professor at Columbia University was attacked and ended up in the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. He was not an anarchist, nor an ultra conservative “war monger”, who, in this bastion of liberal identity was confined to irrelevancy. In fact, he seems to have no political identity. Rather, he was attacked based on his appearance. Wearing a beard and a turban, 31 years old Prabjot Singh is a Sikh. He was assaulted because he was thought to be Muslim, according to the police who are categorizing this as a hate-crime. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/23/newser-sikh-attack/2854043/.
Sikhs are not Muslim. They are not even Middle Easterners, for Sikhs almost exclusively come from India. Sadly this is not the first time that such a mistake was made. According to Wikipedia: “On August 5, 2012, Wade Michael Page fatally shot six people and wounded four others in a mass shooting at a Sikh temple in OAK CREEK, WISCONSIN.[3”.

Those are the facts. Now for the commentary: As a scholar of religion and geography, I know the basic differences between Sikhs and Muslims. Yet too many Christians are unaware. The fact that these hate crimes have occurred in the United States suggests that we have failed to distinguish between Islamic and Sikhs. The world has gotten smaller—due to technology. In years past it would have been rare to meet someone of another faith.
That is not the case today. Part of what seems to distinguish Post-modernism from the past is the fact, that in America, Christian hegemony has largely vanished. There are many choices to choose from, and, in the so-called “market place of ideas”, Christians have not presented a cogent and unified message.
We as Christians need to understand what this means. If one religion group is attacked for their faith—even though they are thought to be another religious group—then any religious group can be attacked. This could have been an orthodox Christian with a full beard, who may look “Islamic”. Or it could be an unassuming Protestant wearing a cross around their neck, or on their lapel. The world has changed – and is changing—therefore we can no longer assume that as Christians we will be fine.
It seems as if the world is turning dark, as moral authority is abandoned. Thus there is a need for someone like myself who understands the religious and geographic background and implications, and can assist Christians in developing a more unified response which shows the world that we are still relevant.