04-08-2010, 05:46 PM
My God's a secular god:
he does not shut himself in convents
that offer refuge from reality;
he does not wait for pious words
or holy thoughts before he speaks to me;
he does not wait till the endtime
to reveal himself to me.
My God's a secular god:
he walks the city streets and bends
his back with me at work.
He taps me on the shoulder
and argues with me endlessly
over beer or coffee.
When I'm absorbed in other things,
he will not let me have the last word.
In all this pain and suffering,
this world's godlessness,
my own heart's emptiness,
he shows himself at work,
bearing what I cannot bear,
bearing even me.
My God's a secular god.
For he is really Lord,
not only of the age to come
but of this present age.
A godless age this? Well,
my God's a godless God.
One of my favorites by Mahlon H. Smith - more here http://virtualreligion.net/poems/index.html
Its interesting to note that Mahlon H. Smith is part of a group of biblical scholars who call themselves “The Jesus Seminar Forum”…part of what they do is re-interpret the writings about Jesus from the original greek. Its an extremely interesting discourse on the historical Jesus as opposed to the mythical Jesus. Needless to say, the findings and writings of this group of learned scholars are considered radical, if not outright heretical, by many more mainstream scholars. If you are interested in other viewpoints, check it out here
http://virtualreligion.net/index.html
Richard
he does not shut himself in convents
that offer refuge from reality;
he does not wait for pious words
or holy thoughts before he speaks to me;
he does not wait till the endtime
to reveal himself to me.
My God's a secular god:
he walks the city streets and bends
his back with me at work.
He taps me on the shoulder
and argues with me endlessly
over beer or coffee.
When I'm absorbed in other things,
he will not let me have the last word.
In all this pain and suffering,
this world's godlessness,
my own heart's emptiness,
he shows himself at work,
bearing what I cannot bear,
bearing even me.
My God's a secular god.
For he is really Lord,
not only of the age to come
but of this present age.
A godless age this? Well,
my God's a godless God.
One of my favorites by Mahlon H. Smith - more here http://virtualreligion.net/poems/index.html
Its interesting to note that Mahlon H. Smith is part of a group of biblical scholars who call themselves “The Jesus Seminar Forum”…part of what they do is re-interpret the writings about Jesus from the original greek. Its an extremely interesting discourse on the historical Jesus as opposed to the mythical Jesus. Needless to say, the findings and writings of this group of learned scholars are considered radical, if not outright heretical, by many more mainstream scholars. If you are interested in other viewpoints, check it out here
http://virtualreligion.net/index.html
Richard