Best Theologian Poems
I have lived a thousand lives, died a thousand deaths.
I have loved women unbounded and fathered an army of children.
I have killed and healed, stolen and blessed, fought and fled.
Jew, Christian, Muslim I have been-- Buddhist, Hindu and Jain, too.
I worshiped the sun and Thor, pagan gods galore....
I was atheist, agnostic, Marxist, and often, just indifferent.
I was cruel, I was kind, I was hateful, I was forgiving.
I laid waste to cities and wrote operas and symphonies
and little songs to dance around forever in your head....
I was poet and philanderer, philosopher and philanthropist,
theologian and scientist-- also guard and prisoner, and
many, many times, false lover or the one betrayed....
All my lives were dreams, each slipping away to be forgotten
early in dawn of the next life, none to be recalled until I awaken
in the time beyond time....
I
The Servants of Free Men on the Mayflower
Knew "abundant life" in Jesus, Great Savior
Two servants, too, rose up to sign The US Constitution
Lover of His Morals, Binder of America's First Bible, Jefferson
Perhaps, long before, some foundations cast by Tom Paine & William Penn
II
Then there is Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island
Who paid Native Americans for Providence, new way to get land?
More fortunate than Minister Anne Hutchinson, foe of New England
Because she read the Bible, taught it, and well ... thus expelled
Yet more fortunate than Mary Dyer, Quaker, now Watch at Boston Common
III
Smaller folk prayed for A Great Awakening. It came. Publicist: Ben Franklin
Preachers in the trenches, before two Billys: Charles Finney & Our Theologian
None other than Jonathan Edwards; when he died, on that occasion
His wife wrote her daughter: we weep but thank LORD he was our relation!
IV
The idea of America ... inimitable; Einstein came as Refugee of Distinction
And veterans I'm blessed to know, ennobled by trials and tribulation
We lost Lewis Reynolds this year; a Marine and Man of many an Invention
Your simple research will reveal we owe much to such Fighters For Freedom
And in my church: Walter Ogden, Dick (Tex) Pentecost, Russell Coleman
V
Yes, we may criticize its imperfection ... often without paying a price
There was the bad history with Indians - broken treaties and cowardice -
Yet John Rolfe did marry Pocohontas, many now claim them Ancestors
And slavery of Africans was brutish, but Lincoln busted free of old fears
As did Noble Roosevelt, Carter, & Obama ... celebrate USA in Living Colors
(c) Deo. Happy Birthday America; God empower the peoples and every level of Leadership to fulfill the Great Destiny of America. After all, Gandhi's great granddaughter, Uma, says: "Try to share; you'll have to one way or another."
I’ve been told
“things work out for the best”
in that way each of us
Divinely blessed
God in control they say –
if only Time didn’t hurt…
I believe in life hereafter
I believe no wrong God
can’t have undone; someday
somehow our dear Lord to make
all losses won --
God in control they say --
if only Time didn’t hurt…
God in control they say
though ticking I find unbearable
swinging pendulum a clank and
clunk~ when a heart sunk
too deep one’s despair...yet I
am told, God is always
fair – always there – somewhere
taking loving care
God in control they say --
if only Time didn’t hurt...
No theologian am I
just a common soul, treading, adrift;
questioning if sane to trust in fate --
dialogues with God sounding always
one sided debate --
I believe in love
while more questioning
my faith
God in control they say
your silence pushing me
further astray --
if only Time didn’t hurt...
If only Time didn’t hurt…
If only Time didn’t hurt….
while figuratively hunting
and pecking around me noggin
force hum theme to write about
lo and behold, the solution
stared me right in front
of my little knob nub nose with gentle clout
cuz, as an avid bookworm, the dictionary,
I enjoy expending hours
to drink up etymological history
relating to the origin and
historical development of words
and their meanings.
with no shadow of a doubt
and most times, this animatronic,
the technique of making and operating
lifelike robots, typically for use
in film or other entertainment
dogmatic, enigmatic fugee dooby
brother beastie boy
(actually a mwm) dislikes to flout
his abilities, hobbies, interests,
as aches hike kant imagine being treated for gout
a disease in which defective metabolism
of uric acid causes arthritis, especially
in smaller bones of the feet, deposition
of chalkstones, and episodes of acute pain.
Boot lemme return full circle
to thematic core curriculum aye started to aim
and express gratitude
to the ghost of Noah Webster,
who gets credit yet also blame
if some snide haughty guttersnipe,
some slovenly individual feels snubbed,
and hence, living personage, said descendent(s)
of oblivion, whatever unknown
man or woman to living persons
stake a valid claim
that his/her many generations removed
heir (Harris), and or heiress ancestor (proven
with tangible researched reportage,
then cited with countless
prestigious explorers of English language),
that a daunting scrivener perhaps
even a courtesan or rich dame
rightfully ought to receive the fame,
thus such living relative might
upend the huck cult personality be game
to dare challenge secure historical niche
ambitiously held by Mark Roget (1779–1869),
British physician, natural theologian
and lexicographer. It was released
to the public on 29 April 1852.
The original edition had 15,000 words,
and each new matured edition
of the Thesaurus grew larger.
A worm in the wombs of creativity
Lady Poet "silenced" in a Writers' Community
Jeremiah warned our "wicked" hearts defy good intention
Why point to CHRISTmas? The investment at Crucifixion?
NOTE: One writer wrote, "The heart is the mother of all abominations." Thomas BOSTON. Yes, he was a British theologian but while the heart is also capable of love, consider the thin line between love and lust, marriages & abuses, Nationalism & Nazism, pride and possessiveness, Eros & Pornea. More after Christmas, not now. Shalom, shalom (Please pray or meditate on creating positive vibrations)
Humdumpty was an analyst, a Cambridge Ph.D.,
A noted bio-atomist, whatever that might be.
Indeed, from earliest childhood it was his single aim
To analyze no matter what might enter his domain.
He analyzed his father's watch and next the neighbour's cat.
Ah! Little more was seen or heard of Felix after that.
Astounding learned pedagogues, hard pressed to keep his pace,
Humdumpty grew up daily--in knowledge if not grace.
And then at university his intellectual power
Decimated Einstein and the works of Schopenhauer.
With ease that was amazing he romped a Double First,
And yet, for all his learning, nought quenched his burning thirst.
Despite the storm, and tumult that marked his inner life,
Humdumpty found the leisure to woo--and win--a wife.
He loved her--Oh! so dearly, his idol and his joy!
Alack! How oft our dearest 'tis we ourselves destroy.
One day in stormy weather he raised his eyes above,
And posed himself the riddle: "What constitutes her love?"
One night--to angels' weeping--the dark thought seized his mind:
"By scalpel and analysis the answer I shall find."
Full soon she took a sleeping draught, and when the time was due,
He set about his gruesome task, inspired by love so true.
How tenderly, how lovingly, he cut into her heart.
With what profound emotion he set his spouse apart.
To isolate that molecule in which all love resides
He scrutinized each corpuscle, and did much else besides.
All data was computerized, and ere a while had passed,
A reasonable hypothesis was imminent at last.
How tantalizing is the truth, how far--and yet, how near!
'Twas in the corner of his eye--and then would disappear.
It dawned at last upon him, his efforts would prove vain,
Unless he somehow managed to join her up again.
Of every art that served this end he tried the whole range through.
He first tried biophysics--and his last resort was glue.
Alas, alas, Humdumpty! There is a fateful law:
Some things men set asunder no mortal can restore.
They did not need a hangman or Madame Guillotine.
Before another week had passed, he died of bitter spleen.
Now some say he's in Heaven, and others, he's in Hell.
I'm not a theologian, it's difficult to tell.
For sure, he cut his dear wife up, and who would call that right?
But was it not his quest for truth that brought about his plight?
He Lost Wind Of Her Sails
In the ocean of his mind,
always turbulent,
there sits a Bermuda triangle,
ships being lost, swallowed,
for he was once
a ship lost,
swallowed,
never to be heard
or seen, too,
especially with his ex.
In his coral kingdom,
bright colorful fish swim.
So many.
So many
tangs and angels.
Yet
he is so oblivious to.
It's
the turbulent,
swirling in his mind,
taking precedence,
two passing ships in the night,
lost,
sailing to where,
who knows.
Each without a dock
or anchors,
or rudders,
sailing,
sailing in opposite directions.
He pauses to take a look,
at her ship,
... her.
Still sleek,
her,
... her
anointed nose
highly up in the air.
He blinks.
He knows that look,
especially her diction,
authoritative and theologian.
His mind swirls.
Was that the moon howling?
Or was that her?
It can't be her speaking.
She hates him,
not giving him the time of day.
Or was that his subconscious
fluttering?
The voices swirling in his mind.
His voices from the past
stage fright, still ...
voices that never came out.
She had that effect
on him,
at a passing,
a passage of time,
two ships sailing
in opposite directions
... swelling in his mind.
connie pachecho
6/07/17
The sun is out with its full force
And the hot wind carrying dust
Beats us with grains of sand
Grains of sand and no mercy
They have predicted an El-nino rains
Good child my learned theologian claims
Heavy torrents claims the meteorogian
Taking cue they are clearing the drainage
Be it sunny or rainy.. wind or torrents
I remain calm with an inner peace
Its called knowing that it shall be well
It shall be well with my soul.. shalom
SIR ISAAC NEWTON
Sir Isaac Newton
Seventeenth Century Born
Renaissance Man
Physicists, Astronomer, Mathematician, Theologian
Fall of apple from tree made Newton curious.
He did not accept event as oblivious.
Neither it flew away
nor stood in midway
fell on ground: Gravitation Law discovered by genius.
‘Every action has always an equal and opposite reaction.’
True for Theory of Physics and Philosophical declaration.
‘Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy.’
Above quotes from Newton concluding ‘My powers are ordinary’.
09/16/19
'Clerimerick Couplets' Contest by Mark Toney.
All is quiet
as I exit through the Emergency Entrance
at the local hospital.
I notice a black T-shirt
with a pink ribbon logo
announcing in bold green script
"No one fights alone"
Due to context
I'm guessing we're talking about fighting cancer;
harm taking us away
from health care giving and receiving
we would all prefer
while walking out of,
rather than lying in,
any Emergency Entrance.
But, I am a theologian
by training
and practical parenting experience,
so I'm thinking,
Why do we not also wear T-shirts
reminding each other
"No one loves alone"
Or even
"No one loves to fight alone"
or even just among ourselves,
within our own households
and habitats.
I ponder my way back to humble Yaris,
with automatic electronic nothing,
and on the radio I hear clusters of fighting themes:
mental illness
domestic violence
gun violence
automated weaponry
military fear and threat stress-testing, enduring, stretching, growing
hazing as baptism through alcohol
depression and repression and suppression
acclimation to chronic climates of terror
and quiet climates of ever more dissonance
lack of healing sleep
anger management
fear mismanagement
mutual assured destruction (MADness)
diplomacy by threat and RightWing arms sales
military industries
applied increasingly to personal and domestic disarray,
local terrors,
households
and habitats
going up in flames
flowing under floods...
No one fights alone
just as no one loves peace alone,
and health
and ecological wealth
and ego-resilience
and eco-systemic balance,
harmony,
synergy.
No one can sustain love
while violently fighting
just as no one can sustain this fight
for climates
and cultures
and ecologies
and theologies of health
by thinking we are
admirable
or somehow credible
or even possible
sorting through
and choosing Love alone.
As I exit my car,
now home,
I think
My T-shirt would probably be too wordy,
No one loves to fight disease
and unease
alone.
Especially not God
or Allah
or Patriotic Loyalty to Earth
or wherever we find our
remember to Love messages.
All is quiet
as I re-enter our home.
I seem to be,
in this moment,
alone.
He gave me a strong impact,
with his gift for immemorial gestures;
he embraced the sick and handicapped
he kissed the soil of the nation on his first vist.
As an occupant of the Chair of St Peter,
he brought the world, a message to everyone
his defense for the poor, a substance to carry on
as a church in her journey across cultures.
The awesome volume of his writings,
reveal the kind of pope he was
as a theologian suffused with faith;
as a philosopher endowed with reason.
In his very person, he was charismatic
as a teacher and defender of faith,
he set new directions, left a legacy
and continued the Roman Curia, multicultural.
On themes expounded in his documents,
speeches, homilies and reflections,
he brought the Gospel vis-a-vis the Magisterium
in all spheres that concern contemporary life.
As the first non-Italian pope in 455 years,
since the Netherlander Hadrian VI in 1552
and ever since his election to papacy,
by any measure, he’s a man for all seasons.
Albeit, he’d his disappointments,
his own share of sorrows over clergy in misbehavior –
the scandal of sexual abuse, particularly in this nation,
he remained firm and prayerful as a leader.
In spite of his frailty, Parkinson’s disease and other ailments
he continued his journey with deep faith and sacrifice.
his interreligious relations made a difference,
he visited mosques, synagogues and convened those other leaders.
He canonized saints more than 470 of them,
he beatified more than a thousand men and women.
such a milestone in the life of our Catholicism,
the call to holiness woven in discipleship.
He impressed believers of every faith
with his greatness in many ways;
like one of his favorite phrases,
quoting what St Augustine once said,
“Vobis sum episcopus, vobiscum christianus,”
he celebrated life, helped shape Christendom
with analyses of countless human lives.
Duns Scotus was an enormously important theologian
He significantly influenced Catholic theology, early on,
A brilliant man of considerable influence in Scotland
Doctrines we take for granted were from him drawn.
A thirteenth century Franciscan, he was very erudite
Strange the idea of the dunce cap comes from his name
Though never pictured wearing a pointy-head funnel
His scholarship and philosophy contribute to his fame
Theories he believed came down through the tunnel
He opposed ideas of the Renaissance and Reformation
He would not give up his orthodoxy without a fight,
As far as we know, he was conservative in formation.
Because so little is known of him, much apprehension
He died young, perhaps without a full-rounded life
And since it was true then as in the modern priesthood
We know he never knew the joys of a faithful wife.
THIRD PLACE WINNER
Written March 3, 2022
For the “John Duns Scotus” Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Joe Maverick
Mankind has a great aversion
refusing authority’s commanding rule
thinking they always know best
but in reality they’re not really cool
The human heart is filled with pride
authority has to make pride break
overpowering it to keep it down
showing who’s boss and no fake
God’s the absolute authority
no human one can really compare
for the eternal one is truly king
man’s in comparison’s really bare
But mankind continues to despise
all kinds of authority bar none
not realising God reigns supreme
on the final; day man can’t run!
('No one despises human authority unless he first despises divine authority'
- Richard Sibbes (1577-1635) puritan theologian.)
People have always asked fundamental questions:
Who am I?
Where did I come from?
Where am I going?
Why do I need to struggle to achieve my goals?
Why is it so hard to love and be loved?
What is the meaning of sickness, death, and evil?
What will happen after death?
These questions relate to human existence
They also move one to ask questions about the divine
Because they pertain to Eternal God’s existence
When asked for deeper reflection
They uncover an inner sense of longing for God
They challenge our minds
But the mind answers are not always sufficient
We must become aware of the mysterious yearning of the human heart
God has planted in every human heart the hunger
And longing for the infinite
For nothing less than God
St. Augustine
A theologian from the 5th century said it best:
“Our heart is restless until it rests in you”
How our quest for God awakened
Eternal God pursues us
This spurs us to search for Him whom we were made
The Catechism presents 3 paths
Through which every person can come to Eternal God:
Creation, the human person and Revelation
4162014
I talked with some children a while ago
and asked what they were learning in school.
They were in the second grade or so.
I was surprised to hear,
that humans came from monkeys,
...now , ...isn't that dear?
This is dedicated to those teachers,
and there are a few,
Who teach old and antiquated fables,
unproven hypotheses with fact labels.
I am a Christian, and am interested,
in all facts of science proven true,
Not in lies that are agenda infested.
I have no fear of facts, why do you ?
It is said that when scientists
climb a mountain of learning so fair,
After they struggle and finally reach the top,
they find a theologian sitting there.
Science is the search for truth,
laws proven and acknowledged,
not desperate flaws from an atheistic college.
Teaching outdated hypotheses as fact,
is not science; you ought to know that.
If you have an agenda to prove there is no God,
you may find out differently ,when under the sod.
Well, I think I got your big bang,
you think you're an evolved orangutan,
That first line may be true,
but the second only works for you.
Don't teach our children
the twisted lies you want them to see.
Think what you will,
but leave them out of your family tree.
Evolution is part of the solution, but it cannot cross a class.
Here is a lesson for you.
Take a donkey...
It's in a different class.
A monkey is a monkey....
...and an ass is an ass...
Now be real careful in this matter
or..
you'll evolve into the latter.
. May God be with us all in our search for the Truth.