Wreck of the American Congress

I borrowed some poetic structure and phrasing from our Canadian neighor, Gordon Lightfoot. His classic song, "Wreck of the Edmund Gerald" was a masterpiece of ballad composition. Because we, who live south of the border, suffered a destructive insurrection on Januar 6, 2021: The legend lives on from the Pilgrims on down, of the nation they call America. The nation, it is known, goes on and on, though the riots of Jan6 turned looney. With a flag of stars and stripes, fifty states still intact, a Constitution and Congress acting boldly,  our nation was no bone to be chewed by a mob of loud boys, oath breakers and riotous boys Our nation is the pride of the American people, holding steady from election to election. As the world nations go, we are stronger than most, with a Constitution and Congress well seasoned. Concluding some terms with Electoral returns, when the Congress was meeting in session, in the middle of the day when the Congress bell rang, could it be the insurrection they were hearing?

The shouts in the halls made a tattle tale sound and some loud boys broke into the session. When counting time came, the vice president said, Electors, it's too rough to count 'em. The Speaker called in they had attackers coming in and the Congress and crew were in peril And later that day when law and order went outa sight came the January 6th insurrection. Does anyone know where the Rule of Law goes when rioters ran our Congress into hiding? The searchers all say we'd have saved it that day if the guards had not been beaten and smattered. They might have fell down or they might have been tazed when our ship of state was in peril. Now all that remains is our congress trying to sail 'er. America rolls on, ship of state still in peril, still sailin' in the cities and states of our nation. Our states still united; our anthem we sing in the folds of American history. In a crusty ole ship of state we hang on in our Constitutional procedures. The Liberty bell rang and it rang fifty times, for each state in historic nation. Our rule of law lives on in the chambers of Congressional order.

Our nation, we recall, ain't insurrected; that's all. Liberty and Justice for all, and Congress won't take a fall! Glass half-Full

Ben Went Home

Ben had put away his labors and his cares, toward tranquility. Nearby the community of friends and believers stood waiting. We passed through paths of Bible study, prayer and fellowship. His labors now completed. As Ben approached God's Son,

His life crossed path with ours. The news spread among our people, from hour to hour. We had been gathering in Ben's earthly home, where Connie had made such hospitality known We never saw death coming, until a few days before Soon we knew, but were knowing not the day nor hour Ben's earthly life would, in heaven, begin again. And now it has resumed, with Jesus, born again. Eternal life with Jesus will go far, far beyond the paltry seventy-one years, now far gone. So now Ben has run his seventy-one year race. He's already met our Savior, Jesus, face to face. Do not be sad. Rejoice; be glad! King of Soul

The Bold Ai

If you're old timer like me, you may remember. . . back in the day. . . the old railroads, before jets were all the rage.

 Now trains are most folks third choice, after planes and cars. Also, if you're an old timer like me, you may be amazed at how , as Bard Bob had sung. . . the time's they are (and were) a 'changin'. . . Well sho'nuff, scruffy, they did, and now we got ourselves a brand spankin' new internet. . . well maybe not so new any more, since Hal, and TCP, cuz LSD had gone the way of the buffalo, and then there's IP and wobblies - but not like the old workers of the world union a hundred years ago. . . How big's your RAM? Are you ready for the dot.com craze? crazy baby! like, far out!, like wolfman jack used to say. . . and suddenly we're surfing on floppy discs and chomping down them megabytes and playin 'our gigabytes like rock bands used to play gigs. . . Then twitter came along. . . but it got X'd out by a musk ox heavyweight. . . Heavy, man! Far out! Facebook metastasized. Heavy, man!. . .like, far out! so cool. . . here's a little diddy I pecked out on the ole laptop. If you're old enough, maybe you can sing it to the old tune: 

Here's a little diddy I pecked out on the ole laptop. If you're old enough, maybe you can sing it to the old tune: I've been working on the internet, all the live long day. I've been tromping on the worldweb, just to pass the time away. Can't you hear the Ai calling, scrolling early in the morning? Can't you see the Ai scrolling. . . Lexi won't you blow; Siri won't you blow, Slexi, won't you roll your scroll! Someone's in the software with Lexi; someone's in the web, we know-oh,oh! Someone's in the webby with Siri, coding in the online flow. Fee, fie, fiddly Ai; uh,oh. . . Fee, fie fiddly Ai uh,oh. Fee fie, fiddly Ai, oh, coding on the online show. Ride, ride, ride them rails, baby! just like the old days. . . Underground Railroad Rides Again

Medgar Evers' Home

Medgar Evers was a Mississippi native, born in 1925. He was a US Army veteran who had fought in World War II. Upon returning to his Mississippi home, he was told to go to the back of the bus. After that incident, he served as field secretary in Mississippi. In June, 1963, Medgar was shot dead in his own front yard. 

In my novel, King of Soul, LSU students Donnie and Kevin take a road trip from Louisiana to Kent, Ohio in May, 1970. Along their travel path, they stop, in the night, at an historic spot in Jackson, Mississippi, the home of Medgar Evers. "I think it's that second or third house on the left," said Donnie." . . .with a carport, and a halfway-up brick wall on the front." He gazed into the driveway. "That's where he was when they shot him." "Damn," said Kevin. . . "in his own front yard! What is wrong with these people?" He stopped the car. The two young men stared at the house. . . "One thing that sticks in my memory - the next day. I had just walked in our house, which is only about three miles from here. . . When I went home that day, my mother said that our maid, Aleen, would not be coming in that day, because Medgar Evers had been shot. . ." But beyond the murderous crimes of this world, we Christians know that Medgar was taken up to heaven, to join the ranks of all men and women who have ever believed in Jesus for Resurrection. He had just left a Wednesday night church meeting when a racist murderer fired the shot that delivered the disciple of Christ into heaven. 

What's tragic is that the racist and magamaniac assassins of this world do not comprehend that we Christians will all be gathered together in the everlasting Life of Jesus Christ, who died a criminal death, and yet lived to tell about it.  Jesus said: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them; and they follow me; and they will never perish - no one will snatch them out of my hand!" King of Soul

Reflections on Ben's End

Yes, boobie; there is a natural body; but there is also a spiritual body. You believe that? Hold on to your horses; We're not done yet. It is written in the ancient book: The first man, Adam, became a living being; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual man did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, as was the woman. 

The second man came from heaven. 

And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, Adam. . .so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven, Jesus. . .We Christians declare to you, ye people of the earth, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the eternal kingdom of God; nor does the perishable person inherit his/her perished body. (Hate to break it to ya, but we all know, at a certain adult age, that it's true: we will all breathe our last in THE BIG ONE, the last straw, the end of the line.  But hey! Listen up: I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep; be we shall all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound (the trumpet that calls each person). . . to summon you and me, and my friend Ben, who just heard the call. . .

Ben Cox left this life, February 9th, 2026The dead will be raised, imperishible, and we will all be changed. For the perishable body must be clothed. . . in the long run. . . in the big picture of eternity. When that happens, then the saying that is written, "Death has been swallowed up in victory!" is manifested in each Christian life.  The grace to live a good life was given to us before the beginning of time, but it was fully revealed through the embodiment of Jesus Christ, who conquered death, after suffering through its slings and arrows of outrageous treatment. He demonstrated for us eternal life, immortality. . . with its fullest purpose and relevance through His teaching, His endurance, His conquest of death. ( We can comprehend this now.Thanks to the Hebrews writer, and Timothy). And now he has called my friend Ben home! Traveler's Rest

King of Soul

Old World Conservative

In 1972, I was serving as chairman of the LSU Union Speakers Committee; we hosted William F. Buckley. After driving Mr. Buckley from the airport, I was watching him, in a hotel room, as he prepared for the event. Many years later, I utilized that memory in a fictional scene of my 2017 novel, King of Soul

"American students have a responsibility to acquire a knowledge of history, Mr. Buckley said. Donnie was watching the lightning-rod editor of the National Review put on his skinny necktie. ". . . and the responsibility of the well-tempered University," he continued, "is to educate students in such a way that you are able to comprehend the world, not only as it is now, but as it has been in earlier days." "Dont you think," asked Donnie, that the world as it is now is more dangerous than it has ever been in earlier times?" "Oh, no question about it." An impish smile crept across Buckley's face. The look in his eye afforded Donnie a momentary glimpse into the workings of a classic mind. "When you consider that a bellicose exchange between President Kennedy, the leader of the free world, and Nikita Khruschev, the leader of the communist world, brought us, in one moment of time, within a hare's breath of nuclear disaster, you see the fragility of our situation, and yet the world as it turns every hour, every day, in the streets of our cities, in the fields of our countrysides, is the same as its ever been. It plods along as it always has. Babies are born; they cry. People die and are buried. And we see to preserve the peace and safety and freedom of all. But one foolish exchange between leaders who are too fixated upon their own arrogance can inflict damage that is irreparable for many generations. Our greatest implement is reason." "So we must reason with the Russians?" "Oh, we have no choice, but we need to remember that they speak a different language. And I refer not only to the Russian language as compared to our English language. Here in the United States, we have a language of civility. We conservatives take upon ourselves the responsibility to sustain and extend that language - it is a type of covenant, far back into history, as far back as Abraham."

King of Soul

Life's a Beach

We study the scriptures within a small group, four couples who meet on Thursday nights at Ben and Connie's home.  A couple of years ago we attended a men's church retreat that took place at a convention facility on Oak Island, North Carolina. Gene drove his car from the western end of North Carolina all the way to Oak Island. On the second day of the retreat, Chip, Gene, Ben and I took a stroll on the beach, which was just across the road from the retreat facility. Our friend, our pastor, Ben Cox was alive and well during our oceanside stroll here:

Now I have a sister-in-law who lives in that area. Her home is just s two-block distance from that beach. This evening I was walking along on the sea strand at dusk, accompanied by my daughter and my niece, both of them now grownups. In the brilliance of sun this sunset, my niece snapped a picture of my daughter and me.

 She is married to a USAF pilot. Just a few days before her visit here, she had strolled on Pacifica beach in California, on the other side of the continent. Pilot's and pilot's wives have the benefit of flying across continents, across oceans, even around the world. . . because of what the Wright Brothers had initiated, over a century ago. . . just up the coast from here, at Kitty Hawk. At that moment, and just now, after dinner, as I am seated comfortably in a living room, contemplating the loss of my dear friend Ben, who had been with us on that same surf path, not so long ago. And so I turn to the ancient book for some understanding about this tender life on a planet where beach sunsets are so incredibly beautiful, but they do signal the end of something. . . the termination of a day, the conclusion of another day in the life, and in some cases, the meditation on a friend who trod this beach with us, not so long ago. But now Ben has been summoned into that eternal realm, where there is no pain of death, and the scenery far surpasses a beach sunrise or sunset. In the final pages of HIStory, we read a Revelation about these worldly potentialities: "And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride for her husband. . . Behold the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people". . . And I will, once again, walk with my friend, Ben, on the beach of Eternity. Glass half-Full