Disruptive Grace
By: Dr. Ben Witherington III
Jean R. Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies
Shattering the smattering
Of calm I had created
Grace, a gratuity
Disrupted my day
*
Interrupting the ennui
I kept on feeling
An alien intruder
Stepped in my way.
*
Pacifying the pestering
Voice that kept nagging
I sought out a sanctuary
Any port in a storm.
*
Reluctantly resigned
To divine solicitation
The carols and bells
Beguiled me again.
*
Unbidden, unwanted
Joy overcame me
In spite of reluctance
Immersed once more.
*
Profoundly pregnant
Stuffed with the sacred
I wondered as I wandered
Out the back door.
*
Who sent out the signal
That lured and allured me
Called me and caught me
On that cold day?
*
A Father frantically calling?
A Son prodigally prodding?
A Spirited homing device?
GPS grace?
*
Or was it the familiar
Plaintive lament
Of a newborn child
Who was Heaven sent?
*
Some calls must be answered
Some cries must be heard
Some voices are insistent,
Especially the Word’s.
Love this poem Grace can’t be ignored, though it sometimes is rejected. Grace, grace, wonderful grace coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my soul in unfathomable waves.
“Shattering the smattering
Of calm I had created
Grace, a gratuity
Disrupted my day” Oh so true…and the internal rhyming is marvelous,