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Kinkade’s Cabin Door or the Potato Eaters Table?
The Son of God does not come to free us
Not from the physicality of this world – broken!
Broken as it may be
Instead he steps through the proverbial door
between Heaven and earth
And he remains
He remains permanently bound up with the stuff of creation
Permanently bound up with you and I
For the sake of this world’s transformation
For your sake and for mine
We paint pictures of heaven that look
Like we’ve commissioned Thomas Kinkade
The lighting is always soft
Like a partially cloudy spring day
The sun’s beams break through
Never overpowering, never dark
Winter, spring, summer or fall
There’s always a sense of warmth
The change of seasons –
If there is any change in seasons – is gentle
We imagine salvation
Like Kinkade paints a cottage or cabin
Nestled in-between lush wooded areas and flowing streams
Pleasure and leisure not shelter from the storm
As if our true life begins beyond the cabin door
But the salvation declared in this book
Conferred upon us by this Spirit
Nurtured in us at this table
It looks more like an early van Gogh
“The Potato Eaters.”
“The Potato Eaters” gather -Together
By single light of burning lamp
Dirty, tired, hungry
Energy has been spent
Spent on a day plowing the field
A day working for their food
The light is dim
Faces are dirty coarse and dark
But we should make no mistake
This is what we were created to do
Before God said this ground is cursed
God instructed till this ground
Before God pronounced tension between she and he
God said he should not be alone
Before God said they will labor by the sweat of their brow
God said the seed bearing plants and herbs are here for you
It is into this world of dirt and sweat
Spit and blood
Bodies and food that Jesus comes
And he does not come to free us
He does not come to take us away
Away from the tables at which we gather
But rather in his stay
He is poured out
He is poured out for our sake
Not to become a bridge to another world
But to be the food and drink that sustains
The food and drink that transforms this life
The life of the world to come
The life that begins today
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I presented this piece before the Reformed Church of America, Classis of Holland of Holland MI on May 24, 2011. It was was prepared and read aloud as part of my oral exam on the sacraments.
no rhyme or reason
the world we live in
is good
it can be
a place of wild
and mesmerizing
beauty
that enchants
the day dreamer
acts as muse
for the painter
or songstress
it can cause the heartbeats of children
to increase pace
at the first signs
of spring
golden yellow
dandelion florets
dance in the wind
and glisten
in the summer sun
the stars give light
by night
as the moon
plays with the ocean
causing its waves
to rise and fall
roses and lilies
bloom
with intoxicating aroma
and inspire the poetry
of lovers
and human beings
at times
act with amazing care
and benevolence
towards each other
and
towards the world we live in
but
the world we live in
can also be a brutal
and desolate place
those same dandelions
that dance in the wind
are an aggressive weed
that take over the farmer’s crop
and increase his toil
the sun that glistens on them
does not let up
but beats down
it contributes to drought
and famine
as rains recede
the stars fall from the sky
the moon is thought to have adverse affects
on the human psyche
while the ocean waves
rise to a colossal crescendo
in the tsunami
and crush
tens of thousands of human lives
human beings
let love die
hurt
ignorance
and hatred
fester
as we use
words
swords
and F-15’s
to terrorize
the lives of others
and time has shown
that no other force in nature
has wreaked as much havoc
upon the rest of creation
as humanity
