Today's words: awake, somnambulist, macabre, library. Today's numbers: 6, 8, 2, 4, which come out to Joshua 8:24:
“When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the desert where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it.”
I believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The prophets of doom and dream, foretelling and forthtelling. Sword and dove, lion and lamb. I believe in a new heaven and a new earth. And I believe in a wholesale future destruction of separation, misunderstanding, grief, and cheap wine. This purgation will be, and is, a macabre business.
Note: This is not a theology either of pacifism or war, but a treatise on my heart. Regarding my heart, at least, pacifism is a luxury that I can’t afford, and a luxury from which others surely suffer.
So, libraries put me to sleep. I like library cards, but I can’t spend time in the libraries themselves—ten minutes and I’m asleep. I might be more prone to patronize if I had someone to awaken me, preferably with a coffee, a crossword, and a kiss. Two things I love: notes on my windshield and a kiss to wake me up.
I believe in the old man and the new man. I believe that some are made alive, and that some are the walking dead—cosmic somnambulists to entertain the devil. I believe that those who sleep will be raised and that those who are raised will read their names in a book. I believe that that day will be fine-free day at the library. To some, those who would pay their own way, this is the kiss of death. I believe that grace is what destroys me, and also what purifies me. I believe the man in church this morning who held before me a loaf of bread, looked me in the eye, and said, “The kiss of God.”
beautiful. thanks.
Posted by: natalie at August 29, 2004 03:39 PMYou are gracious. Your understanding of pacifism is reassuring in such a world as ours. When is your blog lecture? Will you post it?
Posted by: Sember at August 29, 2004 04:31 PMthank you for sharing this exercise with us jeremy. i will have to read and read again, because i think these were all done very well - even the cowgirl reference...
(and i am quite shocked to see what my house number produced via your chapter and verse calculator...macabre indeed.)
Posted by: stephanie at August 29, 2004 07:14 PMbry(i?)an habig has this wonderful illustration of grace that uses fine-free day at the library. do you remember it? i can't really remember when you college kids were here with which campus minister, even though i can remember a whole lot of the books i read then. (mostly hardy boys).
Posted by: emily jane at August 29, 2004 08:05 PMnatalie, thanks for stopping in the neighborhood.
sember, it's september 10. if it's worth posting, i imagine i will. depends on how many people torch me afterward.
thanks, stephanie. the house number thing was a nice touch.
emily jane, i had sam downing first, then russ macanulty, then habig, and, yes, i think, subconsciously, that habig illustration worked its way into this essay. a lot of his stuff stuck with me and works its way out in my stuff, often without my realizing it.
Posted by: jeremy at August 29, 2004 10:49 PMthis one has the best cadence.
Posted by: abe at August 30, 2004 07:52 AMHehe. "I believe the passion of that drama, that we're certain is for real..."
Posted by: Mark at September 1, 2004 09:47 AM"I believe the passion of that drama, that we're certain is for real..."
(smiles at the possibility that some ideas in this post may not be completely original (according to Robert Frost (I disagree)"all originality is of the Devil" anyway)
Posted by: Mark at September 1, 2004 09:55 AMmark, i googled that quote, not knowing what it was. and though this post certainly wasn't inspired by waterdeep, i can say with certainty that it was inspired by a need for profession, and there are some good, old models out there.
Posted by: jeremy at September 1, 2004 10:30 AM