Lofty Words - Poem by Raymond A. Foss

Words of the savior, from God
words on the mountain,
given to the people, words changing
transforming words, the rules,
the law, the meaning, the balance
seeing the world with different eyes
our enemies our neighbors,
loving our enemies,
those who would do us harm
treating them as we would wish
they would treat us
All equal, in the sight of God,
all must be treated fairly, justly,
words lofty, hard to live;
but for the help of God
we too can live out these words
the words that guided our savior
even to the cross, even while hanging there
forgiveness, reconciliation
in these words of love

January 18, 2009
the message, “It’s not just a dream but a reality”
on the sign in front of church,
the story of Moses and Joshua,
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Joshua 1:1-9
and on the juxtaposition of the
80th birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
and the inauguration of Barack Obama
as President of the United States of America
along with
Micah 4:1-4
Matthew 5:43-48
the sermon, “Love Your Who???”,
by Reverend Huntley Halvorson,
Suncook United Methodist Church, Suncook, NH,
and the hypothetical put to Eric Holder, nominee for Attorney General,
by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) on the use of waterboarding,
January 15, 2009, during his Senate Confirmation Hearings,
see http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/15/cornyn-holder-waterboard/