He was born in the ghetto of a nondescript town to a girl of only fourteen; no one seemed to know for sure who his real father was. His curly hair fell thickly down in matted tangles over his face and shoulders, though his body carriage was of such authoritative and eloquent style you might have mistaken him for a king in disguise. Some people thought of him as a hero, some as a rebel, and still others thought of him as a schizophrenic who had just lost his last marble. He was the leader of a group of young fanatics clamoring for social and religious reform in their upside-down world of inequality and religious upheaval. He was possessed with a spirit (some thought that it was evil) driving him on and giving him supernatural strength as he propagated his cause of freedom and a restoration of a kingdom of peace among the lower class. He was often to be seen along the beach, or standing on a crate in the middle of a city, addressing the common people in his eloquent style, drawing them to his cause of freedom and peace and spreading his message of a better way of life. He was a type of Robin Hood for the lower class- he fought for their cause while revealing the inconsistencies in the lives of the rulers. This so infuriated the authorities that they began to conspire together for ways to be rid of the Liberator, as some called him. They hired a spy from the man's inner circle of friends to give them leads on his whereabouts and eventually executed him on a hill outside the city called "The Place of the Skull" His name was Jesus.

This was for another grammar essay. We were supposed to write a character sketch. I kinda got the idea from Josh Turner. yeah you saw that right... that country singer. I was listning to "The Way He Was Raised" and it was talkin about this long-haired hippie dude that went around causin trouble... and i thought it was just another song. and then the song said how this hippie died on a cross outside of Jerusalem. It kinda caught me off guard... I liked the perspective.

Sometimes I try to boil Jesus down into a little saint with a halo spinning around his forehead. I wish I wouldnt, but sometimes the subconcious cant help it. Like in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia the little girl says that "He (Aslan) isn't a tame lion you know." This might really rattle my teacher's cage. It shouldn't, and I hope it doesnt, but it might.

I dont think much of the music or the style of the poem... but the perspective really woke me up.

The Way He Was Raised

He always wore those worn out flip-flops
Spent hours in his Daddy's workshop
he loved being on the water
Fishing with His friends
He always listened to the old folks
When they'd tell stories and crack jokes
Didn't talk back to his Mama
When she got onto Him

Oh, that's just the way He was raised
Had to finish all His chores 'fore He could go outside and play
they always went to church that's were he learned how to pray
And that's just the way He was raised

He grew His hair out when He got older
Grew it clear down to His shoulders
Started hanging with the outcasts
When He went off to town
Some called Him a troublemaker
Even some said a lawbreaker
No matter how they talked about Him
He never put nobody down

'Cause that's just the way He was raised
When people start to gossip, He'd just walk away
He always loved his neighbor no matter what they'd say
Oh, that's just the way He was raised

On a cross, on a hill
That longhaired boy was killed
All our sins washed away
When He walked out of that grave

Oh, that's just the way He was raised
there's no way we can measure
The sacrifice He made
He knew He had to die
For our debt to be paid

Oh, that's just the way He was raised
It took the hand of God to roll the stone away
And that's just the way He was raised
Yeah, that's just the way He was raised

Church camping is this weekend... and there's only eight more days of school... so be good everyone... have a good day... ttyl,
conrad