The Spruce / K. Dave
Spring Song
by Lucille Clifton
|
the green of Jesus
is breaking the ground and the sweet smell of delicious Jesus is opening the house and the dance of Jesus music has hold of the air and the world is turning in the body of Jesus and the future is possible |
A Discussion of the Poem
with Abram Van Engen, English professor at Washington University in St. Louis
and Joanne Diaz, professor of English and a poet at Illinois Wesleyan University
The Green Jesus:
Process Christo-Poetics
"Resurrection lilies (L. squamigera) commonly known as surprise lilies are named for their sudden appearance in early fall when they spring forth from the ground without any prior noticeable foliage to announce their presence."
"How to Grow and Care for the Resurrection Lily" in The Spruce: Make Your Best Home
"How to Grow and Care for the Resurrection Lily" in The Spruce: Make Your Best Home
Jesus is, for many, a surprise lily. Surprise lilies are named for their sudden appearance in mid-summer or early fall, when they spring forth from the ground without any prior noticeable foliage to announce their presence. They are saying "the future is possible and here it is." They are also called resurrection lilies.
As a surprise lily Jesus is not simply an historical figure in the past or an idea in the mind. Jesus is what process theologians call initial aims: that is, the fresh possibilities that come from the depths of God's heart, moment by moment, even when unexpected. They are possibilities for healing and hope, love and joy, creativity and beauty. They are found in human life and throughout the whole of the natural world, including in dark places. Even as they come in summer or early fall, they are the living presence of spring, of novelty and freshness, of greenness. That's why Lucille Clifton titles her poem "spring song."
The Jesus to whom Clifton points, the green Jesus, also comes in other sensory ways: the smells of home and the melodies of dance music. Thus the green Jesus is a delicious Jesus and a danceable Jesus. His resurrection is bodily.
In order to meet the green Jesus, it is not necessary to debate the ontological status of the green Jesus or reduce him to the second person of a holy trinity. A poem about the green Jesus is not christ-ology but rather christo-poetics. And it is not necessary to replace the phrase "green Jesus" with the word "God" in order to sound more universal. Such replacement too easily turns Jesus into an abstraction, a mere focal object in the imagination, neglecting the bodily and sensual presence of immediate joy. The beauty of a surprise lily is not in its abstractness but in its particularity. It is enough to let the lily rise up from the ground and say, when it rises, "Yes, I'm so glad you're here. I wasn't expecting you. You are so beautiful. Thank you." And then add, "Do you need water? Might I help you grow?"
- Jay McDaniel
As a surprise lily Jesus is not simply an historical figure in the past or an idea in the mind. Jesus is what process theologians call initial aims: that is, the fresh possibilities that come from the depths of God's heart, moment by moment, even when unexpected. They are possibilities for healing and hope, love and joy, creativity and beauty. They are found in human life and throughout the whole of the natural world, including in dark places. Even as they come in summer or early fall, they are the living presence of spring, of novelty and freshness, of greenness. That's why Lucille Clifton titles her poem "spring song."
The Jesus to whom Clifton points, the green Jesus, also comes in other sensory ways: the smells of home and the melodies of dance music. Thus the green Jesus is a delicious Jesus and a danceable Jesus. His resurrection is bodily.
In order to meet the green Jesus, it is not necessary to debate the ontological status of the green Jesus or reduce him to the second person of a holy trinity. A poem about the green Jesus is not christ-ology but rather christo-poetics. And it is not necessary to replace the phrase "green Jesus" with the word "God" in order to sound more universal. Such replacement too easily turns Jesus into an abstraction, a mere focal object in the imagination, neglecting the bodily and sensual presence of immediate joy. The beauty of a surprise lily is not in its abstractness but in its particularity. It is enough to let the lily rise up from the ground and say, when it rises, "Yes, I'm so glad you're here. I wasn't expecting you. You are so beautiful. Thank you." And then add, "Do you need water? Might I help you grow?"
- Jay McDaniel