FanStory.com - The Soldier & Amazing Graceby Dean Kuch
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I took an unexpected trip to Paradise last night
The Soldier & Amazing Grace by Dean Kuch

The Soldier & Amazing Grace


~†~

 

I walked through Heaven's gate today, why I was there, I couldn't say,

I saw Mom, Grandpa, dear uncle Jay, but they all said I couldn't stay.

Is it someone that I've wronged below, is there something I've left undone?

I like it here, the air's fragrant, clear — it looks like so much fun!

 

It's just not your time, you're in your prime; at least, God says it's so.

But, look around, just walk the grounds, before He bids you have to go...

I saw on high a man nearby singing a lullaby, so sweetly,

some children playing, I tried delaying, I thought, rather discreetly.

 

I walked alone on  golden roads floating just above the ground,

what I saw next left me so perplexed I feared to make a sound.

Jesus stood there, His shimmering hair, wafted in a gentle breeze,

there beside Him, with Christ's hand to guide him—a soldier, on his knees.

 

Not just any soldier, he looked much older than those I'd seen before,

a red swastika band beneath Christ's hand; I felt then, I knew the score.

Surely, Jesus was scolding, the rifle—holding, as the man rose to his feet,

Heaven's firing squad, I thought as they trod, then Christ led him up the street...

 

I watched in awe at what I saw, as Jesus kissed him on the cheek,

I knew Nazis slew millions of Jews, they'd crushed the mild and weak.

The SS man ripped off the band,  to his knees he dropped quickly down,

I knew then it's not just our sin which causes our Saviour's face to frown.

 

Being unforgiving, devoid of giving, up here — it had no place.

I heard a sweet song waft low and long, filling the vastness of the place.

Right then I knew I'd work to do, if I expected to see Christ's face.

As He led me out, I heard the soldier shout , My God...Amazing Grace!



~†~


 


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Author Notes
"My feeling as a Christian leads me to be a fighter for my Lord and Saviour. It leads me to the man who, at one time lonely and with only a few followers, recognised the Jews for what they were, and called on men to fight against them. As a Christian, I owe something to my people." - Adolf Hitler

"What a sad era when it is easier to smash an atom than a prejudice." -- Albert Einstein

"I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.." - Adolf Hitler

While the soldier in this poem is not Adolph Hitler, I used quotes from his memoirs to bring his warped views to bear, views which he pounded into the heads of his soldiers and the German people during the brief reign of the Third Reich.

Anti-Semitism was never born with the Nazi regime. In fact a lot of what the Nazis did to the Jews had already been done by Christians. In 535 The Synod of Claremont passed a law that denied Jews the right to hold public office. In 1227 The Synod of Narbonne decreed that all Jews wear an oval badge as a mark of identification. In 1236 Pope Gregory ordered all churches leaders to confiscate all Jewish books on the first Saturday of Lent. In 1555 a special charter was issued by the Pope that required all Jews to be confined to ghettos. Hitler merely adopted methods to deal with the Jewish populace that had been carried out centuries before. However, the aid of technological means achieved unprecedented results. The actual term "Anti-Semitism" was first used in 1873 in a pamphlet by William Marr called Jewry's Victory over Teutonism. His intention was to replace the German word Judenhass (Jew-Hatred) with a more politically correct, (that term sound familiar?) and less offensive term.

Anti-Semitism dates as far back as ancient Egypt, when Pharoh feared that the children of Israel would outnumber his own people. He initiated segregated living conditions (ghettos), hard labor (slavery), and infanticide (murder of all new-born males). Persecution and eradication of the only remaining Torah keeping tribe continued to flow throughout history.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

     

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