One of the features within A Deacon’s Musing is the exploration and sharing of poetry as a way to endeavour to express what is sometimes too cumbersome for words, prose and even story. Please consider taking sometime to explore some of Dea. Richard’s poetry:
I wrote the following poem during my recent return ‘back to school!’ During that time, we were introduced to the book, Trumpet at Full Moon, written by Paul W. Jones. One of the goals of the book is to connect spiritual practice with Christian theology and, in particular, its appropriate relationship with the Trinity. After our Seminar discussed the text, we were given an assignment to practice some of of spiritual exploration and report back with an ‘artefact.’ I chose to share my time of mediation through a poem and image from a Wordle! The poem is below in both text and with the images themselves. I pray it proves of interest!
Swirl & Twirl
Where we’ve been,
We visit again
All around, words confound
Theos & Spiritus
Divided at hand
Apart they stand
Artificial Separation
Woven by unconscious declaration
Theos:
Worded & Girded
Abstractions & Contractions
Theos:
System’d in form
Constructed in norms
Theos
Intentions true
Written in Blue
Spiritus:
Dance of the soul
Unfolds without goal
Spiritus:
Grounded in Self
Surrounded by Me
Spiritus:
Intentions true
Written in Blue
Theos & Spiritus
Flower to the Lotus
Justice to the People
Theos & Spiritus
Intractably bound
Communally found
Trinity unframed
We live again
Trinity as life
Relieves inner strife
Trinity beckons
Captivity unshackled
Words & History
Swirl & Twirl
Where we’ve been,
We visit again
All around, words compound
A Deacon’s Musing blog
I like the image of my soul dancing without a goal. It feels free and uncluttered . No earthly bindings
How true it is that where we’ve been we visit again. To me that says we make the same mistakes repeatedly or have habits that are difficult to break.
Thanks for the reply Linzer! In your last sentence, you observed about repeating habits: do you think a spiritual practice helps name those and, hopefully, alows us to untie their hold on us?
I believe so. Thanks for the reminder of that possibility.
Nice. We are not just spiritual. We are not just physical. We need both. The unguided spiritual drive and the focused endeavor of faith and conviction combine to make what we are, truly human. Wonderful stuff, my friend.
Thanks Daniel! Just out of curiosity, was any of this hoped for balance in the poem between spirit and body new to you? Or just something that resonated with other previous thoughts and reflections?
Well, it certainly resonates with many of Lewis’ works on Christianity. I think we tend to deny our bodies in favor of either our spirits (believers) or our minds (atheists) but our bodies are not incidental or accidental in Christian thought. I don’t know how technical we want to get, but our bodies are important in scripture, in early Christian writing, in early Protestant writing, and in moden theology.
I understand the inclination to believe, as some say, that we are either spiritual beings or that our goal should be to shed our physical bodies in order to become spiritual beings. Yes, our spirituality is important to our souls and we must nourish our souls, but we help to nourish our souls when we nourish our bodies. Just as our bodies tend to decay or deteriorate if we neglect our soul, so also does it hinder our soul if we fail to take care of our bodies.
What I like about your poem is that it explicitly states that we have these two things (which might be an assumption on my part and I expect you to call me on it if I’m wrong) a physical, empirical nature and a spiritual, deductive nature and we must accomodate both in order to be at peace in ourselves. Gluttony is a sin, yes. …But eating a healthy, even hearty meal in order to build our strength is not a sin. Sexual perversion and excess is a sin, but the healhty expression of our sexual desires in an appropriate relationship is certainly not a sin.
I’m sorry, my friend. I’ve gone on, but as you can see, I’ve thought about this a lot.
You have indeed thought about this – thanks for sharing some of that reflecting! I particularly appreciate the Lewis connexion. He continues to be such a bridge for Christian ecumenical conversations and he certainly did ground us in the here in now in a holistic practical theology! Thanks again for taking the time to reflect, share & challenge!