It's Been a Long Time Coming . . .

          I've been writing poetry since I was old enough to understand how the words fit together. Granted, my work has matured with me, and I've watched it grow up with me and hold my hand through some of the roughest parts of my life. I didn't realize how much of an integral part of my life it was until my poetry professor asked me about a poem in my Spring 2014 portfolio. The prompt was to write about a secret, something we had never told anybody. I disregarded the prompt and decided to turn in a poem I had written the week before because I really liked it. It was titled, "This Is Not Simply an Apology, but a Confession," and I had written it one night as I looked back on the past month and realized how far away from God I had been drifting. It was just a cry from the depths of my soul for God to take control of my life again because I was so desperate to be close to Him again. When he read the poem in class he asked me how long the time was between the incident occurring and the writing of the poem. I told him that they happened at the same time. I knew there was something in my soul that was hurting, so I just started writing and it all fell into place; I wrote through my pain to get to the healing.
          As I went through the revising process for my final portfolio for my poetry class, I realized just how much God had used my poetry to speak not only to me, but through me. The words that I've put together into these works of art are not my own; they are divinely inspired. I know this because there is no way I could have come up with these. It's those times where I turn my mind off and let my heart cry out to God that I get my greatest poems. I also realized that these needed to be shared. When God is moving this powerfully through you, you need to share it with everyone you know. But please understand, this is not me bragging about my own talents. This is me humbly sharing with you something that God has given to me. I hope it will bring a joy or a peace or an understanding that will make it worth your while to read. 
          With all of this, I do have one or two disclaimers. There are two poems that seem to be out of place in this portfolio. The first is a poem called "Guilty Conscience of a Hibakusha" which is a poem about a woman who lost her daughter to an atomic bomb blast, and her story of how the atomic bomb has affected her both physically and emotionally with the loss of her daughter. As with anything that I write that doesn't have a "happy ending," this poem is meant to showcase the depths of the brokenness of our world. While the poem doesn't offer Christ as a hope to get through her pain, reality most certainly does. 
          The second poem that I'd like to speak about is the poem titled "Buzz and Crash." This poem really gets to a lot of issues that are prominent in our society, namely family issues, heartbreak and false love, and drug and alcohol addictions. It is another work that I hope will capture a small portion of the entirety of our brokenness and how we're all searching for the one thing that will make us feel whole or fix some deep-seated emotional pain that we've tried to repress. It's always the temptation of the writer to try to explain or justify their own works, but it is the prerogative of the reader to glean from it whatever he or she sees in the work that speaks to them. I'll let the work speak for itself, but I would love to get feedback from readers if anyone has a suggestion or a comment! All glory to the One who provides my every breath.
          Click here to access my Dropbox where you can read through the poems in this portfolio titled "Poetry Portfolio Spring 2014 Danielle Eschedor."

On Taking Scripture Out Of Context (And The Danger Therin)

Also, look for ideas that are repeated, and read both chapters.
The more you read, the more you know! Remember,
scripture is a part of our armor!

          If you were to open my tablet and look at the lock screen, you would see a picture of a sunrise outside my front door, and 1 Peter 5:6, "Humble yourself, then, before the Lord, and He will lift you up in His time," written across the picture. I fell in love with this verse in the middle of a lecture in my Spanish class that I wasn't exactly paying attention to . . . but that's beside the point. The point is that I recently went back to read the entire chapter of 1 Peter 5, and what I found totally blew my mind. You see, there are different types of books in the Bible. Some of them are simply accounts of history, some are beautiful poems, some are letters, and so on, but it's all the written word of God. 1 Peter 5 is a letter, written to the elders among believers who had been scattered due to persecution. In this letter he's encouraging the leaders to remain strong in their faith and to continue to be strong leaders for their people. If you've been reading my blog, you know that 1 Peter 5:7, "Cast all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you," is a verse that I hold very close to my heart on my journey through recovery from anxiety issues. What I never realized is that two of my favorite verses are literally right next to each other. I had to read the entire chapter to get the full effect of those verses and to be able to link them together! 
          So when you just read one verse and write it on your wall because it speaks to you, read the whole chapter first! It's not necessarily that you'll be interpreting that verse incorrectly, it's just that you might not be getting the full value of that book or section! The books of the Bible often address a certain issue and tell a story, and you need to read the whole story to get the entirety of the message! 
          However, you could be getting it completely wrong. The biggest example of this is when people quote Leviticus out of context. This is just something that is really present in today's world and right now we as Christians are standing on a global stage, being looked at under a microscope, so we need to be on our A-game. Christians (and non-Christians) who turn to Leviticus to either shame homosexuals or debunk Christians are not doing any good quoting that book out of context. The book of Leviticus is full of rules that, if followed, basically put people in a righteous place with God. He knew that He would be sending the perfect sacrifice in time, but the people who lived before Christ's coming needed rules and regulations to help them live lives that could be counted as righteous. They didn't have the Holy Spirit inside of them to guide them, so they needed to follow the rules set forth in the Old Testament to be counted as righteous in God's eyes, and also to be visibly set apart from the pagans and other people. 

          I could give example after example of Scripture that holds so much more meaning when read in context, or areas where quoting just one verse can be twisted to be used against God's glory instead of for it, but don't take my word for it. Today, I'm challenging anyone who reads this blog to take any one of their favorite verses and read the entire chapter. I promise you'll gain a better understanding of God's character and His love for the unique and wonderful person that He made you to be! :)