Praise Be To Elohim

Here's the deal friends:  I really like poetry and sometimes I really like to write it.  Now is one of those times.  That being said, i have written a short piece and I would like to share it with you.

Praise Be To Elohim

Thoughtless projections of a thoughtful mind,
run rampant through paths of mines,
whose principal weapons are thoughts like spears,
with sharp heads shaped from bitterest hatred,
with a shaft shaped from human desire.
We walk amongst battered bodies and broken things,
as Man who once had childlike dreams.
The world we loved deemed once too much,
has since indeed been proven as such.
We walk as one toward an end, as what?
To become the laughing stock, of jokes, the butt.

Hopelessness rules as long as we,
think not of we, but only me.
I am not a poet of accomplishment or gain.
Just a man whose thoughts are plain as day.
When once I first began to pen
my thoughts on pad and paper then,
I thought to myself with such injustice,
we are one world, but really, it's just us.
We cannot call upon each other,
when we refuse to call each other brother.
When once we cast down lofty idols,
of selfish controls and goals of idle,
we can be free to live as love
was meant for us as people of
flesh and bone and God above.
Praise be to Elohim.

Your Thumb & Forefinger

On a day like today, when I am plagued my lack of sleep and a nagging headache graciously given to me by a concussion obtained from a nice gentleman running my car into a ditch, I am all the more thankful for some of the greater qualities of the God a believe in.  Call me Paul, but I couldn't justify breaking that sentence up into subsequent parts.  It all needed to be said and all of it at once.

This day, Thursday, April 5, 2012, I am being burdened with a load that seems to heavy for my shoulders.  Not only have I suffered physical injury but I have also suffered several emotional/spiritual injuries over the past few weeks.  I am not a person who likes others to take on my burdens for me but I most share with my fellow man the events and recurring thoughts of the past few days.

Let's start on Tuesday.  I woke Tuesday morning to a feeling that my day was going to be less than excellent.  I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about when I say that I just knew that things weren't going to be "fine and dandy."  Call me a prophet but I just seemed to be bombarded with moments throughout the day that laid me low.  That being said, I cannot complain about the entirety of that day as if it were so terrible.  On Tuesday evening, I was fortunate enough to engage in some much-needed fellowship and worship at a friend's house.  Through prayer and praise, we entered into a time of community that I believe lifted me from the troubles of the day.

Let's Continue on Wednesday.  I woke with a positiveness that had been absent from me for most of the previous day.  When I left my apartment for work, I was expecting nothing less than an amazing day because of the plans that I had made for that evening.  For most of the day, this mindset was the theme of my internal psyche.  To make the day even better, I was able to leave work an hour early so that I could head to Warrensburg, MO, to visit a friend.  I stopped for gas in Lee's Summit, anxious to be on my way already (by the way, don't buy gas at Fuel Mart on Percels.  The handles of the pumps stick and you end up paying way more than you want to.).

Upon reaching Warrensburg, I went to the campus there and met with my friend to help with a Something to Eat event put on by the CCH of that school.  My understanding of "helping" was quite skewed seeing as most of my "helping" was relegated to sitting on a concrete wall for about two hours.  At 7:30, I went to weekly CCH service with my friend.  Upon leaving I drove her to the art center and headed home.  I choose to leave out the most despondent portion of my day (which subsequently occurs on my way home) due to the fact that I am still very bitter as to the occurrence.  Just know that I discovered that a friendship was less than I had hoped it would be.

Being somewhat emotionally distraught was not helped by the fact that outside of Lee's Summit, I was run off the highway and into a ditch, hitting my head and jamming my wrist on my steering wheel.  The man never stopped and I was helped out of the ditch by a concerned passerby.  Upon going to the medical clinic near my apartment, I discovered that I had received a mild concussion and a jammed wrist.  Oh joy!  It was just what I had wanted to happen to me at that exact time in my life!  I really hope that the sarcasm of that statement is apparent.

Feeling upset and sorry for myself, I drove home settled in for a long night of sleeplessness.  As I was sitting in one of my chairs, I felt my anger begin to rise in me.  I was feeling slighted, perhaps unjustly so.  About the time my angered was reaching its climax, I believe the Lord placed this thought on my heart:  "How do you have the right to be angry when you have done so much wrong?  Do you know the width of the universe?  Do you know how large it is?  You are foolish to think that the God you worship, who coincidentally measures that universe between his thumb and forefinger, cannot feel your pain and hear your cries of anguish.  He loves you, even when no one else will."  This being said, I have nothing left to say.

A Son of God,

Morgan McCoy

Where Two or More are Gathered

I would like to share with you an experience I had last week.  Every Thursday night, I am blessed to be a part of a men's group that meets together and studies the Bible and talks about life and what it means be Spirit-filled.  This group contains such fine members as Joshua Mark, Cameron Johnson, Tucker Love, and Nathan Bartlett.  

For last week's meeting we chose to go out in public with our group and meet somewhere that we would be readily accessible to the public around us.  We chose to meet at Broadway Coffee Shop in Kansas City.    This was the first time we had been public as a group.  I say "been public" and it sounds like something secretive or professional but it's really just that we were finally feeling ready to begin our meetings and increase our openness to the world at large.  

The Lord did not disappoint us.  For about the first hour that we were sitting in the back of Broadway, we were just sharing about how our weeks had been and sharing about what we had done.  We also had our own version of Happies and Crappies but that shall remain unmentioned.  The way we had chosen to sit granted me the perfect opportunity to grab a seat that had a full view of the coffee shop.  At about 8:00 PM, I looked up to notice that a dark-haired young man had entered the coffee shop out of the rain.  I was particularly distracted at that point because I may or may not have parked partially illegally in the bank parking lot across the street and had been watching for tow trucks for a while.  

When the young man entered the coffee shop, he walked what seemed to be distractedly around, looking for a seat to take.  At that point, I had no idea what was going to happen.  After about four or five minutes of walking around and thinking about sitting down, the young man approached our table and at the last minute veered to a sit that was all but included in our circle.  After sitting down, the man removed his back pack and took off his hoodie and readjusted his chair so that he was turned toward us at a half profile.  

You could see that he was distracted by the way he kept mumbling to himself and how his face was in constant motion, moving from one emotive facial expression to the next.  At this point, we were all aware of his presence but continued to share with each other and speak about what we had learned reading.  After a few minutes, Cameron looked over at the guy and invited him to join us.  With a slight adjustment of his glasses he gave his assent.  We began to ask him about who he was and what he was doing.  The first thing we learned was that not only were his physical mannerisms distracted but his speech was somewhat broken and distracted as well.  Don't misunderstand me, the man was an English speaker but it was almost as if he couldn't form the words he wanted to speak.

After only a few moments, the young man left.  I wonder if he was uncomfortable with the subject we were talking about.  As he began to walk out, we realized that he had left his sweater.  I ran after him to make sure he didn't walk out in the rain uncovered.  After I got back, I felt disappointed that I had not urged him to rejoin us and talk with us.  I shared this thought with the guys and how I thought that maybe this was something the Lord was testing us with.  So, after that prompting, Cameron went after him and brought him back to sit with us.  Once again, he remained slightly detached from the group until we urged him to join us.

During the second round of conversation, we discovered something undeniable about this man.  Although his conversational skills were awkward, and his speech seemed to be a struggle, he was undoubtedly a brilliant man, almost like a savant.  He told us what he studied and where he was from.  He told us many things about what he was doing and what he was thinking, yet all the while, he remained almost awkwardly aloof.  When we began to discuss the Bible once again, he remained for the most part quite.  After what seemed like a short amount of time, he finally got up and left for good.  We all made sure that he knew we were glad that he had joined us.

Not very long after he had left, a man approached us from another table and introduced himself.  He said that he had been overhearing our conversation for quite some time and that he was amazed that we were discussing such things unashamedly in public.  He also was a Christian man and shared with us how happy and proud he was to see that fellow Christians weren't scared to live the Gospel publicly.  He was also surprised by the fact that we had so openly accepted an odd stranger into our midst.  

After he had returned to his table, I looked at the guys and thought that the Lord had sent this man as an affirmation that we had done what he had wanted us to in inviting the stranger to our table and welcoming him to our group.  This was one of the first times that I had truly been tuned into what God had been wanting from me for a very, very long time.

As we left Broadway at closing time, we agreed to pray on the street in a circle.  I know this sounds like Bible thumping evangelism at its best but what better way is there to ask the Holy Spirit to come over a place or a group of people than to pray?  The entire time that we prayed, you could here cars driving by in the background and the chatter of hangers on outside the coffee shop.  When we ended our prayer and began to go to our own cars, I felt such an overwhelming sense of joy.  The Lord was blessing us with both tasks and encouragement.  This is what it is, to be loved.

A Son of God,

Morgan McCoy

Beautiful Things

Although I may not be the most gifted vocalist in the universe, that does not mean that I do not take away a profound understanding of the how gracious and beautiful music can be.  There is nothing on this planet, no experience that can equate to the joy and elation of experiencing good music.  Something about the way it reaches inside of you and inspires the words that your heart would say seems to make other things seem insignificant.  Perhaps the greatest joy of music is when you have the opportunity to enjoy it with people you love.

Just recently, as in last night, I was privileged enough to experience one such occasion.  In a college town that is host to the most debaucherous university on the planet (if you haven't guessed, I'm speaking of Lawrence, Kansas), I was lucky enough to hear a band called the Head and the Heart play a concert at the Granada Theatre.  I jokingly poke fun at all of the unlucky people to call themselves students of the University of Kansas, but I seriously describe the joy with which my heart rejoiced at beautiful, meaningful, and amazing music.

On one hand, I hope that such occasions as last night present themselves to me often.  On the other, I know that if such things were to happen frequently, the meaning and sincerity with which I regard them would become commonplace.  No such beauty should ever be deemed as commonplace.  Therefore, I eagerly await each opportunity with enthusiasm, knowing that I will have chances to experience things that others are unlucky enough to miss out on.

I must give sincere thanks to the following people:  Austin Averill, Chase Castor, David Fiser, Yale Averill,  Heidi Drechsler, and Kayli Holloway.  Last night's experience was made much more enjoyable because of enjoying it with you all.  Whether it be because of just being in the presence of such people, humor derived from words or actions, or just gosh darn pleasant and enjoyable conversation and assertive line cutting, you guys are amazing.

A Son of God,
Morgan McCoy