God Dam It
A Poem
Chris EW Green writes a favorite blog of mine called Speakeasy Theology. His most recent post “God Makes Me Laugh” argues for making room for “cheekiness” and a little “irreverence” in life and theology. And I couldn’t agree more. Thanks to Chris, I’m pulling out of cold storage a pair of haiku’s called “God Damn It”1 that everyone I shared with hated! Everyone. Blasphemy. Taking God’s name in vain, and so on.
There is a paywall for at least some of Chris’ content. I subscribe so I don’t know what an unsubscriber can’t see, but the subscription is worth it.
So here is “God Dam It” and a some consideration of the Scriptures.
God Dam It
God dam it, flood of
violence, violation—
keep those waters down.
Flood, rise, stop the drain,
waters drown all anxious pain!
Dam it God, baptize!
1 Peter 3:20-21 connects the flood to baptism, “And baptism, which [the flood] prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ”
Romans 6:3-4 and Colossians 2:12 both call baptism a burial—“all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death…we have been buried with him by baptism into death” (Romans 6:3-4) and “buried with [Christ] in baptism” (Colossians 2:12).
Galatians 3:27-29 speaks of ending, a figurative and very real death in baptism of our old identities. “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
Plus, especially seen when read in the Hebrew, Genesis 6:11-13, states that they will be destroyed with the very thing that the humans destroyed— “I will destroy them with the earth” (Genesis 6:13, Rashi’s translation). The flood is the חמס hamas (the corruption, ruin, or violence) of humanity returning and descending “upon their own heads” (Psalm 7:16). Whatever the flood narrative is, it is less God damning humanity than humanity damning themselves—which brings a whole other load of questions.
image credit: austin evans on unsplash
I have always imagined “God Dam It” as a trio of haiku’s. Perhaps I’ll finish it now.