Vigilence

After 9/11 the President's men all said,
"we must go to War."
But few thought hard about what we
were really fighting for.
Caught up in the fervor after such
a horrific travesty
The War on Terror became linked
with our Nation's destiny.
To root out evil wherever it reared
its humanless head
To route out all possible terrorists
and kill them dead.
And so many Americans gave of themselves
and some more than they knew
For Afghanistan was just the beginning of
the trouble that was to brew.
But of the citizens and soldiers who volunteered
to risk their lives and go
How much of the murky and sordid history
did they really know?
Were they ever taught in their high school
that back in '68
During the hell that was Vietnam
and before Watergate,
That the CIA covertly backed
an Iraqi coup
Putting Sadam's Baathists in power
and him in as #2?
And did they know in the '80s the U.S.
gave guns and F-16s
To Sadam so he could fight the Shah in Iran
as a go-between?
So, how many do you suppose knew
just that little bit?
Would you still have stepped forward
knowing that shit?
Or would you have dropped your gun
and walked away,
Determined to come to the solution
another way?
Coups never work out the way they are
planned to be.
Why is that so hard for all the people
in America to see?
Because we never look for the truth
until after the fact
And even then we're too busy stabbing
others in the back,
Pointing fingers and saying to each other,
"It's all HIS fault!"
"He promised us loads of the sweetest sugar;
instead we got salt."

So many of us bought into the miriad of lies,
myself included.
But we can't shed all the blame on to others
for ourselves being deluded.
It's our job as the PEOPLE to be vigilent and keep
the government in check.
No one else is going to protect our rights for us;
we have to stand and demand respect.

Thoughts on God and Life

As time stealthily keeps slipping on by,
People the world over continue to die
From disease, hunger, andlack of shelter
War making the political climate swelter
People keep telling me that it's all part
of God's plan
The tell me all the suffering is just the
condition of Man.
That all the toil, the sweat, the blood
and the tears,
From which he has suffered all of these
long years,
Is his just burden after an untimely fall
from Grace.
And in his mortal shame, he cannot but
hide his face.
And they tell me God is right here, walking
among us;
He could be the man on the street or maybe
one on a bus
Waiting for people to do for Him
a good deed
To recognize of the least of His people
their many needs.
But if a God indeed exists who is so merciful
and true,
Then why does He let all the shit happen to me
and you?
If you were Him, omniscient, and You knew
beforehand
All the pain, suffering, and pestilance that would
plague the land,
Would You still do it the same way? Would You still
create man?
If You knew everything about man, all the hairs
on his head
And You knew for eternity who would be where
when they were dead
And you knew that compared to the billions of people
only a few would chose You
The rest sentenced to eternal damnation in a lake of fire,
what would You do?
Does that sound just to you? Does it sound like we really
have free will
When we are forced to worship the Son of God or be accused of
being evil?
My question then to those of you who would like
to disagree
Is why do I need a God to tell me about the truth
that I see?
Can I not see when my fellow man is troubled
and in need?
For me the joy of helping others has always followed
the deed.
True enough I am not God and in my life
I will surely fail
But a man who died for MY sins and then resurected
is too tall a tale.
But isn't it prideful to believe that of my sins
I can forgive myself?
I can tell you this: the remorse of poor decisions made
is my own personal hell.
And that's the way I believe it always
should be:
Thus the burden to do what is right will
be on me.
Because in the end, it always comes down
to a choice
And in this life we are responsible to find
our own voice.
No matter where you go and whatever
you do,
The decisions are always yours; it is always
up to you.
There may be things in life that are out of
your control
But that doesn't mean some divine being is
watching life unfold.
It's what we each choose to do, all the choices
we make
That rock our boat and leave love or hate
in its wake.
So, whether or not you believe God does
indeed exist,
And live and die hoping to find your name
on His list,
We still have to live out each and
every day;
We still have to struggle and strive to
find our way.
We have to find out what it is that helps us
get along
That makes us whole inside and keeps us
strong,
Find something that teaches each of us
to love
Be it family, mankind, or a good and holy
God above.
But remember that you can find beauty here on Earth
to make your heart sing
And know that you have the strength inside of you to know
and do the right thing.
And when the time comes for us
each to die,
We'll know how well we lived by the way
we feel inside.
So live the best you can for from yourself
you cannot hide.