DAY 100
ONE LIFE

     The man had walked a long way from home.
He turned to look back now
as he remembered the warmth of the hearth-fire
and the sweet glow of love
that permeated his home.
He ached within to hold the small hand of his child,
to look into the eyes of his young wife,
and to share the stories of old and distant times
with his wise, aging father.
His heart hurt for home.

The path stretched before him and behind him
into darkness beneath a starlit sky.
What would the journey ahead hold?
Should he turn back now?
Must he continue?
Oh, but he knew that he had to go on,
or there would be no home that remained in this land.

He took a deep breath and plodded on ahead,
step after step,
towards wounds and war and tears of pain.

War had come to his country,
as if in a night,
and was quickly stealing all that was good
from the beautiful, rich land
of honest people
and proud heritage.
Could anything stop the evil that marched the streets
and threatened with menacing shouts
and destroyed the future
by fear and dread?
Could anything stop the men in uniform
who now had control?
He often wondered this and agonized over all
that could have been done in the past
to stop the black shroud
that had now snuffed out almost all hope
or light from the good people's eyes --
only hatred and terror shone in them now.
The man knew his eyes looked the same.

He knew he had to fight now
for all that was being lost --
for all that was once right and lovely and safe.
And with a pounding heart,
he knew that he might lose.
He feared what would become of the land he loved
if he fought and failed.
But more than anything,
he cared for what would happen to the children
of the land now captive
if he did not fight at all.
Their souls were free and their hearts were
innocent,
but for how long --
oh, how long could they stay the same --
young and bright,
amid chaos and death and bloodshed?

He squinted his eyes in the darkness
as the tears flowed and flowed
and his breaths drew ragged and deep
over memories of innocence shattered in his own soul.
The bombs had fallen,
the planes had roared overhead,
the alarms had sounded with the wailing of the people,
until, in one blast,
all was silent and gray and ruined.
"Help!  Somebody help!" he had cried.
He was only a small boy at the time.
But no answer came.

Years later,
he traveled far and started a small family of his own,
and tried to forget all that he had seen and heard.
But as time would have it,
he could not escape the evil that destroyed.
War had followed him --
all the way to the peaceful, prosperous village
where he met his beautiful, young bride,
and only two years later,
smiled in joy at the arrival of his first son.

Peace, he had thought,
is what I will give to my son.
He will not learn to hate
as I have.
He will not learn of war with his eyes
or hear its sounds in his ears.
His heart will know innocence and beauty
and his soul will know rest.
I will teach him love
and he will never be afraid as I was.

But war had come,
and with it fire and passion in his own soul
to keep the promises made to this life
bound inseparably to him
by ties of love and hope and shared pain.

What would become of the promises made?
What would become of all the children
of this land once righteously ruled?
What price would he have to pay
to insure that it would be good and beautiful
and full of the things that are pure that bring joy?
What price would he pay?
What would he give to purchase freedom
for the generations to come?
Anything --
he would give anything.
Even to save one life.
And it would be worth it.
He knew this with conviction,
for when it came to the children --
the heartbeat of his homeland --
he bowed to no compromise,
felt no doubts,
accepted no defeat.

Are we the same?
The Accomplice

RIGHTEOUSNESS
WILL RULE THIS LAND
ONCE MORE
I WILL GOVERN
I WILL HARBOR THOSE WHO ARE MINE
I WILL ANNIHILATE THE PRETENDERS
I WILL SET THE BOUNDARIES
BY DISASTER

PSALM 87

AND TO THE CHILDREN:
I WILL MARK YOU
WITH
ISAIAH 61
~
EXODUS 12
BEGINS THIS DAY
OVER AND THROUGH
THE UNITED STATES

~ ~ ~

We ask You, God, to crucify upon the Cross
all that separates us from You and remove from us
all that hinders Your Plan for our lives.
We ask for the Power of the Resurrection
to fill us and be so evident in our lives to the children
that they cannot remain unchanged.
We ask You to bring forth through this generation
a Revolution of worship
to glorify You as You created us to.
We pray that this generation will have the passion
to welcome Your Presence
and the courage to follow Your Call
that they might please You perfectly.
We ask you to make us pure as You are Pure
so that we might lead the youth of this day
in Your Truth directly to Your Heart.
The Accomplice



THE AFTERMATH OF RELIGION
PURE WORSHIP