verge

I'm now blogging for the Upper Room Ministries sponsored website MethodX.net The Way of Christ. So surf on over and check out the new blog and all the other great things they have to offer at the site.

I will be keeping this site active in order to update my reading, poetry, and music lists.

joe harvey at 5:18 PM

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

I’m restless, today. Bulldozers are devouring the field beside my house. The cornfield and wildlife I once enjoyed are no more. There is no more peace on my back porch. Instead of silence, I hear the incessant beeping and revving of the engines from the time I wake until darkness falls. I mourn the loss of “my” field today.

On top of that, storms have raged through our area over the past few days. The Delaware and Lehigh Rivers have flooded their banks twice in about six months, the latest being a few days ago. My basement is flooded and more rain is expected tonight. Is this a just spring?

As I went about my day today, I witnessed the damage first hand. Several times, as I drove from place to place, road closings and obstacles diverted me from my path, keeping me from familiar route. It wasn’t long until restlessness turned into unease then frustration. My thoughts dwelled on the destruction. Why? I don’t know. Then it occurred to me as I drove: spring always brings turmoil. Spring is known for new life, but I often forget that new life is preceded by a tumultuous birth. With nature’s destruction—the cycle of the seasons, Creation in motion—comes God’s covenant and promise of renewal. My restlessness is the result of not being in-tune with God’s covenant promise.

My mind wanders to that poem by e.e. cummings In Just-spring.

in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman
whistles far and wee
and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it’s
spring
when the world is puddle-wonderful
the queer
old balloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing
from hop-scotch and jump-rope and
it’s
spring
and
the
goat-footed
balloonMan whistles
far
and
wee

Is this a happy poem about the beginning of spring and the joys that the season brings or is it a dark poem about a spring of injustice? Is the balloon man a dancing Pan-like character calling the children with a whistle of his flute, or unjust and something more sinister? I believe he’s the former. This is a light-hearted poem. Sometimes it’s too easy to look to the shadows and into dark places. It’s all about your perception. We can see what we choose. Spring is a time of new-life—if we choose to see it that way. And, If we are in tune with God’s creation.

joe harvey at 2:03 PM