Brendan Shea's Blog, page 11

Recent Reads

Here are four recent reads:

I enjoyed the heck out of Al Pacino’s Sonny Boy (I read the hard copy version)…here’s my goodreads review:

How anyone rates this book less than five stars, I don’t understand. Mr. Pacino takes us through a whirlwind of fantastic, poignant, funny, tragic, and creative stories in his lifetime.

There’s the kid from the Bronx, poor but surrounded by loving family and friends who’d die for each other. There’s the young artist, who knew he’d make it because he’d found the spark of the creative experience. He’s the successful actor, going through peaks and valleys of his career. There’s the art, the love, the politics, and the seesaw of success and financial worries.

But he always falls on his feet, and people love him, and they take care of his shortcomings. In the end, he contemplates death, and I hope he finds eternity with The Lord, because selfishly, it would be amazing, to chat with him in Heaven, and perhaps unselfishly, he could share his art with the Heavenly Host.

There is some profanity in the book, but I tried to ignore it. It is not really excessive, just something that does not move me. I hope you read this book. If you are an actor or artist, the same thing, really, if you are creative and like that process, I think the book will score for you. Kudos and prayers and best wishes, Mr. Pacino…

The Gangs of Zion: A Black Cop’s Crusade in Mormon Country

This telling volume, by the author of BlackkKlansman, Ron Stallworth, is great, but I put it down for profanity… here is my review… I might go ahead and finish it later to see what he did with it:

Full disclosure: I did not finish this book.

It is rare that I’ll review a book I didn’t complete; I’ll usually unshelve it and move on, but Stallworth’s book is very well done, it just had so much profanity that I felt it wasn’t helping me.

But I assert that the author was “Getting things done!”; he is living as a black man in a racist world, and has a black cop in the same. He faces gangsters calling him “Pig” for being a cop (and much worse), and other cops, freezing him out and stymieing his career, and through it all, he is fierce, brave, effective and insightful. He goes to great lengths to understand white people, gang members, hip hop culture and more. He doesn’t slink, he doesn’t waver, so I really give him props.

I was going to give this book four stars due to the content, but will give it five, as the author is a champion in his world, and conveys his dilemmas well.

I can’t recommend the profanity, but mostly it is used to convey specific ideas; it just took me places I didn’t want to go too much. Maybe like the white Mormon cops and officials not wanting to face the fact their cities were falling prey to L.A. gang violence. They denied the author’s claims, despite overwhelming evidence.

I recommend the messages of this book highly, as I understand them; I’m sorry I didn’t want to read it ’till the end.

Silverview, by John le Carré

I’ve read some le Carré in the past, and he is one of the few espionage writers I can deal with; others being Robert Dugoni and of course the great Graham Greene… I picked up Silverview in the library as it is a novella… normally I can’t take too much cloak and dagger…I’ll have to see how I like this one.

No Plan B by Lee Child

I recently read a great short story by Lee Child, my first foray into his books, and here is what I wrote about it on goodreads:

A clear winner in the field of short espionage fiction

This is my first Lee Child outing. I would have to say the book is expertly written, entertaining, and satisfying.

I’m enjoying No Plan B so far, but this will be my first full length novel by Child.

Here’s one I wrote myself; it’s called Red Blood White Dove

Movie mogul Camden Peterson is wrapping up his latest action thriller, a picture designed to save his fading career. When funds are pulled from the budget, he seeks help from the mob, but then his leading lady Rita Monteith is found murdered. To Camden’s relief, Rita’s ex-brother-in-law hires detective Ray Kaminski, who’s never left a case unsolved. Unfortunately, however, the mob wants their chief’s moll to finish out the picture, the feds are getting suspicious about the film’s funding sources, and Camden is tearing his hair out, wondering what will become of his career. With murder, suspense and romance, Red Blood White Dove packs a wallop.

-Brendan Shea, blogger, publisher, author

Sometimes I need encouragement

Here is a song about it:
Crystal Lewis – Lord I Believe in You

Though I can’t see Your holy face
And Your throne in heaven above
It seems so far away
Though I can’t touch your nail scarred hands
I have a deep and unspeakable joy
That makes my faith to stand
Lord, I believe in You
l’ll always believe in You

Though I can’t see you with my eyes
Deep in my heart
Your presence I find
Lord, I believe in You
And I’ll keep my trust in You
Let the whole world say what they may
No one can take this joy away
Lord, I believe

Born from above
You are God’s only chosen one
you’re the one and only true way
To the Father’s heart
You died for all sin
Then you rose and now live again
Conquering death and the grave
So that I might live
Repeat chorus twice

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Tommy Walker

Lord I Believe in You lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group

Was it the caffeine?

I was tired this morning. So I took a shower, but that didn’t fix the problem… I sat down on the couch and realized: I was depressed.

Now I haven’t been chemically depressed in a very long time. It might have been that I was doubting my salvation, I’m not sure. But whatever it was, it hung on like a bad habit.

I tried listening to some Christian music, and I even cracked open a soda . I don’t normally have soda in the morning, and this was Diet Dr Pepper & Cream Soda, which is a no-no with CKD (phosphates are bad for kidney disease), so I only had a half a glass.

But nothing was working. I wondered how many hours or days the depression would last. But then I put on Steven Curtis Chapman’s Lord of the Dance, and the depression subsided…

On the bank of the Tennessee River
In a small Kentucky town
I drew my first breath one cold November morning
And before my feet even touched the ground
With the doctors and the nurses gathered ’round
I started to dance, I started to dance

A little boy full of wide-eyed wonder
Footloose and fancy free
But it would happen, as it does for every dancer
That I’d stumble on a truth I couldn’t see
And find a longing deep inside of me, it said

I am the heart, I need the heartbeat
I am the eyes, I need the sight
I realize that I am just a body
I need the life
I move my feet, I go through the motions
But who’ll give purpose to chance
I am the dancer
I need the Lord of the dance

The world beneath us spins in circles
And this life makes us twist and turn and sway
But we were made for more than rhythm with no reason
By the one who moves with passion and with grace
As He dances over all that He has made

I am the heart, He is the heartbeat
I am the eyes, He is the sight
And I see clearly, I am just a body
He is the life
I move my feet, I go through the motions
But He gives purpose to chance
I am the dancer
He is the Lord of the dance
Lord of the dance
Lord of the dance

And while the music of His Love and Mercy plays
I will fall down on my knees and I will pray

I am the heart, You are the heartbeat
I am the eyes, You are the sight
And I see clearly, I am just a body
You are the life
I move my feet, I go through the motions
But You give purpose to chance
I am the dancer
You are the Lord of the dance
I am the dancer
You are the Lord of the dance

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Steven Curtis Chapman / Scotty Smith

Lord of the Dance lyrics © Sparrow Song, Peach Hill Songs

Song of the Week

Here’s a classic tune from one of the ladies. She’s a very powerful and original artist.

Find Me by Margaret Becker

I’m gonna move on down to Elliston
Let my hair grow wild and free
Rent a second story studio
Find the other side of me

I’m gonna sit out on the edge of the fire escape
Feel a little destitute
Search for feelings that will help me remember
The love that I had for you

Find me, find me
I’ll wait for You
Find me, find me
I’ll wait for You

I’m gonna give away my stereo
Give away my T.V.
I’m going back to essentials, a chair and a lamp
And the Book that You wrote to me

You see, I’m looking for the You that used to speak so clear
I’m looking for the me that had a heart to hear
And I’m looking for the passion that help me her
On the edge

You see, I’m looking for the me that I used to know
I’m looking for the love that was out of control
‘Cause I feel a little cold here in the afterglow

Find me, find me
I’ll, I’ll wait for You

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Margaret Becker

Find Me lyrics © His Eye Music

Remembering Gene Hackman

I loved watching Gene Hackman in a ton of movies over five decades.

It’s too bad that he died under suspicious circumstances. Maybe he just knew it was his time and didn’t want to suffer; maybe his wife didn’t want to live without him.

I don’t know if he was saved. I hope he knew the Lord and is basking in the Son. I don’t know if he’d trusted Jesus as Savior and had made Him his Lord.

I hope you will believe on Jesus and have peace in the end…

He was great in the classic basketball film, Hoosiers

I loved him as Lex Luthor in Superman The Movie…

“Miss Tess-mach-er!”

“Otisburg?! “

“Kill me? Lex Luthor? Extinguish the greatest criminal flame of our age?” 

“Son, stocks may rise and fall, utilities and transportation systems may collapse. People are no damn good, but they will always need land and they will pay through the nose to get it!” 

Full Moon in Blue Water, was a great romance flick, with the late Teri Garr (and Burgess Meredith)…

Enemy of the State was a taut action thriller with Will Smith

Crimson Tide was a tense thrill ride, with Denzel Washington

Runaway Jury featured Rachel Weisz, John Cusack, and Hackman’s contemporary, Dustin Hoffman; lots of suspenseful fun via writer John Grisham

Mississippi Burning was an important movie

This is a song whose chorus makes me wish that Hackman is resting in peace, and that his friends and family will know that same comfort when their time comes.

The below photo and the song are strange talismans for the late actor, but this is part of my artistic process on a midweek morning, so I hope it is not too jarring. It is intended to be poignant and hopeful, and is dedicated to him and to his late wife, Betsy Arakawa.

Here Comes the Sun

Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun
And I say, it’s all right

Little darling
It’s been a long, cold, lonely winter
Little darling
It feels like years since it’s been here

Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun
And I say, it’s all right

Little darling
The smiles returning to their faces
Little darling
It seems like years since it’s been here

Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun
And I say, it’s all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Little darling
I feel the ice is slowly melting
Little darling
It seems like years since it’s been clear

Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun
And I say, it’s all right

Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun
And I say, it’s all right

It’s all right

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: George Harrison

Here Comes the Sun lyrics © Sm Publishing (poland) Sp. Z O.o., Harrisongs Ltd

I’m submitting for publication

Thanks for traveling with me for thirty-one weeks as I published sample chapters of my new book on Kidney Disease, Timestamp: A CKD Memoir…

At present, there are forty-four chapters, and this is the end of the preview stage. I am now submitting the book for literary representation pursuant to traditional print publication.

To give the reader an idea of my process, I’m offering the new version of chapter one, below, so you can see how the book started as an outline, and is morphing into a more complete work…

Coming up

I was born in San Francisco in August of 1967, the Summer of Love, and struggled with a significant number of minor ailments, and another that was more serious if not usually fatal.

Mount Zion Hospital was located on Divisadero near Post, and the lights in the city were just coming up as the nation’s TV screens were focused on the revelation of the identity of the one-armed man on David Janssen’s hit show, The Fugitive.

My dad had fled to Vietnam to escape the draft, but my grandmother was around, and she helped us out a lot. My mom watched the popular television show in the waiting room with a lot of nervous expectant fathers. I had already arrived, and she was on her own, as babies waited to go home from their perch in the hospitals’ nursery at that time, not with their moms.

Twenty-five years later, in March of 1993, I would be born again in the year the hit film version of The Fugitive was released. Harrison Ford was great in the title role, but it was Tommy Lee Jones’ character, Deputy US Marshal Samuel Gerard, that I loved the most.

Some people might have truck with the term born-again; I don’t expect everyone to agree with me or to endorse my statement, but I am going to speak my mind, and tell the reader where I’m at. This is my life, and I need to talk openly, but I don’t have an aggressive agenda for the reader, other than to share my journey honestly.

At the age of two, I was at Mount Zion again. There was a rustic lonely landscape painting beside my bed, and the staff suggested I enjoy it. I turned and stared at it with some fascination, and the doctor or the nurse stabbed me in the arm brutally. They’d wanted me to be distracted for the shot, and their strategy worked like a charm.

They were taking my blood samples to test me for allergies, and also diagnosed me with asthma. When the report came back, it was determined that I was allergic to dairy, citrus, tree nuts, wheat, wool, cat dander, down (and life itself?). 

Mom put special sheets on my bed, kept the cats out of my bedroom, bought me expensive goat’s milk (which did not affect my breathing), replaced my down pillows with cotton ones, and generally tried to keep me in a bubble… we’ll, not really, but it sounds dramatic; she tried to keep me asthma free.

She made my pancakes with orange juice instead of milk, fed me nasty Marax pills to speed up my heart so that I could keep breathing, and generally cooked special dishes to keep me healthy.

When I was older, my sister even made me special pizzas with no dairy. She is an amazing cook, and the pies were delicious. Some people grow up with difficult family members, but we were a tight trio, on our own without a father provider, and we stuck close to each other, even when we clashed.

We struggled financially, emotionally and relationally in those years; I did anyway, but later, mom would meet my step-dad, and things looked up. I had no idea that decades later, I’d be diagnosed with chronic kidney disease… 

We relocated to Canada in 1975 to be near my dad, but he had moved on from our family, and the man who would become mom’s second husband cycled from Berkeley to Vancouver BC to see us.

I thought this was a superhuman thing to do. Colin was his name. He showed me a two inch square silver bag, saying it unfolded into a full sleeping bag, and told me that when he rested along the way, he just expanded the bag and lay down in a sheltered area. I guess today, that would be dangerous, but it was a different time back then.

He drove us back to the USA after we’d been in Vancouver for six months, and we lived in two rentals in Berkeley and a home in West Berkeley. I dealt with my asthma, but most other things about life seemed fairly normal. We weren’t well off, but never went hungry… and there was peace and love in our household, whereas my mom had known violence in the home growing up. I am always grateful that I had a peaceful and loving upbringing.

We moved to New Mexico in 1987, for various reasons, having nothing to do with me. I was happy in Berkeley, and felt somewhat uprooted, but I was very social back then, and I made new friends quickly, adapting to my new environment, and getting some decent jobs.

I did an asthma study at the Veterans hospital, and made about two hundred and fifty bucks, but the climate was so dry, that when I left to become a big movie star in New York (that was my dream anyway), I tried to fund part of my expenses for the journey, with another asthma study, but the hospital turned me down: my lungs were 100% clear!

So I grew up in Berkeley and Albuquerque, mostly. My mom was a book buyer and librarian, and is now retired and living in California. My stepdad died in 1994, but was a carpenter and cabinet maker who quit Cal Berkeley before giving his doctoral dissertation when his first marriage went bad.

His degree would have been in the Latin Classics, and when he phased out the carpentry that sustained, he returned to school as a substitute teacher. 

My dad passed away in 2010, but was not a part of my childhood or teen years. I made peace with him, and appreciate the amends he made.

I went to Berkeley schools, but dropped out of the tenth grade and my mom said I’d have to work, so my work ethic was forged in my mid-teens, and remains active today.

My only health issues as a kid were bad dandruff, acne, bad asthma and insomnia. I was also addicted to food, and lingered too long in boyish fantasies about females.

To try and cure the dandruff, I tried Head & Shoulders, Denorex, Selsun Blue, Neutrogena, Nizoral, TeaTree, and many more, but none of them worked a bit.

Now that my wife found Dermarest brand shampoo for me, and since she also keeps me from eating a lot of fatty and salty foods, my dandruff is seldom an issue.

For the first ime in my life, in my 50’s, I have a 99% clear scalp. If you’ve ever struggled with bad crusty junk at the roots of your hair, you know what a drag that is.

I also had  bad zits, but I overcame those too. I guess getting out of puberty helped, but I consulted with my grandmother about it one time. Rather, I probably complained to her about it. She grew up during the great depression, and probably felt there was a cheap solution to many ills. She simply told me to stop touching my face. 

I am a stubborn person, but also sometimes very suggestible, and I took her advice; I stopped touching my face, and all my acne went away for good. I’ve had very little acne since that time.

The asthma was a harder nut to crack, and I had to take medicines such as Marax (as mentioned) and Theodur. When I had bad attacks, Primatene Mist was a joke (it might have worked for some but not for me), and eventually, when it was apparent my breathing was not clearing up, my parents would take me to Oakland Children’s Hospital, where they’d put me on a nebulizer, which always cleared up my lungs and restored easy breathing. 

If you’ve never had an asthma attack, you might think being grateful for breathing was weird, but believe me, it’s like manna from Heaven, and the kind that the Israelites had not yet tired of. 

My mom used all manner of techniques to help me through my asthma, from weaning me on to a lifetime habit of drinking hot tea, to crushing the bitter nasty Marax (that I’d talked about) over my food to get me to take it. She employed a humidifier to try and keep my lungs open, but as I mentioned, when we moved from California to New Mexico, it was the dry air that cured me. 

I was ecstatic, but the doctor or nurse said to remember that the asthma was likely to recur when I got older. That did eventually happen, but so far, in my fifties, the meds are better, the inhalers are way better, and my asthma has never been as bad as in my early teens in Berkeley. Hopefully that will continue.

The insomnia was blamed (by me) on my asthma meds. They were designed, at least in part, to speed up my heart, easing my lungs labor. As a result, or so I thought, I could not sleep until the wee hours of the morning. That did not work well with my sin struggles, and it did not work well with school. 

I’d get to school dead tired (if I even went), and between being groggy as all get out. My boyish nighttime habit was not helping either.

Later in life, I got to know my real dad, and while he helped to ruin the first half of my life, he did make a strong attempt to make it up in his second half. One thing I learned about him was that he couldn’t sleep at night. He went to bed in the middle of the night, and got up around midday. 

So maybe my theory of the asthma meds being the culprit was incorrect.

Over some of my health issues, in Albuquerque, I worked at some retrospective art house theaters, in carbon arc cinema projection, and also did restaurant work and sold art supplies at a retail store.

On moving to New York, I studied theater, and performed in a significant experimental Shakespeare production, among other exploits in the field of drama.

During my New York years, I earned most pay waiting tables and managing a café. When the café was held up by a gunman, I handled the situation with calm and efficiency, but later had a nervous breakdown.

This was to be one of the worst health issues I’d ever experienced.

ꭥ

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” — Proverbs 22:6

Please check out my Amazon Author Page to browse and purchase any of my other work…

Songs of the Week

This week it’s two by Phil Keaggy, the “Paul McCartney” of Christendom…

Everywhere I Look

Far beyond what eyes behold
There are places yet to be discovered.
Stories as of yet untold
Til their faces have become uncovered.

Everywhere I look You are.
Deep and wide, near and far.
Out beyond the furthest star,
Even then there you are.

Hidden deep within my heart
There are secrets yet to see the daylight.
Unseen in the falling dark
You are present even in my midnight.

Everywhere I look You are.
Deep and wide, near and far.
Out beyond the furthest star,
Even then there you are.

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Phil Madeira

Everywhere I Look lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

AND

Father – Daughter Harmony

Of all the dreams that I have had
There is one I share with you,
A better world where there is no sadness or pain.
A place where we can be a loving family,
Of every race, of every land at peace.

I only know that I love you,
And yes, it’s true you feel the same.
Why can it be for everyone of us
Who walk this earth of men, women, and children,
When will this dream of mine come true.

As I love you, and you love me,
Together we make a father-daughter harmony.
There is always hope and love right here.

As I love you, and you love me,
Together we make a father-daughter harmony.
Side by side we will always be,
Side by side in harmony.

When I think of those without love
Within this hurting world.
It makes me sad to think of all their pain.
We need to stop the hate
Because it’s getting late,
Tear down the wall and let us all walk through.

As I love you, and you love me,
Together we make a father-daughter harmony.
There is always hope and love right here.
As I love you, and you love me,
Together we make a father-daughter harmony.
Side by side we will always be,
Side by side in harmony.

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Phil Collins

Father-Daughter Harmony lyrics © Concord Music Publishing LLC

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A miracle

An excerpt from my new book on chronic kidney disease…

Or a small victory:

My former doctor called me the other day. I was slightly shocked to get a personal call from him. I suppose it was in a professional capacity, but he called to apologize for not referring me to a nephrologist31 sooner.

I told him my GFR has been holding at 23 for a long time, and that if he had warned me when it was 53, I could have possibly stayed at 53 for a good while.

It is said that Jardiance was not then known to help with CKD, but I could have laid off the salt and watched my potassium intake, and so on.

If I was still at 53, I’d be much further out from the need for dialysis or transplant, but I thank the God of mercy that the CKD has not worsened for the past two years. Whatever the case, I can see going from 53 to “15” in a week or a year, but I’ve stayed at 23 for some time now.

The fact that my doctor was willing to call me and personally apologize meant a lot. Even if he had an ulterior motive, and was worried I’d sue, the call was helpful…

… and he might have been sincere. I said he might want to warn people sooner, and not wait until they were at Stage 3B as Kaiser’s policy dictates32; he said he was going to try and do that.

I hope he does, because that is a potential life or death decision…I think he is a good guy, but I hope he’ll be a competent physician.

Whatever the case, I’m also only human…

“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

–James 4:17

—

“Be kind to one another… so grace and mercy at your most need help you…”

– Brendan Shea… and William Shakespeare-Hamlet Act I, Scene 5

31  A nephrologist is a doctor specializing in treating kidney disease

32 According to my Kaiser Nephrologist.

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Video of the Week

So, last week, I felt I failed somewhat with my song of the week, because it has some awesome moments, but part of its hypothesis, however accurate, might not be the best way to introduce someone to Jesus.

So this week, I’m posting a video that I hope you all will enjoy and find encouraging and amazing. It is by the late king of the Ragamuffin Gospel, none other than Brennan Manning… here it is:

The Empty Chair | Brennan Manning

For your further edification, here is a link to Wikipedia’s page on Brennan Manning

A short one…but crucial

This is a short post, and not one I like writing, but I’m afraid it’s true. You may or may not agree with me. Here is a song about it. I want it to be “Yes” for everyone, and according to the Bible, God does too!!!

2 Peter 3: The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (full chapter)

I sometimes wonder if I am elect (bound for Heaven), but I don’t want to doubt, and I don’t want you to doubt (if your desire is to follow Jesus).

If your desire is not to follow Him, then I love you and pray for you, but I simply don’t know how you can receive the gift of eternity in Heaven without receiving the free gift of salvation that I am asserting comes only from faith that only Jesus died to bestow that gift.

Here is the song, and please remember, I am NOT judging you; I am just relaying part of what the scriptures say, which is that, at the end of the world, all people will either have chosen Heaven or Hell.

I don’t like that the singer/songwriter Crystal Lewis leaves some people out in the below song, but her purpose should be to tell people that if they reject Jesus, who created us, died for us, and is preparing Heaven for us (the Father is doing most of that), they will not see Heaven, so while I don’t like her exclusivity, there is a method to it, it is tough love, I’d say.

I’m not apologizing for God’s Word by any means, but I want to clarify her words for your benefit:

Those who do not know
They will hear “Depart, I knew you not”

You can know Him if you want:

John 6:37: All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

I guess this one is not so short after all…

… As I was preparing to post this one, my wife told me it was time to put away the clean laundry she’d done for me, and as I’m trying to be compliant, I immediately put my computer down to do that task…

And during that time, I realized I have a love/hate relationship with this song… I don’t hate that salvation is a yes or no, flat out decision, but I feel that if someone heard this song and didn’t know about Jesus’ love for them, they might throw in the towel, thinking that they might as well jump.

I don’t want anyone to feel that way and neither does Jesus. The day of salvation is today. Tomorrow may not come, but if you’ve rejected Christ, if you’ve done unimaginable wrong, know, that you can cry out to God RIGHT NOW, and He WILL hear you. Not because I say so, but because HE does:

Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Revelation 3:20: Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

Romans 10:9-10: If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

People Get Ready, Jesus is Comin’

Lord I’m ready now
I’m waiting for Your triumphant return
You’re coming so soon
This world has nothing for me
I find my peace and joy solely in You
Only in You
I want the world to see that
You’re alive and living well in me
Let me be a part of the harvest
For the days are few
He’s coming soon

People get ready, Jesus is comin’
Soon well be going home
People get ready Jesus is coming
To take from the world His own

There will be a day
When we will be divided right and left
For those who know Him
And those who do not know
Those who know Him well
Will meet Him in the air
Hallelujah
God is with us
Those who do not know
They will hear “Depart, I knew you not”
For my friends you see
There will be a day when well be counted
So know Him well, know Him well

People get ready, Jesus is comin’
Soon well be going home
People get ready, Jesus is coming
To take from the world His own
People get ready, Jesus is comin’
Soon well be going home
People get ready, Jesus is coming
To take from the world His own

Source: LyricFind

So, I think the writer is trying to be unequivocal, offering an A or B decision, and I think that is valid, but if you think you don’t know Him, and you want to know Him, He WANTS to know you too.

John 3:16: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave[a] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

AI Overview:

“People get ready… Jesus is coming” lyrics essentially mean that everyone should prepare themselves spiritually because Jesus is soon to return, signifying a call to live righteously and be ready for the day of judgment or salvation, often drawing inspiration from the biblical concept of the “second coming.”

This is my thesis; acceptance is optional…

(and Jesus is not necessarily a white man)