The Pelican And The Frog

How blessed you were to have your dad,
More bless-ed dads few ever had;
The question asked of you each time
You went to him to probe his mind –

Was such a wise response, he asked,
"Help me to understand my task
As viewed this day, as seen by you,
So I can know just what to do:

"Should I give ear to what you say,
So, talking, you can find your way?
For often that is all we need,
For in your mind is answer's seed.

"Or, maybe what you seek today
Is comment,  treasured words I say;
For I've walked thirty years ahead,
I've known you since your cradle-bed.

"Or should I action take forthwith,
Perhaps respond, no longer sit?
For we all need a hand sometimes;
This time it's yours, next, maybe mine."

How wise he was to ask you first,
"For what exactly do you thirst?"
For in that way he left control
Within your grasp,  "Assign my role".

I had not seen in Barker's thought,
A latent form of what you've got
When you approached your dad that way;
So let me draw it out, and say:

Amazing question he put forth,
Because it let you ask, of course
For help, if help indeed you need,
But there's the rub – you need to lead.

For just because response you shared,
Does not imply you want repaired
The challenges which now you face;
"Stu, show restraint in channelled Grace."

I wondered to what I'd best reply;
At least I learned to ask my "Why?"
When others seek me out to talk,
(In footsteps of your dad I walk).

But this is not the same  it flips
The seeker's quest,  I must resist
Response now I your puzzles know,
For that is how  Cree-speakers show –

Their insights to community;
They don't blurt out all they can see,
For that snuffs out the fragile wick,
And renders hearers spirit-sick.

One fellow wrote at the first of Book,
"When truth you see, take second look,
Until you find a gentle way
To share your thoughts, and Truth convey."

That's part of it, but deeper this;
It's more, this way we'd be remiss
If we stepped in, took up the reins,
And drove that stretch of road again.

For each must fashion from life's truth,
A brick-made road which paves their route;
For in the years before they're dead,
They'll use that road when Spirit-led.

I must admit, I've charged right in
And said my piece, then been chagrined
To see this downside of my gift
Arose and caused fraternal rift.

So, "process-guidance" now I seek –
How best to act,  how best to tweak
This query Barker shared with us –
Lest speaking, I create a fuss.

Consulting leaves control with them:
They first approach, that's not the same
As if I share his question's words –
No social contract  quite absurd.

But let me say (I think this much
Can well be said, with little fuss)
That now I hear in Barker's words
A way to mirror what is heard:

To turn perceivers' thinking on,
Just ask a question – can't go wrong –
That's what I did, it worked quite well
In drawing forth four parts of hell.

For "process" is not in their kit,
As eye or ear can't walk or sit;
But when hooked up in body-life
They'll move along with little strife.

Until that time, as Paul expressed
In letter-form, "They'll be depressed,
Because they first quite sick will be;
Before they die, they'll weakness see".

For Barker's question shows the blocks
To moving on – his question rocks!
For "Works of Power" God does through me,
Is "process" part, called "Jubilee".

I now recall, some years ago,
Your friend refused to let you know
Just what he saw on survey's page;
I looked, and then in talk engaged.

I said, "Half-hour, then throw me out
If you by then still have some doubt;
For this time it's my turn to show
What horizontal Christians know.

That fried your mind  I well recall –
"Dear diary, I may be small
In score on my perceivers side,
But hey! Today his mind I fried!"

"Diagonal", that little sketch
Set free that Mennonite, and yet
It's hard for us to play our part
In body-life – so hard to start.

God said, "Hey Stu, quit helping out
Until folks come to ask about
Some insight you might see quite well;
My pain has purpose in their hell.

"If you relieve the pain in the folks,
Fix agony with tools and jokes,
They'll not be helped, and all your work
Will not get done – back off, you jerk".

Two nickels? No – there's four or five
Now in the meter, thus I thrive;
Like when I pulled your survey out,
I laughed and said, "To me, no doubt –

That body-life is just a fact,
Not something brought about by act;
I saw it clear (as you see me)
Like "frog and pelican" we be!

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