Poetry and Theology

After reading what some of you have contributed (a handful, but enough) I managed to cobble up my prepared version to be put down in writing for the exam later. Here is an excerpt:

We can already go about or develop skills in bringing forth simple statements about those truths without having to bother with an extra burden of learning to appreciate a sense of poetry... Yet, are these the only ways which God speaks to us, namely through the discipline of theology and other related fields? Does God only speaks to us a theologian or a moralist? Can God also speak in a manner like a poet which can show forth His divine inspired Word that theology also speaks about?... Poetry can offer an opportunity for the hearers to get in touch with the mysteries of God which normal message can't.... in poetry, what eye and ear perceive and hear make us aware that there is more here than meets the eye and ear. The images of poetry speak to startle and puzzle us, to provoke us and cause us to think... One only has to read the poem of passionate love of St John of the Cross, The Dark Night, where he was daring to mix and use imagery of human passion and, at times, even of erotic love, in describing the vision of the soul's communion with God... Getting-down-to-earth also means that it would be an area which poetry can, in a more effective manner, articulate dimensions of religious faith through a form of theology that arises from a fragment of conversation, a visit to a cathedral, a memory of a friend or a family member, a biblical figure or text.. Poetry,... gives us theology and the expression of faith in a different voice and offer another way by which God also speaks and make his presence felt.. Because of the incarnation, God has come down among us as the Supreme Poet that resounds through time till now, that has offered a poetry which is radically different from other religious verse of other religion. While they speak of a poetry that portrays of a search for God, the Judeo-Christian religion speaks a poetry of a God who searches for us instead, where He takes the initiative. In this poetry, it is the voice of a Supreme Being who is crazy with love for his people and each one of us.

The above is by no means perfect and could end up a lot different on the day of my writing it out on the exam itself (depending on my atrocious memory). Nonetheless, I wish to thank all who have helped out in this little exercise and may God continue to keep you all in His love.

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Football and Poetry...

Tonight, as I am writing this, perhaps around half the priests here in this Collegio are in front of the tv in our TV room watching the match between Man U and Barcelona in the finals of the Champions League. The match is playing at the Stadio Olimpico just a few miles north of here in Rome, but I am totally unaffected by it all.

First, I have a few more notes to read up tonight before I call it a night, notes that are crucial for my exams next week. Second, it is not my soccer team playing (am still a Spurs fan...). Lastly, I needed to put this down else I won't get to write anything much later.

I need to work out an answer scheme to one of the exam preparatory questions which goes something like this:

Theology and preaching need to be down-to-earth. It does not need poetry. Discuss.

I already have some ideas on how to tackle that question and, generally, I am inclined to say that poetry can play an important role which will help theology and preaching see things afresh so as not to stay always to abstract thesis. A genuine poet, with the right theology and preaching will be able to make the common seem strange and the strange common. So, there. That has been my preoccupation for a while and needed only the closure this coming Monday when I put all that down on paper. I do have to do another surprise question on the exam day, though, which I have no inkling on what I am to write on. That is why it is called a surprise.

Meanwhile, there is also some semblance of poetry in the game mentioned above, as the players need some poetic movement and coordinated playing if they want to win the match. I welcome your views on my question I am currently working on and, so, the comments box is now open...

(pic - William Shakespeare, National Portrait Gallery)

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