How is your soul?


I just recently completed the Master of Theology (ThM) program at Dallas Theological Seminary. One of the final assignments was to do some sort of creative project that expresses “how is your soul?” in a personal and meaningful way. While I am by no means a poet, I do enjoy making things rhyme. Here it is.

----------

How is my soul?
Is it scathed or whole?
It is very often my thought,
Further along, why am I not?

In truth and mind, in what I know,
Two thumbs up, there’s no plateau.
But in the organ about a foot below,
I have still got quite a ways to go.

Not too bad is what I’d say.
But not too bad is a ways away,
From where I’d really like to be,
But you asked, so there, that’s me.

For God, I strive to make the time,
His Word, in prayer, and praise sublime.
But do I truly give Him my heart?
Or of my life, is He only a part?

For time, by itself, is never enough,
If your mind is distracted by life and its stuff.
I truly desire to give Him my all,
Quantity, quality, in Him to enthrall.

I don’t blame the enemy,
Or his fiery weaponry,
If my time with God is brevity,
My walk with Christ: entropy.

I’m not unaware of his wicked schemes.
This world in which we live, oh how it teems.
He’s just not the problem, I’ve learned to see.
My worst enemy, you guessed it, is me.

With Christ at my side, I have nothing to fear,
Anxiety, worry, they’re not in my sphere.
The temptation for me, as I know He observes,
Is to trust in myself, not the One who deserves.

To God be the glory, as the song goes.
For He wrote my story, my soul He chose.
I know that I truly have nothing to dread,
The praise is His duly needs to stay in my head.

My time, my money, they belong to Him.
With me at the helm, my chances are slim.
If I rely on myself, the results, they look grim.
The distractions I allow are in need of a trim.

My clock I turn off, my cash I give back.
With Him in control, there’s never a lack.
When my grip is too tight, He gives me a whack.
And that’s usually enough to get me on track.

There is sin in my life, too much to hide.
Iniquity, yes, but no long backslide.
Doubt, indeed, and that so stubborn pride.
But never a hint of the faith being denied.

I can definitely see a trend of progress.
Victory over sin is quite the process.
To the old nature, I’ll never acquiesce.
All the way to the end, when I luminesce.

Please pray for me, I need the support.
Without God’s help, I’ll always fall short.
Pray that His Word, I’d never distort.
And that His wisdom, He’d always import.

How is my soul?
It’s under control.
No, not by me,
It’s His, actually.

S. Michael Houdmann


Return to:

GotQuestions.blog homepage



Did God sacrifice Himself to Himself to save us from Himself?