[stylist] For what it's worth: Poetic prose post

Wed May 7 02:51:28 UTC 2014

As a former Atheist, Lewis understood that in order to best grasp
Christianity, you need to acknowledge and accept certain facts, one
being the past coupling of pagan and Christian traditions. He also came
from a school of thought, as did Tolkien, that even pagan-like myth can
help explain faith. In fact, without myth, both Lewis and Tolkien didn't
feel you could adequately explain and deal with Christianity. Lewis was
Anglican and Tolkien Catholic, but both believed this track of thinking.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Homme,
James
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2014 2:40 PM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] For what it's worth: Poetic prose post

Hi,
C. S. Lewis, one of my favorite authors, says that one of the big
mistakes Christians make is, and this is my paraphrase, treating
everything as totally black and white. I like how he breaks things down
into examples even I can sort of get.

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit
Pollpeter
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2014 3:35 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] For what it's worth: Poetic prose post

Shawn,

Thanks for the comments. I appreciate you taking time to read it.

When the Catholic church decided to force converts and conquer lands,
many pagan customs mixed with Christianity. In the west, a lot of Celtic
and Germanic traditions combined; in the east, similar events occurred,
likewise with the mideast. When the Puritans sailed to America, they
didn't celebrate Christmas and other Christian holidays for many years
because so many non-Christian customs and practices had intermingled
with the faith.

Most American traditions like the Christmas tree, Yule log, mistletoe,
Easter rabbit and the word Easter, recognition of dead saints on Nov.
first, harvest festivals, etc. can all be traced to pagan traditions.

I agree it's important to understand, appreciate and acknowledge where
our individual beliefs come from. Christianity, for example, was
considered a Jewish sect for centuries until the Catholic church decided
to shape a distinct religion. And in fact, the Catholic church modeled
it's structure after Roman government.

And when you study other religious texts, you discover very similar
wording as the Bible. The Egyptian Book of the Dead uses phrases like
bread of life, the body of god, and many texts refer to a king of kings.
Obviously, the Jewish Torah is pretty much the Christian Old Testament,
or rather the other way around, as is the Muslim Koran. In the ancient
Egyptian religion, Isis gave birth via immaculate conception, and in the
Viking traditions, Thor, I believe it was him, it was definitely one of
Oden's sons, hung on a tree for three days, was bled, died and came back
to life.

I could bore you with more details and examples, but this makes my
point, grin.

No sermon here either nor am I trying to prove or disprove anything;
just interesting information.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jacobson,
Shawn D
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2014 7:11 AM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] For what it's worth: Poetic prose post

Brigit

Thanks for sharing.  I found it interesting.  I was trying to understand
what the events leading to the poem were.  I also read some of the back
and forth about the poem before reading (which clued me in on some of
the symbolism you used.  Very interesting, and, yes, reading this as a
man is different.

I agree that Christianity and paganism are closer together than we as
Christians like to admit.  I think it picked up a lot of indigenous
religion as the faith moved through Europe.  I was in Sunday school last
week where we talked about the life of Jesus and I realized that we'd
understand better if we had more knowledge of the Jewish nuance of his
life.  We as Christians have robbed ourselves of much through the sin of
Antisemitism.

Not a sermon, just a thought.

Anyway, it was a nice piece of work.

Shawn

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit
Pollpeter
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2014 4:02 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: [stylist] For what it's worth: Poetic prose post

Wrote this a while ago. I actually forgot about it, but thought I would
share it with you lot. I see it kind of, sort of being in the vein of
Bill's and Chris's pieces, dealing with the earth and life in their own
ways. Spoiler alert: Will explain it's intent afterwards for those who
want it, smile.

Sacrifice

Holding our breath, we plunge into the darkness. Suspended, heartbeats
bruising our soul, we are nailed to this action. The horizon is vertical
and pale, divulging no secrets. We must wait, fettered to time.

Signs of relief speak a secret. They whisper promises swelling our
hearts. We're chambers unable to contain this jubilee, and yet we must
wait. Secrets only told by touch. Our hands, our lips, our bodies shout
in unison; a long awaited chorus.

Sickness molds me into a vessel. I rejoice in the waves of nausea.
Swirling dizziness is a precious gift. The tender, sore spots cause a
smile to spread. My body radiates the secret. We count the weeks in
silence, scared to commit this joy to words.

Exhaustion weighs me down. A fuzzy, haze incapsulates me. Ross's warm
hand strokes my back as the world sinks into the depths of my slow,
steady breathing. I surrender to my captor. Our countdown almost to an
end, I revel in this slumber to strong to avoid.

Colliding with reality, the secret has changed. Held safe, warmth is
love , but a crack breathes this secret back into the ether. Wetness is
the kiss of betrayal. Eden's tranquility soiled by rebellion. A blood
sacrifice is required.

Wounds scabbed over threaten to release a payment. Circle of thorns to
clarify this sacrifice. Like a wound in the side, blood pours this
secret from my vessel.

Author's note: I would consider this poetic prose, meaning it has a
poetic lyricism about it, but is structured as prose. It does not hold
to any poetic forms. This is nonfiction, though very much an internal
dialogue with hints of scenes, or actions. It's about the joy of finding
out you're pregnant but afraid to be overly joyful about it. In the end,
there's a miscarriage, the sacrifice required. I briefly use some pagan
and Christian symbolism. This is a much more emotive piece. I see it
loosely relating to the archeology thread as blood is required as a
sacrifice to the earth, that blood is needed for life, and I was called
upon to make that sacrifice, hence some of the pagan symbolism, smile.
It also has strong allusions to Christian symbolism too, though
Christian and pagan symbolism agree a lot more than most want to admit,
grin.

Bridgit P

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