Late Night Poetry

Making a Fist

by Naomi Shihab Nye

For the first time, on the road north of Tampico,
I felt the life sliding out of me,
a drum in the desert, harder and harder to hear.
I was seven, I lay in the car
watching palm trees swirl a sickening pattern past the glass.
My stomach was a melon split wide inside my skin.

"How do you know if you are going to die?"
I begged my mother.
We had been traveling for days.
With strange confidence she answered,
"When you can no longer make a fist."

Years later I smile to think of that journey,
the borders we must cross separately,
stamped with our unanswerable woes.
I who did not die, who am still living,
still lying in the backseat behind all my questions,
clenching and opening one small hand.

The Blue Parakeet: Chapter 2

Chapter two of Scot McKnight's wonderful new book The Blue Parakeet begins with a story about bird watching. I could relate well to this opening narrative because I myself enjoy birdwatching. Scot tells how he discovered a blue Parakeet-a house pet- eating and squawking amongst sparrows. The blue Parakeet freaked the other birds out at first but eventually they become accustomed to the birds presence. Scot tells us that reading the bible is similar to this experience. He tells us that, " chance encounters sometimes lead us deeper into thought". When reading the Bible we come across elements of the narrative that shock, inspire, confuse and frustrate us; and that's OK. I have found this to be true in my own faith. There are parts of the Old Testament that disturb me and other parts that bring me to my knees. Through my frustration with parts of the Bible I have sought God deeper and more fully.

Scot continues by outlining three ways in which many people read the Bible. The three are: Reading to Retrieve (literalistic), Those Days, Those ways (picking and choosing) and Reading Through Tradition (classic, historical reading). Which one are you?

Highlights:

" What we've got in the pages of the New Testament are first-century expressions of the gospel and church life, no permanent, timeless expressions. They are timely expressions; they are Spirit-inspired expressions; but they were and remain first-century expressions." (26-27)

"God spoke in David's days in David's ways, and God spoke in Solomon's days in Solomon's ways...and we are called to carry on that pattern in our world today.

Chapter 3 to come...

The Blue Parakeet: Chapter 1

Scot McKnight's forthcoming book The Blue Parakeet begins with several critical questions for how we are to approach the Bible today. He begins with the birth of his love for reading and how it led him through a maze of questions and discoveries. His style is gracious and probing; the first chapter has set a tone of loving concern for the faith today. The question that McKnight proposes-the questions that informs the remainder of the book- is How, then, are we to live out the Bible today? (11). Scot explains that the most common question of: How can we apply the Bible to our lives? is too technical and doesn't address the gravity of the current situation surrounding the Bible today.

Scot goes on to talk about how many Christians today pick and choose-or adopt and adapt- what they want to read and believe about the Bible. He takes the reader through several pressing issues the Bible speaks of and shows how many of us do not follow the commands given. The chapter ends with an explanation of why it is important to address how the bible is to be lived out today.

Highlights:

1. Admitting that I pick and choose when reading the Bible is difficult. I haven't really thought much about it. This book will challenge many of my long help opinions and assumptions about the message of Jesus and how I approach the Bible.

2. I had no idea what I was getting into when I asked God's spirit to fill me. (10) This statement shook me. There have been times I have asked God for direction and I am terrified of the answer. It takes great faith to jump into the God-life experience.

Chapter 2 tomorrow....

The Blue Parakeet by Scot Mcknight

My advanced copy of The Blue Parakeet came in today. Chapter 1 discussion will be coming soon....can't wait!