Okay, in case you don't sit around reading Rilke's Book of Hours or The Collected Poems of Sara Teasdale, I thought I'd give a frame of reference for this poem. (I recommend both those books, though, if you like poetry).
It is the season of Lent on my liturgical calendar of faith, and I love this as a time of soul-searching and preparing my heart for the message of the Cross and Resurrection. Before new life, comes death. In Matthew 16:24-25, Jesus said, "If any want to become my follower, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."
There seem to be two equations at play for the human condition: life-death-death, and life-death-life. It all swirls around in physical-metaphysical realities, but if we choose the kind of death Jesus mentions (and you can look up many more scriptures that express this), we get life. If we choose death by depression, fear, anger, poor habits, bad attitudes, or laziness, we get death.
Death by surrender, death by love...this is a spiritual principal, a paradox about real life. It's the Jesus story.
This poem has something to do with all of that, but if I detail it out much more, it won't be poetry!
Love to all of you. Spread the word about this blog! And please share your comments. I love hearing from you.
Have a creative day,
Kim
Choices
It is the season of Lent on my liturgical calendar of faith, and I love this as a time of soul-searching and preparing my heart for the message of the Cross and Resurrection. Before new life, comes death. In Matthew 16:24-25, Jesus said, "If any want to become my follower, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."
There seem to be two equations at play for the human condition: life-death-death, and life-death-life. It all swirls around in physical-metaphysical realities, but if we choose the kind of death Jesus mentions (and you can look up many more scriptures that express this), we get life. If we choose death by depression, fear, anger, poor habits, bad attitudes, or laziness, we get death.
Death by surrender, death by love...this is a spiritual principal, a paradox about real life. It's the Jesus story.
This poem has something to do with all of that, but if I detail it out much more, it won't be poetry!
Love to all of you. Spread the word about this blog! And please share your comments. I love hearing from you.
Have a creative day,
Kim
Choices
Death comes in many jaded forms,
Sometimes in fury,
sometimes reborn
But tyranny's grip, it's talons steel
Rips through; the
heart will be revealed
So choose your angel, dark or light
To satiate our
Maker's right
For death will come; death always wins
I've died a
thousand times again.
I am alive, my soul flies free
I feed the rivers,
bend the trees
I need the darkness veiled in fear
The icy breath
that hovers near
I dance within the
mystery
That I chose life,
and death chose me.
By Kim McLean
© 3/8/14
