In a world where many know little about Jesus or have forgotten his significance, he has become like a stranger to us—sometimes welcome, sometimes unwanted, but ever present to challenge our suppositions and call us to a better way.
Where is God?
Inspired by T. S. Eliot, Ben Palpant has penned an intriguing collection of poems to explore the “Stranger’s” intrusion into our world and answer the question, ‘Where has God gone?’ The 112 poems are collated under seven sections that focus on Christ’s advent, arrival, healings, voice, death, resurrection and ascension.
Some of the poems are inspired by particular scriptures or Biblical figures such as Mary of Bethany, Lazarus, Peter, and Judas. Seeing the world through their eyes helps to bring the truth of scripture into focus in a different way. For example, consider the following lines from Broken Beautiful Beautifying:
But when she breaks the vessel of nard—
a broken vessel holding a broken vessel—
and spills it over his feet,
its aroma arouses the world’s silence.
Minds stretch higher. Hearts reach out straining
Give us more give us more give us more of this
broken beautiful beautifying.
Relationship With God
Poems like this invite us to explore our relationship with God, sometimes bringing comfort and assurance, as in the poem Unresting Love; and other times confronting us with our doubts, fears and unanswered questions, as in the poem Everything is Not Fine:
what if God moonwalked into this eroding story
backwarding our desires and kicking down
our precious word towers?
would we bind him with rope?
press him into the ground?
put a bullet in his head?
do we cherish our unanswered questions?
do we cherish our womb of worms?
why do we celebrate the rage we cannot slake?
Original Perspectives
Palpant uses beautiful imagery and the poems are generally accessible, though I found a few of them more difficult to fathom. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it can make you stop and think more about the words. I also liked the original spin he puts on some well-known Bible passages. For example, in ‘Cleopas, the Disciple, Recounts’, the walk to Emmaus is modernised, complete with plastic chairs and flank steaks being tossed on the grill.
I also liked the uniqueness of Mary’s Punctuation, in which ‘It is finished!’ is the exclamation point, a stone being rolled ‘against the door of the tomb’ is the full stop, and ‘Where have you taken The Lord I love?’ is the question mark.
A Cause for Praise
Overall, this is a masterful work, with many poems that draw us in and entice us to reconsider what Christ has done for us:
God, look at this shocking plot of land,
Upspringing green and
Rioting into realization of all that I have gained:
The keen awareness of grace.
All my tomorrows are dyed by surprise,
Leaving me with joy and the eyes to enjoy it.
(from Apples on the Ground, Part 2).
This is a worthy collection of poetry for anyone who wants to look at Christ with new eyes and meditate on his truth.
(N.B. Thank you to the author for providing me with a free pdf copy for the purposes of review. All opinions are my own.)
About Ben Palpant
Ben Palpant is a poet, memoirist, novelist, and non-fiction writer. He is the author of several books, including A Small Cup of Light, Sojourner Songs, and Letter From The Mountain. Palpant writes under the inspiration of five star-lit children and one dog named Chesterton who sometimes curls up at his feet. Palpant and his wife live in the Pacific Northwest.
Connect With Ben
Website: https://benpalpant.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ben.palpant
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ben_palpant/
Buy Link
You can buy ‘The Stranger’ through Amazon.
It’s mind-stretching to read poems like this. So vibrant and strong. And how original is ‘Mary’s Punctuation’? Yes, he’s a challenging read. I’m sure my husband would’ve liked his work, he did not like mushy poetry. 🙂
Hi Rita – Thank you for that. I’m not a fan of mushy poetry either. I like it to be accessible, but with room to think and ponder. Definitely lots of food for thought in this collection. Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks Nola for this introduction to Ben Palpant’s poetry. I expect good poetry to jolt me and I like the idea of framing Jesus as a stranger – there’s something jolting about that!
Thanks for that, Miriam. Yes, it’s always good to look at things from new perspectives. I think you’d enjoy this collection if you like to be jolted 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.