THE STILL WATERS
Two men on Calv’ry Way did cross,
Swift sailing by the wind;
As old a tale as tales can be,
The two, they acted out.
Acquire took the lead in all,
To strategize his ways,
While Nothing followed willingly
And shared with him in lust.
The two together sailed the seas,
Full guided by the wind;
Through it direction, speed, and gain
To them were promised well.
ADAM’S TRANSGRESSION
The first spoke loud and proudly said,
“My idle I have found;
I’ll fix my eyes on what needs done,
On all that I can do.
“The birds and trees they live in peace;
But how, I do not know;
For if the wind did cease to blow,
I’d need to fill the void.
“I see not why we must restrain
Ourselves in this here way,
When we could reassure ourselves,
That we’d go far and fast.
“So come, my friend, and join me fast,
As quickly as you can;
With every moment’s passing by,
Our ign’rance holds us back.
“I’ll take this paddle, you take yours,
And we will see us through
The endless sea, the reckless sea,
With all that we can do.”
SIN LIETH AT THE DOOR
The two they paddled day by day
And far did travel they;
But soon they knew they’d gone astray:
They’d turned from their good way.
Acquire knew he’d made a muck,
He’d led them wrong in all;
Acquire took what Nothing d’dn’t,
And stole him from his own.
With what Acquire did to him,
He now was something more;
Nothing now was something more;
So Something was he called.
And years they passed while things changed not:
The two they traveled on,
With four knots well-directed speed
And eight more going bad.
WHITHER THE WIND LISTETH
But Something one day heard the sound—
The sound of wind’s cool breeze;
He followed suit and left his friend
To heed the word it said.
“We’ve fought the wind for far too long,”
Said Something to Acquire,
“It’s best we cease our guilty work
And let the wind be guide.
“From what you’ve chosen, you won’t turn,
In which you’ve placed your hope;
Destruction follows what you sow:
Destruction you shall reap.”
So they did go their sep’rate ways—
Two ways upon one path;
Acquire paddled on and on
And Something sailed the seas.
THE RACE SET BEFORE US
Along the way the two found much,
Responding in their own;
They sometimes did both good and bad;
Acquire held his way.
The paths both sailed were neither great;
On both they each chose wrong—
The kind of wrong which leads to death,
An end to sailors’ float.
It happened when the end was nigh
Acquire Something met:
In some strange twist of fate the two
Arrived back at the start.
Moreover, too, the two were shocked
To see the end they sought:
A whirlpool pulling all who travel
Down to ocean depths.
THE APPOINTMENT UNTO MEN
Acquire, having failed to stay
On what was his set path,
And having worked in vain to reach
The goal he once thought grand,
He paddled hard and viciously
But wind blew far too strong;
And as he sank into the whirl,
He cursed its aim and will.
But Something, having failed to stay
On what was his set path,
And having stopped to think of how
His actions led him off,
He blessed the wind and asked for help,
To save him from his doom;
The wind replied with gentle breeze,
“With me come meet your rest.”
And so it was on Calv’ry Way,
Each met his sep’rate fate:
For Something found eternal rest—
Acquire, his own weight.
AND AS IT IS APPOINTED UNTO MEN ONCE TO DIE, BUT AFTER THIS THE JUDGMENT: SO CHRIST WAS ONCE OFFERED TO BEAR THE SINS OF MANY; AND UNTO THEM THAT LOOK FOR HIM HE SHALL APPEAR THE SECOND TIME WITHOUT SIN UNTO SALVATION.