A Brand New Devil

Yes, yes, yes...I know.  Many, many people don't believe as I do.  As a poet and woman of faith, I am also a spiritual narcissist with no time or interest in controlling the beliefs of others.  I've never needed people to believe as me to love them - my faith is my freedom, and I express to pay that freedom forward.  My faith does not designate, sell, excuse or defend - it is quite simply me - doing what I do - development through my craft. 

I included this little precursor to the poem 'A Brand New Devil' because so many are disturbed by an individual expression of faith.  I find it both odd and inexplicably stupid when using God's name to swear is cool with people, but saying God's name as a simple expression of faith and hope irritates the hell (literally) out of them. It's laughable to presume that anything I write or blog is somehow designed for some twisted level of religious recruitment. If you've ever thought that about my work, get ovah ya-self already.  It's not about you, shoot - I'm still pushing the door that says 'pull' half the time.

There are so many different faiths in the world - and as we all know, there are people who say that their God has told them to hurt or even kill others. My question to that is always the same - if God is love, what's the point of a love that you'd hate and kill for?  THAT'S some logic to pray about. Then there are those who think all this yap about evil being among us (in a supernatural sense) is all bunk, at best.  How bout those minions?  You think there are none? Oh contrare. There is always a minion skulking at every turn.  Now if I say there's always some miserable jerk who wants to undermine your joy, your life, and even your contribution, most people understand and some even agree with the insult.  I prefer the explanation of this biblical description:  "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."  Ephesians 6: 12.

Minions come in all forms.  They can range from control freaks who have GOT to be right to be happy, to your average Joe sociopath just chillin' at the job site and tripping nerds, or hiding in the church house smiling and waiting for the day when they can gain a little pleasure from the pain or discomfort they cause or see in another (who they never COULD stand).  And this brings me to another truth - that the intention of a minion can sometimes be found right in the mirror.  An attitude of gratitude can get it right in check.  So, when you see those ugly moods, mosquito minions and all their joy-sucking intentions snarling from the mirror - check it quick.  When you see that minion in another miserable soul, don't reflect it - check it with a smile of gratitude for what's good and flee from such distainful creatures.  Because there are many miserable minions about with much trouble to do and too little time to do it, and nothing good can be done to confound these ugly situations but by faith. 

So I pray for you, what I need. May you be blessed with abundant patience.  May the boundaries of your faith ALWAYS protect you from harm, bring you rest, and give you the strength you need to rise, and fight another day for joy and justice.

A Brand New Devil

Oh my Patience
Please don't let me down this time,
I've come such a long, long way
and I can't fall that far behind,
Help me through the valley, Lord
Tell me how it's gonna be,
I need your heart to be my eyes
for I have come upon a darkness
I can hardly see...
I remember how the mountain can be,
The ruthless desert valley pit,
The stratospheric jagged cliffs,
I chased my dreams up to the ledge,
Excitement for the rough edge,
A fictional story, where my little world seemed to be
a friendly, harmless, raving beauty...
And Lord knows, the steepest slopes,
they go down all too fast, you know -
DAMN it is a bumpy ride;
The rocks and roots ripped at my hide,
until I landed, BOOM
like that, and laid there for a fortnight,
Absent of my vicious gall,
Love can be hard,
when it breaks a long fall...
But even then I hear your call say
Come back lover,
Here is right where you belong,
and I come running forth to you
deep within my fighting soul
just to come upon a darkness
one that I have never known...
And even then I do remember,
You told me that with every level
here comes a brand new devil,
And I relay with all of heaven in my corner
what can evil make me say?
Not a doggone thing.
For Love has taken me to and through
a mole hill or a mountain or two
and I know for sho like then as TODAY,
Love is Light
It will show me The Way

Copyright © 2011 Arkay Evans