Sitaram
08-09-2005, 07:01 AM
I was fortunate enough to receive some correspondence from a professor of literature who is also deeply Christian in faith.
I more or less realize that a truly devout Christian can never really feel comfortable with the way I think or write.
It was just a quick note, really. They made one statement which got me to thinking.
No poem is pure poetry -- but that is the goal. Much prose contains
poetry, but it's locus and focus is not poetry.
Poetry cannot live without a foundation of crystal -- the brilliant,
unseen adamant of Truth.
With that foundation, the poet not only lives, but plays.
Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the
Father but by me. Hard words. Adamant words.
I may be misinterpreting what they are trying to say, but I got the impression that they feel that a foundation of truth is a prerequisite to that which is truly poetic and that only Jesus is the truth and the way.
I understand and respect such a belief.
I am close to age 60. I was raised with no religion whatsoever, never brought once to a "house of worship" or given even one hour's worth of "Sunday School" instruction. In my early 20's, I was baptized in a Greek Orthodox Church and entered a monastery for one year as a novice. I realized that monastic life was not for me, so I left without making vows. I remained an active, practicing Orthodox Christian for 20 years, but after that gradually drifted away from it, partly because I became conscious of what I considered to be weaknesses in the doctrine, and partly because I became conscious of weaknesses in myself which I felt I could never overcome.
I wonder whether the professor's message is suggesting that I be more of a Christian. Or perhaps the message is that since I am not a Christian, I have little hope of acquiring that foundation of truth which will empower the poetic.
I know that I am at a point in life where it is no longer easy to change or transform oneself.
I have studied and practiced so many religions now, that I doubt if I can really join any of them. I think one becomes jaded after too much immersion in too many religions.
I greatly admire the poets Wallace Stevens and e.e. cummings, who do not seem very Christian to me at all.
It is supposedly true that Wallace Steven's became a Roman Catholic on his death bed, but there are those who dispute that.
At a certain point in life, we must accept ourselves for who and what we are, and what we were. Not everyone can be a Christian and not every Christian can be equal in stature and nature.
I suppose a devout Christian feels it their duty to always include some message or reminder of how essential it is to embrace the Christian faith.
I imagine that sometimes Christian beliefs can be an impediment to creative writing.
When I was in college, before the time that I became Greek Orthodox, I fell in love with the song "Suzanne" by Leonard Cohen
Biography of Leonard Cohen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Cohen
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/leonard-cohen/82890.html
Here is the part that really got to me:
And jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said ’all men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them’
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you’ll trust him
For he’s touched your perfect body with his mind.
But when I became Greek Orthodox, I felt it my duty, whenever I sang that song, to change one line from
Forsaken, almost human
to
Forsaken, all so human
since any suggestion that Jesus was not human is technically a heresy.
Certain performers have also changed the lyrics of "Suzanne."
http://www.leonardcohencroatia.com/wbai1974.php
Sometimes a line gets changed. Sometimes one changes a line, sometimes another singer is not comfortable with a certain version of a song and they will change it. For instance Joan Baez, I have heard her sing »Suzanne« and she completely changes the song. She doesn’t like the metaphysical possibility of somebody having their bodies touched with somebody else’s mind, so, that offends her anti-clerical position. It sounds religious to her, it smacks of something that she doesn’t embrace. So she changes it around to, like, I don’t know, touched your perfect body with my thumb or something. I don’t know exactly what it is [laugh] but she moves it around that way. But that’s okay.
http://www.lyricsondemand.com/j/joanbaezlyrics/suzannelyrics.html
And you want to travel with her,
And you want to travel blind.
And you think you'll maybe trust her
'Cause she's touched you,
And she's moved you,
And she's kind.
I felt compelled to change the lyrics of another favorite song of mind to be more "politically correct"
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/johnnycash/ifiwereacarpenter.html
If I were a potter
Would you still find me
And carry the pots I made
Walking beside me.
(the original says "walking behind me")
I more or less realize that a truly devout Christian can never really feel comfortable with the way I think or write.
It was just a quick note, really. They made one statement which got me to thinking.
No poem is pure poetry -- but that is the goal. Much prose contains
poetry, but it's locus and focus is not poetry.
Poetry cannot live without a foundation of crystal -- the brilliant,
unseen adamant of Truth.
With that foundation, the poet not only lives, but plays.
Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the
Father but by me. Hard words. Adamant words.
I may be misinterpreting what they are trying to say, but I got the impression that they feel that a foundation of truth is a prerequisite to that which is truly poetic and that only Jesus is the truth and the way.
I understand and respect such a belief.
I am close to age 60. I was raised with no religion whatsoever, never brought once to a "house of worship" or given even one hour's worth of "Sunday School" instruction. In my early 20's, I was baptized in a Greek Orthodox Church and entered a monastery for one year as a novice. I realized that monastic life was not for me, so I left without making vows. I remained an active, practicing Orthodox Christian for 20 years, but after that gradually drifted away from it, partly because I became conscious of what I considered to be weaknesses in the doctrine, and partly because I became conscious of weaknesses in myself which I felt I could never overcome.
I wonder whether the professor's message is suggesting that I be more of a Christian. Or perhaps the message is that since I am not a Christian, I have little hope of acquiring that foundation of truth which will empower the poetic.
I know that I am at a point in life where it is no longer easy to change or transform oneself.
I have studied and practiced so many religions now, that I doubt if I can really join any of them. I think one becomes jaded after too much immersion in too many religions.
I greatly admire the poets Wallace Stevens and e.e. cummings, who do not seem very Christian to me at all.
It is supposedly true that Wallace Steven's became a Roman Catholic on his death bed, but there are those who dispute that.
At a certain point in life, we must accept ourselves for who and what we are, and what we were. Not everyone can be a Christian and not every Christian can be equal in stature and nature.
I suppose a devout Christian feels it their duty to always include some message or reminder of how essential it is to embrace the Christian faith.
I imagine that sometimes Christian beliefs can be an impediment to creative writing.
When I was in college, before the time that I became Greek Orthodox, I fell in love with the song "Suzanne" by Leonard Cohen
Biography of Leonard Cohen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Cohen
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/l/leonard-cohen/82890.html
Here is the part that really got to me:
And jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said ’all men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them’
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you’ll trust him
For he’s touched your perfect body with his mind.
But when I became Greek Orthodox, I felt it my duty, whenever I sang that song, to change one line from
Forsaken, almost human
to
Forsaken, all so human
since any suggestion that Jesus was not human is technically a heresy.
Certain performers have also changed the lyrics of "Suzanne."
http://www.leonardcohencroatia.com/wbai1974.php
Sometimes a line gets changed. Sometimes one changes a line, sometimes another singer is not comfortable with a certain version of a song and they will change it. For instance Joan Baez, I have heard her sing »Suzanne« and she completely changes the song. She doesn’t like the metaphysical possibility of somebody having their bodies touched with somebody else’s mind, so, that offends her anti-clerical position. It sounds religious to her, it smacks of something that she doesn’t embrace. So she changes it around to, like, I don’t know, touched your perfect body with my thumb or something. I don’t know exactly what it is [laugh] but she moves it around that way. But that’s okay.
http://www.lyricsondemand.com/j/joanbaezlyrics/suzannelyrics.html
And you want to travel with her,
And you want to travel blind.
And you think you'll maybe trust her
'Cause she's touched you,
And she's moved you,
And she's kind.
I felt compelled to change the lyrics of another favorite song of mind to be more "politically correct"
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/johnnycash/ifiwereacarpenter.html
If I were a potter
Would you still find me
And carry the pots I made
Walking beside me.
(the original says "walking behind me")