Ash Wednesday: what if we have completely misunderstood Repentance???
Adventures in New Testament Greek: Metanoia
Repentance, to be sure,
but of a species far
less likely to oblige
sheepish repetition.
Repentance, you’ll observe,
glibly bears the bent
of thought revisited,
and mind’s familiar stamp
–a quaint, half-hearted
doubleness that couples
all compunction with a pledge
of recurrent screw-up.
The heart’s metanoia,
on the other hand, turns
without regret, turns not
so much away, as toward,
as if the slow pilgrim
has been surprised to find
that sin is not so bad
as it is a waste of time.
–Scott Cairns
JD I love this poem, thanks for posting it. I want to turn from half-hearted doubleness towards a wholehearted oneness, without regret – maybe that’s metanoia?
Your turn rob– send me a good poem. ;0)
OK JD, I humbly accept & take up the gauntlet. Never done this before, but here goes:
One
and done
I’m all in
Never mind too much sin
All has been forgiven
So
Broken
Busted
Fragmented
I’m done
Yet I choose
To turn back again
to
The One
-(c) rob still