Tales Of The Book Part Fifteen

SOMETHING THERE IS

Something there is that loves balance and righteous redress. That tips the scales to measure out justice and knows no judgments other than the ones we declare for ourselves. Something there is that equates giving with the gifts we receive, and arrows sent into the darkness with barbs that come back and wound us without warning.

Something there is that deals out measure for measure as though they were cards placed thoughtfully in a solemn pack of Tarot. For each Fate dealt to another there is one that comes back to the dealer. For each smile offered to a stranger there is another that comes back as an unexpected offering.

Something there is that won't allow me to denigrate another without denigrating myself. Or to devalue my efforts when I have given my all to the enterprise. Something there is that knows when laying down bricks of kindness and devotion to others I am building a home for my spirit that casts shadows on palaces and mansions.

Something there is that knows true wealth accumulates in the heart and is the only capital I can give away yet never exhaust. Were I to gather all the riches of Rockefellers and Kings and Oil Barons and hold them locked with a miser's love in the deepest vault, I would be the most impoverished of spirits walking the planet.

Something there is that won't allow me to take away the rights of others without losing the ones I hold most dear. With each wall I erect to keep out those I fear, I carve out deeper levels to the prison within which I am held captive. How far from the sun I fall when I build a world to exclude those on whom the sun shines freely.

Something there is that lifts up and honors the gifts of life and love. That breaks through the darkness of a wounded spirit like tendrils of grass breaking through the deepest asphalt. Something there is that will ever rise above fear and the pitiful acts of frightened people and self-serving governments.

Something there is that knows the measure of a man or a woman and the gifts which, by their offering, they have chosen to receive. Something there is that tips the scales to measure out justice and knows no judgments other than the ones we declare for ourselves.

Something there is that lets us build a world for ourselves as we would build a world for others.

Something there is that is writing this now.

Something there is that is reading this now, as well.


From "How To Train A Rock" by Paul Steven Stone, ©2009 Paul Steven Stone

COPS AND ROBBERS

When I grow up I’m going to become a cop in Massachusetts. I’m going to carry a gun, stand around construction sites all day, scarf up all the overtime I can get, earn a quarter of a million dollars a year and intimidate anyone who tries to institute changes that could affect my wealthy lifestyle.

When the Commonwealth tries to use civilian flaggers at one of my construction sites I’ll come down on them so hard they’ll think twice about doing it again. I’ll scare the living daylights out of the flagger, even threaten to arrest her, start a protest at the site, get my fellow officers to shout threats and obscenities, get my union to file lawsuits and all the time point out what a threat to public safety the state is creating.

I don’t care that all 49 other states use civilian flaggers. This is Massachusetts. We use police officers at our sites, and pay them for four hour shifts even if they work only 15 minutes, because we care about safety. And because the police union is so magical it can make 1000 politicians dance on the head of a pin.

And if I can’t become a cop in Massachusetts when I grow up, I guess I’ll become a fireman.

Jesus In Arizona

And Jesus went to the desert, looked amidst the angry crowds and spoke of truths both ancient and new.

Raising his arms, he declared, "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
 But I say to you, first know who your enemies are. Hate is too sharp a sword to be swung indiscriminately.

“Your enemies are those whose skin color is different than yours. Your Father in Heaven would not have made them different from you if He hadn’t meant for them to be easily identified, even from a distance.

“Then, too, your enemies are those who speak in different tongues from yours. Again, your Father in Heaven was making sure you could effortlessly identify your enemies, even in total darkness.

“You have heard that it was said “It is better to love your enemies than to hate them, to bless those who curse you, and to do good to those who persecute you.” Those words of mine were misquoted in a leftist newspaper. What I actually said was, “It is better to deport your enemies than to have them living nearby, better to lock them up than allow them to hold jobs, and much better to let their families starve or go homeless than to tie up welfare funds meant entirely for the poor, the weak and the deserving.

“You have heard it said that your Father in heaven makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and unjust alike. That is true, my children, but He never meant for the sun to shine down on illegal aliens on Our side of the border. And if it seems especially dry on Their side of the border, such is the love He shares for those who so easily forget their rightful place.

“For if you love those who don’t belong in your country, what reward will you have left once they’ve eaten your food, taken your jobs, slept with your children, robbed you in your sleep and sent for the rest of their family from Mexico City? Stick to greeting and loving only your brethren and business contacts. Therefore you shall be rich and comfortable, just as your Father in Heaven meant you to be.”

Then Jesus called for questions.