"FREE AT LAST!"

O, the walls that we build; to keep out the perceived evil that threatens us with paper dragons and fanciful villains. Secure, we set inside our strong fortifications, impenetrable from without and indestructible from within. Sterilized in our own filth the iron vines of pride and self-love sprawl over us and the siege begins, there tethered to the ground, a captive within our own fortress and a slave to the tyrant we trained, who now at will opens the barred gates for demons, ten times more vile than he, to enter. Writhing in torment and fear we see the true fire breathing dragons and taste the bitter reality of evil. When dawns on our mind the reality that the only safety, was not a wall to shut out the ones around us, but an invite to bring in and care for them. But slaves we have become, we have shut out the ones who could have fought for us- what hope is left for such a one? Breath, breath but the faintest petition for help, cry out for saving and give full and free permission for the castle of your own making to be torn down by the Mighty One. He will speed to the fray and drive off the demons, vanquish the dragons and slash through the vines that hold you bound, He will carry you to safety and restore your soul, He will never leave you! You can be free at last!

That Other Man...

I must take a wee bit of thy time and tell thee of a man who I made the acquaintance of this morn. I am sure you know him well...yes, that man. You know, that man, the one down the street. His clothes, no doubt, are from the 90's, he has a weird way he walks, and even a funny sounding rasp in his voice when he talks. What ever did his wife see in him to marry such a man; he's not even a wealthy man, for a wealthy man, we know, would not look so!

You know that man, that other man, he's old and lives alone, always a smile he has for the children in the neighborhood but they all are warned to stay away from such an one, for truly, he could not care about them; a pervert on the inside must he be!

And that other man, you know the one, sick and maybe dying from a rare illness. He should have known better than to travel the world round and bring back a sickness for us to share.

O yes, and I grimace to call him a man, but you know that “thing”; I saw him today, even the barbed wire and iron bars did not abate my uneasy feeling. I'm glad he wears orange! They should just shoot him and save a buck...I heard that he killed some other man!

But don't forget that other man, you know the one, yes that's him, driving his exotic car. Oh how I'd love to be his friend; his house is big and he's got a “ton” of money! If I had such wealth I'd never work again nor be bothered with all the little things in life!

And I could tell for hours about that other man, you know the one, yes I'm sure you know him well. You will find him all around the world, lands far and near. I hear some are a bit too queer, some I'd love to hate and others I'd hate to love, but they are all just that other man; nothing at all like me! You see I have feelings inside this heart of mine. I laugh and cry, love and care; you see there is me inside of here, skin over muscle, muscle over bone; my color I can not change, my eyes are mine, a nose that to me alone belongs. I've been rich, I've been poor; I've been wise, I've been a fool; I've helped and I've hurt. I just want to be happy, I just want to be me, without a facade to hide behind and make you think I'm some other man!

Now standing in front of the looking glass I see that I'm just another man; yes, that other man, just like the rest of them; here we stand just like all other men. You see we have feelings inside these hearts of ours, we laugh and cry, love and care; you see there is us inside of here, skin over muscle, and muscle over bone all to protect our hearts so dear. Why O why have we let our looks become a snare, why do we not love our own flesh and blood, how have we come to treat with indifference all men who are just like us...All we are the same to Him who loved us and gave his own self to save all men everywhere!