Sacramental Nature
by Tim Delong Jr
In a sunset
nature becomes art
and
art becomes blasphemous.
Sometimes I wonder:
Do we paint on cave walls,
and canvas,
and faces
to communicate God?
Or to distract from the carnal holy
Of skinned knees and hurt feelings?
Do we learn
To layer clay over skin?
To worship form over fissure?
You see
I’ve met a lot of people that I like.
Good people.
Godly people.
But I just don’t trust their imaginings of the immaculate,
their take on the timeless.
Like,
I wonder if
Christ came for the nail in his hand -
the thorn on his head.
The smell of leper skin
and taste of blood,
was it sweeter than eternity?
Was the big bang louder than the chorus of hallelujah?
I think
Christ knew that
oblivion
was waiting on the cross,
and
if only for a sweet moment,
humanity too.
About the Author
Tim Delong is a Master of Divinity candidate at Harvard Divinity School where he studies the history of religion in the Americas with special attention to the intersection of Christianity and science. Before moving to Boston, Tim worked as a community organizer in Detroit, a housing counselor in Northern Illinois, and a financial counselor in Chicago.
From the Editor
Want to get in touch with Tim? You can reach him at tdd10@albion.edu