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John Cross
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John Cross |
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allan Senior Member
since 2000-04-09
Posts 620On the road 
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John Cross went to work All he was was an office clerk But day by day what he saw Hit him hard and made him raw He saw corruption all around And no one seemed to make a sound All workers did was watch their backs Hiding from unpleasant facts His inner voice kept calling out This is wrong, stand up and shout! But then he thought, my wife, my kids He closed his eyes but behind closed lids... An image of ugliness everywhere He could not just sit and stare It was up to us all and it was up to him All else in life seemed just a whim Each day at lunch he sat in the park Now after work he'd sit 'till dark Thinking about the world he saw How evil was approved by law Now he saw he had to act And make them realise the fact that all their ways were so misguided And what was good was so derided To feed the poor and help the lame To cherish all as if the same To give to those that truly needed Not to mock and leave unheeded Not to glory in killing men Or hating any others when they had a culture not the same Or breeding violence like a game To forgive those who try to harm us And heal the wounds that surround us To bring new hope to those downtrodden To cherish love. Make war forgotten. He started walking from the park Slowly stepping through the dark He made his way up to the base And to the sentry in his place What do you want? came the command He stopped and sighed and gently smiled Now the soldier could not catch his breath In that instant he saw his work was Death They walked silent to the base HQ With a peace unknown to me or you Inside the base they took each gun And smashed them all one by one Leaving that world they spent the night With the homeless out of sight Finding gentle wisdom in their eyes No brutal hatred to despise Next day to Wall Street slow they strolled To endless corridors lined with gold Computers flashed money, the same old drug Walking to the wall they pulled the plug The cops then came, they were thrown in jail Condemnations fell on them like hail How could you be so anti-social? Don't you know this work is crucial?! A psych was called and tests then made To show they didn't make the grade Such acts were done with no gain They surely must be quite insane Two bodies shocked and two brains fried They lay like zombies hypnotized Now we're safe from these crazy kooks with mad ideas from worthless books If only we could destroy the rest Get rid of freedom to protest What a happy life we would all lead Making endless money, that's joy indeed! On the news the terrorists' story was told We nodded agreement our eyes turned cold Thinking them wicked to deny our need We turn back thankfully to vice and greed. [This message has been edited by allan (11-21-2002 01:08 PM).] |
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| © Copyright 2002 Allan Tierney - All Rights Reserved | |||
Joyce Johnson
since 2001-03-10
Posts 9912Washington State |
Allan: I am sorry you see the world this way but John's acts of violence did not do the job did they? I have lived long enough to know that the world is better. It's poorest have more options than they did when I was born and most of the changes have come from the polling places. I am talking about my own country. I see so many good people just doing their small bit to better the plight of others and if we slip backwards sometimes we still have the ballot to make our changes. The terrorists that attacked our country merely killed innocents in their zeal and did not one thing for the betterment of mankind. Joyce |
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allan Senior Member
since 2000-04-09
Posts 620On the road |
Hi Joyce, thanks. I didn't have the Sep 11 terrorists at all in mind here. It's a very rough attempt at an allegorical tale based on Jesus Christ (John Cross?) and wondering what would happen if someone acted as he did 'way back then. I have the feeling he would be treated at best as a madman and at worst as a terrorist. Perhaps he would be simply treated as an anti-globalisation crazy. What do you think?  |
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allan Senior Member
since 2000-04-09
Posts 620On the road |
An afterthought. I wonder which societies have improved and how much? I would agree that living standards are very much better for the majority in the West now than 100 years ago. But what about the cultural climate? Don't you think that the politicians are encouraging totally unsustainable consumption? I know the cycle they want to promote: spend/consume, employ, build, spend/consume, ad infinitum... Growth in other words and growth there has been over the last 100 years, and how! But we have five thousand million years ahead of us on this planet. Isn't it clear the road of infinite growth and lust to HAVE and CONSUME isn't sustainable? It's okay if all you long for is a concrete planet filled with tiny nature parks, zoos, endless soulless shopping malls, theme parks and "Tree Museums" as Joni Mitchell has already predicted, but, wouldn't you miss the truly natural life of a living vibrant planet...? (I believe we lose around 2,000 species of flower per year even now.) I don't hear (m)any politicians calling for a move to a sustainable Being mode of existence instead of the present Having mode (it would put at risk future jobs and profits for big business). I hear their voices leading us to consume ever more and that will lead us ever faster down the road to this part of the world eating the other. Be All You Can Be is sustainable. Eat and consume all you see is the road to the end. Globalisation in my view is more or less another ploy designed to speed the rape of this beautiful planet by the already rich elites. These are the kinds of excesses and future horrors that some of us "John Crosses" out here are finding hard to stomach... [This message has been edited by allan (11-21-2002 01:27 PM).] |
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Joyce Johnson
since 2001-03-10
Posts 9912Washington State |
Dear Allan, I did not equate this tale with Jesus Christ. The terrorists acts are too fresh in my mind. All I can do is help my own little corner of the world and know that the big world will have to change without me. But every terrorist act that I have known about has solved nothing and has been pointless. Jesus Christ taught love not violence. Joyce [This message has been edited by Joyce Johnson (11-21-2002 02:27 PM).] |
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allan Senior Member
since 2000-04-09
Posts 620On the road |
Thanks for looking back in Joyce. The stimulus for the poem was the anger of Jesus driving the merchants and money changers from his "house of God". Jesus didn't preach violence yet he could be angry and could take action against those he saw doing wrong. I think if he were alive today he WOULD be a radical and definitely seen as a troublemaker by the powers-that-be. I DO think the law would be used against him (again). Mark, Chapter 11 Verses 15-18 "To reestablish God's authority over the temple, "Jesus went into the temple. He began to drive out the people who were buying and selling in the temple." "Jesus ...overthrew the tables of the moneychangers" Jesus: "The holy writings say, 'My house shall be called a house for all tribes and nations, where people talk with God.' "But you have made it a place for people who steal!" "They feared Jesus." "They wanted to find some way to kill him." John, Chapter 2 Verses 13-16 13: The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14: In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. 15: And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables." |
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allan Senior Member
since 2000-04-09
Posts 620On the road |
One last thing - the two men in the tale don't truly commit terrorist acts. They destroy weapons and act against what they see as a highly corrupting force - with anger, as Jesus did - against the modern version of money-changers. They were not operating in a temple but then I believe that Jesus would not have restricted sanctity only to the temple but saw the whole world as a place of sanctity under God and he gave himself as an example who would not simply stay quiet or be complicit in the corruption for the sake of personal safety or monetary gain... |
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Joyce Johnson
since 2001-03-10
Posts 9912Washington State |
Allan. I give in. It's just that there is so much violence in the world right now with suicide bombers and it doesn't work. Joyce |
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allan Senior Member
since 2000-04-09
Posts 620On the road |
Hi Joyce, no need to give in, it's not a fight it's an exchange of views. Jesus may or may not have been the son of God (in my view) but he certainly was, in that time, a man. And he had a normal man's emotions. What was not normal (in my view) was that he didn@t just accept everything with the well known cynical "same old, same old" atitude of merely looking after number one. He cared passionately about issues, about people and about how they were governed. He wasn't willing to stand or perhaps mutter under his breath. He fostered an unwillingness among the people to take the status quo and live with it. Certainly the Romans saw him as someone who needed to be watched. Sadly it was his own people who preferred the easy option of accepting the erosion of their culture that decided for a peaceful life and had him crucified. There are people living now who would do the same because they are hard-wired symbiots of the system, they need all the consuming, polluting and corrupting of the Third World to go on because they need to sell products, make even more worthless goods and obtain cheap raw materials. I'm not AT ALL sure Jesus, if he came back, would only stand passively and preach from a distance. I believe he would be on top of the barricades...This is not to say YOU are wrong. I'm just putting my perspective on Jesus' behaviour so that my verses above can be better understood. Thanks again for your comments Joyce,...go in peace! And I would like to say what a beautiful poem you have recently posted here in the pub. I truly wish we would all stand up, step forward, and take up that mantle... [This message has been edited by allan (11-22-2002 03:53 AM).] |
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BloomingRose Member Elite
since 2000-08-09
Posts 3092Florida |
We do live in a troubling world, and the only thing I can do is... pray and try to make each day count. I can't live in everyone else's world and truthfully would not want to. The United States is a blessed nation, and we do get to vote, to bad so many forget that. Deb |
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Street Heart Member
since 2002-09-05
Posts 349Pennsylvania,USA |
Hey,Allan,how's it goin'? I read every word exchanged above and I must say that you are absolutely right.Jesus would not have been quietly along the sidelines.He always put his belief,his Heart right in the midst of the action or problem.You are also correct in your references to people being tucked within their comfortability so much that they tend to do nothing to change things for fear of losing that "comfort".This may be a small point to some,and it may not be in context to your poem or your exchange with Joyce,but I always wondered at the general apathy that I observed in reference to the practice of so many to simply,uncaringly toss their garbage on the streets and roadways.It is beyond my comprehension.I took part in several organizations which focused on neighborhood cleanups and beautification.I noticed after one such activity where we planted flowers in the tree pits along the street and picked out all the trash,that there were certain ones that continued to carelessly throw their unwanted refuse in those tree pits.I thought to myself,"Can't they see?Do they have such apathy?Is it hatred or passive aggression?". It has always been for me to better the world,even if it's a "little bit".AND I just knew that if everyone did just a "little bit",wouldn't it add up to the "Norm" or whatever you want to call it?I suppose it is not too far away from topics such as war or terrorism or over-consumption.In the end,it all comes down to that "apathy",or just plain selfishness.People look,...they observe.And I feel if there are enough people watching others who are making up the majority of a situation,...then they take notice,...then they start thinking.But until there is a majority doing the right thing and with PASSION,there are too many who are going to sit a bit too comfortably within their selfishness...their supposed "comfort".And why shouldn't they? It's the "Norm",right? There were so many times I went around my neighborhood and swept and picked up trash,and I hoped...I hoped that there would be at least one observer who would change their behavior in regards to their carelessness,that they would be "Inspired".Now,you know that I had been homeless.It is a topic which concerns me greatly,for,of course,this is another thing which "should not be".But how do we change any tide if there are none to listen? To be honest,Allan,if there are none to listen,I am still going to do my part anyway...and I will not keep quiet.If you have looked in on my offerings you'd see that I am even supplying others with a way to make it easy for them to make a difference in homeless peoples lives.They can book trips,buy goods,or even just recommend this site that I supplied to others.Now,with some of these other things that are going on in the world...what other avenues can we take...if even to make it easier for others to turn that "tide" of over-consumption and greed?In so many ways these other issues seem to be caught up in such political red tape...Catch 22. It's funny,last night I saw the movie, "Erin Brockavich".Your conversation with Joyce mirrored a lot that was said and done within.As you know,it is a true story.I do believe that things can be done...I pray these many things that need to be dealt with will be taken care of,but Allan,it seems that nothing will ever be solved if there aren't enough of us(in the movie,more and more put their voices in until they couldn't be ignored) to go against the many "GIANTS" that are out there.What to do,except to continue going on...informing,...and hopefully inspiring others to action.One day the "Easy Chair" may not be the safe refuge that so many believe they "keep".I hate to say this,it may be quite fatalistic,but I don't believe that this world is going to last much longer.There aren't enough that are going to get out of their "Easy Chairs" to change our own destruction.You know,there are many people out there who have lived their many years,are aching from age and have fought their "fights".They "hope" that the end of their days are uneventful, if not peaceful.It seems understandable why they choose to let others do the "fighting".But fighting(and I do mean peaceful protest) can be accomplished in so many ways,ones that don't necessarily mean fervently waving banners down the street.There just may not be enough who realise this or have the energy to try.But,again,Allan,that is not going to stop me from using my voice and living my "Passion". You know,Allan,I really admire you.You said once in response to me that you were glad that there were those like me out "there".Well,the feeling is mutual,my friend.Keep up the "Good Fight".I wish a Happy Thankgiving to you.You do celebrate T-Day at this time,don't you?If you don't,then I'll just wish you a good day with good food ...and Peace...Your American friend,Geoffrey If a man has not discovered something he is willing to die for,his life is not worth living. |
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midnightblues Senior Member
since 2000-07-01
Posts 1597Singapore |
Ah I do agree, God will make all the pain alright in the end. Prayers, conviction and love plays a big part too. Peace Michelle If there cannot be equal in affection, then let the one with more be me - midnightblues™ |
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allan Senior Member
since 2000-04-09
Posts 620On the road |
Thanks Geoffrey for a wonderful post and some supremely sane words. I agree wholeheartedly. It all starts with the individual - one of my pet subjects is the living of a low-maintenance lifestyle. That involves something called "voluntary simplicity" - it means not buying over much, conserving, sharing tools, helping in the community by offering free services, recycling and restoring. It is also about "Being All You Can Be" as opposed to the false security of things all around you. It means getting out into the community and connnecting with people. Most of all it means caring for the resources we use - often minimum is maximum - remember how it used to be when luxuries came along only once in a while? They meant so much more than now when we consume constantly and it all becomes an overindulgent orgy that tends to desensitize us rather than give pleasure. We have another 5,000 million years of planet life before the sun goes nova. Surely we can't go on consuming and concreting the way we are now. Like you I don't see a huge lot of hope, some people are getting out of their armchairs but not enough...not nearly enough. The status quo seems relatively comfortable, but as you say, for how much longer... The homeless issue is very important. Here in Scotland we have a very successful magazine called "The Big Issue" - it is sold solely by the homeless on the street. It gives them some income and the magazine informs the public at large about homelessness. The magazine is well respected and has a professional staff who produce an excellent product. All the best Geoffrey, good luck and take care. Your Scottish friend, Allan [This message has been edited by allan (11-28-2002 04:07 AM).] |
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