Foreword
Number Five
I find myself looking at a fifth collection of poetry. Five years now it's been that I've taken all the poems written over a year and compiled them into a collection published online.
It's interesting going back over the poems across the collection -- the early ones betray what can only be called naïve optimism, an almost aggressive belief that the world can and will be a better place, without so much of an inspection as to what state the world might actually be in. This later progresses to a point as close to nihilism as I get, one of realizing that there are lots of shadows and clouds in the world, and getting caught in the rain without an umbrella is a soggy experience, best not repeated. But oh yeah, Jesus saves and worry not, but the words there are much more repeated in a hope that might not be fully convincing. And now, looking over the most recent collection, it seems I've reached a point that I realize the world can suck, people can be mean and nasty and all those bad things, that naïve optimism won't cut it and will only get burned, but nihilistic musings upon shadows and darkness won't help either, and realistic hopefulness and joy, drawing power through and from Christ, is a way to not only cope, but to thrive.
For as those who claim to be followers of Christ, it is our foremost task to shine with His love. Not to judge, for we are not all knowing (ah but how easily does such judgment come), but to love, unconditionally. Not romantically love -- Christ is not suggesting we make out with every person we meet -- but love in the sense of the Greek word agape, God's love for humanity.
This is of course much easier said than done, but it's something worth keeping in mind as one progresses through life. Everyone you and I see in life, every single one, no matter what station they might occupy for the moment, has a soul. We all have souls. In that sense we are all equal, no matter what trappings of position or power might save our bodies from otherwise nakedness. True humility stems from that realization. Even humility can be brought down into a contest though, a holier-than-thou pissing match, as it were. Pride is and remains one of the seven deadly sins, and it's easy to run right into it when avoiding all the others. But grace, divinely inspired (and asked for -- it's crazy how things work but sometimes all it takes is a willingness to ask, a realization that hey, I'm human, I can only do so much and sometimes I just need to ask for divine aid), can save us from that.
In any case, the past year can accurately be called the most interesting I have yet lived, and certainly one of the most educational so far. I hope and pray that I will continue my growth as a human being, and that I will continue to be comfortable in my skin, so to speak, and glad at having had this opportunity to be human on this planet earth in this third millennium.
Oh, and I must close once again stating that I can't entirely claim these poems as mine, because I don't choose when to write them or what they say. It's much more along the lines that I have to go write down a poem and it writes itself, and then I read it and go "oh, that's nice." It's strange like that in that I know neither the day nor the hour when a poem might hit, but when it does, it comes out and it all somehow works. Curiously I can't force them, because then they don't work. It's been like this for over five years now, and the poems I've written that I consider my favorites and the best of my work (if I can call it that) have all been written in that sort of manner. In any case, I'm grateful to God for providing me with the means and ways to write and publish the poems online.
God Bless and Merry Christmas,
Dominik Rabiej
December 25, 2004
Mattawan, Michigan, USA
Dedication
I dedicate this anthology to Jesus Christ, conquerer of death and fountain of joy.
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