The Greatest Scripture Never Written

I wrote the following poem during a poetry relay with my friend Theresa;

Don’t look so shocked;

We told You not to worry.

Your word would be safe in our hands.

We promised you we would write it down carefully,

But,

change a few words here

And there

Love, Empathy, leave us to find the synonyms.

Compassion and mercy, those words might not wash.

We get what You’re saying,

But we’ll edit it for Us,

Who do we mean by Us, You ask?

Don’t look so worried,

We’ll work out that,

We’ll write it down then work out who’s us

And who is them

By the words we have written

(On your behalf)

And if we are not sure

Or shocked by the words (that we forget we wrote)

We’ll use the greatest scripture there is,

(although not written)

“Yes, but that’s different.”

Holy Spirit,

We are humans and need to take the world around us and use the most rudimental of constructs to help it make sense to us and allow us express our sense of the world to others.

We do this in word, both written and spoken, and we acknowledge that when we take your unending love, compassion, mercy and grace we cannot fully express it in all its wonderous beauty. In the translating to another or the choosing of which word to write next, we make mistakes and begin to phrase your inclusive love in ways that resonate and reaffirm our place in the world, but maybe not that of others.

We struggle write your word down in a way that captures its true global glory, and when we read your word, written by others, we bring to it our own assumptions and prejudices.

Help us to read your word with loving kindness and an understanding that each sentence was written in the best way it could be at that time, by that person. Help us not use the Bible as an armoury of weapons, picking at will the sentences that suit us, that enable to attack those we don’t agree with, those we see as strangers, dangerous even.

Remind us that we cannot just ignore those parts of your scripture that do not suit us, there is a message for us there no matter how poorly it was transcribed. Remind us that we need to sit with your scripture in prayerful contemplation to truly begin to understand what words of wisdom you have for us today. You will speak to us in so many ways that transcend the written and spoken word, may we be open to all the ways you call out to us, and call us out, today.

Amen