Q. One of the things I appreciate most about this study is it makes the Gospel stories an opportunity to question our own lives, commitments, actions, and ask what is worth living for, or dying for. What prompted you to take this more risky personal approach, and what questions did these stories lead you to ask of yourself, of your own life? When I have reflected during Lent on these sorts of things…. Sometimes poetry is the result. Here’s one I’d be eager to hear your reaction to.
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To move from fast to feast,
From ashes to riding an ass,
From wilderness wandering
God’s willingness wondering
To follow the way of the cross
To find what was utterly lost
All this was Lent to us.
The cup not passed over
By our Passover
The vinegar he willingly drank—
But through gift divine
New covenant wine
Came forth from his side as he sank
All this was given to us
Through breaking of bread
They knew their head
The joy of new life begun
From out of the depths,
From out of his death
His people one loaf had become
All this was food for us.
Lent leads to Easter
The faster turns feaster
A foretaste for those in the dust
A bread with new leaven
The manna from heaven
All this has risen for us.
God’s ways are not our ways,
Our eyes cannot see,
The logic of love,
Nailed to a tree.
Come now to the dinner
Come saint and come sinner,
The meal is now served to us.
A. Although I was an English major, my focus was on prose and theatre rather than poetry. I very much appreciate the initial question, regarding the “opportunity to question our own lives, commitments, actions, and ask what is worth living for, or dying for.” The Passion Narratives in particular should be challenges to us – I take Lent as a time of introspection. The poem speaks of what was given to us; the challenge then becomes: how do we respond?
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