Cyber-Psalm 31

Living God, aromatic Spirit, breathing Word,
Translate ink and paper into blood and breath and body.

A picture of a flower cannot compare
To standing in a field of flowers.
Crinkly pages with black squiggles
Are a static imitation of your vibrant Word
Until it quickens my soul and speech and actions.

I stand in my yard at night.
Heady sweetness of jasmine overpowers me.
Overpower me now with your words.
Not by clever insights into the original languages
But by quiet heroism that redeems my surroundings.

You said the world would know us by our love for one another.
And to our shame we have filled the air
     not with fragrance but with stench.
Ἡ ἀγάπη in 1 Corinthians is not a cloying sentiment
But a self-excruciating resistance to anger
And desperate communion in Jesus
Despite our tendency to withdraw.

Blow your wind over us.
Breathe your fragrant breath into our stale lungs.
Fill the air around us with your flowery Spirit.
Intoxicate us with the incense that rises from your holy flame.

 

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The Cyber-Psalms