On Misplaced Grace
At the risk of turning this blog into George’s Poetry Corner, here is an explanation of my blog title.
It comes from a poem that I wrote several years ago. I hate the poem, I find it goes all over the place and is slightly sloppy. I don’t like all those bible references in the poem, but I suppose they reflected where I was at back then. It is a religiously infused atheist poem, or about becoming “nearly atheist”. I did however, love the concept of “Misplaced Grace”, which I stole to give a title to this blog.
An explanation follows the poem:
Misplaced Grace
You sought me out in earnest
who,
when searching for my Truth
did place my hand upon Your Word
and look to it for proof
I left not thine commandments
I made them my daily bread
the burden placed
Your Misplaced Grace
to place Him in my stead.
Jesus to World: "I'm kind of a big deal"
Jesus to World: "I'm kind of a big deal"
I sought you out for answers
when,
I kicked against the goads
my knees were never grounded
though I travelled many roads
Though I left not thine commandments
when my heart began to lurch
I saw no trace
of your Misplaced Grace
to aid me in my search
You left me in the desert
Lord,
to find my own way home
and in those forty days I walked
no mercy was I shown
I left there Thine commandments
in those countless grains of sand
the resting place
for my Misplaced Grace
I hope You understand……
That was the last real religiously themed poem I wrote. I consider it one of my weaker works. I sometimes consider re-writing it and keeping the title but trashing the rest but at the same time I keep every poem I write to remind me of where I was at that place in time.
Misplaced Grace holds a double entendre for me. Originally it was a pun on its own redundancy, as by my Christian definition of grace it is by its nature misplaced or undeserving. I liked to use the expression frequently in my religious days.
Abject Confusion- We've got an app for that.
When I started to “bend with the breeze” I also liked this term for its conjuring of the bible verses in Eph. 2:8 and Gal. 1:15 where we are afforded grace by God and charged with faith and works. These verses are the basis for the doctrine of Sola Gratia, and I like the idea that I have misplaced my grace afforded by God.
I also felt at the time that Grace was a reciprocal relationship, in that by our taking of the faith we afford to God our grace- and as an atheist I would argue that grace afforded to God is misplaced as well. No reasonable person should read the bible and arrive at the conclusion that grace to God is warranted.
So now you know how bad poetry and bad apologetics can lead to a kick-ass blog name.
That’s pretty cool…did you just hear it or coin the phrase. You had said you used to use it a lot in your religious days. You are pretty good with words! That blog name does kick ass!
Kate.
katejohnson77
August 4, 2010
I think I coined the phrase. Hard to tell. Some people from my old church use it quite a bit. I wrote a “youth sermon” about it for my church and gave it in front of my congregation.
I don’t remember hearing it before I wrote it down, but I don’t remember coining it in an epiphany either.
George W.
August 5, 2010
You make my attempts at poetry look really sucky. Have you published any professionally?
1minionsopinion
August 4, 2010
I have never published anything. Well, I did get an essay I wrote in high school published in a teacher’s journal.
Really good story.
I banged out this essay without any research notes overnight to make the deadline and honestly couldn’t remember what I even wrote. My teacher asked me to stay after class and I was like “oh, shit. I’m getting in so much trouble for trying to coast through this class.”
Anyway, she looks at me and says ” George, what mark do you want on this essay?” I look at her with a stunned face. “I don’t know, I think it’s maybe a 75%.”
She says ” I’m having trouble grading it because I couldn’t have written this. This is the best essay I have ever read from a student, ever. Why do you only think it’s worth a 75%?”
“I wrote it in a rush and I think I could do better”, I said.
“Well, I would like your permission to publish it”
That is the extent of my publishing career, other than this blog. I wrote this poem in about half an hour. I have roughly 200 or so poems and songs that I have written over the years, but if you pare it down to my “better stuff”, it’s more like 50-60.
I did some poetry slams and stuff in University, but never felt my writing was better than the other peoples.
Maybe too picky?
George W.
August 5, 2010