The Poetry of Ruth - Pg 3
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This Carpenter's Daughter
I think of Yeshua Jesus being a carpenter.Being a carpenter's son.
And He would assist His father.
A carpenter is a builder.
A builder of houses and temples.
A repairer.
A reconstructor.
I think of my grandfather this way.
He was a carpenter...
Henry Latson.
I never knew if he had a middle name.
Cherokee was his mother's birth.
His father was Colored.
Papa was a quiet man
Seldom talked loudly.
But had an intimidating command.
It was something in his quiet stern face...
In his eyes unblinking.
Something in the way Mama called him,
Mr. Latson,
With respect and tenderness.
(Her name was Mary.)
He was faithful to my mama.
It was his way.
Papa's hobbies were fishing and watching the
Wednesday and Friday night fights on television
('til there was just the Friday night fights).
I use'to watch them with him.
We would choose the one we wanted to win
and we would root for him with gusto.
Then sometimes we didn't have a favorite.
We just watched.
It was our own thing together, me and my papa.
Every Saturday morning to night,
Papa went fishing.
And every Sunday morning, we had fried fish
For breakfast.
Papa never came home without a fish (to my memory).
I guess Papa would be one whom you would say,
Had a real passion for fishing.
I never went fishing with Papa.
Never saw him on the river.
But I can imagine him being a man content
In a favorite place.
He and my sister were closer I suspect in talking.
I looked at him though...
Watched him as I see him now.
He was like an Indian.
The way he stood.
The way he walked.
I liked that about him.
Because I saw Indians as being brave.
Bravery to me is a great attribute even then
As a little girl.
My great grandmother, Papa's mother,
Was a real crrrrazy Indian woman.
She drank that fire water juice
And it juiced her alright.
She use'to get drunk and fight
Like a true to life wild Indian.
One day she got juiced...
Got into her last fight.
She got cropped in the head with an axe.
Papa told me and my sister this story.
He also told us that he use'to drink too
And fight when he was a young man.
He said he had a hot temper -
Before he got into this fight
And got his own head busted
And was taken to the crossing-over point,
Saw the River Jordan...
And this red clay
And some folk over on the other side.
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They put a plate in his head...
He returned to the land of the living
And he never touched the juice again.
He saw the hand of God and that this ain't all of living.
He didn't go running to church though.
Mama loved church,
But Papa didn't feel he had to do that
To believe God and get to heaven.
He did watch Oral Roberts on Sundays -
As a comfort to Mama.
And he didn't go fishing on Sundays.
I suppose it was sorta like a deal.
While watching Oral Roberts,
He would sometimes snicker or smile
And say Oral Roberts didn't understand what he was
Talking about
As if Papa had insight which Oral Roberts didn't.
When Papa died, Mama didn't have his funeral
At her church - out of respect for "religious" traditions.
She felt it only proper.
And so his funeral was held in our house,
Our living room,
As was my father's some years before.
It was nice growing up in your house, Papa...
And to have seen you standing there
As my protector in my vision.
To know you are always with me through all times.
Thank you for your teachings to me.
I will always remember to look back on them
And learn more of their meanings, as I do today.
Papa had a stroke when he was seventy or so.
He laid upon his bed in quiet dignity.
He never complained.
And the fear of death had no place with him.
Just before he died, he had gained the strength
To be taken fishing with his old fishing buddy
And his son, Frank.
That was Mama's prayer -
That he could once more go fishing before he died.
She knew it was important to him
"...in sickness and in health."
Mama sure honored that.
She honored Papa...
In his life and in his death.
I honor you too, Papa.
And I am honored to be the Carpenter's daughter.
As I go about my Father's business
from life
To death
To life.
Love always, Papa
And to you too, My sweet sweet Mama
In Studying The Lord's Prayer
Our Father
"Our" - as in belonging to us,
Belonging to everyone
(As He is the Parent to us -
The child
He is the "Parent" of mankind
The Perfect Father - and Mother
For His Parenting is both paternal
And maternal
God both the seed and the womb
From wherewith we are birthed.
And we are made in His image.
He is our Father - "all of us"
We are one body.
He is as the tree - we are the fruit
Of the tree.
A child is made in the image
Of the parents.
The child is as the seed is of the plant
Which grows to bear the image
Of the plant.)
Who art in heaven
(He is the "cause"- the source, the root,
The origin, the foundation,
The producer, the bringing into being.
We are the effect - the result,
The outcome,
The product.
He makes ALL that which is
The manifestation of His creation of
" us."
He is the supreme, absolute, the total,
The pure, the unquestionable,
The perfect.)
Hallow be Thy Name
(Holy is His Name, His character,
His being.
Therefore all is good
For His cause is for perfect good.)
Thy Kingdom Come,
Thy Will be done in earth
As it is in heaven
(Mankind - the children of the Father -
Are to be the expression of the Father.
We are His manifestation on earth,
To establish God's way, plans, ideas
On earth -
As beings in His image.)
Give us this day our daily bread
(Meaning - all the things- food,
Clothing, shelter,
Means of support,
Our human needs to survive and live
On earth.
Our Father/Mother/Parent
Is the source,
The provider of our needs,
The Head of the Household,
The supplier,
The guide/teacher, the counselor,
The helper, the strengthener.)
Forgive us of our trespasses
As we forgive those
Who trespass against us
(When we cause strife,
Suffering to others,
When we trample upon
The rights of others,
When we stab each other in the back -
Or front,
When we cut another's throat,
When we act hatredly towards others -
Stemming from jealousy and rage,
Selfishness and guile -
As we all fall short in large
And small doses,
In major or minor details,
Which causes separation
From the holiness
Which is the Father -
Like a limb being torn
From the branch.
Therefore, restoration is needed
Otherwise it would disintegrate
And die on the ground.
Restoration is done through
Forgiveness
As the link to repair the separation -
Or restore the limb to the branch.
And what we ask for ourselves,
We must ask for others -
As we are "one body,"
Essence, the whole,
Like a large body of water
With many seas,
Streams, rivers, ponds, inlets, bays...
Forgiveness is the gate to escape
From condemnation.)
Lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil
(Do not allow us to be tempted above
And beyond our abilities to resist,
Or to be overwhelmed by challenges
We are unable to meet,
Steer us from roads
We are not prepared to travel,
Difficulties we are unable to face .
Guard us, our Shepherd,
Against the venom of the stalking wolf
Prowling after the sheep.
Keeping us on the road, the path
Prepared for the children
By the Father.)
Thine is the kingdom and the power
And the glory
Forever and ever
(He is the "ALL"/ in /"all"
The Omnipresence
Omnipotent God
And the Creator of all creation,
The alpha and the omega.
He is the Divine.
He is the finite right.)
Amen - so be it
(It is the perfect prayer. We pray as one. As we pray for ourselves, we pray for each other.)