The JKL Writings

This first part i did not write…i heard it as a kid and its stuck with me all these years! If you know where its from i would love it if you could tell me so i can give credit!

I was trapped by the invisible walls of my fate,
Tricked by the idea that I could not escape,
Chained up in a ghetto where my father died,
Fooled into thinking I would never go outside.
Imprisoned by my friends who knew nothing but war,
Shackled to everything that had gone on before.
I would always be here in this dead end life of mine,
My heart turned back by a city limit sign.

Yet,
and yet I now see a way out of my concrete jail,
A new way to soften a heart that’s grown stale.
No longer cursed in this place for the wealth,
No longer fighting with man or myself.
I understand now what it takes to get real.
If you wanna stand up, you have to learn how to kneel.

I surrender.
My weapons are down at my feet.
‘Cause we’ll never have freedom
When there’s blood on the street.

The blood on the street that HE once gave 
The blood that shows I am no longer a slave!
With flesh torn from his back and thorns stabbed in his head
If you were to see this man you might as well thought he was dead

But no, He picked up his burden and carried his cross
Fully knowing what the price of our sins will cost
Nails were driven into his Feet and hands
And within that moment he became the worlds most hated man!

As his body was cut off from oxygen and his strength depleted
He looked up to the skies, wept, and then pleaded
“Lord! Forgive them for they do not know what they do!”
And everyone witnessed the death of “The King of the Jews”

We killed God! 

All Hail Satan for we thought that he won
But let me tell you something my brothers this story hasnt even begun!

See THREE days past in which Jesus was dead!
Three days his body lay on that cold, stone bed
But on the third day our Lord Came back
And everyone gasped like an asthma attack!

He said “Go out and preach to all the nations
Baptizing them with endless recitation”
And so this is our duty to go preach the good news

Because through our God we will never ever lose!

I slowly walk down the dimly lit hallway stretching for what seems like forever. As i look around i realize that i am alone. There is a ghost like fog surrounding me making it impossible for me to see more than 5 feet infront of me. I hear footsteps and the sound of girl laughing as she comes up and intertwines her fingers with mine. We walk and talk for a while but before i know it she passes through a doorway as her fingers slip away from mine. The separation is like a stab to the heart. I stand there broken and empty as i hear more footsteps come from a room just a few steps ahead of me. I see 5 young men run towards me and tackle me to the ground. I am immedietly flooded with emotions of happiness and joy. We walk for a long time, passing doors which are filled with memories and past events. One of my friends is distracted by a female and soon is too far behind to catch up, Another decides he wants to check out the bedroom titled “College” and one more drinks a little too much alcohol, trips, and passes through the floor disappearing forever. The two i have left are making jokes with some girls that have run up from behind. We all look into a room titled “Weddings” and see each one of us with our wives. We continue through the hallway until we here children coming from infront of us. They grapple onto our legs chanting “DADDY DADDY DADDY!” but before i have time to pick them up they have grown into young adults. I look to my friends to see they have gotten significantly older. Their eyes look tired, hair has faded a bit, and have began to slow down. One of the couples head off into a room called “Divorce”. We can still hear them every now and then but they have recently become quiet. Soon my children come beside me with their children. They are sad for a few moments ago my wife tripped and fell through the floor. My heart aches now. I feel as if someone has torn it out completely. I look back and realize that i am alone again. The doors on the side have gone down in count and the hallway becomes brighter. It feels as if i have come to the end and there stands two doors. 

You know that feeling you get in airports? The feeling of anxiety and excitement all at once? The feeling you get from knowing that you could leave to anywhere at any moment? And that feeling you get knowing you are leaving home? In my short time on earth i have had many moments like these at airports. The first would be arriving in america as my mother and i came through customs and saw my father for the first time. It was more of their experience due to that fact that i was only 4 months old. 8 years later i would admire the people walking by with large brown eyes only wondering why they are here. I soon began to wonder what their stories were. Who was the man with a briefcase and suit? Or the woman with the screaming child? Was today their first time flying? Are they running to their family or away from their family? Many of these thoughts plagued my mind until a few years later. I remember watching my brothers leave the country as they went to greece. On one occasion they came back after the news that close family friend died. They were greeted with sorrowful looks and faces full of sadness. Yet at the same spot we welcomed them back with tears of grief we welcomed my future sister in-law with tears of joy. Seeing my brother grown and with his future wife only brought me back to when we were kids. How we would fight over who gets to play the gameboy or which person gets to play zelda. We made the airport out playground, wondering around the stores causing trouble and looking for places to hide from our parents. Even recently i recall looking down on the country of kenya as i remember all the street kids i worked with. It gives me hope to know that their lives can be changed. Airports have given me the ability to cherish memories, to make new ones, and to learn from certain situations. I can only hope that i can experience more adventures.  

I understand it now, why you would think the way you do. The idea that every moment is so crucial, no matter where you are, no matter what you’re doing. Because I don’t want to wait until you’re on your deathbed to try to know who you really are. I don’t want to be standing there and think to myself that the only memories I can hold onto are sad. Sad, because none of them are what I hoped for or what I expected or what I wanted to make of them. I don’t want the end to come, before I’ve even made a beginning. Hope only gets you so far, when there is no action behind it. So, what have I done thus far? Nothing. What have I thought about thus far? Lots of things. I hope it won’t be anytime soon that I’ll have to leave.