No More Leaving

by Hafiz

Some point

Your relationship

With God

Will

Become like this:

Next time you meet Him in the forest

Or on a crowded city street

There won't be anymore

"Leaving."

That is,

God will climb into

Your pocket.

You will simply just take

Yourself

Along!

Step it Up, Adventism

"It is clearly taught in the Scriptures that the wearing of jewelry is contrary to the will of God." (SDA Church Manual p. 176)

I found this quote today during a search in the SDA church manual on the church's stance on jewelry. I wasn't planning on agreeing with the church on this issue, but I guess I never thought it would be this bad. Frankly, I'm disappointed and ashamed of the SDA church right now.

I'm not disappointed because I want the freedom to wear jewelry or because I was hoping to find allowance for body piercings and a new pair of diamond studs. I'm disappointed because the Seventh-day Adventist church is claiming to know the will of God is every situation regarding a certain issue. Oh please.

I would love to write about how unclear scripture is regarding jewelry. I would love to cite the examples where the prodigal son was given a ring by the Father, or where in Ezekiel 16 God adorns the bride with jewels. I would love to write about how 1 Timothy 2:9, the verse used as evidence against jewelry, includes braided hair in the same admonishment, so it would be foolish to reject jewelry without also rejecting French braids.

But let's be real. These things don't matter. Earrings, necklaces, bracelets, hair, and clothes are going to neither condemn nor save you. The way to salvation is Christ. Even if we called every form of adornment a sin, cutting them out would not give us salvation.

Instead, we need make sure we are running from the things that separate us from Christ's salvation. Things like playing God, prideful condescension, closed-minded study of scriptures, self-interest, and how about claiming to know the will of God in every instance?

I'm not saying the Adventist church has separated itself from God. I'm not going to avoid setting foot in an SDA sanctuary for fear of being judged. But I am disappointed and hurt by the church that I grew up in--that I learned truth from.

Step it up, Adventism. You're better than this.

Psalms

i.

I wander through dark alleys at night.

I pick fights with shadows in moonlight.

Where is the sun?

Every god I see

is made of glass or circuit-boards

mass graves or power cords.

Where are you, God?

When I eat, I hunger for you

because I know your feet are not shod

with the red sewers of genocide

and the golden stars of human pride.

If you still care

please speak the words

I’m still there.

ii.

I woke up falling

first through streaming clouds.

I screamed out loud.

My mouth was dry.

I looked back at the sky.

Forgive me, Lord

but there was no reply.

I looked down while cities became larger

waiting for your voice to say

no more.

You gave me no choice.

I woke up on the floor.

iii.

I watched the sunrise

from the summit’s eyes.

The frost on my jacket

clarified into droplets

when the glare hit it.

The night was cold

but its grip grew old.

My bones were rattled with chills

and my eyes spoke vigils—

praying to see.

Now the day is an infant

and though it cries to me

it brings the joyful siren

of new life.

iv.

I am the creator

of a great tragedy.

See how the words are greater

than I can bear

how the air is dense

with the awareness

of my errors.

I am the conductor

of a choir without accord.

I construct discord.

Hear how my lyrics destruct us

how the best pages are lost

from my capstone opus.

You are the healer

of a world without connection.

Feel how you sew vessels

together across seas

how you wrestle to appease

our thirst for your affection.

v.

This plane is climbing

in a thunderstorm.

I feel like the wings are torn.

Every sky-flicker is finding

myself in greater light.

My face feels like the accumulation

of electricity and adrenaline.

It looks peaceful.

When the doors open

I can see my breath billow in the cold.

I can hear nothing but the thrashing

of high speeds.

It sounds peaceful.

When I jump out

I am sliding across a great membrane

tilting forever away from the door.

It feels peaceful.

Today you are a nylon God

who upholds me.

vi.

I am held by a rhythm.

Like with the sigh of a forest

I am immobilized within

a movement of sound

in

out

in and out

in then out

I breathe like the ocean tides.

Your rhythm is my moon

drawing air from my side.

I have joined a festival of drumming.

It beats a blessed discussion.

I am quickly becoming

an instrument of your percussion.