{"id":7760,"date":"2020-04-10T12:38:31","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T17:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/?p=7760"},"modified":"2020-04-10T13:01:06","modified_gmt":"2020-04-10T18:01:06","slug":"water-to-red-by-rachel-riutzel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/2020\/04\/10\/water-to-red-by-rachel-riutzel\/","title":{"rendered":"Water to Red by Rachel Riutzel"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Above, original artwork by Carla Davidson, inspired by Water to Red<\/em> by Rachel Riutzel. Presented during SOTO June 2019 Writers Artists Night.[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Water to Red<\/h1>\n

by Rachel Riutzel<\/p>\n

What is it that we refuse to see?
\nWhy does the world face the same predicaments
\nClinging to their history?
\nSociety is fuming, mankind up in arms
\nEach unique cause we battle for, to try to soothe our harms
\nAlthough beauty has never ceased to exist
\nIn polluted, ugly waters it sits
\nThese waters, stirred up by calloused hearts
\nEach wound affecting generations of moving parts
\nThese hearts didn’t arrive there by being told
\nThey really didn’t mean to be so cold
\nThe resistance, the rejection, the pains of life
\nIt constructed the layers, carved with each knife
\nIt warps and it hides
\nConcealing instead of healing
\nThe connection that keeps us strong
\nSeeing past our bad, all of our wrong
\nThe connection that enables us to endure
\nThe vicious acts of nature, whose torment is sure
\nThe vital antidote to our broken system
\nHas been lost in the smoke, dismissing all wisdom
\nIf we could only see that with it
\nOur condition could take the hardest hit
\nThis antidote has existed to many since time
\nBroke through the universe, a collision divine
\nCould we have seen that our own version of the antidote
\nWould prevent it from becoming the cure?
\nAll we’ve done to it is obscure
\nIf we could see this cure in its purest form
\nWould we accept it?
\nIf we saw its raw, natural state, would we finally believe it?
\nWho told us these things?
\nWho convinced us what to believe?
\nWho taught us how to act, and what to perceive?
\nWould you accept that you too have been deceived?
\nCould we see it for what it really is?
\nCan we acknowledge the truth if it surely exists?
\nWe\u2019ve been in it for too long
\nWe know the dances and every single song
\nHow did it happen? How did we go wrong?
\nYes, we are wrong, we are so very wrong
\nFrom the tops of these hills, I declare we\u2019ve done it wrong!
\nThey loved him, they loved, they loved him so much
\nOne look from him, that one little touch
\nThey were healed, they were free,
\nWhy do we refuse to see!
\nWe sit in our pews, right under that steeple
\nWe notice the pain, all the worn-out people
\nOur sins aren’t as great as theirs, oh no
\nWe won’t let them see ours, no no
\nOur thoughts are directed
\nBy the system we’ve erected
\nThe genocide to our souls is true
\nMaybe it’s happened to you
\nThey sit and they see us
\nYet our self-righteousness
\nBlocks their view of Jesus
\nWhat if I told you he came for the sheep?
\nWould those words be enough for us to keep
\nOur judgments, our glares, our snooty little stares
\nFrom damaging the masses, does anybody else care?
\nLook what we’ve done, we’ve broken the story
\nThe one that sits in all Heaven’s glory
\nHe said it himself, he came for the sheep
\nThose held by chains of the rules that they keep
\nThose rules multiply, they breed
\nSkimming past everything that we need
\nTurning our free will into costly webs
\nCan we not just get it, get it out of our heads?
\nThe sheep hanging lost by the ropes of the rules
\nWe follow them closely, taking heed to the cues
\nWe sit, we stand, we pray, and we grin
\nBut why do we still see people as sin?
\nOn death he rode to save our hearts
\nYet today we refuse, we can’t even start
\nA conversation, an understanding
\nNothing that\u2019s close to our minds expanding
\nNo, let’s see what the news says, the rants and the raves
\nWhile human souls slip into the graves
\nIf you still don’t believe the words Jesus said
\nLook beyond the waters and into the Red
\nHe tells us clearly in Matthew 15
\nI’ve only come for them
\nThe lost sheep of the House I’ve seen
\nAnd then his 12 closest, to what did he say?
\nHe told them to find them, those lost and astray
\nYet not to the Gentiles
\nNot to the unbelievers
\nBut to the lost Jews
\nMatthew 10 paints the picture
\nOf these stunning views
\nIt’s mind-blowing, I know
\nThis isn’t some show
\nThe smoke and mirrors are losing control
\nHistory repeats ‘cuz the lessons ain’t learned
\nTheir trust and their love, we have not earned!
\nSo listen up, let’s stand in the masses
\nAnd finally admit we can all be little asses
\nLet’s just be real, let’s just see
\nYou for you and me for me
\nCome along on this journey, and you’ll see
\nThe sheep will come home
\nThey’ll come home, it will be[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”7766″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Above, original artwork by Carla Davidson, inspired by Water to Red by Rachel Riutzel. Presented during SOTO June 2019 Writers Artists Night.[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_column_text] Water to Red by Rachel Riutzel What is it that we refuse to see? Why does the world face the same predicaments Clinging to their history? Society is fuming, mankind up in arms…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[938,582,529],"tags":[1328,1329,1330,1326,1327],"class_list":["post-7760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ozarkeditorial","category-sotoarchive","category-sotoart","tag-jesus","tag-matthew-10","tag-matthew-15","tag-rachel-riutzel","tag-water-to-red","category-938","category-582","category-529","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7760"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7767,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7760\/revisions\/7767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateoftheozarks.net\/showcase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}