Grace Notes - Mark 12:29

Mark 12:29 "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord":

The latest series of Downton Abbey has started on Sunday night and once again we can watch all the going on between the Lords and ladies and their servants.  I must admit there is a deep fascination between the interactions of the servants as they live out life in service.

Christ took on humanity and became a servant for us. He showed us in his sinless life how to interact with a fallen and forlorn world. He had compassion on the lost, mercy on the condemned, He healed all those that were sick or oppressed, He loved the unloved and fed all those that were hungry.

We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, Christ in all his fullness dwells in every believer, we are Christ to all those we touch and interact with. When we look at Christ we should be seeing ourselves in the mirror and by His grace and His Spirit we are being changed into his likeness.

As Andrew Wommack explains Christ showed us the way, experienced the world we live in all because he loved us:-

Jesus repeatedly made reference to His deity for which the Jews had sought to kill Him, and yet He quotes from Deuteronomy 6:4, that "The Lord our God is one Lord." There are not two or three Gods and yet Jesus claimed to be God just like God the Father. This union is a great mystery that defies human understanding but can be accepted and believed.

Jesus in His pre-existent state was in the form of God. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus is God manifested in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16). However, Jesus did not demand or cling to His rights as God. He laid aside His Divine rights and privileges in order to take the form of a servant and be made in the likeness of man. He further humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the Father, even to the point of death. This was the supreme sacrifice that identified Jesus totally with humanity and enabled God to redeem mankind. By dying a criminal's death upon the cross, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy of Deuteronomy 21:23, and bore our curse in His own body. This redeemed us from the curse, opened wide God's blessing of justification through faith in Christ, and gave us the promise of His Holy Spirit (Gal. 3:13-14).

The Creator became the creation; the Lord became the servant; the Highest became the lowest. All of this was done because of God's great love for us.

Come to the Fountain

Compromised promises

Recalling broken words

Failed commitments

Hesitant to return

Love that goes beyond

All we ask or think

Grace without limits

Invites us to drink

Come to the fountain

Satisfy your thirst

Soak in His goodness

Blessing fit to burst

Lose your condemnation

Released from the pain

Revel in the grace of God

Everything for your gain.

Five Questions

On my internet travels I came across these five questions asked and answered at Success is your Success so I thought I would jump on the band wagon and try to answer to the best of my ability :-

1. Who is your hero (model ) ?  - The model of my life is my saviour Jesus Christ. His amazing sacrifice, wondrous mercy, scandalous grace and abundant life are the reason I live and breathe.

2. What kind of books do you read ? -  Mostly I read Christian books, written by ‘Grace’ writers, i.e Andrew Wommack, Ryan Rufus. I also read First World War books, novels and fact; I like biographical accounts of normal soldiers on the Western Front, (especially ‘ANZAC’ accounts of the war) and fiction, my favourite trilogy is “Now God be Thanked” by John Masters.

3. Who inspires you? -  In Christianity, Andrew Wommack, Rob Rufus, Stephen Jeffrey’s. In Poetry, Brian Miller, Red Dirt Girl and on the Web, Sparrow Girl from Under the Waterfall of Grace and soldiers that in moments of exceptional bravery performed amazing deeds.

4. What motivates you? The grace of God, great preaching, the Bible and my family.

5. If you were given a chance to be 21 years of age again, would you take it ? -  I would take it on three provisos.

1. That I would meet and fall in love all over again with my wife and I would share my life with her all over again.
2. That I would know and understand the grace of God, it has taken me 30 years to come into this amazing revelation.
3. If both the above could not be assured, then I would not do it. I would sooner be here today at this time in my life with my beautiful wife and knowing the overwhelming grace of God than be without them. Knowing Jesus and His grace and my wife mean everything to me.

So there you go a little insight into me and what goes on in my little world.

Friday's Five - God's Sword

He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life – Genesis 3:24.

Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut of his head with it. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. – 1 Samuel 17:51.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God – Ephesians 6:17

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and to joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the. thoughts and intents of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12

He had in His right hand seven stars, out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength – Revelation 1:15.

From A Park Bench - Admission Is Free

There is always a price for everything; my father always told me that nothing in this life is for free. Even the best deals still have a charge.  The local Cineworld in Eastbourne does a Saturday morning children’s deal, just one pound per adult and child for the movie.

It is the same for most attractions I visit; there is always an admission price. I don’t mind paying the price and it means I can have access to everything I want to see.

Religion tells me that I have to pay an admission price to get God’s grace. Religion tells me that without certain things I have to do I cannot receive God’s blessings.

So what does religion want of me – Holiness, being good, attending church, praying, giving my tithe all these things and more will give me access to God’s blessings.

But religion is full of law, full of self-righteousness, full of what I have to do.  The truth is that Christ has paid the admission price with his death and that sacrifice is our access to God.

The grace of God is free and is offered free to everyone. There are no exceptions, everyone who is born has exactly the same access, and there is no price, no cost, because Christ at the cross paid the admission price with his death.

All I have to ‘do’ is receive the sacrifice of Jesus and trust in him. It is just my ‘thank you’ to grab all Christ has won. This is ‘faith’ receiving and believing in Christ and it’s not my work but God’s work in me.  It’s not how much faith I have, how much I believe, it is not by my works, it is all by his grace and my acceptance of his righteousness.

The admission price has been paid, the access is free, I just believe and receive all God’s grace.

Forgotten Heroes - Sergeant Maurice Buckley V.C.

Sergeant Maurice Vincent Buckley, 13th Battalion, Victoria Cross action at Le Verguier.

Maurice Buckley, born in Hawthorn, Melbourne, was a coach trimmer before enlisting in late 1914. His early service was inglorious: while in Egypt with the 13th Light Horse Regiment, he contracted venereal disease and was sent back to Australia, where he deserted. Two months later, in May 1916, Buckley re-enlisted under the alias Gerald Sexton, and joined the 13th Battalion in France in January 1917. He fought at Bullecourt and through the third battle of Ypres; the next year, as a sergeant, he was wounded at Le Hamel. He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for his bravery near Morcourt in August.

On 18 September 1918, near Le Verguier, with his Lewis gun and "displaying boldness which inspired all", Buckley rushed enemy machine-gun positions, captured a field gun, and took numerous prisoners. He received the Victoria Cross. With the focus of attention now on him, he had to disclose his true name.

Buckley was fatally injured in 1921 after being thrown from a horse; ten Victoria Cross–holders were pallbearers at his funeral.

From A Park Bench - Lose The Clutter

Last week I ventured into our back garden shed with the specific intention of sorting out all the items we had collected and put into storage. Among the many boxes were items of sentimental value, items of no value and items I kept just in case I needed them. In the last category were some 1980’s Wharfedale Diamond speakers that I had lovingly kept and transferred from house to house over the last 25 years. They had never left the box but I had kept them just in case I one day needed a spare pair of speakers and of course I have never needed them.

As I stood looking at my prized speakers I realized that I would never use them and I had to let them go. No matter how much I loved them they were just clutter, junk that was useless. I had no need for them.

Likewise I have to let go of all the clutter that fills my mind, all the useless junk that holds me down. There is no harm in having interests, hobbies, supporting teams and watching media, but if those things dominate my mind then my mind will be filled with clutter. 

God’s spirit, His grace and His words are the greatest power in the universe. I have been united into Almighty God and all the riches of that inheritance. If I am going to fill my mind and thoughts with anything the majority of my meditation should be focused on Christ and his finished work.

I have been released from being accepted by God through works and good behavior, my relationship with God is not affected by my performance. If I spent no time with God from now to eternity it would not affect my standing with God. But, it will affect how I perceive and how I am tuned into God. The more I soak and wallow in the grace of God the more sensitive I become to the whisper of God’s voice and the more the cares of the world fade away.

Lose the clutter and focus of the good things, soak in the grace of God.

Grace Notes - Matthew 20:8

Matthew 20:8 "So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first."

The amazing and wonderful bountiful grace of God is exactly the same for every one alive. Every living and breathing human has the same measure of grace from God available. God’s grace is not dependant on anything we do, anything we achieve, anything we force it is all available, the full riches and victory that Christ won at the cross. The only proviso is whether we believe and receive or we doubt and do without .

God does not force his grace upon us, he offers it freely, all that is required is our ‘thank you’ to him, that positive response is called faith.

You cannot force God to bless you, because God has already blessed you with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Everything we need and require is In Christ. As we ask and draw from the grace of God we are transformed into his likeness and effortlessly we being to experience the reality of all God has won for us.

Andrew Wommack explains that in this parable Jesus was explaining a picture of the overflowing grace of God and how everyone regardless of their work or effort has exactly the same offered to them: -

This parable begins with Jesus' statement that the kingdom of heaven is likened to a man who is a householder (owner of an estate). He went out early in the morning to hire workers to work in his vineyard for the day. An agreed upon price was set at a penny, the normal wage paid daily for a laborer. Later, around 9 a.m., the landowner encouraged others, standing idle in the marketplace, to work in the vineyard, not for a set wage but for "whatsoever is right." The landowner employed more laborers at noon, at 3 p.m. and even some at 5 p.m. when there was only one hour left to work.

According to Jewish law, wages must be paid each evening before the sun sets. When it came time for the steward to pay the laborers, he began with those working the shortest amount of time and paid each man a penny (a full day's wage). Those working the entire day murmured, for they supposed they would have received more. They agreed, however, to work for a penny, the stipulated wage agreed upon.

The context of this parable supports the teaching that it is impossible to earn the generosity of the Master. This is a lesson on grace. Regardless of whether or not our performance is better than someone else's, we all need God's grace because we have all come short of God's standard. The landowner gave freely, making all equal. Jesus is saying that the benefits of the kingdom are the same for all who have become subject to its King, regardless of what they have done. Therefore, those who are last (or least) in the sense that they have not served the Lord as long or as well as others, will truly become "first" when they share equally of the Lord's goodness with those who "have borne the burden and heat of the day".

Friday's Five - Knowing......

knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. - Romans 6:5-7

knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.  - Galatians 2:15-17

And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.  - Ephesians 6:8-10

But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them - 2 Timothy 3:13-15

knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. - James 1:2-4

Forgotten Heroes - Private James Woods. V.C.

Private James Park Woods, 48th Battalion, Victoria Cross action at Le Verguier.

Jimmy Woods was born in South Australia and raised by a stepsister after his parents' death. He tried to enlist in the AIF but was rejected as too short. Eventually accepted in Western Australia in September 1916, he reached France a year later.

Woods displayed great bravery in one of his battalion's last actions of the war on 18 September 1918 near Le Verguier. With a small patrol he captured a German post, then defended it against several counter-attacks by jumping onto the parapet and throwing bombs handed to him by his companions. He "displayed a splendid example of valour, determination and initiative"....


Returning to Australia, Woods took up a small vineyard and orchard in the west. Plagued by ill health from his war service, he died in 1963. His eldest son, Pilot Officer Gordon Woods, was killed in flight training with the RAAF in 1943 and is commemorated on the Memorial's Roll of Honour.
Woods received the Victoria Cross, service medals for the First World War and coronation medals for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II.
VC Citation:
"On 18 September 1918, near Le Verguier, north-west of St. Quentin, France, Private Woods, with a weak patrol, attacked and captured a formidable enemy post consisting of four heavy and two light machineguns which, with two comrades, he held against heavy counterattacks. Jumping on to the parapet he fired, and kept on firing and throwing bombs, inflicting severe casualties and holding up the enemy until help arrived."

Bygone Times - The View-Master

The view-master was one of those special toys that could be fun as well as educational.

It was my sister, Valerie that owned one in our family, a Christmas present from my parents to her in the mid-1970’s.

I remember that it came with a free cardboard ‘stereoscopic ‘ 3-D card to view Disney movie pictures. This 3-D images really came to life in a wonderful kaleidoscope adventure for any young kid in the Seventies.

My Mother was insistent that it had to be educational before it was fun. So my sister was subjected to 3-D reels of the Cotswold, London, Historic houses and Castles. Occasionally we would be treated to a film or a Disney cartoon, but these were very few and far between. Needless to say that although we enjoyed the ‘educational’ slides, it was the cartoons we all loved.

I think my sister still has her View-master’ it was a much loved childhood present

. 

Grace Notes - John 11 v 14

"Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead." John 11:14

We must face the facts that confront us. Hiding behind a false religious mask, helps no-one.

There is no disgrace or lack of maturity in indentifying and sharing when we are going through difficulties, problems, trials and periods of ill health. Trials are a part of every day life, in a fallen world, where the effects of sin dominate.

The problem is when we are overtaken by our identity with the problem and we forget all that God has provided by grace and has deposited inside of us.

Yes, we have trials and tribulations, but we have all the fullness of God, the same power that raised Christ from the dead living inside of us.

God understands every situations of our life, he anticipated every attack from the evil one and he provided the answer in the finished work of the cross.

We can look and acknowledge the problem and us can look, acknowledge and focus on the grace of God. Keeping our focus and eyes on Christ will give us a heavenly perspective over a carnal perspective.

As Andrew Wommack explains, Christ acknowledges Lazarus was dead, but with his words and the power of heaven called him back to life:-  

Jesus spoke of Lazarus being asleep instead of dead because that is really a much better description. Death, to their carnal minds, would be final; whereas the word "sleep" would not. When the disciples misunderstood what He was saying, He clarified the situation by saying plainly, "Lazarus is dead."

This looks like a contrary statement to what Jesus was going to do (raise Lazarus from the dead) and indeed it would have been if He had left it at that. But He went on to say in verse 15, "I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe." This was referring to Lazarus being raised from the dead and it turned Jesus' statement of a negative fact into a positive confession of faith.

Many people have been confused over this very issue. Many times people will refuse to speak of or acknowledge any situation that is contrary to a promise that God has given them. It is certainly desirable to avoid talking about our problems and there is scriptural precedent for this (2 Ki. 4:20, 26). In this very instance, Jesus avoided using a word to describe Lazarus' situation that would have instilled fear into His disciples' hearts. But when dealing with people who didn't understand, He didn't deny the natural facts.

A true, positive confession doesn't deny natural truth. It just refuses to stop at the natural realm and speaks forth the greater spiritual truth. This is what Jesus did and we should follow His example. Therefore, it is not wrong to acknowledge a physical problem such as sickness just as long as we acknowledge to an equal or greater degree the spiritual truth, "by whose stripes ye were healed" (1 Pet. 2:24). Don't deny that problems exist, just deny those problems the right to continue to exist in your life by confessing your faith in God.

Croquet

Croquet, Croquet,

We’re all playing it

We’re enjoying the game

With every strike

Of the mallet

There’s laughter, smiles.

If the day is meant for fun

This is a special moment

On a secluded lawn

You play the afternoon away.

Croquet, Croquet,

It’s exciting

And inviting

But it won’t take ages

For us to enjoy our time

Of laughter, smiles.

Friday's Five - Be.....

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6-7

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. – Romans 12:2

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit – Ephesians 5:18

Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. – 2 Corinthians 13:11

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. – John 3 : 14-15

From A Park Bench - What is my response?

Each of us, every moment we live respond to the everyday situations. Some of those responses are so natural, so ingrained in us we automatically just accept them as ‘part of us’. The way we handle criticism, the justification of our own action, the receiving of a compliment, the agenda of a glance, the way we avert our eyes to cover our embarrassment, the list is endless. Each moment is made up of our individual responses. As i write this, a chap just walked past my window, glanced and gave me a friendly smile, I responded by smiling back.

Faith is a response, it is my response to all God has provided by grace. This response can vary in its degree, I can either embrace and savor all God has richly provided for me or i can reject it and walk away from it. Either way God has still provided it, it is still all available for me, it is really dependent upon my response.

We all respond to the God, we can frown and turn away, God is not going to force us to believe, he is not going to impose himself on us, he has revealed himself to us through Jesus and it is up to us what we do with him.

Often in the past, i cried out for God to do something, to act. I would pray and ask him to move by his power, to come and help me, to heal me, to deliver me, to act. I did not realize that God through Christ had already provided my deliverance, my healing, my answer. God had anticipated my need and through grace had already provided the answer. I had already been given the answer before i asked.

In Christ i have all i need to live a fulfilled, victorious life. The same power that raised Christ from the dead now lives in me and I am filled with the fullness of Christ.

My response is Amen to all the promises of God offered to me by grace, in Christ.

Golden Braids

It is the same dreams of yesterday

Held within your chamber of wishes

To ponder the peace, the future day

When pain gives way to surrender

In a discovery of intimate serenity.

You toss your hair and leave yourself

Golden braids bathed in radiant light

Lost within a rhythmic heart of grief

The tedious separating of each yellow strand

Gentle strokes filled with innocence belief

Touch the heart of hope

Lost in the fantasy ocean of delight

In a open book of secret treasure

Released from a chain of sadness

The love of tomorrow washed in grace.

From A Park Bench - A New Creation

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."  2 Cor. 5:17

Ask anyone the question, if you could do back and do something differently what would you do? Most would have an instance or event that they regret and would want to change. Unfortunately none of us can travel back in time and relive the events we regret. We cannot change the past, but we can learn and live the present differently.

Here is the Bible Paul describes what God has done for us by grace. Anyone who  puts their trust in Jesus and his finished work can have a new life in Christ.

When we believe in Christ, we are identifying with Him, and all that He did in our place becomes reality and experience in our lives. This means that all that happened to Christ happened to you.

When he died to sin and its power, you died to sin and its power.

When he rose in victory and newness of life, you rose in victory and newness of life.

When He ascended and sat down in Authority, you sat down with Him in authority.

All that happened to Christ, happened to you.

The New Creation on the inside of you is totally new and God has made you alive to himself in a intimate relationship to share with you the desires of his heart.

You are completely new without one trace of evil, wrong, problems, struggles, lusts, doubts or fears.  That is the real you! 

You are a beautiful person. 

You are righteous. 

You are acceptable. 

You are approved. 

You are holy and pure. 

You are strong. 

You are healthy. 

You are blessed. 

You are complete. 

You are whole. 

You are of a sound mind. 

You are perfect in God's sight!  

Grace Notes - Luke 17:5

"And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith."Luke 17:5

How do I respond to the promises of God?

This is a question I continuously ask myself, if God has anticipated my every need and through Christ has provided all my needs by grace, how do I receive all God has for me?

My Spirit is completely interwoven and entwined with all the fullness of Christ. Within me, Christ dwells and I am the temple of the Holy Sprit. I take the glory of God, the presence of God, the power of God, the love of God with me, wherever I physically go.

So what holds me back?

It cannot be faith as I have the same faith inside me that raised Christ from the dead. But what I have is hindrance of unbelief.  I can limit the effect grace in my life, if I don’t believe all God has promised and provided. It is vey simple, for example if God has promised my joy I can both accept and receive it or I can not believe it and not live in the fullness of it.

Faith is just my positive response to all God has provided for me by grace.

As Andrew Wommack explains, Jesus taught the disciples that faith is not a problem to us, it is whether we accept and receive all God has given is the real problem:-

There are many scriptures that speak of varying degrees of faith. However, the scriptures also speak of Jesus increasing in wisdom (Lk. 2:52) that certainly refers to His physical intellect drawing more and more on the perfect wisdom of God that was already in Him at birth. It is in this way that we also increase in faith.

At salvation, the believer is given the supernatural faith of God. We had to use the very faith of God (not human faith) to believe the gospel (Eph. 2:8).

That faith came to us through hearing the Word of God (Rom. 10:17), and once we are born again, it becomes an abiding fruit of the Spirit within us.

Every believer is given the same measure of faith at salvation but not all believers use what God has given them. Therefore, it is correct to speak of growing in faith and having great faith or little faith, but it is important to understand that this is speaking of how much faith we use or manifest - not how much faith we were given. All believers were given "the" same measure of faith.

Jesus' example of the grain of mustard seed underscores the truth that our faith is sufficient if we will just use it without the hindrance of unbelief.

He then continues on into the parable of the servant serving his master to illustrate that our faith is not the problem but rather our use of it. We are using it to serve ourselves instead of our master who is God.

Mary of Bethany

I saw her

I gazed into her eyes

And looked and loved and listened

As she poured, through teary eyes,

The golden nectar of passion,

Sweet with perfume

A river rich in sorrow

Through strands of tumbling hair

A precious kiss.

I watched her

She closed her eyes

Pale, forlorn, fragile,

As she anointed, in gracious waves,

Her tears of crucifixion,

Wounded with loss

Through worn weary fingers

A vial of sadness

A healing kiss.

I saw her

I felt her pain

The love, the desire, the loss,

Ignored by everyone, not caring who saw her,

A prayer of forgiveness

Sharing her love,

Washing away with braids of suffering

Her gentle courage

A tender kiss.

He watched her

He felt the oil anoint him,

Adoration, devotion, salvation,

A glance amidst destructions moment,

The oil caressing his skin

Bathed with anguish

Drenched in devotion, passionate grace

No room, no time, no regret,

A heart of submission

A cherished kiss.

Fathomless

Fathomless

Immeasurable

Independent

Indescribable

Uncreated God

Became man

Swallowed evil

Adoptions plan

Embraced my sweat

Kissed my pain

Knew my doubt

Healed sin’s stain

Limited by time

Tasted death

Held in flesh

Felt my breath

The pure light

With creation yearns

Destroyed darkness

In my heart burns.

Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin

All right, so yesterday I was in the local shopping centre and visiting my favourite charity shop, when over the radio they played Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin all 8 minutes 2 seconds of it. I was amazed and transported back to my teenage years, listening to this on my Garrard record deck through a pair of Panasonic headphones.

It is amazing how once song can bring back so many memories. Memories of sitting in the house I grew up in, of my parent’s front room, the bight flowered wallpaper, the green sofa and my hi-fi system.

This song has so many meanings, it meant for me that feeling of not being grown up but the expectation and dreams of all the future would hold. I felt that everything was there ahead of me, there waiting for me to grab it. ‘The piper will lead us to reason’ I knew as I trusted and followed the piper that I would always be on ‘The Stairway to Heaven’

So hear it is in all its glory.

  

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she cant get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven.

There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.

Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who stand looking.

Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.

And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune,
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long,
And the forests will echo with laughter.

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder.

Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,
The piper's calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind?

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When we all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.

And she's buying the stairway to heaven.

Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young

Over at PoetryJam, Laurie Kolp asked us to write a poem on all things about RUST.

Some words are just instantly associated with moments or movies or songs. For me I automatically think of Neil Young and the amazing, wonderful album, Rust Never Sleeps.

This album was the obituary to the excesses, creativity and freedom of the 1960’s and 1970’s. It summed up all the wonderful liberty of the music scene, the destruction of the Vietnam War and the rise of consumerism. Ten years later, Neil Young would make a similar statement with the wonderful album ‘Freedom’, but it was the sheer raw power, energy and rage of Rust Never Sleeps mixed with bittersweet poetic words and heartbreaking insight that made this album so incredibly ground breaking. For anyone who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s this was the defining epitaph of two decades from the creative, free-thinking force that is the magnificent Neil Young.

So here is Hey, Hey, my , my the song that opens and closes the album.

Hey hey, my my
Rock and roll can never die
There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye.
Hey hey, my my.

Out of the blue and into the black
You pay for this, but they give you that
And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black.

The king is gone but he's not forgotten
Is this the story of johnny rotten?
It's better to burn out 'cause rust never sleeps
The king is gone but he's not forgotten.

Hey hey, my my
Rock and roll can never die
There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye.