Pope Francis

A humble man from the City of Good Air

Lead his flock during the riots of December.

The second John Paul replaced his vestments with red.

When the Cooperator of Truth resigned

He was chosen to wear the Papal mitre.

Being the humble man

Being the man of God

Being a servant to the people

He rejected the palace of apostles

To live as a guest of God.

He rejected well embroidered vestments and robes

For simple attire.

He rejected the gold

For a fisher’s ring

To become the fisher of men

Preaching peace and love.

Neither Marxist

Nor Capitalist

He redirected his church

With the shepheard’s crook

Bringing the lamb to focus on deeper issues.

96. American Expansion

America packed up its wagon

To head out on the trail toward California

For gold.

The Mormons moved west under the guidance of their prophet

For God.

Adventurers went out to explore

For Glory.

The three G’s that drove men’s souls and spirits for years.

Gold, God, Glory.

Moving them across the expanse of prairie.

Uncle Sam drew a line across the continent.

“You can have all this land over here” he said, “and we will take the rest.”

But then he changed its mind.

“We’ll take this from you as well.”

The land shrank quickly

As the new nation gobbled it up

For progress.

They pushed,

Breaking treaties,

Causing tears,

Making new treaties,

Breaking them,

Causing more tears.

Blood from the thousand nations

Ran down mountains,

Through plains,

Mingling with tears and sweat

From thousands of miles of migration.

The white man settled the nomads,

Straightened the land with rails,

Fenced it in,

Claiming it as their own.

Those that didn’t adapt

Met their end

In war or captivity.

86. The Age of Discovery and Conquest

Columbus had an idea.

“I want to sail west to get to the east.”

No one would listen.

“You’re crazy,” they said.

“The world’s too big.”

He went to Spain.

They gave him ships.

He sailed west.

Bumped into a new continent.

Soon others did too.

Spain and Portugal explored that world

Hoping to find riches.

What they found was new land to fight over.

The pope settled the dispute by splitting the new world in two

As if he had that right to do.

Slaves were made of Africans.

The natives of America were killed.

Cortez, the conqueror, ruined many lives in Mexico.

The Aztecs,

Descendants of peoples who crossed the ancient Ice Age land bridge.

Descendants of the Olmecs.

Advanced in math and astronomy.

The great pyramid builders of the new world

Perished because of Spanish quests

For Gold, God and Glory and the new plagues they brought.

They returned the favor

With diseases of their own.

After Spain, other countries moved out.

The Dutch went for profits.

The British claimed their piece in North America.

North America should be watched.

New things are brewing there.

82. Joan of Arc

All felt lost

In this tragic war.

France needed a hero.

A noble knight to save France from England’s tyranny.

A young lady

Waiting to be married,

In her thirteenth year,

Received a call from God.

“Go,” he said,

“England is not meant to have French land.”

The maiden of Orleans

Was terrified at first

But came around eventually.

She went to the Dolphin court

Presenting her plan to save France.

The Dolphin was impressed

She was dressed

In armor and given a horse.

At the battle of Orleans

She proved her mettle

With the long fought victory.

She persuaded her Dolphin

To march to their enemy Burgandy

Receiving the crown of the seventh Charles.

She promised to capture Paris

But Burgandy’s and England’s forces

Were way too strong.

They captured her

Accused her of witchcraft

Burning her at the stake.

Her passion lived on

As symbol for France

Driving them to win the war

Ridding England from the continent.

77. The Last Crusades

The pope and the people

Rallied for more crusades.

Rulers left their lands.

Frederick, the Emperor.

Leopold, the Austrian.

Richard, the Lion Heart.

An insult caused a rift

Between the Austrian and Lion Heart.

The Lion Heart was captured.

Held for ransom.

The lion’s heart broke

Mourning the loss of a friend turned enemy.

“I would sell London,”

He whispered in his shackles,

“If I could find a suitable purchaser.”

The Emperor drowned

Harassing the Roman son.

The cause that the urban on preached

Was lost.

Many people died.

Some at the hands of Christian men

Who did the unspeakable in the name of God.

God wasn’t directing those men.

Greed, pride and prejudice were their leaders.

No one was safe.

Jew and Turk alike were killed.

It was alright as long as they said their prayers and go to church

Anointing themselves in Christ’s waters.

The priests protested.

True believers of the cause tried to do right.

It was no use.

God was no longer on their side.

As knights stole relics from Constantine’s city

“Never,” they said,

“Was so great an enterprise.”

They came because God told them to.

They stayed to get rich.

They crossed themselves with one hand

Pocketing gold with the other

“So everything from common houses to the Church of God.”

“Were filled with men of the enemy.”

“This is an affront to God,”

The pope shouted.

Then he whispered behind his back,

“See if they can wrap it with a nice bow.”

Many still believed in the righteousness of the cause.

Remember the good people who believed in the cause.

Remember the ones who did it for God.

Not for greed.

Still fighting erupted in other places.

Spain reconquered Iberia.

Children tried for the Holy Land

But were captured by pirates.

Danes tried to cleanse their neighbors

Of “heathen” people.

God may not have given them the kingdom

But he did give them something else.

In the end the inner pilgrimage became important.

Remember the lessons learned here.

Otherwise old wounds be opened.