Author Archives: jackpelham

Surely there is nothing wrongWith either my church or yours.

By the most peculiar coincidence,I know of a great many churchesThat adamantly remind the worldThat no one can earn his own salvation,And zero churches that teach that he can.

Now let us watch the man and seeWhether he takes a notion To make himself any betterBy use of whatever he learns along the way—Or what excuse he gives if he does not.

Something tips the balanceFrom a matter-of-fact acknowledgment Of what the others are doing wrongTo a bitter rage about it. And though I cannot say what all may cause it,It seems to happen most commonly When one’s own shortcomings and sins … Continue reading →

It is the dream of a lifetime for so very manyThat they could have a life detached fromThe reality of cause-and-effect—Such that they could be as carelessOr as stubborn or as rash as they like,And never have those chickens come … Continue reading →

His party is right, he tells us,And the other one is wrong—And they really ought to know better, the idiots. And for the life of him, he can’t fathom how anybodyCould be that gosh-darn stupid and blockheaded. And he thanks … Continue reading →

What does it say about usThat so many are afraid to ask? Is it not that we are somehowAfraid of the answers? And really, who would wantTo live that way—Scared of reality?

Life in the constant smogCan make people forgetWhat a clear day looks like.

Many will reason that Adam and EveHad not been ready to receiveThe knowledge of good and evil,And simply partook too soon of somethingThat would have been altogether Proper for them—somehow—at a later time. But I have lately come to wonderWhether … Continue reading →

Finding no hopeIn the beginning,Some turn to the end—Clamoring over the RevelationAnd eager to find in it—Or perhaps to imagine—Something more promising thanThat tired, old Genesis—Long-since abandoned As of no particular intrigue. For they are not interested in Living out … Continue reading →