You’ve Got a Friend In Me: Poetry Reading
This past Sunday at Trinity Life Church we began a conversation series called You’ve Got a Friend In Me.
Adam and I kicked off the series with a conversation on the topic of singleness in the church and in the wider world. We set the tone for our discussion by beginning it with a poetry reading.
I read a poem which I wrote in September of 2022, entitled Too Hungry for Heaven. While this piece is not specifically about being single, it fit our topic quite well by posing the question of whether our human desire for romantic partnership is rightly ordered in our spiritual formation as followers of Jesus. Do we think there is any more fulfilling relationship available to us now and in eternity than romantic partnership? What followed was a very fun back-and-forth.
For the benefit of those who would like to read the poem themselves, or to have the text alongside my reading of it in the video (linked here, to the beginning of the conversation), I’ve posted it below. We would love to hear feedback on the conversation through Trinity Life social media channels, or via email at blog@trinitylife.ca!
Too Hungry for Heaven
by Allie McTaggart
Heaven is a place
Where there is no fear
You can walk the city alone
Perfectly safe
Every curiosity deserving of pursuit
And you don’t need power
To get what you want
You don’t need protection
Or a partner
Even though he says,
Still carrying your coat in the early fall air
As you get out of the cab in gorgeous darkness,
I knew I was gonna hold it the whole time.
You didn’t need it.
Heavenly,
To be loved by someone
Who will hold your coat for hours and hours
Who makes home with you
And carries your burdens
He cries with you
Cries for you-
Yet,
What would this be without tears?
What would it be if I didn’t crave protection
And did not tremble in its absence?
I need something
Every second of the day
Oxygen
Breakfast
Touch
Experiences are the urgent god
So I ask for everything
Even though it’s never enough
I have heard that God is good
What father would give his son a stone
If he asked for bread?
I have a starved imagination
Too faint, too dim
Too hungry for heaven