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 Review #4818916 |
 |  | Between the Lines of Faith  [E] Between the Lines of Faith  |
| (4.0)| Hello Kaytings . Thank you for entering this month's contest.
As the official Judge of this contest, I have the following comments to offer for "Between the Lines of Faith " Congratulations on being the Runner Up in this months contest.  Did you answer the question?Out of the four problems that the question suggested might frame humanity's problem you chose false perspective or as you phrased it confusion. Your poem articulated the difficulties in understanding what God and the Bible might be saying in complex and often confusing situations. Your fundamental faith is in a God of love who can walk into complexity and stay, you looked not for a clean theology so much as presence and wisdom, the kind of truth that knows when to whisper when shouting only wounds. Use of quotes, proof-texting or AI - could I hear your voice?This was your own work and fits your general poetic style of articulation demonstrated in your portfolio. How consistent was your argument?Basically, you argued that God is love and the truth is always more complicated than simplistic theologians articulate. LGTBQ+ was a big background issue as well as the status of women and the fact that many modern issues like AI, climate change, systemic racism, and mental health were not properly addressed at all in the timeless texts. This was a woke poem from the post-Enlightenment Western era of liberals and the politically correct. My thoughts on the substance of what you saidYou went for 'false perspective' as the major problem of humanity. The solution was the kind of truth that can demonstrate its worth by incarnating into the situation and demonstrating its worth with gentle wisdom rather than loud brutality. You spoke of God being just and Holy but really you preferred to simply trust that God was love. There was a lack of consequence here because you suggest biblically defined sins can never be clearly recognized as such in a complex world. Instead, the sins of our age became things like LGBTQ+ exclusion from churches, barriers to women's leadership, systemic racism, and other stuff defined by the commentators of the times we inhabit. You uncritically accepted these recent ungrounded definitions while remaining confused about what the bible might say about each of them. Theologically the biggest problem with your poem was the failure to recognize sin and the necessity of the kind of redemption that Jesus provided. We only know that God is love because He proved it to us with his presence, death on the cross for our sins and resurrection in the life of Christ. Your poem assumes salvation but does not explain how the penalty of our sins has been avoided. I got the impression that your hierarchy of understanding was defined entirely by your own experience. You are not in pain nor especially poor. You are more confused about what God might be saying to you today rather than condemned by His messaging. So this was sincere rather than objective and personal rather than considered. I also think that you are far from being the only person in the Western world with this kind of perspective. In this sense, you were a voice of the age which I entirely disagreed with but which I felt obliged to recognize as speaking for the many rather than the few. There was a femininity about your poem which was both interesting and challenging. It demanded gentleness and wisdom rather than loud masculine confidence about doctrine- It wanted the reader to wrestle with complexity and nuance rather than etch clear commandments in stone. It demanded a love that was blind to all faults and never judgmental. You desired clarity but believe the world is messy and that God does not explain Himself very well. Maybe this confusion was rooted in the fact that you wanted God to simply accept you as you are without truly wrestling with who He is. Despite the above, I tend to agree that a great many rush to simplistic answers in Job-like situations where they cannot possibly have all the answers. Also, God is big enough to handle our doubts and questions. My favorite lines in what you wrote were these: Not easy answers. Not a clean theology. I'm looking for presence. For wisdom. For the kind of truth that knows how to whisper When shouting only wounds. I'm looking for the courage to say, I don't know, Without letting go of what I do know. Mechanical issuesYour free verse poetic style is sometimes more prosaic than poetic. But it was an engaging and interesting way to answer the prompt. Thanks again for entering. LightinMind
 My review has been submitted for consideration in "Good Deeds Get CASH!" .
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