poetry annonymous

Poetry. Some people love it, others disdain it. I'm really not sure where I fit into the whole scheme of things, but tonight I found myself in the midst of a crowd of individuals that definitely love it. I worked most of the day and had plans to come home, clean up, then go out and spend some peaceful time in the Word at a local coffee joint (let me interject here that although I work at Starbucks, I prefer to go to more low key locales so I can stay a little more focused on what I'm studying, or so I thought--and Starbucks still has better brewed coffee). Anyways, back to tonight. I've been going through the book of Galatians and God has been teaching me a ton. I love the book to begin with and could write a huge dissertation on what I'm learning, etc., but I won't bore you tonight. So, I'm doing my thing, sipping on my coffee, journaling my thoughts, examining the text, cross-references, you know, really getting into it. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see a man carrying in a speaker. "Hmm, I wonder what's about to go down here tonight?" I thought. So I'm sitting at this table for four on a booth-like bench that stretches the lenghth of the room to accomodate several other tables adjacent to where I'm sitting. The man returns with another speaker, then a microphone, then a clip-board, then a stack of books. Slowly the tables begin to fill up around me with a very "philosophical" crowd that appear as if they read Nietzsche on a regular basis. Here I am, Bible-Journal-Commentary sprawled out all over the table when I look up and one of these "philosophical" looking gentleman, white beard and glasses pushed down on his nose, asks if he could sit down at my table. I obliged, and to say the least, I went ahead and packed up my stuff because I knew it was going to be futile from then on out to attempt to study. I don't know if you've ever had the privilege to go to an open poetry event, but you should definitely check it out at least once in your life.

I am surrounded by individuals at this point that are scurrying frantically over notes, and books, and poems. One guy sitting at the table next to me was listening to a recording on a casette tape. From what I could make out, he was trying to memorize a poem in Polish. I actually overheard him speaking with a fellow poetry lover that he had invested a significant portion of his previous year learning Polish fluently so he could understand this one poem for himself.

(Time Out)

[It occured to me at this point that "poetry" was the god that these individuals worshipped. They were so diligent in preparation and research and dedication to the point that this one individual actually learned Polish to interpret this poem. I began to feel saddened for these people that had invaded my "peaceful" place in which I had hoped to get some studying accomplished. How many believers today have this type of dedication that these poetry lovers exhibit. This was their "church". They spent so much time and preparation to "fellowship" with like-minded individuals. I began to feel convicted. What if believers were that dedicated to the Scriptures. What if we spent a significant portion of our time dedicated to learning Greek or Hebrew. Something to think about.]

Back to poetry night. The man that sat down at the table had noticed that I was reading my Bible when he arrived. He asked me if I was a religion major and I shared with him the fact that I had studied theology. The first thing he asked me was if I thought Paul was a Gnostic, then he informed me that Jesus had actually asked Judas to betray Him because he was his number one disciple. I attempted to combat that theory in Luke where he states that Satan entered Judas before his betrayal. Long story short, I realized that I could only give Him the truth that I have been commisioned as a Christ follower to proclaim. I gave him a very clear presentation of the gospel and was very adament that Christianity is not "works-based" in any form and that is what separates it from all other religions in the world. I'm not sure if it had any impact, but he did tell me I had a "good" mind whatever that's supposed to mean.

I was tempted to get on the microphone and read Ecclesiastes but the slots were already filled up. Maybe next time!