Good Friday: God-Forsaken, and Not
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? --Mat 27:46
I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish
it were already kindled! --Luke 12:49
Crossing
His head was lifting; then pain
Shot from underneath both arms
Into his contorted palms. He slumped and slipped
Some fraction of an inch, hearing himself moan.
Like an animal, he thought,
Feeling his two feet curled in upon themselves,
Tangled in the burning. With every breath
He felt a tearing through the tightening
Length of muscles in his chest, between each separate rib,
It seemed, when in another half-dream, he found himself
A child again, running to his mother’s arms
For safety; but there were soldiers and he knew
He’d taken his last step, then slept a second time.
He woke to find his breath constrained;
His chest felt flattened in the starving air,
A pressured pain, submerged and weary.
The gray sky drizzled intimately, drowning
His whole skin. Eyes on the horizon, distant white shapes –
Houses; and yet he thought of sails against
The sea and slumbered deeply into weariness again.
Once more he woke, now in near-dark: My God,
My God, he called: Why have you forsaken me?
Then still more deeply thought: how I have forsaken you,
My God, never meaning to, never thinking it could end
So soon. And Lord, I know they haven’t understood
The way that we’ve been one, and how your kingdom,
With us like a mustard seed, is sown to raise a Word
We do not hear until we learn to speak, Our Father;
And not as though the Father of my self alone, or any other lonely
Mortal self; but now I’ve failed, my God, my God –
They never understood! Denied his only purpose and desire,
Regretting everything, his eyes were lost behind themselves
To find the only Ocean’s face
Salted bright with fire.
--Paul Martin
For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another. --Mark 9:49-50
They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. --Mark 1:22
I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish
it were already kindled! --Luke 12:49
Crossing
His head was lifting; then pain
Shot from underneath both arms
Into his contorted palms. He slumped and slipped
Some fraction of an inch, hearing himself moan.
Like an animal, he thought,
Feeling his two feet curled in upon themselves,
Tangled in the burning. With every breath
He felt a tearing through the tightening
Length of muscles in his chest, between each separate rib,
It seemed, when in another half-dream, he found himself
A child again, running to his mother’s arms
For safety; but there were soldiers and he knew
He’d taken his last step, then slept a second time.
He woke to find his breath constrained;
His chest felt flattened in the starving air,
A pressured pain, submerged and weary.
The gray sky drizzled intimately, drowning
His whole skin. Eyes on the horizon, distant white shapes –
Houses; and yet he thought of sails against
The sea and slumbered deeply into weariness again.
Once more he woke, now in near-dark: My God,
My God, he called: Why have you forsaken me?
Then still more deeply thought: how I have forsaken you,
My God, never meaning to, never thinking it could end
So soon. And Lord, I know they haven’t understood
The way that we’ve been one, and how your kingdom,
With us like a mustard seed, is sown to raise a Word
We do not hear until we learn to speak, Our Father;
And not as though the Father of my self alone, or any other lonely
Mortal self; but now I’ve failed, my God, my God –
They never understood! Denied his only purpose and desire,
Regretting everything, his eyes were lost behind themselves
To find the only Ocean’s face
Salted bright with fire.
--Paul Martin
For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another. --Mark 9:49-50
They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. --Mark 1:22
Posted by Paul at 8:41 PM Permalink
14 Comments:
Certain aspects and passages of the NT, including the verses I cite, anchor Christian mysticism in the canonized scripture. Another aspect to this poem is that I’ve never found attempts to explain away Jesus words about abandonment compelling. While the church purports to understand Jesus as fully God and fully man, it seems to me that it often makes him into something like God wearing a man-costume.
For Jesus to have really and actually felt abandoned in that situation is fully understandable to me if he was indeed fully human.
The Gospel of Judas portrays a different view of the relationship between Jesus and Judas than what has usually been taught. This Gospel offers new insights into the disciple who is understood to have betrayed Jesus for reasons of ego and self-interest. Unlike the accounts in the canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, in which Judas is portrayed as a reviled traitor, this newly-discovered Gospel depicts Judas as acting at Jesus' request when he hands Jesus over to the authorities.
Further, this Gospel portrays Judas as more open to Jesus' teachings about the spirit within than the other disciples who initially rejected it. This was why Jesus singled Judas out for the role that was necessary to precipitate far-reaching changes in human faith and beliefs.
LIARA: One could see the Gospel of Judas as implicit to the canonical gospels, or a possible reading of them. There, events are often (but not always) presented as having been arranged ahead of time and with Jesus completely informed of the plan - including his specific predictions that one of his followers would betray him.
KAI, thanks -
VISHESH: It's one sign of that all right, and has survival value in some situations.
Would the difference between mainstream Christianity and Gnosticism be found more in the content of the knowledge claimed rather than its uniqueness?
content - christianity thinks the material world is good, gnosticism thinks the material world is bad.
style - chriatianity is inclusive - all are welcome ... gnosticism is exclusive - only the few chosen ones are welcome.
Also christianity was taught openly - in John 18:19-20 at Jesus' trial ... The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his doctrine. Jesus answered him, "I have spoken publicly to the world. I have always taught in a synagogue or in the temple area where all the Jews gather, and in secret I have said nothing. Gnosticism is all about secret knowledge. Jesus takes Judas aside and tells only him the secret info, just as happens in the gospel of Mary Magselen and the gospel of Thomas.
Does this make a difference? I think it makes a big difference. Gnosticism is an exclusive hellenistic mystery cult which encourages people to escape life here for the better spiritual world from whence they came, but christianity is an open, shared, honest and straightforward "way" available to anyone, which teaches that kife here is valuable and good.
I have to say that in my Catholic upbringing, the division between "the spirit and the flesh" seemed pretty strong. Also - and history of religion definitely wasn't a particular area of interest for me - I'm pretty sure I recall from div school that Hellenistic thought entered into mainstream Christianity early on. And it seems to me that the goodness of the material world is stronger in Judaism than Christianity - again, vague recollections, haven't read about this for a long time. But that's reinforced by my childhood upbringing - Catholicism as I experienced it definitely felt like it had an other-worldly emphasis.
On the inclusiveness of Christianity, that's my understanding of it too - but of course plenty of Christians emphasize that a lot of people will be going to hell...
My impression was more that Gnosticism was a school of thought - the word cult seems to suggest a kind of wackiness I don't recall associating with it, but could well be wrong…
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