Soulbridge Retreat

Ezra Pound was a famous poet but hardly a shining example of Christian living. So I was surprised to find this poem by him, thanks to John Eldridge of Ransomed Heart Ministries. I loved it and hope you will to.

Ballad of the Goodly Fere
by Ezra Pound

HA’ we lost the goodliest fere o’ all
For the priests and the gallows tree?
Aye lover he was of brawny men,
O’ ships and the open sea.

When they came wi’ a host to take Our Man
His smile was good to see,
“First let these go!” quo’ our Goodly Fere,
“Or I’ll see ye damned,” says he.

Aye he sent us out through the crossed high spears
And the scorn of his laugh rang free,
“Why took ye not me when I walked about
Alone in the town?” says he.

Oh we drank his “Hale” in the good red wine
When we last made company.
No capon priest was the Goodly Fere,
But a man o’ men was he.

I ha’ seen him drive a hundred men
Wi’ a bundle o’ cords swung free,
That they took the high and holy house
For their pawn and treasury.

They’ll no’ get him a’ in a book, I think,
Though they write it cunningly;
No mouse of the scrolls was the Goodly Fere
But aye loved the open sea.

If they think they ha’ snared our Goodly Fere
They are fools to the last degree.
“I’ll go to the feast,” quo’ our Goodly Fere,
“Though I go to the gallows tree.”

“Ye ha’ seen me heal the lame and blind,
And wake the dead,” says he.
“Ye shall see one thing to master all:
’Tis how a brave man dies on the tree.”

A son of God was the Goodly Fere
That bade us his brothers be.
I ha’ seen him cow a thousand men.
I have seen him upon the tree.

He cried no cry when they drave the nails
And the blood gushed hot and free.
The hounds of the crimson sky gave tongue,
But never a cry cried he.

I ha’ seen him cow a thousand men
On the hills o’ Galilee.
They whined as he walked out calm between,
Wi’ his eyes like the gray o’ the sea.

Like the sea that brooks no voyaging,
With the winds unleashed and free,
Like the sea that he cowed at Genseret
Wi’ twey words spoke suddently.

A master of men was the Goodly Fere,
A mate of the wind and sea.
If they think they ha’ slain our Goodly Fere
They are fools eternally.

I’m reading John Eldridge’s Walking with God. He’s making the point that what we want is our “happy little life.” That’s the bargain we make with God. I’ll follow God and He won’t let any bad thing happen to me. Well, this agreement doesn’t work in this world. Part of the reason is because the world is fallen and neither we nor our lives will be perfect until we get to heaven. But the really big reason is that we keep trying to make God a means to an end! An assistant in our quest for a happy life. But happiness comes and goes with the wind. Found a great sweater on sale? I’m happy. My car makes funny noises on the way home from the mall? I’m unhappy. My bank account is good this month? I’m happy. I have an unexpected expense that drains the bank account? I’m unhappy. I have a good Sunday morning at church? I’m happy. Someone snubs me at Fellowship? I’m unhappy.

Happiness is Seriously Temporary
I mean, come on. What kind of happiness is that? And yet we keep on trying! A lot of the reason for this is the media that surrounds us. How are women portrayed to other women in commercials? Happy! Flashing smiles, glorious freedom. We’re so happy in our kitchens because our floors are freshly mopped. At work we’re the junior executive who escapes the building, pulls down our hair from its bun, and vaults into the rented convertible for a weekend on the town. Our family gatherings are wonders to behold as everyone plays and eats miraculously huge meals in the perfect park. Everyone is grinning, grinning, grinning. Even the dog is grinning.

That’s the message that we get from T.V. and women’s magazines! Why does it work? Because we want that. We want our happiness, we want our safe home, we want our families to be happy and close by as long as they don’t drive us too crazy. We are built that way. We are built to bring new life into the world and to nurture it. We are built to be sensitive, to see deeply into the meaning of things, to encourage life. We are built to care for those around us. This is who we are and it is a deeply good thing to be.

But. (You knew there was going to be a “but” didn’t you?) The truth of the matter is that we are trying to grab for happiness from health, from other’s happiness, from safe homes, from neat little personal worlds. And it ain’t going to happen. We live in a world that is headed towards death. We do not fear death. We are reborn at death, not back into the same old world but into endless glory. But we live in a war-like world and there is no getting around it.

So Where do We Find Joy?
So where do we find safety? Where do we find joy? We only find it in one place: in our Savior Jesus Christ. No matter what happens He is there. Some things He allows to happen, some things He wills to happen. And really, everything is under His sovereign will. And we do not need to be afraid. Our happiness may depend on circumstances but our joy does not, and joy trumps happiness every time. Happiness depends on everything going well at that moment in time. And you know what? It’s a good thing! When Jesus created all that wine at Cana He was encouraging a nice human party. When God created a gorgeous world He knew we would look up at the beautiful mountains and be glad. But worldly happiness is a temporary gift. It’s a lovely thing. But it is not the joy that runs deep, knowing that we are saved  forever. Our happiness is the little spring that is pretty and pleasant and good. But it may dry up in the hot summer sun or ice over in the winter’s deep cold. If we depend on that little spring then we’ve got a problem, because stuff happens in this world But the underground river – the great aquifer of joy — is not affected by the seasons above. It just keeps running wide and deep. This is the Christian’s joy.

And the only way to get it is to stop depending on other things and other people to make us happy. We are made to love the Lord our God with all our strength and with all our heart and with all our mind and with all our spirit. This is the love that leads to joy, this is the love that leads to beauty and joy forever. God is not our assistant or our enabler or our babysitter, helping us to get the stuff we think should make us happy. God is the entire reason for our being. When we seek Him first and His righteousness THEN all those things are added unto us. Blessings flow from Him. Head deeper into Christ, farther up and farther in as C.S. Lewis puts it. Head deep into your love and obedience to God. This is where blessings abound. This is where joy is found.