Poetry Postscripts 2.IV

A few theological thoughts, because of the last sonnet I wrote. And a BTS look at Sonnet 2.V.

God is not so unlike us human beings, I think. And yet, he is infinitely more than us. (I write this from a mostly Protestant, Bible-based theological perspective.)

God is not so unlike us, and we can get an idea of what he is like by looking at ourselves, because he created us - male and female - in his image. Thus, God is not so unlike us. We are in God’s image, having love, emotions, weaknesses, vulnerabilities.

When I write this, it implies that God has these things, too - weaknesses and vulnerabilities - because love and emotions can be a weakness and vulnerability. Or at least it can be seen as a weakness and vulnerability from those who do not like to show or feel love and emotions. But the way that I’m seeing it, now, as I sit here and think and write about it, showing love and emotions is actually a strength. Showing love and emotions is a vulnerability and a strength at once.

But anyway, even if God’s love - his weakness and vulnerability - is different from ours because, perhaps likely, he is sufficient in himself to fill up his weaknesses and vulnerabilities, he still came as Jesus Christ, and so he has not been and is not so unlike us. He is not so lofty and high above us that he can’t relate to us and we can’t relate to him.

I am writing these thoughts because of the sonnet that I previously shared, about my experience with deer, and how I kind of compared deer and my relationship with them, to God and my relationship with him. In my sonnet I wrote that when I get close to deer, I can see that they are not so much unlike me. And that is implying metaphorically that God is also not so unlike me, and I feel the need to explain my thoughts. What I meant by that is just that when I’ve grown close to God, I can see that he’s not so distant and far away and unrelatable, as I once thought when I was distant from him.

To explain it in unpoetic terms: It used to be that whenever I saw deer out in the wild and didn’t have much experience with them and didn’t take the time to get close to them, that they were so elusive, magical, and almost divine. I never saw their weaknesses much, their finite existence much, except for when I saw them dead on the road. And that just broke my heart - and made me want to vomit or eat, depending on my mood - more than anything else. Seeing them dead on the road did not get me to thinking about their weakness.

But, when I began to spend more time out in the wild and encountered deer more, and got closer to them, I could see their weakness, fear, need. I could see their same watery eyes as mine, their same deterioration and aging. And then recently as I’ve spent time with them in a wildlife sanctuary, I’ve seen even more than what my, maybe, more modest, Protestant sensibilities have wanted to notice - their breeding, urinating, defecating. And I’ve seen them shamelessly eating out of my own hands. Anyhow, so while I can’t say that God is like a deer, because deer will not last and don’t last, and because God is so much more than anything and anyone. I can say that my relationship with God has been similar to my relationship with deer.

When, in the past, I did not get close to God, the only thing I could really see what his elusive, divine, untouchable, way-out-there-beyond-me nature. Even, that he wasn’t real, but just an imagination - a spark of a hope. But then, when I forced myself to get closer to God and he compelled me to get closer to him, then I was able to see him more clearly, better, and I could see that he wasn’t so completely different from me, and that he is indeed actually real.

Is this not the case with everything in our lives?

If we sit back and never engage and get close, and always just look on a screen or stay in our own little worlds, or watch everyone else, do we ever really get to know someone or know an experience or a place?

Anyhow, so those are a few of my more deeper thoughts and explanations, concerning the sonnet that I wrote last time.

Sonnet 2.V - BTS

Before I disappear from here for a month (maybe), I will share my “behind the scenes” (BTS) thoughts for my upcoming sonnet that I am planning on publishing soon. (Because that’s what I’ve been doing here in this space, over the past couple of months). I mostly finished writing the sonnet yesterday, but I may let it sit a couple more days and may change something before publishing.

Anyhow, a couple of weeks ago, after a particularly noisy day (or week, or couple of weeks?) I found myself in need of a walk outdoors, and so I went out and started a walk in my pretty-quiet neighborhood, and I thought that it would be a relief. But, I actually found my head all full of noise and residue from - just - living life, as I often do. This was not anything new. But, for whatever reason, all the noise and arguing in my head was cut off quickly (more quickly than usual) with the music of the birds singing all around me, and I felt that God was focusing me in on him, so that I would not spend more tortuous moments mulling things over in my mind. And so, that’s what the next sonnet was inspired by.

Until then, please feel free to leave some thoughts in the comments below, or click reply to this email and send me your thoughts privately. Or hey, even consider sending me a voice message on Voxer. I do enjoy a good talk, text, or email exchange about God and life.

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