Face Time
The clerical collar
Today nobody knows it
Why the first ministers chose it
The ring around the neck
Was meant to look like a link in a chain
To express unity with the Roman slaves and their pain
Now that’s all forgotten and besides
It doesn’t look good on TV
The televangelists
On their primetime hour of power
They’re rockin’ earth tones and silk
Donations are their mother’s milk
When they’re talking about the Holy Ghost
What really matters to them is who’s got the most
Wearing suits with nice creases
They step out of Benzes with long leases
To tell you that’s the way God planned it
Now I don’t mean to just sound outrageous
So let’s look inside the pages
And see what the good book has to say
“Beware of the scribes, who like to go about in long robes, and to have salutations in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts.”
In other words….
I don’t wanna walk and talk about Jesus
I just wanna see his face
The archbishop sipped tea in the back of the limo
Exquisite wood and leather everywhere
A $900 briefcase at his feet
And a laptop to which he gave great care
He had a meeting and he was late
But it didn’t bother him, let them wait
He represented the biggest account on earth
Let them take more time to prepare
Bankers were the trout in the stream
And he was the bear
When the archbishop stepped from the limo to make that trip
From one oasis of perfumed air conditioning to another
He ignored the homeless all around him
The homeless who asked him to be their brother
But in the conference room the suits were all smiles
Brandy and cigars
Signatures all around
All the money for the new cathedral had just been found
Now I don’t mean to just sound outrageous
So once again let’s look inside the pages
And see what the good book has to say
“How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help? Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”
In other words…
I don’t wanna walk and talk about Jesus
I just wanna see his face
National City is an international city
Between San Diego and the border
A storefront church sits on a corner
In a mixed neighborhood created by the new world order
The pastor has a day job
Works hard like his congregation
Nice folks
But controversy came to National City
In the year 2004
The mayor declared the city an immigrant sanctuary
Said they would not bar the door
The right wing went crazy
Telling lies about Mexicans, said they all were lazy
The pastor and his church?
They didn’t say a word
In 2006, the right wing got their own mayor in
Again, the pastor and his church could not be heard
The new mayor laughed
When he revoked the sanctuary status
He said that those immigrants
They’re a cancer and they’re aimed right at us
Said we don’t need more people of other hues
And still there was silence in the pews
Now I don’t mean to just sound outrageous
So one more time let’s look inside the pages
And see what the good book has to say
“I was a stranger and you took me in.”
I don’t wanna walk and talk about Jesus
I just wanna see his face
Poem / 2007