The Shadows Crucifixion

These poems are from a poetry workshop we had at our church. They are based on the Seven Shadows of the Cross: Betrayal, Desertion, Unshared Vigil, Accusation, Crucifixion, Death, Burial. 

For this one, we were supposed to follow the pattern of the song "Were You There?" as we built this poem. Our first line had to be "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" Our last line had to be "sometimes it causes me to ..." The song ends with "tremble," but we were encouraged to use a different word to end it.

CRUCIFIXION

Were you there when they nailed him to the cross?
No, I wasn’t there.
I’m always quick to point out my innocence
To provide quality reasons why I deviated from perfection
To shout that I would never have participated in such a barbaric event, such a travesty, such a miscarriage of justice
I would have stood up for Him
I would have defended Him
I would have died for Him
Yet
I rarely even live for Him
I rarely even argue for Him
I rarely even take a stand for Him
Quietly standing by, watching as people run roughshod over the weak, pervert the Holy Scriptures, perform heinous acts in His name
Justifying my inaction as an effort to keep the peace
Ignoring my own guilt and sinful acts
So, I guess I was there.
Sometimes it causes me to crumble

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lent Day 44 - Easter

Image
I’m going to say something here that has the potential to really rub some people the wrong way. I hate Easter. Before you show up at my door with pitchforks and torches, let me explain. I don’t hate what Easter represents. I’m all for that. Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. Great stuff. I hate what that day has become. And, no, this isn’t going to be another Christian bemoaning the Easter Bunny and candy and all of that. I’m actually talking about what Easter has become in the Church. That’s why I hate the day.  I’ve spent most of my life in church. I’ve been everything from a disgruntled child being forced to come to a weary staff member. I’ve seen so many different approaches to Easter - good and bad. I’ve been a part of so many Easter activities. I’ve been the one responsible for some very cringy components of the Easter season. So I’m not saying I’m innocent in this whole process. I’m saying that right now - where I am in life - I’m disgusted by Easter.  When you work...
Read more

Lent Day 42: Spiritual Abuse

I’ve mentioned a term several times during the course of this whole project that may not be familiar to you. It is a fairly new concept to me, as well. It took me a long time to recognize it for what it was and be comfortable in labeling it as such. This is the concept of Spiritual Abuse. At the outset of this piece, I’m going to reference a book that was very helpful to me as I explored this.  The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse  by David Johnson and others opened my eyes as I read multiple stories that sounded much like my own. I also was going through this with the help of my therapist. I have feeling that some of you have been a victim of spiritual abuse. I know that this is an awkward topic, as anything labeled “abuse”  always is. But I believe that shining light on problems is the way to solve them, not continuing to bury them under the rug. That all being said, I am not a mental health professional. I’m just a person who has been through some shit who wants to help...
Read more

Lent Day 36 - Chris

Image
Monday, September 9, 2019 The last time I lived in the same town as my brother was 1987, when we still lived in the big blue house in West Palm Beach. First, he went away to school in Boca Raton. Then I went away to school in Orlando. I moved to Tampa while he ended up in Athens, Georgia. He then made jaunts to Irvine, California and Madison, Wisconsin and Tempe, Arizona while I continued to circumnavigate Florida: Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando again, Tallahassee, Orlando again. We had a brief flirtation with being in the same city once. He stayed with us in Orlando after he decided to move back to Florida. He toyed with the idea of living in the City Beautiful, but the beach won out, and he settled in Melbourne. He eventually went full-circle and returned to West Palm Beach, like most of our family does at some point. Meanwhile, my little clan and I broke free of the Florida eddy and ventured to Columbia, South Carolina; Houston, Texas; and Columbia, South Carolina again. The physical ...
Read more