Creative Writing (Page 3)
Until We Die
Poem written for Jeannie Elliff just before her death on 7/20/15 UNTIL WE DIE Jim Elliff We don’t know how to live until we die– die to trust in living as that which keeps a life, die to fear of dying as that which ends a life. And if we die to living, And live by dying, We live the truest life by Him whose life we’re given, Who came as life And lived to die And rose to life…
Take it Away
Christ came first to take away sin but when He comes next He will take away men—some to eternal darkness and some to life—some to healing and some to strife. What have you done with His sacrifice? Is it tucked neatly into your head like a child in her bed? A forgotten box in permanent storage labeled “someday” or “important” but nonetheless collecting dust. Have you spurned it and despised, buried the truth and set God aside—for earthy pleasure that…
Heaven to Earth
What did it mean for the eternal Son to descend and enter into the history of men? The human brain cannot completely conceive the nature of His humility. Glory to dust, eternal to earth, all the while retaining His worth. Infinitely valuable, beauty beyond words, bowed down to be cursed, leaving heaven for dirt. A Savior for all without capability, crying out of dark futility to the One with all ability to tread down their impossible with grace that is unstoppable.…
The Last Forty-five Minutes
He was lying down, gasping. It was his own bed and it was his time. Forty-five minutes from this moment he would die. Beside him sat his wife in the overstuffed leather chair that had been pulled close for the final event. She had been there all night. She sat on the edge as she patted his hand and tried to soothe him—disheveled, wide-eyed with simmering panic, twitching, pleading. It had been the hardest night of her life. The hospice…
Dialogue On Christianity
INTRODUCTION John stood staring out the window at the blowing rain as Bryan made coffee. Light glinted off the racing drops like frightened cat’s eyes. “So what brings you out in a storm like this, John?” “My storm,” he said too abruptly. “And what is that supposed to mean?” “It’s something you said.” This seemed melodramatic. He knew he appeared to be foolish, as if he were not strong enough to sort out his feelings, to make logical categories for…
The Island of Nis
James, the youth: Must Christians always be narrow? The wiser Mr. Brockton: Christians are both pluralists and exclusivists simultaneously. James: Do you mean that Christians accept other religions and faiths? Mr. Brockton: We permit them to be wrong. My story will explain. The island of Nis was considered a religion-free zone, and most of the younger inhabitants had not even as much as heard of formal religion. To be sure, some primitive ancestors had ventured that way in earlier days,…
The Lofty Grosart
James, the youth: Must all those who call themselves Christians understand the Bible? The elderly and wise Mr. Brockton: No, only those who will go to heaven. To call oneself a Christian is not the same as being one. James: But I call myself a Christian—no, rather, I am a Christian, and I don’t understand very much of the Bible at all. Brockton: How do you know that you are a Christian? James: The Bible states that those who radically…
A Fly for Oscar
James, the youth: "There is no such thing as a trivial death." The poet and sage, the older Mr. Brockton: "No, but there are trivial men who die. I will illustrate this, though you will not like my illustration. The story goes this way: "Oscar Felton was dying. Everyone knew it. Oscar knew it better than anyone else. He would die and go to hell—that was unquestioned. It wasn’t that Oscar was such a bad fellow to be around, but…