Faced with the messy complexities of life,
its non-linear correspondence
with the claims and expectations of the saints—
old tensions, compounded by emergent situations,
strain the orthodoxies of faith.

Then there are those situations that appear unresponsive
to the entreaties, expectations, or prescriptions of the faithful.
Concurrently, the credibility of the religious establishment wanes,
in the face of recurrent scandal, or just in time,
undermining the certainty of some—leaders and laity alike.

They just don’t know anymore what is fixed and unyielding.
If it turns out that any pillar of orthodoxy was movable after all,
how can we confidently lean on the remaining pillars?
So, treading carefully with the scriptures,
as if something unexpected could upset their fragile coalitions
of people with amorphous convictions,
they emphasize only the ‘safe generics’—
uncontroversial do-good injunctions,
the sort motivational speakers ply.

For some, even these are neither wise nor persuasive,
certainly not demonstrating the power of the Spirit.

Diverging Responses

Others, doubling down,
advocate a literal ‘verse-by-verse’ understanding of absolutes,
subordinating the messiness of life and all non-conforming facts
to rigid orthodoxy.
They claim, not that they know, but that the Word says so—
preaching to the choir, in contexts where little is contested,
where claimants feel little need
to prove from their lives the efficacy of their claims.

Yes, it may be true that experience is not a good metric for verity,
but pray, tell me—what is your experience of the Holy Spirit?

Yet others, though vested in those same absolutes,
even with some experience of the Spirit’s power,
accept and acknowledge the gaps,
the difficulties that earthly life presents.
Seemingly at peace with life’s repudiation
of some of the claims they have grown up on,
they draw from experience—
that our understanding or application (or both) of absolutes may be flawed.

An acknowledgment that, when rooted in humble surrender,
can open up a whole new universe to the seeker—
eliciting sympathy for those lagging on the continuum of faith,
beset by recurring doubt.

These may say:
“The world is messy,”
“but God is,”
“and God is good,”
“and God is mystery—humbling seekers, deserving worship.”
So they find peace that transcends knowledge and understanding.

The Few Who Are Sent

Then there are a few others—a smaller number—
who, having experienced the grace
of a supernatural encounter of some sort,
occurring in a time and place of the Sovereign’s choosing—
maybe on the road to Damascus, usually off the grid—
are sent to bring a much-needed revelation of mystery
to the body writ large.

These are understandably resolute: “I know a man,” they may say.
So they hold that the absolutes are, well, absolute—
that little is diminished in the Lord’s deeds,
age to age He remains—eternal and unchanging.

For those who have seen Him, theology is secondary.
If it works in practice, why sweat the theory?
Detached arguments about doctrine may excite some,
but they are not deal-breakers here.

These, well-meaning,
are wont to cast their experience as normative,
a cause-and-effect sequence that anyone can enter into,
who follows due process.
They may think outliers are simply unable to replicate their experiences.
Some ignore the non-confirming outcomes,
others attribute failures to a faith deficit
or some mechanical failure—
not praying enough, fasting enough, something enough.

The Reality of a Broken World

Yet the reality of a broken world, like gravity,
weighs on us all at some point and in some way—
manifest in the partiality of human knowledge.
Like treasure in jars of clay,
so who heals miraculously in one instance
may be stumped at the next heart-wrenching need.

Or even in the same instance, not all are healed,
despite fervent appeals on their behalf.

Oh, the depth indeed
of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God—
whose ways are indeed unfathomable.

Alas, doctrine is a help in the face of our weakness,
remaining steadfast when humans falter,
when experience is a fading memory—
providing guardrails in uncertainty,
sustaining faith and the faithful,
across vast expanses of often-hostile desert
to the oasis of that next revival.

For I indeed know, whom I have believed.

Is it the case?
That some, having experienced supernatural grace
an encounter with the power of God
In a specific time, place and manner

Become for the rest of the thirsting faithful
Avatars of our ultimate glory
Hints of ‘things hoped for’
Evidence ‘of things not seen.’

Their testimony confirming
Our Lord yet exists, an awesome God
Rewarding present-day diligent seekers

Does it follow then?
That others yearning, yet lacking
these experiences of God
Incline to assumption, that those so-blessed
Must know or do something special
To have experienced such grace
‘breaking the plane,’ as it were, of the everyday natural
affirming that there is indeed an ‘other side’ of this veil
Through which many see their Lord, in partial occlusion.
Either because, in the words of the prophet, He ‘hides himself’
Or because of the smudge of sin.

So some seek out for copy, the mechanics of the faith
of saints blessed with experiences of uncommon grace
what do they do? when do they do it? and for how long?
Just anything different, to which we may attribute their experience
Which others can adopt, in pursuit of their own encounter.

We may even project upon them
Our expectation that, knowing something others don’t
they become conduits of the grace they have experienced
Anytime, anywhere, at scale.

Yet, though deep truths may be gleaned
from the disciplines of other faithful
What truths at their best, point us (back) to Christ
And frequently to the ‘ancient paths.’

It is so like God
needing none of the praises of men
to do what He does away from the limelight
frequently for the ‘least of these.’
So the superior sovereign
designates times, places and subjects
As he always has, in His mercy, wisdom and truth
From the perspective of eternity.

And disappointment may yet await
who puts his trust, invests his hopes
in mere mortals, gifted though they may be.
who are blessed to have seen the glory of the King.

That which is offered,
pursuant to an obligation.
That which is done,
to fulfill righteousness,
conformant to established statute.

All of that is sacrifice.
Law is the context of sacrifice.

But that which is done,
responding to given instruction,
personal, and frequently singular;
like ‘rise, kill, eat’
or ‘you, give them something to eat;’
That is obedience.

Relationship is the context of obedience.

Sacrifice may be repetitive, if useful ritual;
in response to unambiguous precept,
maybe a codified injunction.

Obedience is that which is done,
in response to present instruction,
received by any of various means:
impression upon the trained heart;
direct inspiration from Holy Scripture etc.

Obedience may call, away from the familiar,
and to the uncomfortable;
eliciting doubt: “Me? Now? Where? How?”

The demands of sacrifice,
are usually uniform, at least for a people,
but obedience may ask,
something of one person,
a different thing of someone else.

Sacrifice is what we daily do,
alongside brothers and sisters,
our ears open, our hearts ready,
for the prompt to which

Obedience is the only meet response.

For many a Christian,
the devil is that nebulous malevolence
The polar, if inferior opposite,
of God and good.

Who once was of consequence,
in the courts of eternity,
But was expelled into time, for a time.
For attempting usurpation
Of the order of heaven
and of the God of creation.

And that He now exists, full of wickedness,
forever opposed, to the purposes of God,
and to the agents of those purposes.

Yet much remains unknown

About the present daily impact,
the ongoing earthly outworking,
of these concepts and precepts,
of clear and present evil 

The believing western mind,
reason above all,
defaults skeptic, or agnostic at best,
regarding this idea, of immaterial evil,
collateral to everyday life.

Relegating the thought,
to the realm of myth,
the preoccupation of the backward,
raw material maybe,
for the imagination of her story-tellers.

For many a non-western believer,
never far removed, from the personal stories,
affirmative of the essence,
of contemporaneous spiritual wickedness,
there is the understanding, or at least the acceptance;
That, well,  ‘things happen.’

That there is a spiritual realm; vivid and ambient,
on the other side of a rather porous boundary;
humans transact with other-worldly entities,
who can, in-turn meddle, in human affairs.

Yet that spiritual realm 

a foggy construct for many,
even for those who accept its reality.

Populated by indeterminate actors,
whose powers are subject, of much conjecture,
governed by rules, unclear at best.

What is the geography of this other-world?
The physics of this spatial-spiritual world?
Is it responsive to gravity, for instance?

or to any other material constraints?

And what can ill-intended immaterial forces do;
To humanity in the material realm?
And are all vulnerable to the machinations of darkness?
Or are they exempted
Who are pledged to the rider on the white horse,
eyes are like blazing fire?

Many questions for sure.
And should we even try,
to answer all or any?
Or simply rest in the understanding
That the secret things belong,
to the LORD our God,
Yet those things revealed,
are for us and for our children.

Why do I carry on,
as if my father did not own,
The cattle on a thousand hills
Or the kingdoms of this world

As if the Son, just upped and left:
Or his life was cut short,
His work unfinished;
And His own without help(er).

As if He did not promise,
that His departure was my good
because he was sending
Comfort and strength
The world had not seen

And why do I stand aside,
Though bought of blood
casting furtive glances towards the throne,
as if the veil survived the cross,
as if His invitation had qualification,
Or my access was conditional.

And why do I not always see,
with the clarity of this moment?
El-shaddai, all-sufficient;
I have made you too small in my eyes,
Oh Lord forgive me.