Visions
Our Radical New Testament
Down through
the long, winding corridors of time,
people, especially women,
have longed for personhood.
Oh! To be valued more
than a cheap pair of sandals!
Voices crying out of the depths!
There were Important People
and everybody else.
"Make way! Make way for the Prince!
Make way for the King!
Oh! Was your little child trampled?
What of it?
You can bury what's left
in a shallow grave
with all your hopes.
On a good day,
you might be tossed a coin.
But while this was going on,
The Apostle Paul was
greeting Priscilla and Aquila
just like they were people,
the man and the woman alike,
his helpers in Christ.
Phebe, his sister in the Lord,
women as well as men
husbands and wives as well.
In the pagan world only the
high born women
counted for much, if then.
Medea in The Aeneid
who killed herself
and her children
just showed how little
women possessed any sense.
The Christian's treatment of women
and portrayal of women
was utterly radical,
relative to the times.
We fail to notice this
because Christianity has so
humanised our society.
We take these standards
for granted
not recognizing
their Christian origin.
the long, winding corridors of time,
people, especially women,
have longed for personhood.
Oh! To be valued more
than a cheap pair of sandals!
Voices crying out of the depths!
There were Important People
and everybody else.
"Make way! Make way for the Prince!
Make way for the King!
Oh! Was your little child trampled?
What of it?
You can bury what's left
in a shallow grave
with all your hopes.
On a good day,
you might be tossed a coin.
But while this was going on,
The Apostle Paul was
greeting Priscilla and Aquila
just like they were people,
the man and the woman alike,
his helpers in Christ.
Phebe, his sister in the Lord,
women as well as men
husbands and wives as well.
In the pagan world only the
high born women
counted for much, if then.
Medea in The Aeneid
who killed herself
and her children
just showed how little
women possessed any sense.
The Christian's treatment of women
and portrayal of women
was utterly radical,
relative to the times.
We fail to notice this
because Christianity has so
humanised our society.
We take these standards
for granted
not recognizing
their Christian origin.
Comment On This Poem ---
Our Radical New Testament
Our Radical New Testament
