A Child Again

Song of Innocence and Experience

When I was a child I walked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

I walked like a man, Thought like a man, Reasoned like a man. Wise, Strong, Hard, Generous, Upright.

Lover of law and land, So completely that I murdered an innocent man

I was struck blind.

In blindness I saw Who I really was.

I saw that to be a child Is the highest calling — To be honest, open, Dependent, Broken, Scarred and scared With no shame,

Completely helpless, yet Every need provided. Nothing to offer, yet Completely loved.

As a child, I was known fully. Again a day will come And I will know As I am completely known.

Now I see through a glass dimly, Then I will see face to face.

Blinders shall fall from my eyes A second time I will know what I have already known I will become a child again.

This poem was written in imitation of Khalil Gibran’s genius work, Jesus, Son of Man.

It is a reworking of Paul’s story in the book of Acts, some words his own from 1 Corinthians 13. I find Paul to be a conundrum, and as best I can figure from literary context, he did a lot of his thinking out loud to a scribe who recorded his words. He did not leave the world neat and tidy theological constructs, he created a tangled ball of brilliance that may never fully be unraveled.

#takingmyownmedicine