VENDOR WRITING
PEACE DON’T EVER BE STILL! TYRONE M.
Peace don’t ever be still!
MAY THE GOOD LORD SHINE ON YOU FOR ALL THOSE TO SEE
LET’S START TODAY
LESLIE S.
GENE C.
This is a play on the song, “Dashboard Mary” by Podunk
don’t ever be still
If you take my hand,
Dashboard Mary, speak to me I need to hear your voice…
be sheltering, be destroying
and step back from the ledge I’ll understand.
hate/evil
There’s always something to say
I say peace
Would dashboard Mary save me as she abruptly spoke to me that one last time,
to get you through the day. Peace don’t ever be still
No one hurts like God above
peace be moving ‘round
but if you ask he will send some love.
helping love/truth avail
I’ve got a good ear to lend if you’re looking for a good friend.
Peace bring about a change!
Think about the people you would leave behind.
Peace be a warrior!
It would scar their heart and hurt their mind.
slay racism/racists
The world will always have struggle and
killed egoism/
strife.
selfishness
But nothing worth a human life.
Dashboard Mary saved me from a violent death I fortunately didn’t discover that fatality-driven weekend… Several people were rushed to the hospital to die in the staff’s arms… It’s too late too late too late for dashboard Mary to save those poor souls the devil cheated out of one last day on this cold cruel Earth. Would they have one last chance to pay a fond farewell to their best friends… A long procession, as long as the lines of vehicles that proved their loyalty to undying memory of best friends and best times… May the good Lord shine on you for all those to see… Dashboard Mary, speak to me I need to hear your voice… Would Dashboard Mary save you…
Peace don’t ever be still!
She saved me… I have no relatives, only Dashboard Mary
All Things New It seems to me that the blooming days of Spring are so short. In just a blink of an eye the brown grass and empty trees turn green. The flowers show off their beauty fulfilling the expectations of those who have been watching through the cold raindrops of winter. There is life, new life, that causes all of creation to rejoice in the sunshine. Increasing our Quality of Life is the focus of The Salvation Army LIFNAV, Life Navigation Coaching. The challenge to bring forth light in the dark places since the tornadoes has been real. We have focused on bringing light and life under bridges, to those who lost homes and incomes from the bombing, and those suffering despair in the health, social and economic darkness. There is light! There is the Light of Life. The source of spring.
LIFNAV
SalvationArmyNashville.org
The challenge of changing Quality of Life is change itself. We all get so used to our normal. Take for example, a long-term homeless encampment. There is a right and reasonable call for a community dialogue as people fight for the right of living in public spaces. After decades of social neglect, encampments are the place where good people help hurting people. It is also the place where hurting people hurt good people. That which has become normalized becomes defended as real community is experienced. It is time for Spring in Nashville. It is time that we as a community determine not to
March 31-April 14, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 19
let our neighbors normalize sleeping under bridges or along rivers. Some would say this is Utopian. I would say this is the greatest commandment, “Love thy neighbor.” So Nashville, the current policy questions are; When does a group of persons sleeping under a bridge become an encampment that deserves Quality of Life interventions by The Salvation Army and the MNPD Quality of Life team? Is it seven people or three tents or maybe one tent in a high traffic view for more than a week? And, how long should that encampment be supported with food, sleeping bags, tents, and regular church visitation? Of this I am sure, under the bridge, any bridge, should not be the destination for new visitors in need of housing. But people protect this normalcy of brokenness because we have not clearly designed the alternative. It is time to let new life break. Let’s work together so faithful expectations may bloom from the darkness. Let us Resource Hope. And let there be life, new life, that causes all of creation to rejoice in the sunshine. Let us join together in the beauty of Spring.
~Major Ethan Frizzell, The Salvation Army
