Well, here is my first attempt at posting something, just something. This is a poem that I never finished (I was actually going to put it into proper form), so it remains in free verse (I know, not very classical of me at all! Where was I trained....). Please critique and tell me if you think some of my images could be cleared up or words replaced. It might help if you paste into Word or something, because I lost the format in this small confined space, and printed it is in the shape of a font or chalice.
Cheers.
Font and Chalice
Creation’s glory ascribed to Thee Oh Lord, Who yesterday, today, forever the same.
Thy throne ushered forth the waters that at Thy command birthed the world’s first form.
The same river, four-branched, brought life to Thy sacred Garden and watered Thy flock.
When mankind to vile sins did stoop in crimes too great for Thy imparted image to endure,
The four-fingered currents faced one another in frenzied haste, all obeying Thy just command
To baptize the child that from them had sprung. Their course not finished, they freely flowed
Through the lands of Egypt, where defiled they became. So Thou didst ordain that they in
Judgement should be purified through the blood that from Thy staff flowed. Thus shamed,
Thou madest them open up as a woman in childbirth that ushers her child into a new land.
As Thou with Thy finger continued to dig the trench of faith within Thy people’s heart,
So hardened they were that Thou decreed a fragment of stone to surge forth a stream.
Still jaded their soul was unfulfilled,
Till the time when Thou begot
The Rock of Faith
Which offered
The Waters
Eternal,
Which
At the
Cross
In holy
Covenant
Married the
Water and Blood.
Israel’s faith we fulfill,
As through Thy font we pass
And life from Life, we are reborn.
Thereafter clean, graciously admitted
To Thy holy Table, partakers we become.
Now in thankful chorus we raise our hymn of joy
Because at the Father’s whim He deigned to sup with us
Being triune-joined with Son, He Himself becomes the Host, Guest, and Food.
Let the flocks upon the thousandth hill be fed, for no longer does Egypt hold captive.
The rivers return to their four-winged course and carry with them the endless Fountainhead,
Creation’s glory ascribed to Thee Oh Lord, Who yesterday, today, forever the same.
Thy throne ushered forth the waters that at Thy command birthed the world’s first form.
The same river, four-branched, brought life to Thy sacred Garden and watered Thy flock.
When mankind to vile sins did stoop in crimes too great for Thy imparted image to endure,
The four-fingered currents faced one another in frenzied haste, all obeying Thy just command
To baptize the child that from them had sprung. Their course not finished, they freely flowed
Through the lands of Egypt, where defiled they became. So Thou didst ordain that they in
Judgement should be purified through the blood that from Thy staff flowed. Thus shamed,
Thou madest them open up as a woman in childbirth that ushers her child into a new land.
As Thou with Thy finger continued to dig the trench of faith within Thy people’s heart,
So hardened they were that Thou decreed a fragment of stone to surge forth a stream.
Still jaded their soul was unfulfilled,
Till the time when Thou begot
The Rock of Faith
Which offered
The Waters
Eternal,
Which
At the
Cross
In holy
Covenant
Married the
Water and Blood.
Israel’s faith we fulfill,
As through Thy font we pass
And life from Life, we are reborn.
Thereafter clean, graciously admitted
To Thy holy Table, partakers we become.
Now in thankful chorus we raise our hymn of joy
Because at the Father’s whim He deigned to sup with us
Being triune-joined with Son, He Himself becomes the Host, Guest, and Food.
Let the flocks upon the thousandth hill be fed, for no longer does Egypt hold captive.
The rivers return to their four-winged course and carry with them the endless Fountainhead,
To Whom creation praises aloud with glory, laud and honor to Threefold Father Son and Spirit
3 comments:
Beautiful. Amazing. Creative. You are truly gifted and unique. Keep posting! I did have to copy into Word to be able to read it, since the font was too small on my screen, but I loved the format AND the content.
So... you're asking for comments and/or questions. I have a couple ;)
Is it possible to increase the font size by one point on the poem? It's a bit hard to read.
Also... in your poem, are you saying that people were not saved prior to Christ coming? That there was no chance? Are you saying God is precariously just doing things capriciously? I'm a bit confused by what you are trying to say in the poem :)
Thanks!
To Frank:
First, I lost my formatting even going this large. I recommend pasting it into word, increasing the font, and Centering it.
Second, NO. The whole theology behind the poem is one of continuous salvation: the same God in both Old and New. It is to show that water is the pulse of salvation throughtout both, a sacrament that flows through the Old and New. God's people always have water for sustenance and soul. BUT I do seek to say that at the CROSS the water that flowed from Christ would be the hope fulfilled. Because Christ, Who had before been efficaciously veiled in the Rock of Horeb, Red Sea, Edenic rivers, etc., was now Incarnate, and His waters (i.e. the waters of baptism) were fulfilling the purpose of all those that came before.
If this is still unclear, some of the passages that were involved in the making are:
I Cor. 10
Heb. 2; 11:32ff-12:1
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