IVP - Strangely Dim

Cedar Journals

by David A. Zimmerman

I spent a week recently at Cedar Campus, a camping facility associated with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. I was serving as staff for "Encountering God," a study track for college students. I drove there alone, and I drove home alone, but in between I ate, played and bunked with a bunch of people I'd never met. Being a neurotically social person, I found my transition into camp life difficult, and I caught myself doing the type of writing that I rarely do--journaling, for example, or in the case of today's post, poetry. I feel like such a hippy.

I present these poems for your amusement, but keep in mind a couple of warnings:

1. These poems don't rhyme, so don't lose sleep trying to make songs out of them.
2. I'm no John Donne, so don't hold me to a poet's standard. I couldn't bear the scrutiny. To quote another would-be-poet, folk singer Jewel, "Please be careful with me; I'm sensitive, and I'd like to stay that way."

***
Tuesday, May 16, 2005
The Chaos of Water
I am an island surrounded by water.
Water frustrates my efforts to extend beyond myself.
Water erodes my landscape
threatens to whittle me down to nothing.
I am reined in
and rained on
by water of my own mind
chaos of my own creation.
And I sink.
And I dissipate.
And I am carried away.

But God's Spirit hovers over the waters.
And God speaks
"Peace, be still"
And the waters recede.

God separates the ground from the water.
God puts the water in its place.
God puts me in my place
And calls it good.

Wednesday, May 18
If Adam Fell, Why Do I Hurt?
It hardly seems fair.
I didn't do anything to him,
And now I'm

dispossesseddislocateddisheveleddisrespecteddiscombobulated dishonoreddisgusteddisguiseddischordantdisreputablediseased disengageddisturbeddisinteresteddistantdisillusioneddisappointed

Let's face it: I'm distraught.

I could blame those who hurt me.
I could blame those who betrayed me.
I could blame those who corrupted me.
I could blame this world that forsakes me.
But it hardly seems fair.
They may have hurt me,
But they didn't hurt Adam.
And we can all trace it all back to Adam.

Still . . .

They did hurt me.
And I suppose I have hurt them.
And Adam is nowhere to be seen.

So . . .

Is Adam our greatest enemy,
or our greatest excuse?

***

My exploitation of superhero movies continues; I'm working on a discussion guide for Batman Begins that I hope to post at an online magazine in July; in the meantime, the same magazine is considering whether to post the discussion guide I wrote as a companion to my book. Trust me--you'll hear all about it when something happens.

I'm biting my fingernails in anticipation of the Fantastic Four movie--here's hoping it doesn't stink.

By the way, my thanks to Rick Stilwell for linking his blog to my Pop Matters article "Cape Fear." Rick has renamed and reconceived his blog, now known as "Caffeinated Adventures." Always worth reading.