Pressure Cooker

Pressure Cooker

The boiling point for water,

at sea level, is two hundred

and twelve degrees Fahrenheit.

Under pressure the boiling point

will rise at a scale corresponding

with an increase in pounds

per square inch or kilopascal.

I’m not really sure what

the boiling point of faith is

but there would appear to be

an inverse relationship

with an increase in pressure.

Gods and their minions tend to boil

over easier and with more frequency

as the pressure of life’s uncertainty

rises.

Force equals mass times

acceleration. The force required

for flying metal to separate

human limbs from the body

varies based upon the size and age

of the human in question.

The break point for an eight year old

is less than that of an exchange student

or an adult woman but all will break

if sufficient force is applied.

Nails, ball bearings and gunpowder,

ignited in a pressurized environment,

will achieve the required velocity

and generate more than enough force

to break most humans along with
most of my faith in humankind.

SMG

Something for Easter: Of Wood, Nails and Colored Eggs (by Martin Bell)

Of Wood and Nails and Colored Eggs

Wood: Something like an eternity ago, human
beings got all caught up in the illusion that being
human is a relatively unimportant sort of proposition.
Here today - gone tomorrow. A vale of tears - that
sort of foolishness.

What’s more tragic, or course, is that in the

wake of this basic error, there quickly followed the
idea that human beings are expendable, which easily
degenerated into the proposition that some human
beings are expendable. Really bad guys are expendable.
Guys with low I.Q.’s are expendable. Anyone
who disagrees with me is expendable. A long time
ago, human beings got all caught up in the illusion
that being human is a relatively unimportant sort of
proposition.

Well, that’s not true. It’s wrong. All wrong.

And it has always been wrong. From the creation of
the heavens and the earth, it has been . . .wrong.
There’s nothing more important than being human.
Our lives have eternal significance. And no one - absolutely
no one - is expendable.

Nails: Jesus was dead. He was dead and

buried. It was expedient that he should be dead and
buried. Caiaphas had explained that to himself and
to others over and over again. It was expedient, he
said, that one man should die for the sake of the
people. Jesus is expendable. Caiaphas suffered from
the illusion that being human is relatively unimportant.
And so Jesus was dead.

What happened then wasn’t so remarkable,

really. God simply raised Jesus from the dead. He
merely walked into the tomb that we call insignificance
and absurdity, and meaninglessness, and
other such names as that - he merely walked into
this tomb and raised Jesus from the dead.
There was nothing very spectacular or remarkable
about this. God revealed himself to be the
same God who created the heavens and the earth
and called his creation good; the same God who led
his people out of Egypt to be a light to the nations;
the same God who affirmed David in his weakness;
who called forth the prophets; who kindled the heart
of John the Baptist; and who reached out to touch
his tiny children in the person of Jesus Christ.

God raised Jesus from the dead to the end

that we should be clear—once and for all—that
there is nothing more important than being human.
And no one - absolutely no one - is expendable.

Colored Eggs: Some human beings are fortunate

enough to be able to color eggs on Easter. If
you have a pair of hands to hold the eggs, or if
you’re fortunate enough to be able to see the brilliant
colors, then you’re twice blessed.

This Easter some of us weren’t able to hold

Easter Eggs, others of us were unable to see the
colors, many of us are unable to move at all - and
so it will be necessary to color eggs in our heart.

This Easter there was a hydrocephalic child

lying very still in a hospital somewhere with a head
the size of his pillow and vacant, unmoving eyes,
and he was not able to color Easter eggs, and he
will not be able to color Easter eggs in his heart, and
so God will have to color eggs for him.

And God will color eggs for him. You can bet

your life and the life of the created universe on that.

At the cross of Calvary God re-consecrated

and sanctified wood and nails and absurdity and
helplessness to be continuing vehicles of his love.
And then he simply raised Jesus from the dead;
and they went home and colored eggs.

By Martin Bell

Flight to Boca

Flight to Boca

God flew south last week
and left the city in tears.
The fall of man is a season
to prepare for the bitter days
of discontent that lie ahead.

The shrieks of children at play

in Central Park will be replaced
by the rustle of dead leaves
and the bleak quiescence
of winter’s inevitable return.

Animated steam ghosts
rising from cracked streets
will dance in celebration,
released from the obscurity
of the warm days gone by.

The pace of pedestrians
once easy and unhurried
will quicken against the wind
as scarves replace bright eyes
and effortless smiles.

The blue skies of September
will fade to December grey.

The night will push on the edges
of daylight, until the old man

grows tired and God books

a return flight into JFK.

SMG

Food Chain

Food Chain

Crumbs fall from
the communion
table of the church
mice weave and
bob, cat stalking
them methodically
in the darkened
sanctuary does not
exist outside these
stained glass
windows overlook
the pastor’s dog,
Bob, cat hanging
limp in his mouth
moves out of habit
prayers having
become empty
words do not feed
the huddled flock
in the pasture alert
and in fear of
the hungry bobcat

SMG