Why Schools Let Us Leave

Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and then release him."

With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!" (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him."

But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' Then they will say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!' For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.

The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."

There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.

Luke 23:13-46

Since Procrastination Is Key,

I just finished the entire first season of quarterlife...an enticingly cliche webshow that NBC occasionally syndicates.

I viewed each character's quarterlife profile and found Eric saying, "It is the responsibility of each and every one of us to make the world a better place. Service is not an option. I am not unjudgemental. I judge selfish people."

I enjoy and identify with this. Immensely.

Cryptic

I put a lot of words together
and end up sounding complicated

when really, what I mean
is simple


the words I spend weaving
run circles around the truth
instead of telling it


so when the hard things I think
become easier to translate
I'll post them so they're easier to understand.


it's mostly for you -- but it's for me, too.

Wading Into the Deep

So I sent in my Iowa Young Writers' Application. Rejection/acceptance letters mailed out April 1st. We will see....


I dropped percussion. I picked up the trombone. I'm having a better time with it than I ever expected.


I keep getting sick-ish. Not totally sick, really, but overcome with remnants. Illness remnants, we could call them. I pray for the world's Kleenex supply.


I am not running away to North Carolina, shoeless, with Thin Mints in tow, because Spring Break is in a month.

That week, my friends... that week represents everything that is good.

{And it's not so much that I would run away otherwise? ...more the principle of the thing. You know.}



I've been working on what principles mean to me. Principles and perceptions and cognitions and observations... I've wondered what to take and what to leave -- and what it would take to leave it all. I won't say I'm searching for myself. I'm finding the pieces of who I'll be. Everything I've ever wanted, everything I'll ever need, it's all wrapped up in the then, now, and later. Living well means nothing and everything, depending on the person... but who has the right to shape your life? Who could have the nerve to suggest how to fulfill responsibilities or revel in accomplishments? Rhetorical question hint of the day: it's not nobody. Maybe you leave your shoulder down to look over. Maybe your face unknowingly asks for help. No matter the case, a person yearning to share their light with a life will find a window to send it through.

The light doesn't always move from wiser to wise. Sometimes the wise aim to teach the wiser... the word 'wise' itself is open to speculation. Curious, though, are the ways light is handled. Helpful intentions matter not to those in it for themselves, or those unwilling to change. In the same way, help can be found in the peskiest of comments. This is the raging river that separates the shores of annoyance and inspiration.

Extended metaphors aside, words from another's life, whether in the form of anecdotes or advice, can be put to good use. If our hearts are hardened to insight, wisdom, or even the lack thereof, it is a choice we made. The truth is this: the search for one's self does not yield new being, and it does not end without the embracing of others' experience. I say new being is not yielded because it was always there and continues to grow. The search is not the construction -- it's the reveal. The people and influences in your life build you. It's once you're close to complete that the curtain begins to tickle your nose. The unveiling of who you've come to be, of who you hoped you'd become, of your growth and of your purpose releases everything into the world, thus mixing it with all others' growth and purpose. The search distinguishes yours from theirs. The finding harnesses the spirit and potential you always had.

Yikers

My word.

I have abandoned my poor blog.



This is rather saddening....



Hold on a sec. I'll ask my mind to think and to share.


[no worries. she usually complies.]

Today and Tomorrow

melted hershey kisses
transfer palms
because he likes the
way she swings
on chilly playground days.

she steals his scissors
then cuts a heart of pink
crudely but cutely
and in black crayola
scrawls

"you are my friend
and i'll love you
today and tomorrow."

the crumpled pink promise
sends him to sleep each night,
for he knows that with each today she's loved him
comes a tomorrow left to love.

Pedestal

what have you done to me
and where have you hidden the key
to the tower in which my soul
has taken refuge?
why have you blinded me and
when did the staircase splinter?
how will you heal me?

these dragons they fly
through the flames you spit
the flames you stomach
spinning through sparks
meant to melt
but sparkling instead,
they ask you to dance

take my hands and wings
through the maze
throw me over your shoulder
and lift me to the pedestal
from where your pride fell
lift my chin and mask
my fear of heights.