The Guilt That We Survive

Here’s a new song from me. Hope you like it.

“The Guilt that We Survive”
It’s the rookie who just made the team
Whose old friends now just watch and dream
It’s the CEO who’s upward bound
With a brother stuck in her hometown
It’s the Dreamer with her new degree
Whose Abuela still long to be free
It’s the Soldier on that National Mall
Who runs his fingers down that Wall.
It’s the price we all pay, the longer we’re alive
Ones who fade away, and the guilt that we survive.
It’s the singer with that sidewalk star
Whose old band still plays run down bars
It’s the drunk who fingers his bronze chip
While his roommate’s on his seventh slip
It’s the one who’s five years cancer free
Whose friend dies unexpectedly
It’s the Mother in her shelter bed
Whose bunkmate went back home instead
It’s the price we all pay, the longer we’re alive
Ones who fade away, and the guilt that we survive.
So these questions, they rattle through my mind
With answers I can never seem to find.
Why am I the one that fortune found?
Why am I the one who’s still around?
Why am I the one who made it through?
Why am I the one, and why not you?
It’s the price we all pay, the longer we’re alive
Ones who fade away, and the guilt that we survive.
Words and Music, Eric Folkerth. Copyright, 2018.

Posted by

Eric Folkerth is a minister, musician, author and blogger. He is Senior Pastor of Kessler Park UMC United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. Previously, he was pastor at Northaven UMC in Dallas for seventeen years. Eric loves to write on topics of spirituality, social justice, music/art and politics. The entries on this blog reflect that diversity of interests. His passion for social justice goes beyond mere words. He’s been arrested at the White House, defending immigrants and “The Dreamers,” and he’s officiated at same sex weddings in his churches, in defiance of what some believe is Methodist teaching. Eric is an avid blogger and published author, and 2017 recipient of the prestigeous Kuchling Humanitarian Award from Dallas’ Black Tie Dinner. (Human Rights Campaign) Eric has led or co-led hundreds of persons on mission trips around the globe, to places such as Mexico, Haiti, Russia, and Nepal. He has worked with lay persons to build ten homes, and one Community Center, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Dallas. He’s a popular preacher, and often tackles challenging issues of social justice in his writings and sermons. His wife, Judge Dennise Garcia, is a State District Judge for Dallas, County. As judge of the 303rd Family District Court, she consistently gets high ratings from area lawyers, and was named “best judge” by The Dallas Observer. First elected in 2004, she was the first Latina ever elected to a county-wide bench in Dallas County, and is currently the longest service district judge in that district. She was re-elected for a fourth term in 2018. They have the world’s best daughter, Maria, and an incredible dog, Daisy. Find links to Eric’s music-related websites, at the top of this site’s navigation menu.

Leave a Reply

Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.