Blue Light: A Poem About Spirit, and Life’s Complexity and Beauty

Pentecost Sunday. Romans 8:6 says, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” I often find that dance, art, journaling, pondering, praying, breathing, grieving…are ways in which we attempt to embody and reflect Spirit’s furtive, yet ubiquitous nature, engaging Spirit with experiences of the inexplicable. Even as Spirit intercedes with “sighs too deep for words,” this poem is my attempt to describe through poetic prose the way in which Spirit shows up, transforms, sustains, and breathes through all of life; evident, but never fully in our grasp.

“Gripping, as a melancholy, musical drone…Fiery, as a jazz blue note, unable to be written on the score of life…” Having been ordained on Pentecost Sunday last year (wow! it’s been an entire year!), I share here an excerpt from my seminary/ordination theological papers. I wrote in one section, as was required, about Spirit:

“Spirit cannot be chained in a word; its historical manner is ever the moan…” -Jones and Lakeland. This reminds me of a musical drone-constant, erie and mysterious. The Song of Athene, by contemporary composer, John Tavener, begins with a vocal bass drone. It is one, very low note, continually sung throughout the entire piece. It is soft, resonate, distant, but without it, the rest of the notes would not be filled and supported the way in which they are. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7q1VRiwZF0 Song of Athene, Tavener) I invite you to listen to the piece and imagine that continuous note as a metaphor of the Holy Spirit. (This piece includes a reference to Luke 23:42, “Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.”) On the other hand, Spirit is also aligned to the energy of jazz: fiery, motivating—as opposed to, but in addition to, subtle and quieting. “…the jolt of joy when a jazz note finally leaps off the map of meaning into the improvisational nowhere of “insanity”. -Jones & Lakeland. Spirit is like this. The “blue note” in jazz, akin to Spirit, plays in a slightly lower tone than the major scale note, expressing itself in a way that changes the entire feel. It cannot be written on the score, it is not a drastic shift, but its influence is profound. In much the same way, Spirit cannot be “written” on the “score of life” but it has a profound impact on a life of faithful discernment, contemplation, and action. Wynton Marsalis, trumpet player and composer (a favorite of mine), can play using what musicians call circular breathing. The instrumentalist breathes in through the nose while continuously pushing air out of the mouth so that the notes are not interrupted. (http://vimeo.com/39864391 Cherokee, Ray Noble, arranged by Wynton Marsalis- Circular breathing example begins at 2:12.) Watch the continuous breath at 2:12 as Wynton plays. It is incredible! Spirit is like this movement of breath.