johnny the walker-
that's a great story but i'm going to have
to hear duffy's version before i decide
whether or not i believe it. <g>
tomorrow is the first sunday after the first
full moon after the vernal equinox. years ago,
and don't ask me how many because i don't
remember, it is told by some, that a middle
eastern man arose from his tomb at this time
of the year after being dead for three days.
he came to say goodbye to his friends one
last time.
the man was so unusual and courageous that
he had become a legend in his own time. he
was a carpenter for a while but not a particularly
good one because nothing he built is still standing,
so far as i know. as a young man he went on
a vision quest - out into the desert. either
he got lost or he just couldn't get the vision
into his heart very quickly because he didn't come
back home for forty days and he almost starved
to death. well... when he finally did get back
he had gotten the vision thing pretty bad because
he quit his construction job and took up
spiritual teaching, public speaking and
performing magic demonstrations in various
locations around palestine. the magic was a
good compliment to the teaching because it
seems that many of the things he tried to
teach of his vision were contrary to popular
thought and many people did not believe him.
he found that if he could show people an act or
feat that was "impossible" they were more inclined
to believe in the impossible and trust what
he was saying. as some tell, it was awesome.
i could go on and on about the things he taught,
the places he visited and the people he met but
these stories have all been told over and over
by his friends matthew dillon, cool hand luke
and johnny begood and today is not a day for
repetition. i recently heard a story written by
his girlfriend. it never made the bible because
in the old days women were not allowed to write
anything other than letters and grocery lists
and their works and worldly thoughts were not
to be published as gospel.
here is her story, not about the legend, just about
the man. a love story seldom heard:
"My name is Mary Magdalene
I come from Palestine
Please excuse these rags I'm in
But I've fallen on hard times
Long ago I had my work
When I was in my prime
But I gave it up, and all for love
It was his career or mine
Jesus loved me, this I know
Why on earth did I ever let him go
He was always faithful
He was always kind
But he walked off with this heart of mine
I remember nights we spent
Whispering our creed
Our rituals, our sacrament
The stars our canopy
There beneath an olive tree
We'd offer up our plea
God's creation innocent
His arms surrounding me
A love like this will come but once
This I do believe
And I'll not see his like again
As I live and breathe
I'm sorry if I might offend
But I will never see
How the tenderness I shared with him
Became a heresy
Jesus loved me, this I know
Why on earth did he ever have to go
He was always faithful
He was always kind
But he walked off with this heart of mine
He was always faithful
He was always kind
But he walked off with this heart of mine"
-as told to richard shindell
happy easter,
-duster the wester
ps- now if you could show me some magic...
i just might believe your story even without
duffy's corroboration. here's my water,
could you make it a nice burgundy instead? <g>
a link to the song:
mywebpages.comcast.net
and a link to an interesting read about mary magdalene
for those who like longer stories and more detail
than i will ever read or write:
members.tripod.com |
