Warriors for Jesus

[tectak]

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price." - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

As a child I wanted to be a warrior for Jesus.
My church gave us pamphlets on the covers of which
a boy and girl, each smiling, crossed swords,
light emerging from their tips
like that which dawned on Eden once.
But I looked at those swords and my veil of love
was stirred by darker thoughts.

"What were swords designed to do?"
Relieve men of their guts.
"What does a warrior preach?"
Submission by the blade,
violence, hatred and death,
young men slaughtered at the Somme.

With Jesus' heart I'd stride through the desert
murdering pagans and Jews, the light of Eden in my sword.
I said it was just a metaphor, but symbols are passionless.
I couldn't feel the Holy Ghost moving in me;
my young heart was queer, my temple empty.

Hi Jack,
I am in with Todd on this one. I have a few gripes of my own but needed to be tempted by the opinions of others before I decided to post. My main problem is that this sets out with commitment. By definition commitment verse does that BUT never lets up until the big finale when all is made manifestly clear. In the body of the piece there are many excellent condensates of thought. The reader can tell that this is not slap-dash or frothy. In a way, the piece is too good a read NOT to have a better ending......and it is when the end came that I found myself left hanging on your rope. The "profundity" of "queer" rather than another word irritates me. If profound (not your word but Billy's) means deeply thought provoking then I must take issue.....I think it is just plain wrong. The word lacks finality of meaning and this leaves the last line in suspension. After the admitted passion of the heart in unbridled imagined conquests there is little wonder that ...well....only a suggestion:
" for my young heart was as full as my temple was empty."
Best,
tectak