The Third Death

Well. That was unexpected.
The light up there,
right at the moment

your heart ceased.
There it was.
Just like the last two times, when

you looked down at your own dead body
more in curiosity than fear
that it lay so perfectly still,

And looked up to the light waiting for you
and began to rise,
the last of your sins falling aside

like shrapnel, an explosion
of unexpected, and certainly unearned,
love.

You rise closer. The light still vague,
undefined, yet warm, bathing you
in it’s promise

and you pray that this time,
you will reach it, and not fall back
into the heaviness of mere life before life.

About this poem

This one came through a convoluted path. As I meditated last night and this morning on the Lenten work for today, which was “light”. I guess my mind went to a different place, thinking more about the lightness we feel when we have shed particularly pesky sins from our life. We feel that lightness because we aren’t carrying that burden around any longer, and there is less between us and God with each sin we slowly strip away.

But I was also thinking about the three resurrections in the bible. First Lazarus  then Christ, next… those who believe and follow Christ. Three is a special number throughout the bible. One of completeness and power, the best known “three” is the Trinity of God, Christ and the Holy Spirit, but there are many others.

And from that I added the little known fact, one I don’t talk about much, that I have nearly died twice in my life, and had the “near death experiences” that you sometimes read about, floating above my body, looking down on it, and looking up to a light. Both times I wanted to rise, but instead (evidently) being called back to life here on earth. Both times, I was happy to be back, but at the same time, vaguely unhappy that I had not continued to that light, so warm and beckoning.

And somehow, all those things simmered in my head and ended up as this poem.

Tom

PS – the painting/photograph is one I did that is a watercolor about to go on display at a local gallery. It is called “The One True Cross.”.  I picked it for today because… a) it’s a spiritual painting, and… b) the yellow made me think of light.

About these Lenten Poems

My friend Cathy Benson is on to something. Instead of doing without for Lent, she is doing MORE with a prayer project that is thoughtful and caring.

Giving up something for Lent is a church tradition, not a biblical command. It was designed to get our minds and hearts right as we approach the holy week and Easter. It’s a good spiritual discipline.

But I think a spiritual discipline of doing something more is also a powerful way to prepare our hearts for Easter. The Methodists, through their “Rethink Church” initiative have come up with a photographic way to do this (see below). I am going to add a poem with each image for the lent season to help prepare myself. Feel free to glom on to the idea, visit the blog and read, or share your thoughts and prayers.