I Give and I Take; So Imperfectly
Yes, old enough to know better,
But still bumbling in many ways
I give some things, I share some things
But I also take and misuse
Far from perfect, far from even outstanding
I come up short, like I did in sixth grade.
I grew slower and duller, fatter and less coordinated
I could not do the obstacle course right.
So many errors! What was wrong with me?
That was not the right Eddie. Eddie had changed.
I had been fit, I had been sharp. True, loyal, strong.
I slipped, as we do in life.
My father remained hard and steadfast, as he has.
I am unlike him in some ways.
I give and I take differently than my father.
As we do. Sons, daughters.
I did not clean properly, it was stinky enough to gag.
I am sorry, honey.
The sink needed unclogging.
And then: the laundry detergent spill!
Oof, what an oaf as I.
Another day in the life, too many many messes to return to.
I kept the children alive, she maintains.
I like to help as I can, I say.
I am part of the team.
And the team of Christians involves Jesus.
Our Lord.
Over time in the ages of Queen Elizabeth many killed in His name, sadly.
Today we digress upon points of heredity and doctrine.
Huthis and their dissenters.
Sunni will rule the day, says those stalwort of the Kingdom.
The Saud clan, like those mentioned in Dune.
Frank Herbert, once and future prophet.
I wander, I drift.
Like the sands of Arrakis, or Kuwait.
Old video clips of me wandering the paths...
Of a base familiar yet far away.
Thousands of us serve there. We do our thing.
Near the Gulf. Like Pedro, my fellow co-worker, and MP.
A military policeman, doing his duty.
Where was I?
My wife said the Princeton man was loaded, living in Santa Barbara.
Not me.
I am relatively poor.
I am not making enough.
I am not earning the higher pays.
I am that kid messing up in front of the whole gymansium with my peers and my teachers.
I lost something, I lost my strengths.
Turned from me, my family was not as it was.
How I hoped, or believed things can be.
Should be. Would be.
Families are forever.
In my Lord's church, it is thus.
As we preach and proclaim.
Sadly some things end.
I will it not.
I will overcome.
With thy aid and help.
I need mercy.
Not pity.
But no...
I can continue to fail.
But we learned today that all the failures are overcome by strength and faith in Jesus.
I need it more.
I need Him more.
Let me.
Let me do it, Father.
And forgive, for I am far from perfect. Or even outstanding.
