The Hidden Gospel

Now, I know I promised you a Story. I would start at the Beginning, but this Story doesn't have just one   Beginning. I say, let's start our Journey in the Middle, and we can explore the Map both forwards and backwards. Sometimes, reading things from a different starting point can really change a Story!  (Take a look at this Beautiful  Palindrome Poem  by Abdullah Shoaib to see what I mean).  The Middle of Canon lands us in book of poetry titled,  Psalms; specifically in Chapter 118. This Poem ends the same way it begins. I love Poems that end the same way they begin. (Check out one of my favorites by Tanner Olson here ).  The author of Psalm 118 chose to remain Anonymous; though many people attribute it to the Warrior-Poet, David. The Poem tells a War Story, and is bracketed with this stanza:  Give thanks to the Lord, for He is Good; His Love endures forever. (Psalm 118:1/29) This Word - Good -  is expressed as ' Tov ' in its original Hebrew...

I loved watching romance movies as a child. I found Love much more Beautiful than War. Perhaps it was because I Knew Love from my parents, but I was too young to Know the reality of War in this world. I could relate to Love, and it always left me with a Good feeling, even if some of the Stories were sad. Movies like The Notebook, Beauty and the Beast, and Titanic were the ones on repeat - Beauty Preserved and neatly packaged in plastic VHS cases so I could relive them again and again. As I've grown up, I've realized that War can be found here, too, if you look closely. Think of a heart shot straight through with an arrow during a true love's kiss in the rain; a Story taken from a page in a Notebook, written by our heart-stricken Romantic and read to his Beautiful Beloved, that she might never Forget the Love they shared. Consider the Healing kiss as the last petal of a Red Rose full of Thorns fell, resuscitating a Beloved fallen soldier in a raging battle of angry villager...

I never liked watching War movies much as a child. I didn't understood the history and politics behind them, and seeing all of that bloody violence left me with a bad feeling. I usually closed my eyes in those scenes. I knew  about  war. I knew my daddy fought in one. My mama loves telling the Story about how they met just before he was deployed to Saudi Arabia, and how they fell in love writing Love Letters to each other overseas. She met him at the airport gate when he returned home, and he asked her to marry him right there on the spot. Or at least, that's how I Remember it.  Recently, my desk has been strewn with War Stories - Stories that people like Viktor Frankl, C.S. Lewis, Abraham Lincoln, Anne Frank, and Sun Tzu once wrote down about their experiences of War.  And, of course, War Stories that people like Moses, David, Joshua, Solomon and Samuel wrote down are here, too. Their Stories are Stories-within-a-Story of one Big, Beautiful Story, Titled, "The Holy ...

Is that my name up on that list? Does someone know that I exist?  Is this a mistake? Am I even awake? Pinch me now to make sure - Ow!  ... I'm too busy loving my name up on that list - kind of a cool, ironic twist. Who else can I tell? Oh! Where's my cell? Mom will fall on the floor - Hey, Mom!  ... I'll be there on Monday, 9 o'clock, and we will see who walks the walk. No, no, I can't wait! I will be there at 8 when they unlock the door. ... I feel so much better than before! 💖 / Woods, Elle P.S. Have you heard? Pink is the new black. P.S.S. Watch my performance of So Much Better here! P.S.S.S. Mild content warning - mind your volume if you're somewhere public. The night before the Cast List was posted held more anticipation than Christmas Eve. My alarm clock was set - not that I'd need it, sleeping with one eye open and fixated on those glow-in-the-dark hands inching toward daybreak - my outfit was selected, and my prayers and pleas to God signed, sealed...