I spent some extended time with the Lord this morning. I looked back at a story that I read earlier this year that has not let go of me. Below is the passage and then my meditative response. It's a little half-baked, but what's a blog for if you can't post half-baked poetry on it?
Luke 7:11-17 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry." 14Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" 15The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people." 17This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
Two Large Crowds
Two large crowds converged the other day
just outside of Nain
Each with a Lord in the lead.
The Un-Maker had long ruled in that country
since the day of the Great and Terrible Exchange
the day the Icons cracked under the weight of pleasing to the eyes lies.
The Again-Maker was a young upstart contender
or so it seemed to the Orphans in the Land of the Ruins
Each Lord a singular point
a large crowd in His wake.
The Un-Maker wake: Heavy. Weeping. Mourning. Loss. Somber. Dreamless.
The Again-Maker wake: Jostling Glad Eager Expectant Hope-filled Laughter
Each one bore the fruit of life lived in its' leader's wake
Every one is found in one wake or the other.
The Un-Maker. The Again-Maker.
Only one can have the final word
one must be subsumed
as these two crowds converge
The Again-Maker had won small skirmishes with His Yes
But Death--
The Un-Maker's greatest No--
Had never been beaten.
Ever.
Yes or No?
Is Life, History, Creation
a tragedy or a comedy?
Weeping or Laughter?
Death or Life?
The Un-Maker who had widowed her before
now struck her childless
And all those with her
cracked and crumbled under the weight
of the rule of the Un-Maker
The widow and her coffin meet the Again-Maker:
Compassion.
The Again-Maker touches the No
that had ruined all his masterpiece
And all is tense silence stopped
Living Words:
"I say to you, get up!"
And the son is given back
to the one from whom he came
Just as He would do
in his again-making re-gathering of all creation
When this Son also rises.
Joy swallows mourning
Life swallows death
Yes triumphs over no.
Two large crowds converged the other day
Just outside of Nain.
2 comments:
So I didn't want to make the post any longer, but I did want to add some thoughts. I'm sure I'm violating some sort of blogger etiquette by being the first to comment, please forgive me.
One of the most important things about real art and good artists (which this is not and I am not) is that they are indirect, they work best in nuance and subversive images and concepts and ideas. I'll never be a real artist because at my heart I'm a teacher and I strive for and value clarity. What I really want to do is exposit this passage, not poeticize it. But it's a great fresh way for me (because I'm basically just a Scripture geek) to get into a text and allow it to have it's way with me.
So I'm learning how to think in new ways, which is all a part of that larger work of being transformed through the renewing of my mind...hmmm, that sounds awfully familiar...
thanks, Alex. i appreciated a renewed look on the passage!
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