In Dec 2001, during a meeting, I wrote a poem. It gets requested a lot and I am now seeing it pop up on other blogs - and without a link. So here is a retelling of the original poem and a new home for it. Its called "Give Me A Story". And in case you were wondering . . yes, it was written in the middle of a mission conference and but it was not written out of frustration regarding the people around me. The tension had more to do with the human desire to sum up God's ways and our inadequacies in doing so.
Give Me A Story
you want a statement to sum up the mission of God
go ahead
find your statement
make one up to help you
feel secure inside your safety cage of words
belted in by cords of cliches
locked up by logos lifted from sunday school memories
but give me a story
give my friends a story
so that they are not sentenced to meaningless lives
dont give me a story that I can easily believe in
give me a script that I struggle to understand
that stretches my faith,
that demands life insurance
give me a story that will rip me from my career
and pummel me into a quest beyond my capabilities
i need something worth dying for
i have most of my life left to give
but I need a story worthy of my investment
give me a story that I can touch
and smell
a story with real people
a story with a face.
a story with my face
my role
my place
my script
because I am
preselected to be a player
in this story that rolls its plot out in front of me
likearunawaycarpetunravellingfasterthanicanrun
in more directions than I can predict
in more colors than I can comprehend
a story that woos out my potential
and calls me
out of myself
to be who I really am
give me A story
give me THE story
give me MY story
tell me that God is bigger than you
BIGGER than your statements of ink
BIGGER than your powerpoint animations
than your projections of numbers
that make you impressed
but that make God stoop
give me a story that
makes me gloriously
a l i v e
to the purpose of God
makes me run without breath to keep up with His spirit
and at the same time
inviting me to
dance slowly
erotically
with
God
in an
end
les
s
m
o
m
e
n
t
of warm passion
nesting me in peace
and safety
tell me the story in new words
so that I dont trip over lame phrases of impotence
so that my mind does not vanillarize
over trivial expressions
used mindlessly by millions
who use words to steal mystery
from a transcendent God
who speaks freshly
with new mercies every morning
!surprises!
that awaken me from sleep mode
that spark in me new thoughts
dreams of impossible feats
daring adventures
miracles of the Almighty
performed by the hands
and prayers
of backstreet
backstage
people
in goodwill rags
you want a statement?
go ahead
i dare ya
double-dare ya
to box up The Omnipotent
to catch the Spirit of God
to nail the Son
on a cross-word puzzle
go ahead and try
but I wont hold my breath
and you wont hold the mission of God on a bumper sticker
Andrew Jones
Colorado Springs
December 2001
