Author Archives: Brad Hepp

Dos and Dont’s

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

GOD’S LOVE AND KINDNESS IS BEFORE AND ABOVE ALL

I have a deepening impression that our obedience and disobedience to God are the result of whether or not we believe that God is reliably loving and kind.

Most recently, this impression was strengthened as I contemplated Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7. As I see it, he’s recounting a history of Israel rejecting God’s promises and provisions.

I also think of the Sabbath. God tells Israel that they can take it easy on the seventh day, and seventh year and in the jubilee year. He will provide! Keeping the sabbath was first and foremost a matter of believing God’s amazing promise and provision. But almost immediately, Israel turned the delightful provision into a duty.* 

Just now, I looked back at Genesis chapter 1. God’s first action toward man is to bless and give.

GOD IS GOOD, but large swaths of Christianity concentrate more on dos and don’ts than on God’s goodness.

*[I must confess that I understand how that could happen when the first thing out of the gate was a disobedient Israelite getting killed for picking up sticks on the Sabbath…. I’m trusting God will enable me to understand this some day]

____________________

#dosanddonts #godsgoodness #acts7 #genesis1 #blessing #sabbath

(background image by Jan Mesaros on Pixabay)

Simon and the New Program

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

[In my crawl through Acts, I finally broke free from chapter seven (Stephen’s speech), and am now starting to think about chapter eight. Why did Luke tell the story of Simon? How does that story fit in the bigger story? I REALLY DON’T KNOW YET. Some time ago, I concluded that one of Luke’s (the writer) main themes is “The Fruit of Generosity.” So, in the following trial gloss, I’m starting to consider how Simon’s story might further the theme.]

SIMON AND THE NEW PROGRAM

Simon liked attention, and he lived in a city where people paid attention. They were impressed with his power. One can assume he parlayed this power into personal prosperity. Philip came along, announcing and demonstrating a greater power. Like an MLM junkie, Simon jumped right into the new program. Then, to advance quickly to the pinnacle of his new pyramid, he proposed to purchase power from the apostles. The apostles rebuked him: “This program isn’t what you’re used to. It was developed by a God who gives freely, generously, sincerely, and at a high cost to himself. Those who enter the program are empowered alright—they’re empowered to follow God’s example. Don’t insult God. Get with the program!”

— Brad Hepp, 9/21/2023

Pool-Jumping Sermon

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

I FEEL SORRY FOR PREACHERS

Imagine studying Scripture for many hours during the week, and then having to preach a sensible, unified, nice and tidy sermon on Sunday.

So much of what you saw in the Word, what intrigued you, what reminded you that God is much bigger than your comprehension, that God’s ways are not yet your ways…. So much that you admire in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…. So much of what drove you to be a preacher… must be left behind. You may not understand it yet, although you’re intrigued. It may not fit what you carved out as the sermon’s “big idea.”

And so is born another good but unsatisfying sermon.

SERMON SIDENOTES

I have long thought that preachers should at least make room in their sermons for sidenotes. They might sound like this:

“SIDENOTE! There was something in this verse that really caught my eye. I don’t know what to do with it yet, or even if it’s all that significant. It goes like this….”

“Now, back to the main point….”

By using such sidenotes, a preacher could model a healthy, humble amazement at God’s revelation.

#homiletics #preachingmethod #sermon #sidenotes

Seeing Symphonies

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

As I work through posting a year’s worth of poems, I land on some where I can’t remember what prompted the poem. This is one that is ironically opaque to me.

It doesn’t help that the only thing I wrote on Facebook when I posted it was, “The first thought in my strange mind this morning…” Indeed!

Everyone’s Friend

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

I’m finally reading Anne Frank’s diary. I’m a slow reader, so Sadness will hang around the next few days. She’s not my most welcome guest, but surely as wise as they come.

Almost every time I walk with Anger, I realize that Sadness would conduct me to a better place.

Note: I should use the following image as a background, if and when I get a copy with enough resolution:

Country Curate

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

On a friend’s post, my sister wrote, “I love that photography can help us really SEE the world. My mom taught us to look for those tiny bits of beauty that are often overlooked. Brad Hepp, you took that lesson to heart!”

My sister says,
“I think of you,
Of what you took to heart.”
What she says is right in part; 
God make it wholly true!

#bitsofbeauty #overlooked #individualsmatter #countrycurate #vasevine #clematisviorna #poetography

Dumb Criteria

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

Of all the questions I ask about my reading, the least important is “How quickly am I getting through this book?” That habit is left over from years of perfectionism, and of having to read what others assigned to me, instead of what I chose to read.

I’m a slow reader. There, I said it. But I’m happy to report that God uses the little I’m able to read to change me.

#falseguilt #perfectionism #howtoreadslowly #jamessire

One Can Only Pray

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

I cannot comment too much on this poem, except to say that it expresses a curious, abiding concern for someone I observe but don’t really know. I have no basis to intervene, but I’m free to pray. God knows what to do.

#prayer #vulnerable #godfather

A Crude Comparison

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

Inspiration comes at many times, and in many ways.

Back before I got the job at the library, I told one of my friends that what I really wanted was to get a job walking around White Rock Lake picking up trash. She probably thought I was joking. But I told her that partly in grief. Several years of free-lance work had given me the freedom to walk many miles every day. It was a time of tremendous growth, as I was able to listen through the Bible repeatedly, along with other books.

So, I got the job at the library. I thoroughly enjoy helping patrons, and God is using it to grow me in new ways. But every day, one of my favorite things is to walk around the library property picking up trash. Believe it or not!

#atonement #communityservice #hewhoknewnosin #2corinthians5v21 #romans5v8

Colonel Shakealeg

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Just now, reading Anne Frank’s diary, I got to the part where she laments that her new roommate, Mr. Dussel “has turned out to be an old-fashioned disciplinarian and preacher of unbearably long sermons on manners.”

My mind goes back to 1967 or thereabouts. My folks are hosting some traveling preacher or missionary in our Puebla, Mexico home. The guest is reputed to have a military background. He’s Colonel This or That.

The fine Colonel gets the second bed in my room. He seems nice enough. I sleep the solid sleep of a young boy, probably straight through the Colonel’s military-grade snoring.

It’s time for breakfast, but I’m still dreaming, even after Reveille has played in the Colonel’s head.

He comes over to the foot of my bed. Taking an ankle in each of his pulpit-pounding fists, he shakes my legs up and down. I awake to his cheerful “Rise and shine!”

It’s Colonel Shakealeg’s first order of the day.

— Brad Hepp, September 10, 2023

Eremoneutics

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

[This title is a combination of Greek erēmō (ἐρήμῳ, meaning wilderness, desert) and “hermeneutics” (the art and science of interpretation, especially of the Bible).]

These days I’m doing a lot of puzzling about the relationship of words and events in the lives of Moses, John the Baptist, and Jesus. Consider how the following words figure in the announcement of Moses’ and Jesus’ ministries: wilderness, voice, fire, sandal. Add in the fact that Jews were looking for a fulfillment of Moses’ promise that “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen” (Deut. 18:15). They were bound to be looking for similarities between Moses and Jesus.

My 21st century brain wants to nail down logical, definite relationships between the men and their stories. But is that even appropriate? Is it possible that 1st century Jews were content with an unanalyzed, but harmonious gumbo of coincidence?

Please understand that the previous paragraph is not a denigration of biblical characters and writers. It’s simply that I want to really understand how they thought.

Bible students are taught “don’t make parables walk on all fours.” In other words, don’t assume that every aspect of a parable represents something in reality. But we’re tempted to ignore the advice. We get to the parable about the Rich Man and Lazarus, and we want to use that parable to map out Heaven, Hell, and eternal destiny. We need to be careful.

So, my last paragraph is a respectful pondering of the possibility that commonplace wisdom about interpreting parables may extend to interpreting other biblical forms.

(background image by Kordula Vahle on Pixabay)

#hermeneutics #johnthebaptist #moses #jesus #fire #burningbush #wilderness #voice

Word to the Wise Guy

When you go to poke fun
And the response isn’t glee,
Make your very next words
An apology.
— Brad Hepp, 9/7/2023

Commentary

I have often observed a kind of bullying behavior: a man or woman, girl or boy is easily stressed; less easily stressed jerks take advantage of that person by “kidding” them and then criticizing them when the “kidding” is not taken in stride.

Perhaps this is why I so much appreciate the Geigerism “Kid Up!”

Kid Up

Still Pondering

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

PONDERING THE UNFATHOMABLE
King David’s blessed man meditated “day and night” (Psalm 1) and Mary “treasured all these things in her heart” (Luke 2). These two passages provide my model of humble, intellectually honest pondering.

I assume that we please God more by pondering his words and ways than by pontificating on them. As a man of limited intellect and porous memory, I take shelter and comfort in this assumption.

The background image for this poem is a “map” of the Mariana Trench produced by the Nasa Earth Observatory.

#psalm1 #luke2 #mary #pondering #marianatrench

Warbling

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

IN PROCESS IN PUBLIC
Occasionally, I run into someone clearly wiser and more spiritually mature than me who says something like “I read all that you write.”

When I hear that, fear momentarily grips my heart.

Such people smile, and don’t judge. But if I can see my own foolishness in the recent past, such people can see it in my present condition. Being seen can be scary.

This poem is an attempt to deal with the embarrassment of being in process in public.

___________________

#embarrassment #humiliation #publicwriter #tmi #justification #babybird #inprocess

(background image by Steve Bidmead on Pixabay)

The Poet’s Poet: Another “Well, DUH!” Moment

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

These days I am very deliberately reading and listening to Scripture as though it were my first time. This is made easier by my leaky memory.

Yesterday, listening to Acts 10, I got to the part where hungry Peter is given a dream that involves “unclean” animals being lowered to him from Heaven in a large lunch sack. The purpose of that dream—as Peter learns—is to instruct him that, “I should not call any person common or unclean.” (Acts 10:28 ESV).

Here’s the “Well, duh!” epiphany: the Holy Spirit uses metaphor to communicate truth. In this case, he uses lunchmeat as a metaphor for people. The Holy Spirit is the poets’ poet.

Another Poet’s Poet
I was thinking about how Emily Dickenson’s “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” is related to this realization. Dickenson comes to mind because she was also referred to as “the poet’s poet.” Poetry relies heavily on metaphor. It also relies on an artful, thoughtfully-timed presentation of the truth as opposed to blunt propositions. I see that in Dickenson’s poem “Tell all the truth but tell it slant:”

Tell all the truth but tell it slant —
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind —

Truth is sometimes dazzling, sometimes dreadful. In either case, it must be conveyed artfully.

Since my [thinking in this post] was suggested by my reading of Acts 10, let me apply more of this thinking about the Holy Spirit as poet to an earlier passage….

The word “slant” has been on my mind as I spend time observing Stephen’s speech in Acts 7. He’s recounting history his listeners would be familiar with. But he’s telling it in a way that makes troubling points. He’s putting a “slant” on it. It is largely by discerning the slant that we get his message. It is by his artful telling that he persuades those who are willing to be persuaded.

Stephen wasn’t your run of the mill talker. Rather, he was “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” He would naturally “sound” like the Holy Spirit, our Poet’s Poet.

— Brad Hepp, September 2, 2023

MOSES, JESUS, STEPHEN… ME?

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Stephen, full of faith,
The Spirit, grace, and power,
Served the Lord one glorious hour.

When Freedmen apprehended him,
He spoke to them of Moses,
Sent by God to set his people free.

He recounted how the Jewish slaves
Rebuffed their would-be liberator,
But let him lead them out, eventually.

Short-lived, this being led….
They got it in their head
A cow could rescue them instead.

It’s no surprise, this people unwise
Would not heed Moses when he said,
“Watch for another like me to rise.”

Angry, the list’ners let rocks fly.
Like risen Jesus, Stephen would die,
A loud “Forgive them!” his final cry.

— Brad Hepp, 8/17/2023

Commentary

In my crawl through Acts, I just arrived in chapter seven, and pitched my tent there. This poem is an early reflection on what I’m seeing as I look around my new camping spot.

(background image is a photograph of Rembrandt’s “The Stoning of Saint Stephen.” That is one of Rembrandt’s earliest paintings.)

Marco

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

I feel self-centered in the tears I shed at hearing of my friend’s death. I’m sad for his wife and children. But mainly, I’m sad for myself. Marco Ciavolino was one of my greatest, most faithful encouragers for over three decades. He knew how to point out my strengths, and downplay my weaknesses.

Back in seminary, Marco was recognized by students and professors as “Mr. Creativity.” I naturally attached myself to him, and spent many a long night working with him on his creative projects. While I was the beneficiary, he would never fail to recall our collaboration as though my self-interest were some kind of faithfulness.

Over the years, I could count on him calling me within minutes of my emailing or texting him with a question. From what I hear, that’s how he was with everyone (see Marco’s obituary).

So yeah…. I’m sad at my loss.

God, make me more like him.

ALSO THIS…
Today, I was thinking of a crazy invention. There’s nobody who celebrated my crazy inventions quite like Marco. I WANT Eternity. I must have Eternity. Only in Eternity does Marco laugh approvingly. Only in Eternity does Jesus celebrate His little brother.

AND THIS: SURPRISED BY PIZZA (One of my many good Marco memories)
Being stupid and forgetful has its charms. For instance, there was that Saturday afternoon many years ago….

I was working in my home office when the doorbell rang. I opened the front door, and there was the Domino’s guy, already removing a large pizza from his insulated delivery bag.

“Brad Hepp?”
“That’s me.”
“Here’s your pizza.”
“I didn’t order pizza.”
“Well, somebody ordered it for Brad Hepp and they already paid.”
“Okay. Thanks!”

I set the pizza on the kitchen counter, wondering how this could have happened. Did I dare take a bite? What if someone was trying to poison me?

That’s when I remembered a phone call I’d had just 30 minutes before with my buddy Marco, who lives up in Maryland. Like me, he is a webmaster. He was calling to share the great news that he had just sold a domain name for $10,000.

“Wow!” I told Marco. “Congratulations!” Then I mindlessly added, “Pizza for everyone!”

Oh yeah! Duh.

Sometimes you get what you ask for.

MIDNIGHT ABLUTIONS OF A PENSIVE RACCOON

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

I sit on a rock on the bank of the stream, by the light of the moon methodically washing my midnight snack.

I’m thinking back to an earlier time, when darkness fell on the farmer’s shack….

Seated on a well-worn balustrade, I watched the farmer through slits in a dusty window shade. He sat on a chair at the kitchen table. By light of a lantern, he methodically penned. Poetry, I suppose.

With far less writing than scratching of head, he’d occasionally put pencil to paper and thoughtful compose.

Finally, he set down his pencil, snuffed out the lantern, and waddled to bed.

My careful ablutions are now complete.

It’s “Good night” to you, and to me, a pensive “Bon appétit.”

— Brad Hepp, 8/9/2023

(image adapted from original by Wolfgang Deckers on Pixabay)

#raccoons #thoughtfulwriting #pondering #poetry #turnthetables #rolereversal

Homeschool Poverty

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

My younger son Joshua just moved to New York City. I am almost ecstatic for the growth he’s poised to experience. Recently, I have been taking measure of the fathering I did when my boys were young. My sinfulness—including cowardice and racism—affected them negatively. HOWEVER, I am convinced that God can restore, even where we deprive and waste.

There’s more than one side to the homeschooling issue, especially in our circumstances. But I must be honest about my mixed motives. One of the beautiful things Joshua did for me is to help me see my racism (as well as some other failings).

(background image is a photograph I took of kids in a one-room school in Peru, when I was there on a missions internship in 1986)

#homeschooling #overprotection #restoration

“Change” Poems:

Previous: Culture Wars
Next: Pre-Positions

Eyeglass Repair Shack In Canossa Park

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

I stood there at the window, up to my knees in heat radiating from the parking lot.

“Honk when you drive up,” said the sign.

I knocked on the window instead.

Five seconds later, the eyeglass repairman slid open his window.

“It’s a drive-thru!”

“Yes, I realized that when I got here. Anyway, I called you just a few minutes ago about these eyeglass frames.”

I placed the frames on his counter.

“I didn’t realize how hard it would be to get the screw back in a spring hinge!”

“Why did you take it out?”

I could give him a complicated answer, but sensed he was after something else.

“I’m a do-it-yourselfer, but sometimes I’m just old and stupid.”

His face softened.

“I’ll be right back.”

As he pivoted and disappeared into his workroom, I slid the window closed on its smooth track.

“His shack must get hot on days like this,” I thought. “He might as well keep his cool.”

Less than a minute later, he reappeared at the window, slid it open, and stood there wiping the lenses clean.

“It takes a special tool to depress the spring.”

My smile hid a correction: “He means ‘extend the spring.’”

“Thank you! What do I owe you?”

“Nothing.”

“I’ll give you a good review,” I said.

And I will.

— Brad Hepp, 8/4/2023

#roadtocanossa #humiliation #henryiv #popegregoryvii #eyeglassrepair #texasheat

In Fidelity

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

This evening, I texted what some might consider a disturbingly simple theological question to a trusted friend. He and I have talked about the good and necessary process of questioning a lifetime of assumptions. Sometimes, when you get old, you finally have the courage and wisdom to say, “WHY did I always make this assumption?” But then you realize there’s little time to come to new and settled conclusions. That’s why I wrote this poem. It doesn’t necessarily make sense. Actually, like the Preacher concluded, it doesn’t make sense at all apart from the prospect of eternal life.

#ecclesiastes3 #strengthofyouth #wisdomofage #fidelity

(background image by Viola on Pixabay)

Sapphira, on Fidelity

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

DO I RESPOND WITH APPROPRIATE FEAR?
Ananias and Sapphira both died as a result of lying to God and to the Apostles about their donation. The result, among other believers, was appropriate FEAR. Perhaps they were asking themselves, “How does my own lifetime of self-justification prepare me to respond honestly to all-seeing God?”

Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

Acts 5:3 (NIV)

Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

Acts 5:9 (NIV)

Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Acts 5:11 (NIV)

#ananiasandsapphira #acts5 #honesty #dishonesty #selfjustification

Covenant of Promise

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

This little throw-away poem was my attempt to capture some of what’s being communicated by Stephen in Acts 7, especially the somewhat cryptic “uncircumcised hearts and ears” in his summary indictment:

You stubborn people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors did!

Acts 7:51 NET

#acts7 #meaningofcircumcision #purposeofcircumcision #covenantofpromise #acceptgodsgoodness #acceptgodskindprovision

Noisy For Now

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

I’m not your guy to explain eschatology (what happens in the future, according to Scripture). Frankly, I doubt anyone’s got that completely right. But one book I’m reading now fired up my imagination about the last trumpet, and what trumpets do—they gather.

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

1 Corinthians 15:51‭-‬52 ESV

#lasttrumpet #1corinthians15v52 #peacewithgod

Cease, O Drums, Thy Overwhelming

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

When I posted this on Facebook, I kept having to add comments to clarify my intent:

1. Is there anything more pathetic than an opinionated old audiophile with bad hearing?

2. In my experience, drums can be played in a way that complements the other instruments and voices, or they can be played in a way that draws attention to themselves. That’s just a matter of skill. Additionally, since I’m losing hearing in the higher frequencies, poorly-played drums (with their lower frequencies) can easily dominate and muddy up the whole ensemble. But hey, I torture people in my home with very bad accordion playing, so who am I to talk?

3. I want to be crystal clear…. I have nothing against drums, including as part of worship. As I sit here now, I’m reading theology while listening to one of my favorite Pandora stations. It features electronic dance music by artists like Tiesto, ATB, Armin Van Buren (much of it is built on driving beats). All I meant to say in the poem is “be skillful; be aware of how your instrument complements—or detracts from—other instruments.” One of my nephews is a top-notch drummer. I think he studied under a jazz drummer. When I talked with him about this, he expressed opinions very similar to my own.

(background image adapted from one by Carlos Rocha on Pixabay)

Ananias Wasn’t Abel

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

A MEMO REGARDING PIETY PARTIES
In my crawl through Acts, I finally forced myself to move past chapters three and four. There we see that Jesus came to bless all people. How? By turning them from their iniquity. What does that look like in this context? The Apostles and common believers are enabled to quit the iniquity of selfishness and practice generosity instead. Even when they don’t have much in the way of material goods to give, they can be generous in other ways. For example, Peter and John interrupt prayer time to heal a lame beggar. It’s a big deal.

Then we get to Acts, chapter five. There we encounter a couple—Ananias and Sapphira—who came to the piety party, but didn’t get the memo: generosity isn’t for impressing man, but for imitating God; don’t do a bad imitation.

Hospitality and generosity were huge issues in Israel. They’re probably still important to God… don’t you think? A deep recognition of my own selfishness has begun revolutionizing how I THINK over the last few years. By Jesus’ blessing that may even reach to how I BEHAVE.

RELATED ISSUE: IDOLATRY
Is it just me?
Or is this common
In our idolatry:
We worship what we think
Will get us the most.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Colossians 3:5 NIV

#selfishness #generosity #piety #hospitality #acts3-5 #ananias #genesis4

(background image by Mystic Art Design on Pixabay)

Withholding Affirmation

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

We’re often happiest when we make others happy. Today, I will look for ways to affirm those who are planted nearby.

(background image by mollyroselee on Pixabay)

#perfectionism #withholding #affirmation #thirsty

The Banana Boat Came In

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

I and the other students in the Linguistics class shared two features: we all had four eyes and opposable thumbs. Other than that, we were very different. They were geniuses and I was but a clever monkey.

Most days the professor would pose a problem and all my classmates would raise their hands to offer correct solutions. “Excellent!” the prof would say to one, “Precisely!” he’d say to another.

Then I’d raise my hand and ask, “How did you know that?” They’d always answer, “I don’t know… I just KNOW.”

“Rats!” I sniffed in frustration. “Unattainable intelligence!”

Then one day, the banana boat came in. The assignment, or “cargo” wasn’t actually bananas; this was Linguistics, remember? Let’s just pretend they were bananas since I’ve forgotten what they were… and I’m a monkey, not a linguist.

We spent the next week—it may have been two—classifying bananas. My classmates applied their scientific method. “This banana is 13 centimeters in length and 100 grams in weight. It must be Musa paradisiaca.” And they’d be wrong! Banana after banana was miscategorized by my genius classmates.

Meanwhile, I applied the skill I learned in monkey elementary.* “That’s a Ripe Banana!” I’d say. The prof would begrudge my answer: “Technically, you are correct.” Banana after banana, I classified as “ripe” or “green” and then gobbled down the good ones. Meanwhile, my genius classmates went hungry for want of correct answers.

“How do you know which ones are ripe?” my classmates asked. Wiping my mouth and sniffing in triumph, I answered them, “I don’t know… I just NOSE.”

— Brad Hepp, July 10, 2023

*In one Linguistics class (probably Phonology), I did actually devise a little manual computer that yielded plausible, technically correct answers every time. The professor always furrowed his brow and acknowledged “Well, technically you are correct, although that is NOT the answer I was looking for….”

#linguistics #cleverversusintelligent #bananas #bananaboat #clevermonkey

(background image by Jason Dexter on Pixabay)

Dishwashing Magic

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

When I washed dishes as a child, there was one thing that made me linger at the sink: watching colors play in soap film.

My favorite dish was Mom and Dad’s coffee percolator. At the heart of that percolator was a hollow tube that carried boiling water up from the bottom of the pot and delivered it to coffee grounds in a perforated basket. For me, that tube was a magic wand.

After washing all the other dishes, it was time for the percolator. First, I’d wash the grounds basket, rinse it, and set it aside to dry. Now, all the nasty business of dishwashing was done. It was time for magic!

The tube was all 1/4 inch diameter except at its base, where it widened out to about an inch across. Holding the hollow stem, I’d dip the base in soapy water, and then turn it over to watch what happened in the film that spanned the one-inch opening.

Holding the stem at a slight tilt, I’d watch as bands of intense color formed in the thin film of soapy water. Pure, delightful colors!

What was causing those colors to appear? I’m not a physicist now, and was even less so then, but here’s my guess: Since the “wand” was slightly tilted, gravity was causing the film to be progressively thicker from the high side to the low side. But everywhere it was thin enough to be reflecting different wavelengths of visible light.

After gazing at the intense bands of color, I’d turn the wand upright so that the soap film was level. Immediately, I’d start blowing gently across the film. The bands of color began to swirl on the surface… green going this way, purple going that way, yellow splitting the difference. It was a weaving folk dance of colors.

As I continued gently blowing, the dance of colors continued. But dark areas began to form, one here and another there. More blowing, more dark spots. The colors were all vanishing. Then, just as darkness covered the surface, the film broke, and I was left looking at an ordinary, everyday percolator stem. The magic was gone.

— Brad Hepp, 6/18/2023

(image by Alexa on Pixabay)

#weavingdance #soapbubbles #color #dishwashing #childsplay

Unbedazzled

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

TODAY’S ASSIGNMENT
Find a specific way in which to praise another person’s work, character, interaction, or other form of artistry.

#criticism #praise #recognition #beauty #jaded #bedazzled #artistry #poetography

(background image by Claire Margaret on Pixabay)

FURTHER COMMENTS
In my wording for “Today’s Assignment,” I was intentionally inclusive in choosing the word “person’s.” You probably understand this thing I’m starting to understand… that the person GOD displays his glory directly AND indirectly through our fellow men and women (also persons). All beauty is God’s beauty. When a friend chooses the loveliest way to express her thoughts, when a politician is respectful of his political opponents, when an artist uses color or juxtaposition to draw our attention to delightful design, these are all examples of God’s beauty manifested in and through people. We should respond to the degree and in the way God enables us.

Also, I’m on the perennial soapbox of lamenting that people criticize in excruciating detail, but praise in vagueness—if at all.

The Beauty of a Disciplined Younger Brother

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

OOH, I LIKE THIS ONE!
I had to stop and think what “younger brother” I was referring to. But then I remembered. He inspires me still. And I love the prospect of walks, meals, conversations with our Older Brother in Eternity.

WHAT I WROTE BACK IN JUNE, 2021:
Last night, the waiter was probably impatient to “turn” our table as my friend and I lingered long over our shared meal. As always with this friend, the conversation was significant. How did he get there, always ready to discuss the deepest matters of the heart? Tragedy, trust, and discipline. My friend is far busier than me, but he disciplines himself to read, study, reflect, and obey. By an iron will, and because he trusts God’s goodness, he has powered through tragedy to learn how God would have him think and respond. Long ago, I was more mature than him. Long ago. Not now.

Is this not what our Elder Brother wants of us all? Not to the same degree — He’ll always be more mature — but in the same way?

— Brad Hepp, June 9, 2023

Culture Wars

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

I love it when a poem gets shorter and shorter, ’til all that’s left is one sentence.

I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking him in his temple.

Psalms 27:4

(background image by Alp Cem on Pixabay)

#psalm27v4 #winsome #witness #seeingisbelieving #culturewars #insanity #poetography

“Change” Poems:

Previous: Flying Buttresses
Next: Homeschool Poverty

Disloyal Face

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

I sent this poem to a dear friend, saying “I think of you when I write this, with thankfulness that you use my guilelessness FOR me, and not AGAINST me.”

Having strong emotions is a blessing. Not being able to fully control them or mask them can be a curse.

MY FRIEND’S RESPONSE
My friend wrote: “You are allowed to have feelings and initial reactions. I would hope people would understand that and give you time to process.”

“That said, stay away from the poker tables. 😂 “

ALSO MY FRIEND’S RESPONSE
My friend also sent this shirt…

(background image by Stefan Keller on Pixabay)

#pokerface #guileless #masks #facialrecognition #emotions #proverbs29v11

Stolen View

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Commentary

You can never go home again, though sometimes I try. Google Street View is an amazing way to travel the streets of places where I lived long ago. Sometimes it just produces sadness. Recently, I did a virtual “drive” around the summit of the cerro La Paz, in Puebla. When I lived there as a little boy, I could walk the quarter mile to the summit of the hill and look across the valley to the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. Now it appears that wealthy people have built mansions that block the view from everyone but themselves.

#youcantgohome #cerrolapaz #puebla #popocatepetl #iztaccihuatl

ADDITION:
One of my older brothers read the above poem and sent me the following photo from our family photo album. It is of me at about age three, being held by our maid, Lupe. The sky over Popocatepetl is ablaze with the kind of sunsets we often saw over the volcanoes. When you read that we had a maid, don’t get the wrong idea. By United States standards, and by the standard of most of the people who lived on our hill in Puebla, we were very poor (but only in financial terms!).

RE: Creation

(if you are viewing this via email, the website has a recording of this poem and commentary; click the title above)

Immediately after finishing my ThM, I started into a second master’s, this time in linguistics.

But I was mentally exhausted. I was tired of school. Coffee, which I had relied on since high school, hardly did the trick anymore.

On the other hand, I had no trouble working on multi-projector slideshows late into the night… no coffee required. While studies reduced my energy, being creative added to my energy.

I took this difference as one indication I should drop out of linguistics and pursue a career in graphics or audio visual work. The rest is history… about thirty-five years of history.

These days, I’m feeling that old mental exhaustion. To pay the bills, I’m doing a “9-5” job at the library.* Once again, coffee fails me. But creative writing? Poetry? These I could do all day and night… no coffee required.

If pleasure were my god, I’d be an atheist. Instead, I serve the Creator whose plan includes suffering, even for Himself. Did Jesus ever suffer drudgery? Did the Creator ever set aside creativity in order to achieve a lasting New Creation? Yes.

So, I must be patient as I revel in glimpses of Eternity.

— Brad Hepp, June 3, 2023

*Doldrums that I describe here notwithstanding, the library job is clearly useful in my spiritual formation.