I was reading a collection of poems by John Ashbery and I had no idea what he was talking about.
And I just kept reading.
I was enthralled.
I wasn’t sure if I was reading the poem or if the poem was carrying me down each line.
It wasn’t quite music, although it was similar.
It wasn’t quite a painting, although it was similar to that too.
And it wasn’t just fun nonsense, though I didn’t know what he was getting at.
The title of the first poem is “As One Put Drunk into the Packet Boat.”
What on earth is that supposed to mean?
But there’s something about it that hold you.
What is it then?
Why would I bother?
More importantly, why did I enjoy it?
Even though I don’t understand it, there is no frustration or annoyance.
When you first started watching football, did you understand all the rule?
You’re father tried to explain them to you, but you couldn’t grasp them all at once.
So, why did you keep watching?
Something about it was enthralling, though you understood very little.
When you walk in the woods, do you demand that everything be applicable to your life?
Does a tree need to be useful for your job or why bother with it?
Does the ripple of a stream have to have something to do with your family or there’s no point to it?
So, why did you enjoy it out there?
Why was it important for you soul to be near that tree?
Beauty.
The skill of a true athlete or the quite of the woods, both of them are impressing beauty on you.
And beauty needs to explanation.
It needs to application.
Beauty is its own explanation and application.
And most importantly, it is necessary to your soul.
Maybe you won’t understand everything in the church service or maybe you won’t understand everything in the sermon.
But if the service and the sermon are showing you Christ, then his beauty is the application.
Sometimes, there need be nothing more.
Tom+