I don’t know how I know this, but I read something perhaps in Philippians that jumped out at me and said Saul was shitting blood too. He refers to being taken care of in his foulness or something like that. And that was part of how I came to see myself as a resurrection of him and to see my life’s work as his repentance, which is the repentance of the “white man” he created with his letters. When immense spiritual energy moves through us, it takes a toll on our bodies. Perhaps the prophets have always shitted blood.
That wouldn’t surprise me much at all. William Wilberforce (the English abolitionist) and Friedrich Nietzsche were both thought to have possibly lived with it as well.
Maybe it’s something that afflicts people who are so disgusted with injustice that their body simply revolts.
I often consider Yirme’yahu [Jeremiah, my prophetic namesake] being known as “the Weeping Prophet” for his many tearful lamentations. I often suspected that Yirme’yahu was actually emoting the grieving of YHWH.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find that you are right about the prophets in this regard - perhaps their immune systems were all deeply dysfunctional.
Also I too have ulcerative colitis. I’ve come to understand it in terms of Psalm 53 which I view in the plural. We, the despised ones, who are held of no account, carry the infirmities of the collective in our bodies. I really think divine wrath against injustice is what makes my colon bleed.
I have never put that together before. That’s a rich reading. I’m going to have to sit with that and shema.
Also, I’m sad that we recognize one another with this specific infirmity. Thankfully, for me, I’ve been in a durable remission for several years. I pray for your Shemitah as well.
The meat of these long-form pieces is fascinating to me, controversial obviously, but equally well-reaearched and very obviously sincere.
This one was made more accessible by the narrative framework of a personal story of suffering and betrayal, and especially by the disclosures about the man who has shaped (or reconstructed) and penned these ideas. It is poignant - but also rings true - that a community of young men ostensibly focusing on the solidarity-teaching of Jesus failed so blatantly in precisely that area.
I do not agree with everything. However, one thing I find intriguing is the honest and believable account of James the Just. The one who wrote the "straw epistle" that Luther wished to exclude from his bible. The one who even today is quietly passed over.
He just wanted a fig
but figs hadn’t been in season
for years; this was a season
without fruit; the tree was so focused
on maintaining its own relevance
and its soil had been packed so
tightly with right answers
that there wasn’t any room
for unsanctioned delight
and utterly riskful art
which is the only way
fruit can grow so
he said fuck you
to the true and went
to sow his fruit elsewhere.
Made a series of poems for Holy Week last year that you might enjoy called “the end of an age.” https://wayofthefool.substack.com/p/the-end-of-an-age?r=45tzw&utm_medium=ios
It’s added to the docket for the day, Morgan! Thanks for sharing, and thank you specifically for writing.
“The wise plant trees under whose shade they know they may never [themselves] sit.” - anonymous Greek proverb
When people write poetry, or share their art, or their reflections, or even publish essays here on Substack, I think of that proverb often.
I don’t know how I know this, but I read something perhaps in Philippians that jumped out at me and said Saul was shitting blood too. He refers to being taken care of in his foulness or something like that. And that was part of how I came to see myself as a resurrection of him and to see my life’s work as his repentance, which is the repentance of the “white man” he created with his letters. When immense spiritual energy moves through us, it takes a toll on our bodies. Perhaps the prophets have always shitted blood.
That wouldn’t surprise me much at all. William Wilberforce (the English abolitionist) and Friedrich Nietzsche were both thought to have possibly lived with it as well.
Maybe it’s something that afflicts people who are so disgusted with injustice that their body simply revolts.
I often consider Yirme’yahu [Jeremiah, my prophetic namesake] being known as “the Weeping Prophet” for his many tearful lamentations. I often suspected that Yirme’yahu was actually emoting the grieving of YHWH.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find that you are right about the prophets in this regard - perhaps their immune systems were all deeply dysfunctional.
It makes sense that our bodies would be a microcosm of the divine wrath expressing itself in creation.
Also I too have ulcerative colitis. I’ve come to understand it in terms of Psalm 53 which I view in the plural. We, the despised ones, who are held of no account, carry the infirmities of the collective in our bodies. I really think divine wrath against injustice is what makes my colon bleed.
I have never put that together before. That’s a rich reading. I’m going to have to sit with that and shema.
Also, I’m sad that we recognize one another with this specific infirmity. Thankfully, for me, I’ve been in a durable remission for several years. I pray for your Shemitah as well.
That’s outstanding poetry, Morgan! I wish I could like it multiple times! Haha.
You nailed it all the way through. 🙏🏻
The meat of these long-form pieces is fascinating to me, controversial obviously, but equally well-reaearched and very obviously sincere.
This one was made more accessible by the narrative framework of a personal story of suffering and betrayal, and especially by the disclosures about the man who has shaped (or reconstructed) and penned these ideas. It is poignant - but also rings true - that a community of young men ostensibly focusing on the solidarity-teaching of Jesus failed so blatantly in precisely that area.
I do not agree with everything. However, one thing I find intriguing is the honest and believable account of James the Just. The one who wrote the "straw epistle" that Luther wished to exclude from his bible. The one who even today is quietly passed over.