i rEAD sOMTHING rEALLY dEEP tO dAY, AND HERE 'TIS
It is a poem written by a Kentuckian Poet named John G. Warren:
The Reflection
As I sit by the window, all I can hear is that dog.
I came to this secluded cabin to do myself in,
not to listen to some yappin' dog.
I wish he would leave - that dog -
for he is not what I need.
What I need is a reason to live.
He's getting louder now. I scribble with anger:
dog dog dog dog dog
Then I see the refection. It really says
god god god god god
I really like this poem. In a certain way, I can relate to it. I too have looked for meaning, or deeper meaning in mundane things during times of great trial. For one, I am glad that this man found what he was looking for, and that he lived to tell about it. Also, I think that this relatively profound poem will make a statement to other. It is a powerful poem, and I like the repitition in it. The message I get from that is that this man's attempt to do himself in, was hesitated by the noise that the dog was making, and he saw that it was God trying to get his attention. It is hard to tell if it was God for sure, it just may have been a random event serving a greater purpose. But I don't beleive in random consequences. I know that every step we take is guided graciously by God, for the bible says that we choose the path, but God decides the steps we take.
The Reflection
As I sit by the window, all I can hear is that dog.
I came to this secluded cabin to do myself in,
not to listen to some yappin' dog.
I wish he would leave - that dog -
for he is not what I need.
What I need is a reason to live.
He's getting louder now. I scribble with anger:
dog dog dog dog dog
Then I see the refection. It really says
god god god god god
I really like this poem. In a certain way, I can relate to it. I too have looked for meaning, or deeper meaning in mundane things during times of great trial. For one, I am glad that this man found what he was looking for, and that he lived to tell about it. Also, I think that this relatively profound poem will make a statement to other. It is a powerful poem, and I like the repitition in it. The message I get from that is that this man's attempt to do himself in, was hesitated by the noise that the dog was making, and he saw that it was God trying to get his attention. It is hard to tell if it was God for sure, it just may have been a random event serving a greater purpose. But I don't beleive in random consequences. I know that every step we take is guided graciously by God, for the bible says that we choose the path, but God decides the steps we take.
posted by P. Allan Frederick at 8:30 PM
2 Comments:
Hey brother,
I really agree with you on reading scripture for its audience, and on the tendency to "scripturalize" it. I certainly found much more meaning in the Bible in general (and even moreso in the New Testament) when reframing it that way in my mind. Amazingly, Christ's message seems to be even more loving and wonderful when you do it that way.
A question on something you said in the story of the suicidal-thoughts survival poem. You noted, "It is hard to tell if it was God for sure, it just may have been a random event serving a greater purpose." I'm curious how those differ, to you? From where I am it seems to me that all of those "random events" have the hand of God behind them. Seems like it's always God, to me.
A question on something you said in the story of the suicidal-thoughts survival poem. You noted, "It is hard to tell if it was God for sure, it just may have been a random event serving a greater purpose." I'm curious how those differ, to you? From where I am it seems to me that all of those "random events" have the hand of God behind them. Seems like it's always God, to me.
I think that there might be a fundamental difference in the way that we view God. Although I do believe that under the Authority of Christ, all things are will or allowed, but that allowance comes from His refusal to strip mankind of their choices in life, although it says in Romans quoting Isaiah, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” Regardless of whether random occurrences are allowed or willed, Yes I do believe that God is in there, but to me, that doesn’t mean that things aren’t random. If you continue to read that Romans chapter, it says, “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” Ultimately God does have his will done, to his advantage and Glory, to me, even if it is a random event. Perhaps there aren’t any random events? Perhaps it is all on purpose? But do to the fact that we have our ability to give our own lives for another shows that our willingness to obey God, and the flux that our own choices can make, should produce an effect of randomness. No? OR, are we subjugated to God’s will regardless, and we have no choice? I don’t think so, or on the first day that the church began, that famous day of Pentecost, Peter, having the authority to set up the parameters of the church gave us all a choice in responding to the pleas of the crown, “Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven…” Repentance is choice, choice can disrupt the course of any power, whether God’s or Satan’s. Although Satan doesn’t have ultimate authority, he does have authority here on earth, and he has a plan to destroy mankind, both physically and spiritually. So, by repenting, I disrupt his will; thus creating order out of chaos. And for the person who indulges Satan disrupts good and creates chaos. As order and chaos are perpetually disrupted, I believe that random events occur, do to that very thing. However, that being said, this is nothing that happens on earth that can’t be subjugated to either influence at anytime, and again, perhaps there is no random? I know that is not much of an answer, but it is my thoughts on the subject.
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