Summer's Requiem

One of my favorite poems is Caedmon's Hymn
                         You can listen to the old poem here.....

Ruins of Whitby Abbey, where Caedmon lived and worked.

Isn't that rich?     :-)

Now we must praise Heaven-kingdom's Guardian,
The Maker's might and his mind-thoughts....

I love the imagery; 
     I love the alliteration; 
          I love the cadence and the crunchiness of the language.


We, however, don't speak Old English anymore.... 
The closest would be the folks in Iceland. 
                                                            Seriously!

But we can use these techniques in modern poetry.  Old English poems were composed of lines divided in half by a break, a caesura, a marked pause.  Then instead of rhymes, alliteration was the key to how the ancient bards crafted their words.  They also had a rich stock of word images called kennings.  For example, instead of referring to the ocean or the sea, they would call it the whale-road.

Fall foliage at peak in Pocahontas County, W.Va.

Here is an attempt, written after seeing pictures of the first fall colors touching the woods back east and the auroras lighting up the skies in the north.

Summer’s Requiem 

Now I will tell,        icy tintinnabulations,
Mighty mysteries,        bitter majesties,
Aerie’s icy displays;        autumn advances
On wintry wings,        whispering in silence.
Summer’s salvo        long silenced;
Flowers fade,        long nights fall.
Nightlights’ silent scream        nature’s darkly flowers,
Auroral displays,        breath-taking sky dancers,
Drape heaven’s roof,        Raven’s road,
With majesty and wonder,        mighty Lord’s Mantle;
Then kisses icy kinfolk,        snow-bound kith,
And sings remembering—        Summer’s requiem.

 

- D. Benning

Full sky aurora over Norway, early 2015, by Sebastian Voltmer
Source: http://dailyawesomeness.com/a-full-sky-aurora-over-norway/

 

Some say "Autumn"

Glade Creek Grist Mill, Babcock State Park, WVa.

Some say "Autumn" as a special word: "Autumn!"— 
   a joyous, gaudy, rainbow-sparkled display of excessiveness; 
   a right regal regaling of sight and sound, sense and smell—
and they would be right.

For off in the forested hills and hollows, ridges and rills 
   the sharp, crisp breath of Summer’s End comes, 
    tickling, trickling, traipsing, trilling round each leaf and limb,
        sheaf and stem,
   till Autumn’s playful palette paints the earth.

But some say "Fall" as a synonym— 
    and mean that Autumn merely is a time for leaves to drop,
         to plop, to droop, to tiredly slump,
   then mass together in ignoble heaps upon the lawn—
and they would be right.

For in the sun-encrusted valleys of the Far Out West, 
   Summer’s End comes not with biting breath,
   Summer’s End comes not with wintry whispers.
Rather Summer over stays her welcome.
Leaves grow tired and yellow, dusty and brown, 
    mottled, molded, mangy skeletons
                 of Spring’s once bright display, 
   each longing to shrink, shrivel, fade and drop,
   or be driven hard upon a dry north wind.

Yet here and there, and sometimes in between,  
   a sigh of "Autumn" comes and touches tenderly a tree or two, 
   and kisses hedge or  bush,     
        leaving blush and hush and innuendo of Summer’s Grand Adieu.

Some say "Autumn" and then say "Fall"
                   as if there is no difference there at all. 
    But rosy cheeks and jewel-struck hills
                  speak loudly to correct that error.
As Summer retires, renouncing and relinquishing her reign,    
    Autumn proudly receives honor from lesser Fall.
     —And that would be right!

- D. Benning

 ___________________________________________________

 

This Poem set and performed in Aug, 2013.

Ohiopyle Park, Pennsylvania.  Photo by Michael McCumber.
http://www.michaelmccumber.com/pictures/ohiopyle-autumn20/

Darkness, Darkness—All Around!

Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
                  Isaiah 60:1

Darkness, darkness—all around;
  Leering, glaring, jeering, staring;
Weighing down upon my soul with noise and fear.
  Nothing hopeful found that cheered
       my wayward soul from dust adhered.
      
Then crashing in my endless night;
   shouting, crying, routing, vying;
Awakening up my startled soul with hope and Light.
   Something bright untied the blight
       that chained my soul to endless night.

"Awake, awake; rise up and shine!"
   beckoning, shooing, reckoning, wooing;
Pulling up upon my soul with Light and Life.
   Nothing could resist the knife
       that cut my yearning soul from strife!
      
"How can I shine?  I have no light!"
   Pushing, prodding, bushing, rodding,
Surrounding all my soul with His eternal blaze.
   All evil fled before His gaze
       that opened up my heart to Heaven's rays!

I can then do all things for my ALL does strengthen me;
   No more groping, tumbling , no mere coping, bumbling,
But running in His Light to do His perfect will.
   And now all things work to fulfill
       His glory and my salvation—my soul does thrill!

- D. Benning

A Sonnet of the Woods

Of sunset ev'nings in a quiet wood:
The gentle whisp'rings of that quiet place
Is filled with peace for all who there seek good
And quietness of heart from Love's embrace.
The dark'ning canopiéd tree tops tall
Stretch forth their boughs as if to catch the sun;
While far off music from a waterfall
Enjoins itself to deep'ning night as one.
Upon the canvas of the fluid sky,
An Artist paints the changing hues of eve,
Which caught upon the stream intensify
And upward bent with clouds a vestment weave.
Then with parting glance and silent tear,
The earth now slumbers in a sunless sphere.

- D. Benning   (Spring, 1978)

Technically, this is a sunrise overlooking Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe.

What is Heresy?

Some have been arguing whether a particular preacher is a heretic or merely has bad doctrine.  I sure don't want to start parsing theological points like that.  But suffice it to say that heresy is something that will pull you away from God, from Jesus as Lord, from genuine salvation and from running the race and receiving the crown.

Blatant heresy is *easy* to detect: "You can become 'God'!" or "There is no 'god'" or even "Everyone gets to go to heaven regardless of what they believe."  I say *easy* but not really.  Eve was snookered by a similar line.  Heresy detection only works if you are up to speed with what God has said AND if you are listening to His Spirit.

But sometimes *heresy* is not just in what is said or taught; it comes in what is left out.

Rick Warren has said: “I’m looking for a second reformation. The first reformation of the church 500 years ago was about beliefs. This one is going to be about behavior. The first one was about creeds. This one is going to be about deeds. It is not going to be about what does the church believe, but about what is the church doing. I am working toward a second Reformation of the church which could create a Third Great Awakening in our nation or world.”

You cannot emphasize behavior without addressing doctrine. That's why Paul wrote to Timothy that he should "Watch your life and doctrine closely; persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers." (1 Tim. 4:16)

I would argue that each of the "great awakenings" and reformations came about because there was doctrine—not dry, theoretical doctrine, but Truths that affected the soul and the mind and the will and the affections of the people. Doctrine is to point us to God and show us who He is. When we see God correctly, we fall down in worship (Isa 6) and we obey His commandments. (Jn 14:15) 

How can we love God whom we do not see? We read His word. Our understanding forms our beliefs which is what doctrine is.  Doctrine is the tangible handles by which we know and love God.  We worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.  Doctrine is Truth!

Yes, doctrine divides. It divides the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goats, the good from the bad.  And to leave out fundamental, basic doctrine is thus arguably heretical.

The following is an interesting caveat, not any great theological insight, but illustrative of what I believe is the importance of doctrine:

It is interesting to note that the word "doctrine" derives from the Old French and Latin words for "doctor." As that word was coming into our language, "Savior" was translated into Old English as "Hæland." That is, "Healer." The Old English idea of Salvation was pictured by Health, Wholeness, Wellness; Someone who brought a Cure was a Healer or a Savior. (This is supported by Isa 53 and other passages.) So it is quite fascinating that Salvation ("Healing") is given to us through the Savior ("The Healer") and the Cure is Doctrine ("the Doctor").