Poetry of Barry Johnson - Page Three
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IS THE SUN SHINING, LORD Is the sun shining, Lord? Is the dark water flowing? Are trees and grass in the rainwater growing? Lord, Adonai, why are the birds singing? Why are they nesting and mating and winging? Do You tell your creatures what to do next,
In a world you made beautifully complex?
Is the sun shining, Lord? Does the stream water rise? Was it You Who brought the rain down from the skies? Jehovah-Jireh, do You provide? Why does Your rain on a thunderstorm ride? Why, El Shaddai, living world that I see:
Why was it given to a sinner like me?
Is the sun shining, Lord? Is the rushing stream heard? Did the world's ecosystem begin at Your word? Why is the rainbow high in the sky, Made of water and light? Would You tell me why? Elohim, Creator, Living God, can I see,
The promise You made in the sky above me?
( 1991 by Lloyd Barry Johnson
PROLOGUE To all of those who ever chose, An idol o'er God's Son. I guess that must be all of us:
Every single one!
The heart and soul of rock and roll is in that driving beat. I took my stand beside the band
and made my music sweet.
And then I bowed before the crowd and savored all my fame. Ovations rang each time I sang;
they shouted out my name.
The music made my listeners shout or drove them to their knees. But then I heard the Lord say,
"Do you love Me more than these?"
In all the world there was one girl, who set my heart aflame. Her little sighs and deep blue eyes;
I even loved her name.
It meant so much to feel her touch, and look into her eyes. Her softest kiss like morning mist,
would make my heartbeat rise.
I was so in love that I'd do, anything to please. But then I heard the Lord say,
"Do you love Me more than these?"
I'd drive my car down to the bar, and sit with all my friends. Long we'd drink and glasses clink;
The party never ends.
A long hard day would fade away in the pub's dim light. I'd park my mind somewhere behind
and drink away the night.
And when I stumbled to my car, and fumbled for my keys, I think I heard the Lord say,
"Do you love Me more than these?"
At the top, you never stop; you can't afford the loss. When I say "Jump!" my people hump;
they all know who's the boss.
I hope you know, as CEO That it's my job to win. At every step my hard work kept,
the profits rolling in.
But as I read the P & L made by my expertise, one day I heard the Lord say,
"Do you love Me more than these?"
The second floor, inside the door, a pretty woman stood. Satin tights reflect the lights,
and high heel shoes look good.
Long dark hair and shoulders bare, expertly painted eyes. Long legs posed as silken hose,
encased her silken thighs.
She smiled and greeted all the men, and checked the members' keys. Then like a shock the Lord said,
"Do you love Me more than these?"
It never swerved on any curve, it handled like a dream. The tach would wind right to the line;
I made the engine scream.
A Porsche, they say, is built that way; an awesome car to drive. I punched the gas; man, what a blast!
It almost seemed alive.
And when my speed was such that it had blurred the passing trees; then I heard the Lord say.
"Do you love Me more than these?"
A double play made two away, when I came to the plate. Nine innings gone and no one on,
the score was eight to eight.
I've always known when one is gone. I felt it in the bat, Before the ball had cleared the wall,
I jogged and tipped my hat.
As I jogged around the field, And crossed home plate with ease, I heard a still, small voice:
"Do you love Me more than these?"
I'm always broke, but still I smoke, although the cost is high. Some day this cough may knock me off,
to that ashtray in the sky.
I'd have more cash if I could trash, that stinking poisonous weed. It's just like dope: my only hope,
is conquering that need.
But just the thought of quitting makes me weak down in my knees; Especially when the Lord says,
"Do you love Me more than these?"
The Bible says the Spirit's ways are sometimes quite sublime. Then as I read the Book, I took
a trip somewhere in Time.
I stood beside a tepid tide, of ancient inland sea. With just that clue, somehow I knew
that this was Galilee
There afloat I saw a boat, a half a mile offshore. The crewmen let a fishing net
down to the ocean floor.
They filled the boat with fish they caught, till it could hold no more. They stowed their catch and closed the hatch,
and tried to make for shore.
But timbers creaked as water leaked into the little boat, Seawaves sloshed o'er decks awash;
they barely stayed afloat.
They finally reached the sheltered beach, upon whose sand I stood. Now on that sand I saw a man,
Whose scars I understood.
He helped the men unload their catch; this bounty of the seas, He asked the man named Peter:
"Do you love me more than these?"
A shocking crack now brought me back to my own time and space. As I recovered, I discovered
that HE was in this place.
Then I heard His frightning word directed just to me; "Leave it all and heed my call;
come and follow Me."
I felt the fears of forty years welling up inside. If I would live, I had to give
up all my earthly pride.
"It's been so long, the world's so strong, I don't know what to do. I can't let go these things, and so
I give them all to You."
I felt Him start to mold my heart, a Potter working clay. I felt my chains and worldly pains,
just melt and fall away.
So I had finally faced the truth; the truth that set me free. I knelt before the Lord and said,
"Before all, I love Thee!"
( 1991 by Lloyd Barry Johnson
Please be patient. This poem is not finished yet.
In peaceful solitude I sought a high deserted place. The lonely desert seemed ideal for me to seek God's face.
I walked for days until I came upon an ageless stone; and as I touched the rock, I knew that I was not alone.
I knew the voice I heard was God's, no other is the same: a voice that came from everywhere and called to me by name.
The Lord said, "Child, I know your need and I'll provide a place where you can safely hide and watch as I show you My face".
A flash of lightning struck the rock and as the thunder pealed, the granite screamed and split apart to form a stony weal.
The afterimage faded: stench of ozone ###### the air. And then the Father said to me: "You can watch from there."
I carefully descended to my steaming rocky crack. I hunkered down and felt the stone still warm against my back.
The Lord reached down and with His hand He gently covered me. Daylight vanished and I gazed into infinity.
I looked into a void that was not yet when or where: the hour of creation and I found the Father there.
I heard Him call the emptiness and saw the darkness glow. I learned, but could not understand, things only God can know.
I saw His hand ignite the stars and spin the earth in space. From light to life, then all was done: but still God hid His face.
Though witness to creation's birth I never saw His face.
"I have not seen Your face, O Lord," I said in deep regret. "Be patient, child," the Father said, "I am not finished yet."
I stood beside that ancient street we now call Sorrows' Way: three men walked one last mile the day before the Sabbath Day.
And as I watched their blood and pain beneath a sunless sky, among those three, I found one who did not deserve to die.
His back was flayed down to the ribs and briars had slashed his head. Closer now: he looked like he was seven steps from dead.
I looked into his tortured eyes, and heard his ragged breath: I knew this guiltless man was dying someone else's death.
He staggered on toward Calvary still bleeding on the sod: and suddenly I knew that I had seen the face of God!
He died, Who cannot die! and when the sun refused to shine although the pain and death were His, I knew the guilt was mine.
The agony was His, but oh! the guilt was surely mine.
I wailed and fell on hands and knees as tears of anguish flowed and splattered in the bloody dust beside the Sorrows' Road.
"O God, O God, I should have died!" I cried in my distress. "Lord, take my life, I cannot bear this guilt and loneliness."
Then I was back within my cleft. I heard God say to me: "Be still! and I will show you what no man was there to see."
Just then I was surprised to feel the touch of gentle rain. The cooling moisture rinsed my tears and eased my awful pain.
As quickly as it started, rain no more fell on my face. In predawn light I walked into a quiet and peaceful place.
There in the center of a garden stood a rocky dome, and though I'd never seen this place it felt to me like home.
The rising sun now lit its peak and gradually edged down until the dome looked like it wore a blazing fiery crown.
There hewn within that rocky wall I found a single room. The mighty stone that sealed its door had also sealed my doom.
The sun had risen higher now beginning a new day. Then all at once, and nothing first, the stone just rolled away.
This place must surely be HIS grave, its door now yawning wide, for then I heard a voice I knew say, "You may come inside."
"Come to Me and do not fear, for I will comfort you. You saw the stone do what it did because I told it to!"
I saw Him and I knew his face: I saw God's face again, but on each hand, a livid scar that cried of death and sin.
How could I see the face of God? Atonement had been made. When blood was shed that one last time was my redemption paid.
And then I learned the meaning of those awful scars He bore: Messiah cleansed my sinful soul, the guilt was mine no more. Not by power! Or by might! The guilt was mine no more!
The stonework softly sang His name. Shekinah ###### the room: His Holiest of Holies was what once had been His tomb.
My father was a craftsman, A master in his trade. He took great pride in what he did, Not just how much he made. Four hundred dollars every week, Back then was real good pay. One Sunday when they passed the plate in church, I heard him pray: "Forty dollars is our tithe; That's holy to you Lord, And twenty more for missions; You said great is the reward, And fifteen more to help the poor; I know you said it's true, If we do it to the least of them We're doing it to you."
Dad lost his job when I was twelve Cause times were really hard, So I helped out the family Washing cars and mowing yards, One week I brought home sixty dollars, All the cash we had, When I gave dad that money, This is what he said: "Six dollars is our tithe, son; That's holy to the Lord, And a dollar on our missions pledge Is all we can afford, Let's give a dollar to the poor, Cause Jesus said, you see, If you do it to the least of these You're doing it to me."
Well, dad and I are partners now In a business of our own, And all throughout the industry Dad's craftsmanship is known, We finished up a major contract Just the other day, With a million dollar check in hand, I heard my father say: "A hundred thousand is our tithe! Glory! Praise the Lord! And the same ammount to missions I think we can afford, Let's start a fund to help the poor, Cause Jesus said, you see, If you do it to the least of them, You're doing it to me."
copyright 1990 by Lloyd Barry Johnson
Mama, Teach Me a Song
Angst
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