A "poem" written for tonight's "Table"
I am a fool
I look beyond reason
I stray beyond logic
I dance when I should cry
I weep when I should party
I am full of joy for the things I don’t know
I am past caring about the things I do know
I love someone I’ve never seen
I admire people who I know are a mess
I hope things are fragile, I just don’t trust stability
I long for the future and I love each step toward it
I walk the earth but I dream of the heavens
I know I am special because of my ordinariness
I find chaos confusing and confusion creative
I am of no influence yet I strive to make a difference
I have no voice yet I shout from the rooftops
I live a life that’s a joke with a serious punchline
I am a poet whose lost for words
I love the world that turns its back on all that matters to me
I want to embrace the people who want to hurt me
I pray for those who hate me
I serve one who knelt and washed feet
I live for a deity who died for me
I am an innocent because I know what I've done wrong
I am free because my hearts not my own
I am strong because I am broken
I found God in a "Godless" place
I am a faithful rascal
I am an ordinary radical
I am a fool for God
the American Dictionary has for one of it's definitions of the word "Fool" the following...
One who subverts convention or orthodoxy or varies from social conformity in order to reveal spiritual or moral truth: a holy fool.
(with thanks to Shane Claiborne for the phrase "ordinary radical" and to the Guardian who called me "The Missionary to Godless Telford")
Technorati Tags: Missional: Poetry: Spirituality
this is SO good mark - thank you for sharing it ! peace, julie
Posted by: julie | 03/04/2008 at 21:45
Thanks (again) Julie... as ever it's pretty "stream of consciousness" stuff, I don't spend a lot of time over these things... but God does seem to use my utter inability with English (took me three times to get my English O'Level!) & I'm ever grateful for your encouragement.
Posted by: Mark | 03/04/2008 at 23:54
i think that people who feel least gifted at language are often those best placed to write, especially with regards to liturgy or poetry - that kind of stuff is all the better for emerging out of a jumble of feelings and intuitions - people who are good with language are often not very effective at communicating the tacit stuff (the stuff we know we know but we are not sure how or in what way we know it) - there is something about the straightforward process of choosing words to speak about what is tacit that is very beautiful - and that is what i appreciate about your writing - it speaks me, what i know i know, but couldn't quite find the simple words to say it - somehow your words capture all of that - so i am grateful back xxj
Posted by: julie | 04/04/2008 at 11:18
Thank you so much for these very full lines. So many "foolish" paradoxes to embrace. Really quite encouraging to read this stream of them.
Posted by: Jennifer | 08/04/2008 at 23:40