money and tents

as a man,
Jesus knew the importance of money
He even knew how to get money from a fishes mouth
wish i could do that
hard to find a good job these days
to keep one
money
God
love one..
hate the other
can't serve both God and mammon
but "ya gotta serve somebody"--bob dylan
take care of the family
plan for the future
conflict
responsibility
ego
motivation
vocation has nothing to do with it
vocation is the same for every baptized human
whether dentist or dictator
work is a beautiful thing
i called a priest last night
a kind man of God
a practical man of God
he spoke wisdom
"Paul made tents in order to preach the truth of Jesus"
(he never held a "praise-a-thon")
but he was single
this life is about doing the right thing
the good thing
not always the crazy, pounding your head against the wall thing,
not always following the shadowy gift
St. Paul never said anything about following dreams
but he did talk about using  gifts for the glory of God
could it be that our American Christianity has turned gifting into Idol worship?
poets have no place
but good looking singers selling products thank God all the time
maybe they should be thanking the devil too
i have failed at this
stumbled through it
kicked against it
been confused by it
my wife has been through so much with me
supported me
how she finds grace to forgive my failed attempts at making a living with poetry and song
baffles me
as i stare at the sun
at the moon
put my shoulder to the wheel
try over and again to die to this hope
catch these birds flying around my head
walk the high wire
confounded and troubled
this gift, this ego, vision
this battle of what to do with what ya got..
it would be helpful if it met daily needs,
i wonder if Paul ever had trouble selling the tents he made?

wkm
www.wkeithmoore.com