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Just So · Backward Mutters Poetry Podcast

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: You are listening to the Backward Mutters Poetry Podcast.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Please visit online at backwardmutters.substack.com.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: There you can subscribe via your favorite podcast player and read the newsletter.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Randy Edwards.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Today's poem was written in response to a sentence I heard at a church meeting about ten years ago.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Church community life can be difficult.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's not without reason that God's people are referred to as a flock of sheep.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Sheep being dependent, dependent as they are, upon care and oftentimes unappreciative of that care.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: For those in ministry, being a shepherd can feel like thankless work.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: But then again,
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: shepherds,
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: at least in the Bible,
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: were not counted among the social elite of the day,
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: so there's not much leverage in trying to assert any elevation over others.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: The sentence I heard was, We like our leaders just so.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: As I reflected on the sentence, I got a little miffed.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: It sounded a little like Goldilocks to me.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, this chair is too high or this porridge is too cold.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: As I worked out the poem, it worked on me.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Just so.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: We like our leaders just so.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Not too brash, not too bold.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: We like them humble, but not so much so.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: We like our leaders just so.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: We like them selfless, who serve without putting on a show.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Not pretentious, ostentatious.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Modest and humble.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Not too high, but not too low.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's how we like our leaders.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Just so you know from the start, from the get-go, we have no issue with receiving, following, heeding.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: We hope you got the memo.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: We like you too.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: We thought you'd like to know.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: We like our leaders.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Just so we're clear,
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: and although no one is perfect,
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: we'd like you to be the closest to perfect of anyone we know,
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: who'll play their part in our well-imagined dreams,
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: lead us in fulfilling all our schemes,
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: who is authentic down to their bones,
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: who really is,
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: not merely seems,
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: someone we can trust more than anything.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: We like our leaders.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: We like our leaders just.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: So you'll need to measure up,
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: exude perfection,
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: reflect our fronting,
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: our righteous reflection,
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: our confident,
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: prosperous self-projection.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: We like our leaders just.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: So why are you wearing that towel?
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Why disrobed, down on your knee?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Why touch my feet as a slave?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Why wash me?
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't you speak, live up to the hype, do the deeds which brought you fame?
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Are we to follow one so derided, disdained?
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Defend yourself.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: Why scorn the shame?
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Why bear the cursing, take all the blame?
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: We like our leaders just.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: So, you'll have to do better.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: You'll have to rise higher.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: You'll have to break out of this Lamb of God game.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: You'll need to make a better name, if we're to follow you into your dominion.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: You may not like it, but that's our opinion.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: There's just no glory for a lion laid low, because we like our leaders just so.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: You've been listening to the Backward Mudders Poetry Podcast.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Randy Edwards.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.