Tangency

Yesterday, 7 September, I was baptized in the Rhine. I thought I'd test whether anyone is following this blog by posting the poem I read at that occasion. And also because I actually do want to share it with you...

-Hans Peter

Tangency

When photons curve;
when all ends succeed in meeting;
when tangency is not defined
as touch so briefly fleeting
but schoolchildren learn its definition
as the eternal intersection
of the surfaces of two spheres;
or, more richly,
"tangency (touching): the wiping away of tears."

This will be the presence
of the Present One,
changing everything.
The leopard and the fawn,
the Lion and the Lamb;
a great and glorious dawn,
the knowledge of I AM.
A ubiquity of plowshares,
for nations do not train for war
and need their swords no more.

But now Earth - our round Earth -
wrapped up in decay,
in misery and pride.
Spinning recklessly,
not wanting to be touched,
rolled up like a scroll and
sealed with the folly of human
selfishness. Few realize
that there is none to stop
this dizzy turning, none
who can unravel evil,
none who can break the seal.

But blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
Behold! The Lion of the tribe of Judah,
the Root of David, has conquered!
And he is worthy to open the scroll,
and to break its seals.

And the Lion stood before the enthronement
of the ever-present One,
A Lamb, to all appearances dead,
slain and bled, bred only to be sacrificed, except -
in its eyes flashing! the Spirit of God,
the Lamb that was dead but is alive!

as vast as the universe may be,
it does not exceed the mystery
of this Lion-Lamb.
God poured out, Immanuel,
the servant utterly obedient,
the beginning of the righting of wrong.
Blind see, lame walk,
when He who Is is with us.
We live rightly, one toward another,
when Christ makes right
what has been broken -
for he came and loved. Greater love has not been seen:
that he gave his life for us.

Let my life
be a manifestation
of your salvation (making whole),
and a following of your word:
let me live in right relation
to my neighbor and my Lord.

Give thanks!
Give praise, go forth, your world
turned right around,
living at the intersection
of heaven and earth.
Belijden is doen;
doen is liefhebben,
let me need and know no other
than my Lord, my all in all.

When photons curve;
when all ends succeed in meeting,
whan tangency is not defined
as touch so briefly fleeting
but I AM is with us,
then he shall wipe away our tears.
Till then let me live
always at this intersection,
by the power of your breaking through
loving men and loving you.
Come, Lord Jesus,
world without end,
Amen.