How Many Times Has God Died For Me? Poem by James Hart
How Many Times Has God Died For Me?
HOW MANY TIMES HAS GOD DIED FOR ME?
How many times has God died for me?
Yes, he’s died
And time and time again
As I’ve written in my book
How many times has God died for me?
How many times has God died for me?
A useful if cryptic phrase
Nietzsche coined in the 19th century
“When Zarathustra was alone, however,
he said to his heart:
'Could it be possible!
This old saint in the forest
hath not yet heard of it,
that God is dead! '
How many times has God died for me?
Each time I’ve had a paradigm shift
In my theological perspective
The God I had died and was replaced
Not by no God but a new God
How many times has God died for me?
A new God but still my God
The product of my heart and my head
A bit less Trinitarian
A bit closer to my own self
How many times has God died for me?
Now he’s not up there nor out there
But in there, a personal creation
Adaptable and changing with circumstances
According to my living, according to my reading.
How many times has God died for me?
I have no room for a God who is exclusive
I have no room for a God who is dogmatic
I have no room for a God, who is sexist,
Racist, anti-gay and British.
How many times has God died for me?
Yes God, my God, needed to die
And be reborn, reinvented
In a more user-friendly package.
So to make God more like me is to make God more PC!
How many times has God died for me?
Till God has become indistinguishable from me
God close to me, God in me
An undying God-sense
A God made to fit every circumstance
A God made to fit every mood
That God will never die for me
Even when I die I pray he will accompany me
The undying God
Who never died on Calvary
Who never died with Nietzsche.
©2009
James Hart
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/26/2024 11:42:26 AM # 1.0.0.1119
God the son didn't die on a cross at Calvary, but lives on in our hearts, minds, and souls. This son of the almighty father who created all that we know and see, is alive and well regardless of what others may say or think. I believe in the absolute power of prayer, that if we ask God through His son Jesus to help us with things beyond our control, He will. God through His son will not do things for us, but will help us with the things that are stuck, and we have a hard time pulling them out. This is a wondeful poem of faith with vivid images. A 10+++++ and thank you for sharing. Love & hugs, Barbara