poetry

There’s just too many words right now. As the days wear on (we’re now in week 10 of quarantine in Maine), there’s an endless stream of advice, opinions, theological arguments… there’s no shortage of diatribes about isolation or quarantine, reopening and reintegrating, making the best of these days or feeling desperate, about the end of days and heresies. It’s exhausting. It seems to be a distracting swirl of contradiction. While I grapple to make sense of most things, I just can’t right now. And I am generally a lover words and reason.

Mary Oliver said: “Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.”

So instead of lofty thoughts and wordy ideas, I’ve returned to my first & most elementary form of writing- poetry. It’s my loaves & fishes in this time, where survival & grief coexist.

Hope- by Jessica Briggs
Hope is a whisper-
God is here.

Near.
With.
In grief
In confusion
In failure

He’s not in some lofty place
Full of choirs
Gilded with worship

Immanuel lives in my grief
For the thing I can’t even
Speak about
Think about
Understand

He is Light-life

Hope is a candle
And I am the darkness.

The mystery of Lent lies in grief. We make time to see the truth of our lives- the chaos, the misplaced energies, the losses we glazed over. It’s easy to get lost in the darkness of Lent, to feel overwhelmed by all the things we’ve ignored or brushed under the rug. During the Lenten season, time is built in to practice confession.

Confession is one of the most misunderstood disciplines of the Christian life. The Greek word for confession is homologeo, which means “to speak the same.” In other words, to confess means I concede that something is factual or true.

Confession is NOT a promise never to commit sin again. It is also not a way to receive forgiveness- the finished work of the cross produced forgiveness! Confession is never dependent on me, but it’s always dependent on Christ.

Psalm 32:5-7

⁵Then I acknowledged my sin to you
    and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
    my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
    the guilt of my sin.

⁶Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
    while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
    will not reach them.
⁷You are my hiding place;
    you will protect me from trouble
    and surround me with songs of deliverance.

Confession helps us be rid of guilt. It’s the practice of repentance. To repent just means to turn around. When we turn around we see the truth, that Jesus doesn’t leave us even when our life’s a mess. Jesus is our hiding place when we are in trouble. And all along, He was singing over us. Confession is the art of celebration, the art of opening our eyes and ears to see the Presence of God with us, and the heart of God singing to us.

Confess- by Jessica Briggs

I just need to turn
And see your face of Love
As I doubt
When I am fed up
When I am harsh
As the anger fills me up.

I just need to turn
And see your face of Love
As i make verdicts
When I sort them
When I am hate-filled
As the hurts blind me.

I just need to turn
And see your face of Love
As I’m free
When I don’t deserve it
When I am unworthy
As the grace washes over me.

I just need to turn
And see your face of Love
As I’m made new
When I hear your songs
When I see you’re near
As the guilt leaves me.

A Poem for The Days

Lenten Reflections: Confession