“We are God’s poem.”

Not Saint Augustine this week.  This is from our pastor at Zion Lutheran Church, Rev. Dr. Eric Riesen, paraphrasing Saint Paul.

A poem is beautiful and unique.  A good poem causes us to look at something in a fresh way.  It is tempting to read this quote and think about physical beauty, or to flatter ourselves that our mission is to express our unique creativity, or to think about what makes us happy, all daisies and beach sunsets and birthday cake with our favorite kind of ice cream.   There’s nothing wrong with any of that, but I think in creating us as poetry, God had in mind something more simple and profound.

Christ said pretty much nothing except this: love.  It was all he had to say and all he came here to be, a one-word poem.  We are created to bring our unique love to the other souls we encounter in this life.  Love, in the end, is the great work of every life, love in the face of fear, love in the face of hurt, rejection and utter exhaustion, love even when the night is moonless and the road ahead is long and harsh.  Love for each other, love for this lush, wild planet, love for every breath and every moment, love when your heart breaks from the beauty and the horror and, at last, the brevity of life.  You are the poem and the poem is love.