it is…

Those leaning left find it pitiable
I still cling to the old rugged cross,
while those in the right are unnerved
when they read my give-a-shit is broke.
But I do,
and it is.
 
I’ve read John of the Cross and John Piper –
found them separate but equally pale.
Yet I am seized with a great affection
when Johnny Cash aches of
disappearing dreams and
Sunday morning comin’ down.
 
Aren’t you lonely there in the middle,
straddling the fence?
Isn’t it hard with a boot in both worlds?
Yes, I am,
and it is.
But I insist on color.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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10 Comments

  1. St. Ramona of the PInes on June 24, 2011 at 1:01 pm

    Bless you for articulating for me a question that often leaves me dumb and dizzy. This is lovely…and I will be thinking on it all day.

  2. Mona on June 24, 2011 at 1:07 pm

    Bless you for articulating for me a question that often leaves me dumb and dizzy. This is lovely…and I will be thinking on it all day.

    • thebeautifuldue on June 24, 2011 at 1:17 pm

      St. Ramona/Mona, thank you.
      Dumb and dizzy? Oh how I know that feeling too…

  3. Tim Bergren on June 24, 2011 at 4:27 pm

    Does following Jesus mean that we bulldoze fences? —straddling can get mighty uncomfortable, if not precarious…

    • thebeautifuldue on June 24, 2011 at 4:41 pm

      Tim, I don’t remember Jesus saying anything about bulldozing fences…what if straddling is an art, something you learn so as to be ‘in the world, not just on it’? The polarizing forces afoot these days are saddening…nobody lives at the poles (think ‘north’ and ‘south’)…sure, you can make expeditions there but they’re too extreme for flesh and blood.

  4. Tim Bergren on June 24, 2011 at 6:44 pm

    John, I like your idea of “straddling” as an art when it comes to “in,” not “of.”—representing heaven here on earth. Still, I’m pretty sure I hear Jesus revving up the ‘dozer when it comes to the human divisions we create to distinguish between “us” and “them”…”Fences make good neighbors” is, in my book, right up there with “an eye for an eye” to receive an award for tops in common (non)sense.

    • thebeautifuldue on June 24, 2011 at 7:00 pm

      I’m tracking w/you…my hope would be the fence might be a gathering place, something to lean on, talk a little, share some gossip or iced tea, a communal spot rather than a dividing line, the middle ground large enough for us all…

  5. Winn Collier on June 24, 2011 at 7:25 pm

    You keep offering more reasons why we are kindred spirits

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