Peace – A Poem by a Local Believer

Peace
by Shepherd H

My God is a God of peace, and he loves his sons
He stands at heart’s door, guest of whosoever wants
His fatherly warm embrace, open to his children
His words are like a joyful flower garden
If any walk in his way, he also will be God’s guest
Two thousand years ago, his blood he sacrificed
Only Christ is God, truth, purity, and generosity
If a disciple of Jesus, you’ll not perish in any difficulty
How happy I am when I hear God’s Word! 
The water of faith fills my mind and my heart

This is my translation of another poem by the late local poet, Shepherd H, which focuses on the peace that the Father gives, the sacrifice and exclusivity of Jesus, and the effect of God’s word upon the heart of a believer. The poem also contains several biblical images that are also very Central Asian.

The first is that of hospitality. Central Asian culture highly values warm and lavish hospitality, and, in this poem, God is portrayed as both potential guest and potential host. He is ready to come and honor whosoever would open their heart to host him. And he is ready in turn to host any who would walk in his way. Hospitality in Central Asia is often reciprocal like this. One family hosts another and then gets invited by that same family in turn, in a long-term contest of outdoing one another in showing honor.

This theme connects with passages like Revelation 3, where Christ knocks at the door and offers to come in and eat with the one who would repent. It also echoes the book of Luke and elsewhere, where Christ is portrayed as the great host of God’s kingdom.

The second Central Asian image is that of a joyful flower garden. In the high desert browns of this part of the world, the locals adore their small plots of green grass and bright flowers. They often give lavish care to these little oases of greens and pinks and yellows where they will sit on summer evenings sipping chai and munching on cucumbers and sunflower seeds. The words of God are compared to this kind of garden. A place of joy, life, refreshment, and refuge.

This theme, of course, echoes Eden, which in turn is echoed by the temple and the promised land, and is fulfilled in the new heavens and new earth.

In a similar vein, the word of God is also compared to water, water of faith that fills the poet’s mind and his heart, just as locals might drench their trees’ roots morning and evening to keep them alive, healthy, and even fruitful in the deathly summer heat. The fig trees, for example, eagerly soak up the water and then go on to give the sweetest of fruit even in the hottest part of the year. So the believer delights to soak up God’s word and, in turn, bears the fruit of the Spirit even in the midst of suffering – fruit such as the title of this poem, peace.

This final theme reminds us of Jesus in John 4, the living water. Of this water, Jesus promises, “The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

An internal spring of overflowing eternal life? A gift? No wonder the poet says, “Only Christ is… generosity.” And no wonder he is so happy.

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