new poem

"an autumn day"

a cold breeze passes
leaving goosebumps

i exhale
and my breath is visible

walking in the park
leaves satisfyingly crunch under foot

i take a sip
of my pumpkin spice latte

it is refreshing
i behold the trees

the many hued leaves
create a rich tapestry of color

i arrive home in time for lunch
french onion soup

i smell the sweet carmelized onions
it is topped with melted cheese

a pleasing meal
nourishing and earthy

i sit by the window
reading a book

soon it is evening
i wear a comfy sweater

i drift asleep
dreaming of a Thanksgiving feast

by Zachary Uram, (c) 2015

A Poem Untitled

photographs are interesting
yet also strange

capturing a real life,
in motion

a moment immortalized,
frozen in time

what stories would we hear
if they could speak

information lost
so much is unsaid

we do not perceive all
hidden forever

but we do see dimly
just a glimpse

(c) Zachary Uram 2015

Jarvis and Bach

 Australian author Martin Jarvis starts with an astounding assertion, that Bach's second wife Anna Magdalena Bach wrote not only the Solo Cello Suites, but other major works attributed to Bach as well.  He expects us to go along with him with basically no real evidence. The much ballyhooed handwriting analysis is a joke, and it has been debunked by real Bach experts. And make no mistake about it Jarvis is decidedly not a Bach expert. For a thoroughly devastating critique of Jarvis and his absurd thesis please read this article written by eminent Bach scholar Ruth Tatlow.

depression redux

lost in a dark abyss
mired in an unceasing melancholy
my soul aches
a cold darkness engulfs me
it chills me to the bone
waves of dread wash over me
i cry out in despair
my mind is numb
yet at my worst He is still present
Christ's love reaches me
even in my lowly wretched state
how amazing and wonderful
thank you Lord!
i will keep running the race

(c) By Zachary Uram, 2015

rant

The black leadership in America is abysmal, it has desperately failed the black community. All I see is victimization and race baiting, it's all politics to them. Blacks keep voting for Democrats and nothing changes. If you elected strong, intelligent, conservative black men like Allen West you would see changes in the black community IMHO. And you need better leaders than the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson! Another thing, my family are immigrants (legal ones), and had absolutely nothing to do with slavery so I'm tired of being blamed for past injustices.

How shall we worship

Within the Christian church there are two basic forms of worship: the regulative principle of worship (RPW) and the normative principle of worship (NPW). Basically the regulative principle allows only that which is explicitly mentioned in Scripture. And the normative principle allows anything which isn't explicitly forbidden by Scripture. In many RPW churches you will find exclusive psalmody (EP). With exclusive pslamody the Psalms contained in Scripture are the sole form of music permitted in worship. They are sung by the congregation and no musical accompaniment is permitted.

I favor the normative principle, it gives us the freedom to praise God using all of our talents and utilizing the best hymns and sacred music of the past. I find the regulative principle to be overly restrictive and not supported by Scripture. We have examples of people praising God using instruments in Scripture. I cannot imagine that when we perform Bach's sacred cantatas we are somehow sinning against God and that the music is not true worship! There is lots of legalistic thinking in proponents of EP so be careful if you run into them.

Here is a good article which discusses these issues.