{"id":94603,"date":"2022-09-15T05:38:22","date_gmt":"2022-09-15T09:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=94603"},"modified":"2022-09-15T06:51:53","modified_gmt":"2022-09-15T10:51:53","slug":"beholding-glory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2022\/09\/beholding-glory.html","title":{"rendered":"Beholding Glory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Recent years have seen a lot of firsts for me, publishing my first short story followed quickly by several others, including in subgenres ranging from flash fiction through to novelette. Now I\u2019ve had my first poem published, assuming that posting them on my blog doesn\u2019t count (nor anything that appeared in an elementary school creation). I have dabbled in poetry from time to time, and of course have written song lyrics, but it was the theme proposed for Volume 6 of Jesus The Imagination: A Journal of Spiritual Revolution<\/em><\/a> that led me to write and submit this. That theme is\u00a0Flesh and Spirit<\/em>. Those words play an important role throughout the New Testament and in Christian theology down the ages, including in texts that I have studied academically and at the same time wrestled with personally and spiritually. My poem appears on\u00a0pp. 54-55 of the volume, published by Angelico Press<\/a>. I am including the text of the poem below. You can read the introduction to the volume by its editor Michael Martin hereread the introduction to the volume by its editor Michael Martin here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beholding Glory<\/b><\/p>\n

Within, through, beyond your fleshly form<\/p>\n

We glimpsed something<\/p>\n

Encounter with\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0divine<\/p>\n

We yearned for more<\/p>\n

Fixated, we elaborated<\/p>\n

Wrapped you in doctrines like linen sheets<\/p>\n

Until your flesh and blood blurred and shimmered<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"
\nWe hewed a tomb of dogma<\/p>\n

Harder than\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0toughest stone<\/p>\n

Our words at once mausoleum and idol<\/p>\n

Hiding your physical form away<\/p>\n

We cut off from ourselves<\/p>\n

the<\/span>\u00a0lifeblood that flowed through you<\/p>\n

to quench our thirst<\/p>\n

and give life to our branches<\/p>\n

Help us look again with fresh eyes<\/p>\n

With flesh eyes<\/p>\n

Realize we\u2019ve no others with which to behold<\/p>\n

any glimpse of glory we might perceive<\/p>\n

Roll away\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0idol we have made<\/p>\n

with which we sought to seal you in<\/p>\n

Confining you to\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0past<\/p>\n

the<\/span>\u00a0abstract<\/p>\n

the<\/span>\u00a0comforting and comfortable<\/p>\n

the<\/span>\u00a0mental<\/p>\n

the<\/span>\u00a0celestial<\/p>\n

safer for us, we imagined<\/p>\n

though dead<\/p>\n

Let your fleshly form walk forth<\/p>\n

Meet us anew<\/p>\n

By\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0shore of our first encounter<\/p>\n

An unsatisfying yet delicious glimpse<\/p>\n

Of sun-darkened skin<\/p>\n

Rough from labor<\/p>\n

A face ever familiar, yet ever strange \u2013<\/p>\n

Like any other human visage<\/p>\n

An old friend met again<\/p>\n

In\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0warmth of hot coals<\/p>\n

Over a breakfast of baked fish<\/p>\n

\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I hope you\u2019ll purchase the volume from Amazon<\/a> or anywhere else you prefer.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recent years have seen a lot of firsts for me, publishing my first short story followed quickly by several others, including in subgenres ranging from flash fiction through to novelette. Now I\u2019ve had my first poem published, assuming that posting them on my blog doesn\u2019t count (nor anything that appeared in an elementary school creation). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":94612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[3478,17329,5677,9279,11720],"class_list":["post-94603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gospel-of-john","tag-flesh","tag-glory","tag-jesus","tag-poetry","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nBeholding Glory<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Recent years have seen a lot of firsts for me, publishing my first short story followed quickly by several others, including in subgenres ranging from\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2022\/09\/beholding-glory.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beholding Glory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recent years have seen a lot of firsts for me, publishing my first short story followed quickly by several others, including in subgenres ranging from\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2022\/09\/beholding-glory.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. 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