Today in Texas History:
Today is March 18, 2014. It is the 77th day of the year. There are 288 days remaining until the end of the year. On March 18, 1937 the New London School explosion occurred. It was caused by a natural gas leak caused an explosion, destroying the London School of New London, Texas. It is located in Rusk County previously known as “London”. The disaster killed more than 295 students and teachers. It is the deadliest school disaster in American history. As of 2014, the event is the third deadliest disaster in the history of Texas, after the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, and the 1947 Texas City Disaster.
A Poem:
Tin to Gold
The iniquity of my transgression is sin.
I am ashamed, afraid of God’s judgment, scandalized.
Why did I disobey your commandments?
The iniquity of my transgression is sin.
Instead of gold, I settled for tin.
You saved my soul, turned tin to gold, yet I still recall,
The iniquity of my transgression is sin.
I am ashamed, afraid of God’s judgment, scandalized.
by Jimmie A. Kepler
March 2004
The poetic form is call a triolet.
The poem is about Christian salvation.
Line one concerns understanding what sin is.
Line two shares the feelings a Believer in Christ has toward his/her own sin.
Line three examines self … why do we disobey God’s law?
Line four is the constant reminder that unrighteous behavior is sinful.
Line five is the realization that in our sin we settled for less than what God planned for us
Line six is proclaims that when we accept Christ and He saves our soul that in spite of our previous settling for less than what God has for our life He still has great blessings for us. It ends with a reminder that while God has forgiven and forgotten our sin as a human we remember from where we came
Line seven recalls we always remember what sin is
Line eight reminds us that even though our sin is forgiven, a Christian still has regrets for past and future ungodly behavior. A Believer isn’t perfect, will sin again, but cannot continue in sin because their moral compass keeps pointing them to God and and Christian mores.