Letters from Theophilus

" A Blog About Practical Theology. "

1.29.2010

Good News

Created by a love I rejected,
I choose my own way.
I imagined myself my own creator,
And made my will the center of the universe.

Within and without I am divided.
There is a glimpse of that love within me,
Hopelessly outweighed by my will…
My desire to be my own god.

I destroy because I am destructive.
A black hole exists within my heart
The more my desires are fulfilled,
The larger this gaping chasm grows.

Who will save me from this downward spiral?
How can I escape my own kingdom?
How can I ever reconcile when this love
Within is so overcome with self-desire?

I am humanity. I am you.

There is good news if you will hear it.
The good news is that I destroy.
I am broken, ruined, restless & hopeless
This is part of the good news…

The other part is that it’s not up to me.
There is a force outside me with a love
Great enough to overcome my destructive path.
There is a force that reconciles all things.

God. Perfect love. Exemplified through life and death.
He frees me from my unruly reign.
He removes the burden of my self-justification.
He alone will fill the black hole within my heart.

His love allows me to love.
His mercy allows me to forgive.
He has reconciled me,
Now I may reconcile a broken, hurting world.

1.01.2010

Baptism in a Shower


Reflective, I sit
Warm showers playing round my head
Remind me of days I never lived,
Yet echo in the corridors my conscience

I am Adam,
Broken and removed from the Garden
I feel the warm retribution falling all around me,
Yet the warmth of the water is somehow comforting.

I am cursed,
I sit outside the ark of salvation.
The smell of fire mixes with the water vapor
Ever rising, ever pounding, the warm waters judge my sin

I am forgiven,
Rising from these waters of remission,
The warmth reminds me of the freedom from my fate,
Not earned, not taken, but given nonetheless

Water is neutral.
It brings both judgment and mercy.
It is an agent of a God who, like water, gives both.
All we need do is cry out to Him.

Reflective, I sit
Warm showers playing round my head
Both comfort and sober me, ever reminding my heart
I am broken. I am fragile. I am in need of a savior.

-Theophilus