Yet more poetry

Well this blog has become quite irregular of late with little news, but I'm in a poetic mood, so I'm going to inflict more poetry on whoever still reads this, ;-). This is an older poem but one that I re-read tonight.

~Matt

The Divine Drama
Phil 2:6-11
(c)2004 Matt Graubner

For He so emptied Himself,
grasping after only humility,
to be a servant, to be a man.

Leaving behind the divine realm,
God came down to earth,
Son of God, Son of man.

Obedient even unto death,
can we not ourselves,
even palely imitate this?

Yet was not true honour,
bestowed on the Christ,
reverence to Jesus’ name.

Above all others is He,
the risen Lord of Glory,
as will all someday admit.

With Christ may we approach,
awesome throne of God,
our ultimate part to play.

Exalting, glorifying our God,
beyond the edge of time,
in His true realm forever.

Hope

Okay, I'm not sure this is finished, but I'd be curious to hear any reaction to this. I've been working on this for several weeks now--well mostly in pieces, but many of them finally fell together during Bible Study. I wasn't originally going to incorporate the spiritual elements or make it as obviously personal as it is, but it seemed somewhat fitting. Please tell me what you think of this poem if you read it. Let me know if it seems to be just a jumbled mess, or if perhaps miraculously it seems to flow and you can make some kind of sense out of it. Thanks.

Fire and Ice

Musings on Hope

(c) 2008 Matt Graubner

Hope feeds on ephemeral dreams,

- Building castles in the clouds.

It fuels our bright tomorrows,

- Promising days of bliss.

Hope denies the bleak façade,

- Always seeing a silver lining.

It outshines the sun and the moon,

- Suppressing the surging tempest.

Though I do dream the dream,

- I steal hope truly insubstantial

Vain dreams weave the fabric of life,

- I place my hope in my own strength.

When the Lord unravels the tapestry,

- I fear the dissolution of reality.

Vanity held seemingly so tight,

- Within the circle of affection.

An insubstantial thing of dreams,

- Only bound by fetters of hope.

The seed of dreams does sprout,

- Growing into a mighty tree.

Yet fruit plucked from the branches,

- In the mouth turns to bitter ashes.

Resting upon no firm foundation,

- Joy may wax but ever yet wanes.

When my dreams founder on shoals of reality,

- May He yet guide my feet onto His way.

The Lord should always direct my steps,

- So much more than my vain imagining.

When He destroys my house of cards,

- I should ever praise His Holy name.

The Lord gives and takes away in His time,

- All glory and honor are His in time.

~Matt

Home from Colorado

This is just one of the many (over 750) pictures that I took while I was in Colorado at Twin Peaks Bible Camp. I really should have taken more, but for some reason I was busy watching campers for much of the week, ;-). This is a picture from the summit (or near the summit) of Old Man Mountain (one of the two mountains in the camp name) of the camp grounds and some of the surrounding countryside. I so so enjoy panoramic shots.

The full version of this picture is available in my Picasa panoramic album.

~Matt

I'm in Colorado

I've been trying to blog lately, but don't expect to see much from me this week. I'm no in Colorado. I'm going to be up at Twin Peaks Bible Camp for the week--I grew up going up there every summer (my parents were the camp cooks) and I haven't been back in several years. It should be a fun time (actually I know it will be) and I'm going to take plenty of pictures. I hope to keep coming back during the summer, but I don't want to take the place or all the good friends for granted, so I want to record as many memories as I can with my camera! ;-)

~Matt

Episteme Denied

Episteme Denied
Enticing, Hope beckons with outstretched arms,
- A vision only seen through a glass darkly.
Does uncertainty yet reign supreme,
- Or has self-deception claimed the crown?
Does hope vainly feed upon laughter,
- May a smile conceal nothing hidden?
May dreams of hope ever come to life,
- Or shall haste ensure the death of dreams?
What price must be paid for wisdom?
- Desperately believing beyond what is seen.
Never will Veritas reveal a certain answer,
- Uncertainty will triumph in lieu of courage.

I like to write my poems with the second line indented, but Blogger won't accept this convention (hence the hyphens).

Main Entry: episteme
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: a system of understanding or a body of ideas which give shape to the knowledge of that time
Etymology: Greek 'knowledge'

You may notice a similarity to earlier poems posted--it isn't exactly accidental.

From the Fire
Does a lie stare back,
- And whisper your name?
Does a lie softly promise,
- You will never be forgotten?
Can the truth be so painful?
- Waves of crashing agony.

Does the truth swiftly flee,
- From scrutiny and queries?
Does the truth sweetly smile,
- While saying nothing certain?
Can a lie be tolerated,
- Ages of slow uncertainty.

~Matt

Home before Midnight

Well I'm not asleep yet at 00:10, but I made it home before midnight! Tonight was a late night anyway because the Creation Museum was open until 9:00. But we're rolling out a new version of our Daily Schedule that incorporates the Museum map (starting on Sunday). I had to make sure that we had enough printed for the next several days because these new projects need to be folded by our staff before we can distribute them to guests. So, it took a while to make sure that everything was okay and to calculate the proper numbers to print. I'm off Monday and Tuesday, so I had to ensure that we'd have enough on those days, knowing that I wouldn't be around to print more.

I'm enjoying the responsibilities I have and the projects I'm working on--but sometimes it feels as though I never have enough time. Sometimes I resent the time I work on projects because I'm not on the floor doing the jobs that I really enjoy, and other times I wish I wasn't on the floor because I have so much to get done. It is a Catch-22 I guess--I wish I knew how to balance the two aspects of work life. All I know is that I don't want to go completely in one direction or the other--I love both areas: project and floor work. I especially do not want to give up working on the Museum floor with guests.

Now I must head off to bed because I need to be back at the Museum early in the morning to get the Planetarium up and running. I hope that it will be a nice and busy Saturday!

~Matt

Fireworks

Last night (i.e. Saturday) I went out with some friends to see a fireworks show (my fourth of the year, and second of the past couple weeks). It was down on the Ohio River just across the river into Indiana. It was a good show, though I deliberately didn't bring my camera, just because when I do I'm usually just trying to get good fireworks shots, and I really have plenty of those now--it was just a good time to hang out with friends and enjoy the show.

I missed seeing any fireworks on the Fourth except those few I saw on either side of the highway as I drove home from work at night. At what appeared to be the end of the show (with a nice finale) a lighted sign appeared on the barge that read "More?" Of course everybody clapped and yelled, and pretty soon the fireworks started up again. They were good, but there was no real finale to the second set, they just eventually ended.

~Matt

Stargazing

I wish I could say I took this image, but I just found it on Google. It is very nearly what I saw tonight, at least one of the things I saw. Jason Lisle, the astrophysicist on staff at Answers in Genesis had an informal stargazing session tonight. After Bible Study I headed over to the museum to join in (I'd been off today so I heard about it from a coworker).

I work the official Stargazer's Nights that the Creation Museum puts on, so I've been trained on the telescopes that the museum owns, but it is still fun to look because I'm still learning how and where to locate celestial objects. This picture is of Jupiter and the four Galelian (sp?) moons. When I looked tonight three of the moons were on one side of the planet and in line with them you could see at least two bands on the planet itself. We also looked at Saturn (you can see the rings), the galaxy M87, a globular cluster, a binary star (I don't remember the name, but it was near Cygnus--the northern cross--and one star was blue, one was gold), and several other things. It was quite fun.

It is so amazing to look up at the sky and see all that God has made. I've been in the Planetarium at the Creation Museum many, many times (I often joke that it is home because it is so familiar). If you come to the Museum you HAVE to see the show--and you can even buy a flat-screen version on DVD which is pretty awesome, even if it isn't on the domed ceiling. Anyway, at one point in the script Jason mentions when summing up all of the celestial wonders that God created that God simply said in Genesis 1:16b "He made the stars also."

~Matt

Musings on Scripture

No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength
Psalms 33:16,17

I enjoy a good story, probably more than most. Just ask anybody who has seen how many books are crammed into my apartment. When I read I oftentimes get swept up into the drama of the story that I'm reading. This is especially true when I'm reading a good fantasy or science-fiction work by one of my favourite authors. However much I enjoy these tales though, I should remember that my life isn't scripted like a novel. My life isn't an adventure tale plotted by an imaginative human author. I am not a character in an epic story. My life is actually something better. My destiny is in loving the hands of the omnipotent, immortal, omniscient, all-powerful, loving Creator of the Universe.

I may enjoy reading the story of a kingdom saved by a hero in its hour of deepest need, but the real world does not revolve based on human strength. Behind every hero in scripture is the hand of God. God upholds the entire universe, the whole creation that he spoke into existence, only continues to exist at his sufferance because he consciously sustains it. As the psalmist said above armies, strength, and horses (perhaps money, influence, and technology today) are of no purpose if you seek to thwart God. His purpose will not be diverted or thwarted, no matter how much money you have, no matter how intelligent you are, no matter how much you've thought things through--he is God, and we (and I) are not.

~Matt