Monday, January 5, 2015

#25 Dulce Paola Vargas Yañez: Trae Una Torta


He escuchado en México que cuando nace un bebé y los padres llegan a adquirir un beneficio parte laboral o un regalo, se utiliza una frase que dice “Trae torta bajo el brazo”.

Escuchando esto pude darme cuenta que Jesús traía una torta bajo el brazo, porque él nació para el perdón de pecados del pueblo.

Quizás y suene chistoso o raro, pero quieres saber, ¿cuál era la torta que traía Jesús?, Una Cruz. Una ¿Cruz?, ¡Sí! Cruz que 33 años después sería mostrada en el mundo.  Quien diría que un pequeño nacido en un pesebre en medio de pastores, personas comunes, animales de granja, alguien que nadie imaginaba o esperaba sería tan importante, porque vendría y moriría por nosotros .

Pero así es, un niño que mucho tiempo después comenzaría a enseñar a los demás sobre las cosas que no entenderíamos como ¿Qué hacer? o ¿Cómo hacerlas? Quizás fue muy poco el tiempo en el cual caminó y enseñó, pero Él conocía el trabajo que nos costaría para aprender a vivir.

En cada momento de su vida se encontró ocupado con las actividades diarias que realizaba (como el caminar, el comer, el ayudar, el anunciar...), pero siempre trabajando en anunciar sobre esa cruz en la que en algún momento el subiría.

Él mostró su amor, sabiendo que un día moriría.  Él vino y no solo mostró que era nuestro hermano, sino que mostró ser un amigo, un protector:   fiel, soberano, y humilde sobre todo.  Porque no existe mejor amigo que él que está dispuesto a dar la vida por su hermano.

¿Una torta bajo el brazo?

Aun recuerdo cuando alguien utilizó esa frase para decirle a mi padre que cuando nací a él le fue entregado un departamento en el cual actualmente vivimos.

Y de la misma Forma la torta bajo el brazo de Jesús es por la cual hoy vivimos y viviremos por la eternidad.



Dulce es una sierva que vive en Ixtapaluca, Edo. De Méx. Le gusta escribir poesía y sierve como líder de jóvenes en su Iglesia y en la Farmacia, en los viajes misioneros.


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Trae una Torta



I've heard that in Mexico when a baby is born and the parents receive some kind of gift or work benefits along with it people say the baby "came carrying a torta under their arm."


Hearing this once, I realized that Jesus came to earth "carrying a sandwich," because he was born for the forgiveness of mankind.  And what is that sandwich he was carrying?  A cross...although it wouldn't be shown to the world for 33 more years.  Who could foresee that a little one born in a manger amongst common shepherds and farm animals was someone so important?

But that's how it is.  This baby later began to teach others about the things we don't understand, "what to do" and "how to live."  Perhaps he didn't walk and teach for long, but he knew that we're slow learners, so with each moment of his life he was found, through doing the daily activities that he did,  announcing that cross that was to come.  

He showed his love--knowing that one day he would die--not just to show that he was our brother, but to also show how to be a friend and protector.  He was faithful, sovereign, and above all, humble.  Because there is no greater love than if someone lays down his life for his friends.

A sandwich under the arm?

I remember that someone used this phrase to tell my parents that when I was born they received the apartment in which we live to this day.

And in the same way, the torta under Jesus' arm is the gift by which we live today and through which we can live for eternity.        


Dulce is a servant living in Ixtapaluca, México State.  She likes to write poetry and when she's not serving as a youth leader in her church, leads worship or works in the pharmacy on Medical Missions Trips. 

Sunday, January 4, 2015

#24 Carl Nellis: He was Radiating Love



He Was Radiating Love
by Carl Nellis (after Billie Whitelaw and Samuel Beckett)

But the brain still
over the hiss, almost an ocean                   dull roar in the skull
of sound

Imagine not suffering                                    Godforsaken
contortions
like falls

wants everything, wants you
to be perfect
Even though it is                                               impossible

His head in his hands
his powder blue eyes
see the                                                                 miraculous
recording in the dark.


Carl Nellis is a steadfast friend, an excellent writer, and a beardly editor based in Beverly, MA.  A graduate literature student at Boston College, he enjoys tea, music, frisbee, all things Scottish, and all things literary.  His profound and beautiful poems can be found at:  http://laughingoverthesea.blogspot.com/ .

Saturday, January 3, 2015

#23 James Metelak: Black Fridays



Black Fridays

Sticks.
Wood frame.
Icon.
Oil burning anointing lamp
Recession cave upheavals.

1869, 1929, 1989,
Yellow sticky note on a calendar
Inserts
Momentary illumination between
Two black Fridays
A red day, a blood day, a sticky day,
A day for cutting ribbons
And umbilicals
A baby born Athena-wise
A spurt of blood from the president's skull
The market is avalanching.
Someone was stabbed over a parking space.
We probably spend it all ’cause the pain ain’t cheap.

How deep is your greed?
Target
God is dead...we have killed him...
-Ed ads data mining roaring 20s
A big push.
Best Buy smartphone subprime mortgage lending.
Amniotic bubble bursts
Toys R Us bailouts for big wigs
Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?
Peasantry. a cry of protest.
For shame, Jerusalem,
No human family.
Someone was stabbed over a parking space.

The prodigal swipes credit card messiah
Freedom ain't cheap

Crossed staves on a skull.
Three stabs in a grassy knoll.
Shadows on a baby's soft wet cranium.

Seven Bolsheviks burst through the door...

The loss of a kingdom.
Shepherd-song.
The loss of the innocents.

...bullets slam pillows and diamonds

Elder brother poison priest
Hunts down the prodigal God
Only one is good.


The princeling groans.
The blood on the hay.
Divine right of rule.

Ask not what your country can do for you...

How deep is your greed?
Every boom must bust
Every bone be dust.

Two parallel railroad ties outside Yekaterinberg.

But oh the ride.
When things were new.
When the president was a sweet little boy
And I held him in my arms,
And he was mine at my breast
But now he belongs to the mob roar
The media throngs and the political trends
What is truth?
They are money laundering the rough edges off the
Universe's seams
Bankrupt in bullshit righteousness,
Reductionism.  What's a King to a mob?
On giving Tuesday I attempt to bribe the judge.

The star-reds marker X ma(rk)s
The spot on Dealey Plaza.
50% off, casting roulette
(whiteblackwhiteblackyingyangbrotherbrotherclatterclack)
On a white robe.

James Metelak is a poet, photographer, musician, and the primary curator of Headpiece full of Straw's 25 Days of Christmas.  He teaches and works with youth in Central Asia.  Check out his other work at sandpiperparade.weebly.com, youtube or his poetry blog

Friday, January 2, 2015

#22 Matt Howard: Silent Night


                                        Photograph by Matt Howard at Palomar Mountain.

Matt Howard is a musician, graphic designer, and photographer living in Fallbrook, CA with his new wife Kelsey.  He leads worship at North Coast Church, works in his home recording studio, and in general exudes California cool.  

Thursday, January 1, 2015

#21 Привет Фотоgraphy: Christmas Constellation

St. Paul's.  London, England
Angels.  Svetly Put Orphanage.  Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Log Kids.  Vilnius, Lithuania.
Fireworks from the Tree-Lighting Celebration.  Klaipėda, Lithuania.
Snowflakes on the Windowsill.  Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Mall Decorations.  Helsinki, Finland

Window Display.   Payson, Arizona.

Christmas Trees.  Brigantine, New Jersey.
Window Display at a Glasses Store.  Vilnius, Lithuania
Lights on the Deck.  Payson, Arizona.

Window Display.  Santa Fé, Nuevo México.
Lights along a Front-porch Rail.  Payson, Arizona.

Do you want to build a snowman?  Norman, Oklahoma.



Holy Cross Church.  Warsawa, Poland.
"Native" Nativities.  Santa Fé, Nuevo México.


Christmas Tree.  Lublin, Poland.

Old Town Square.  Riga, Latvija
On the Zócalo.   Ciudad de México, México.

New Year's Banners.  Almaty, Kazakhstan.

New Year's Fireworks.  L'viv, Ukraine.

Window Display.  Santa Fé, Nuevo México

"Glory to God, Peace to Men."  Ciudad de México, México. 
Light Wreath.  Santa Fé, Nuevo México.

Light Wreath.  Payson, Arizona.


Tree next to a Bombed-Out Cathedral.  Berlin, Germany.

Elephant in the Lights.  San Diego Wild Animal Park, California.

Ribbons of Light.  Santa Fé, Nuevo México.

Blue Constellation.  Littleton, Colorado.
Falling Stars.   Zamosc, Poland.
Icicles.  Payson, Arizona.

Light Speed.   Littleton, Colorado.


Wise Man Woodcarving.  Zamosc, Poland.

Front Yard Constellation.  Littleton, Colorado.



All photos except for "Angels" unedited or edited using Lightroom.  "Angels" edited using Picasa.
All photographs All Rights Reserved.  Привет Фотоgraphy:  http://facebook.com/privetfotog

James Metelak is a poet, photographer, musician, and the primary curator of Headpiece full of Straw's 25 Days of Christmas.  He teaches and works with youth in Central Asia.  Check out his other work at sandpiperparade.weebly.com, youtube or his poetry blog