Daily (Johnny Cash–style) Digital Life Litany for Protection, Direction and Stewardship

Caveat emptier: This post was drafted with help from an AI assistant (Perplexity)— but ideated and edited extensively by the human, Bill Acton

(Wikipedia)

Lord,

you’ve walked with me

through back roads and prisons

over train tracks and through headlines.

Now I’m walking the line online,

and I need your steady hand.

Keep me from stepping

into the smoke-filled back room of a scam—

those slick messages

callin' me by name,

promisin' me the world,

leavin' me broke and ashamed.

Guard my “good name”

tighter than my favorite black suit—

so that one bad post,

one angry thread,

doesn’t become a stain

we can’t ever scrub off.

When the feed gets mean

and the crowd is jeerin',

teach me not to throw punches

through the keyboard.

Help me speak for the locked‑up,

the left‑out,

the folks getting chewed up

by systems and schemes

and algorhithms.

Let my security be as tight and tuned

as the strings on this old guitar:

strong passwords,

careful steps,

all in a cord

before I trust.

And when the day is done,

may the record show

that I did my best

to walk that digital line—

true to you,

true to myself,

and kinder to others

than this old world expects.

AI‑assisted creative work: This litany is an imaginative parody pastiche using generative AI. It imitates the public persona of [Johnny Cash] for commentary and devotional reflection. It is not created by or affiliated with [Johnny Cash], and should not be taken as his real views or words.

wracton@gmail.com
williamacton.legalshieldassociate.com (Legalshield and IDshield subscription information and applying for associate positions)