An image I see now and then shows Jesus on the cross—
Not in a pose of death or pain but flexing like a boss
Who, steroid-popping, busts the wood like balsa in a vise
It’s hard to see him suffering and lonely as he dies.
Sometimes I see him riding dinosaurs, while laser beams
Blaze from his eyes, an AR shooting bullets in a stream
That cut down all his enemies and wither the elites,
The Deep State, woke mob, sickly immigrants and welfare cheats.
This Jesus, found nowhere in Matthew, Mark or Luke or John,
Is custom-made for our time and the deadly course we’re on
When many of his followers prefer to take than give
And cannot spare of cup of water so a child can live.
This Jesus, muscular and macho, mascot of empire,
A “winner,” not a yielding fool of which so many tire,
Who, like a cowboy, shoots his way from conflicts with his foes
And like Chuck Norris and John Wayne, whatever he says goes.
But Jesus in the Gospels is another beast indeed
Who counseled nursing back to health an enemy in need;
Who said if they demand your cloak give them your shirt as well;
Who came to heal the desp’rate sick with hopeful news to tell.
He said, do not retaliate, let them hit you again,
Not threaten them with hellfire from the siloed Minutemen.
Not curse them, but pray for their turning back from sin and hate
Be humble, dine with sinners, pray in secret, don’t inflate
Your standing with your neighbors with great public shows of prayer,
But take the last seat even when a better one is there;
Be open-handed, generous, give aid to all in need
And if push comes to shove, be first in line to hurt and bleed.
Which Jesus is the one you follow? Answer me this riddle!
Me? I am not like him, maybe somewhere in the middle.
But every day I strive to be more like the one who heals
Than like the one who conquers, murders, ravishes and steals.
Image generated with DreamStudio.
Nice work on this one; The message is very clear; The author speaks truth. Just a little haiku for you to say right on!