chris erdman

Here’s a poem I wrote in 2009, expresses the intention of prayer.  It joins both the necessity of human effort in the pursuit of God, yet meets our effort with grace—without which there will be no real meeting, no holy fire, no true prayer.  It also joins together the three elements of the person in a fully Christian psychology—body, mind (or soul), and heart (or spirit).

Unless these three unite and meet grace, there is only a superficial meeting with God.  We bring our full humanity to meet God’s full divinity.  Only then can we become what we are made to be.  As both St. Athanasius in the Eastern Church and St. Augustine in the Western Church teach: “Divinity became humanity that humanity might become divinity.”  This is the goal of prayer—Fire.

The Pyre

Desire Fire,
and God will send a spark.

When body, mind, and heart
unite,

You become
the Pyre.

October 2009