Survivors And Preservers
Survivors and preservers – both they were –
Negotiated both, that’s known for sure;
Before the siege – arranged their passage safe
Outside the walls, to set their school in place.“We mean no harm, just let us keep our books;
Set up our school, regardless how it looks”,
They said – and were permitted to depart –
Thank God they did – it helped us get our start.A student of that group became our man;
He’d studied there, departed from that land;
Their version of The Book was what he used;
Though he was gone by then, don’t be confused –His students also used that text to know
The Word of God, that they might courage show
In face of persecution at that time –
Displaying in their deaths a Life sublime.Then too, I hunch His dad was of that group
Not form alone – he took their former route
Of plugging in the faith to daily life,
Without the rigidness which caused such strife.Of course, he had not always been that way;
A jerk he was (like us) until that day
His girlfriend showed up pregnant – had to choose –
“Love of his life” or “rigidness” he’d lose.He chose his girlfriend, swallowed pride of place;
Accepted God’s instructions for his case;
Then raised his Son as child of gracious love
Which overrides our judgment, like above.The Boy grew up and knew that men could change,
And when they did, their lives would rearrange –
One factor changed, it ripples through the scene,
By which one rises o’er the mean and mean.We’ve traveled down that road quite far since then;
That group has learned a lot – some are my friends –
They found their own solution to their loss –
Rebellion’s always tragic, great its cost.They’d made their switch before that dreadful day;
They scooped up all tradition on their way
Into their future – “Take no time to sift;
Just to grab it all, and generate a list –“There’s lots of time in future to reflect,
And sift what we have gathered – with respect
Apportioned to the best – preserve it all,
Lest what we cannot see’s allowed to fall.That treasury of insight, story, lore,
Enriches life, as in long years before
Our day and age – will do so to the end;
Survivors and preservers – thanks, my friends.navigation