Poetry

The other day my husband and I were discussing poetry. He does not like poetry, it seems pointless to him. He likes to read and he reads a lot, just not poetry. To me, poetry is another facet of reading; different yes, but good.

As I thought about it I realized that what my husband enjoys is a good story; a good plot with good characters. Poetry is about more than that, it’s about the words themselves. The shapes and colors of the words, the emotions and thoughts and pictures that the words bring out of the reader. You don’t read poetry, you feel it.

Music is like that for a gifted musician. They don’t just play it or listen to it with their ears, they feel it inside. That’s what martial arts is for me, it’s not just something I do physically, it’s something I feel inside. It comes from my heart, not my muscles.

This is what Christianity must become for each of us. It must not be just something we know, but something that we believe and trust; not just something we do outwardly, but something that comes from the heart.

Is your Christianity a set of beliefs in your head, or a relationship with God from your heart?

Rebecca A Givens, 04/2008