September 28, 2010

Chicken Poetry School


Seriously though ... it's almost as if it were through 'poetic-rule' that I died to 'poetic-rule' in order that I might live in poetry.


For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
-Galatians 2:19


Truth be told, I definitely had this verse in mind to confirm what I’ve always (silently) believed- that, after having best understood the rules and patterns of this or that given discipline, freedom resides in our ability to utilize its circumvention fluently and creatively.

I learned how a rook moves; how a knight jumps; how a bishop slices; I learned how the game of chess functions beneath exceedingly specific parameters … but it was the highly fluid aspect of creativity that taught me how to skewer an opponent’s piece!

In other words, after having first learned the rules, I learned how to die to them in order to achieve freedom's possibility …

Perfect example ... the comments area Of an Uncommon Measure

3 comments:

Brooke said...

I agree with what you said about having to learn the rules first, then die to them..or as I like to put it -learnt the rules of the game before you break free from the game altogether. :)

Regina said...

Jeremiah 31:33

Yes, it seems the rules a poet learns in school or from books must be set aside or overcome by a more vital and just law, which cannot be read or found anywhere because it has been written on the poet's heart - placed deep within him. Perhaps the latter law has always been there but forgotten or underestimated.

Tim Shey said...

Amen; well-said.

There is a classic in Christian spirituality called "The Cloud of Unknowing" that you may want to read someday. Basically, we need to unlearn that which we have learned in order to really apprehend and experience God in all His glory. The more we die to self the more we are able to enter into a deeper spiritual communion with the Lord.

I have met so many Christians who memorize Scripture, but reject Christ. "We worship Him in Spirit and in truth." The Spirit needs to be first in our exploration of truth.

"The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

"In my end is my beginning." T.S. Eliot

The Poets

As of April 9th, 2010