Holy Sonnet XIV by John Donne

Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for, you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town, t'another due,
Labour to admit you, but oh, to no end,
Reason your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you,and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy:
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again.
Take me to you, imprison me, for I
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

I recently re-discovered this poem in one of those "100 Best Loved Poems" collections. I got it in high school, probably in one of Jeremy Reed's classes. One of the wiser things I did in high school was actually buy all of the books I read in English classes; A Tale of Two Cities and The Screwtape Letters are examples of works that I have revisited time and again, with a better understanding and appreciation and enjoyment each time.

I love that poem by Donne. It is both a good poem, and it is a good poem about God.

So often, as Christians, we categorize art, be it poetry, or music, or the visual arts, into two categories: good or bad. And by that we mean "morally good" and "morally bad". Case in point: a few days ago I was talking with a co-worker about the book 'Life of Pi' by Yann Martel. It is, in all estimations, a good book. The character development, story arc, and descriptions are compelling, memorable, and thought-provoking. I've recommended it to a few of my friends (who of course have impeccable taste), and they've loved it. But this co-worker (who had read it) said "oh, you mean the novel that's full of moral ambiguity and 'hindus, muslims, christians, they're all the same'? Yeah, that's not what I call a good book."

The novel IS full of moral ambiguity. But why would any Christian seek weighty theology in a novel written by someone who is not 1) a Christian or 2) a theologian or 3) writing a book about theology?

We should not expect the world to write about God as he truly is. We cannot expect art that is created by people who don't have a relationship with Christ to reflect a deep understanding of God's world and his grace.

Some art, like that of Donne, is both worthy of admiration and happens to explicitly glorify God. Other art, like Yann Martel's book, is also worthy of admiration, but isn't morally in line with the teaching of Christ. That doesn't mean we aren't supposed to appreciate it. It still glorifies God.

More on this topic to come. Because it interests me.

On blogging

I set up this blog on a whim. I'm probably more of a Twitter person (like most Americans, I can't concentrate on any given task for very long), but we'll see how it goes.