This poem is based on a chapter from Rev. Jonathan Fisk’s Book, Echo.
God became a man, —
not a simple thing.
God cannot die,
unless He becomes a man.
Evil is filthy,
and we its hosts
are like dust, —
unclean and grim.
Wipe dust off a table
with merely your hand,
and it comes off on you,
making you more dirty.
Jesus is so pure
that by becoming human,
He makes dust clean;
His cleanness stains the dirt.
God became a pure and perfect man, —
knowing nothing but eternal good, —
in order to suffer constantly,
just like we always do.
Only, His suffering was multplied.
Jesus is the embodiment of Good,
and Good chose to suffer Evil,
yet still remaining purely good.
We try arduously to avoid evil,
and none of us choose to be born.
Yet Jesus chose to be born a man
that He might suffer with us.
We are used to suffering;
we’re born into it.
Imagine knowing only good
but choosing to suffer constantly.
The Lutheran Column 