DAYS of the EAGLE
Setting Sun or Morning Star?
by
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EARTH’S SONG TO GOD Down rolling corridors of earth I gazed At trees that in valleys and on mountains stood. From those endless multitudes arose a song Climbing sun’s bright avenues with joyous praise. Across that noble distance swept a tune That raced to sound its rhythms in my soul Of light and joy in marching commotion That briefly shone and passed forever on. Shines in our age an artificial sun That rains upon the masses of mankind— Indoctrination of a godless time When eyes shall look upon an earth grown common. For the prophets have lost their vinegar; God’s Holy Word is replaced with honey. Luke 13:34 "DEATH BY WATER" The waters of the sudden rain Rush along the curbing Forming in a circle As they reach the gurgling sewer drain, Where something like a lily pad With descending dimple Directs things down a stem Into a covert tunnel. I see from down there looking up Where men and women drown Hair floating above a frown And warnings sound with no response. For we have chosen ways of greed, Frightened slaves of habit Who have driven The Spirit From life with worldly engagements. There is that look of desperation One sees upon a face As one computes the race To ruin of civilization. The only sound I hear down here Is of pebbles striking The metal drainage pipe And groans in the entrails of earth. There is one place where men still breathe; But it is a desert* Of no joy or pleasure, Formats Book Details The spirit of a martyr from the distant past wings down the centuries, decrying the condition of the family and values. Secular forces, with the mass indoctrination of children and adults in education and media devoid of Christ, have deprived Christians of their ability to affect society. There is no relief except in solitude. Secularism crowds consciousness. The unlikely visitor—called the eagle—assigns the author to receive poems as a spiritual diary of ongoing events.
The diary reveals a nation blind to the loss of faith as the martyr spirit correctly predicts the coming war on Serbia, in which the USA and NATO wage attacks resembling the ancient desolating sacrilege described in Daniel 9:27. The attacks interrupt the observance of the Holy Days of the Christ and wreak desolation upon the sanctuaries and monasteries of peaceful Christians, who are a small percentage of Serbia’s population.
The decline of Christian influence is noticed as most onlookers assume spectator status. Only the martyr is not fooled by the anti-Christ. (Revelation 20:4)
The question is posed: is this era a “Setting Sun or Morning Star?” The individual believer travels through the trials of life alone. The public absorbs misinformation and assumes that war is a just solution. The family is relegated here and afar to refugee status.
The poems suggest God is not blind but calls a nation from decline. Having spent much of his lifetime as a pastor learning the hopes and disappointments of ordinary persons, the author has seen close-up the onslaught of secularism upon Christian conviction. After education in the public schools and college, he delayed preparation for the ministry by serving in the US Navy. He earned three degrees in seminaries studying faith and social and human sciences. He has been deeply touched by many persons who spoke of their losses to secularism: marriage, children, and the right to express their faith. The Christian in modern society is disenfranchised. Since the true Christian exists in union with Christ, to exclude Christ excludes the believer. No healthy separation is possible. This speaks poorly of religious freedom in the He finds in people a loss of confidence in our nation’s future and a disturbing sense of futility about their desire to influence the government’s direction. The author, recalling his everyday experiences in five mid-Atlantic states, records in poems the presence and absence of Christ. Elites in control do not hesitate to insult believers’ deepest convictions and, furthermore, loudly protest any cries of dissent. Only a sudden reversal and renewal of faith can restore the timeless treasures of soul and spirit.
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