October 22, 2008

A Poem

What pleasure is there in purity?
What happiness in goodness?

Does man joy in justice?
Have men rejoiced in uprightness?

'Tis true, pleasure lies in sinfulness
but in justice, right, and good,
the heart leaps, the soul soars
as it does the will of the LORD.


!Noah!

2 comments:

John Richard Ahern said...

Seriously, Noah, I'm only saying this because you'll be a lot happier off for it, but, not a bad poem, but your theology is really distressing me. :P

Have you read the book of Ecclesiastes? God doesn't just leave physical and sensual pleasure and joy as an option, but, through his grace, He *commands* us to enjoy and take pleasure in physical things. Food, sex, and money are things God in the Bible commands us to enjoy through His grace. So, pleasure lies not in sinfulness (although, of course, it can be abused), and more than just the heart or the soul can leap as it does the will of the LORD.

But, as I said, if it weren't so Platonic, I like the Psalmnodic feeling you capture.

Иơαħ said...

Yes, I have read Ecclesiastes.

It's because I know so horribly well how to misuse pleasure in my life that I wrote this. It may sound depressed (Platonic?), but that's my reality.


!Noah!