I don’t consider myself much of a scientist.  My brother loved science and became a science teacher at the age of 50.  I hope that inspires some of you who might be thinking you’re too old to do something you always wanted to do but didn’t think you could.  He overcame his doubts about whether or not he could do something he felt called to do and once he did it – he was so happy!

Anyway- that aside – I put aside some doubts I had about being able to write poems about Black Holes – the call was from a local publication, and my poems weren’t included in their selections.  But I was able to write some – three in fact!  What I think was exciting about this is that before I wrote the poems, I decided to read the old National Geographic that I had been hanging on to.  I remembered learning in High School about how some people disappeared in some area called a black hole while flying over an ocean somewhere.  I always thought the story was a scam.

Anyway – one of the things I learned about black holes is that they have a magnestism about them and that even light cannot resist the attraction.  Strange is what I thought at first.  Then I started thinking about how there are references to light and dark being the same and how with magnets – when things are the same, they actually repel one another.  That doesn’t happen in the Black Hole scenario where light is actually drawn toward the magnet until it disappears. That made me think and wonder about how much light is on the inside of that black hole.  We don’t know because we can’t go in there.  Looking closely at the black hole, it could almost be described as an iris.  And that made me think about the verse in the Bible that says we are the apple of God’s eye.  So I started thinking about that in terms of the Black Hole attraction.  And I wrote these poems.  None of them were included in the magazine that I submitted them to – but I think they are good enough to share with you.

 

Life is More than a Black Hole

I felt like passing through the black hole of death,

the abyss of the final unknown that nobody

has ever returned from.

 

So, how do we know it’s real if no one returns

from hell? Is hell on the other side of the abyss?

 

Is death so attractive that even light cannot escape?

We are the light of the world.  Jesus said that

about himself and us. He said he overcame

the world, so what if death just sounds attractive

when we’re depressed, anxious, confused, suicidal.

What if death isn’t real?  What if heaven and hell are?

Curiosity killed the cat, and I wasn’t ready to die like that!

I chose not to let that black hole magnetize me

lest I got too close, became blinded by the lie that

there’s no better way to get through the drama

and trauma than by bringing an end to my life.

Life is more than drama and trauma.

I gathered up all the life and light energy within me,

stood up, turned away from the hellish abyss,  the

rubbish, trauma, grief, pain, the shame of that chapter

of my life and avoided the black hole of death.

(c) June G Paul

 

LACUNAE

 Lost or missing pieces of a manuscript written

A chapter of your life, gone astray, best forgotten

Call it a black out or a black hole, they do exist in the

Universe of life and galaxies of space, missing pieces,

Never to be seen again, leaving some people feeling lost

Alone, unassured, aghast, abandoned and

Empty of hope, wanting the vacuum to be filled.

       (c) June G Paul            (another word for Black Hole is Lacunae – the last three lines I suppose are lines about the grief we experience when a loved one passes on to eternal life. )

 

I Disappear

His eyes are like black holes in the galaxy,

pupils expanding and contracting,

attracting all the iridescence

of light and life and love.

 

His eyes are like windows to his soul,

the height, depth, and breadth of

His mysterious magnetism

cannot be resisted.

 

His eyes are like black holes in my world.

Each and every time I look into them

I’m drawn in a little closer,

then falling into love

I disappear.

(c) June G Paul

 

When a person becomes attracted to the light of God in Jesus Christ they change.  The old person passes away and new person begins emerging.  Some people who don’t understand what’s going on or who have been resisting the Light of the World might not appreciate the changes that occur in our lives.  They might say to you that you aren’t the same person they once knew.   Sometimes we lose some of the friends we had before we disappeared into spending our time and life with The Light of the World.  The disciples left old friends behind and new friendships formed.  Just because someone isn’t comfortable with the new you in Christ, doesn’t mean you have to go back to your old way of being, thinking and doing.  Keep focusing ahead, keep your eyes, your heart, mind and soul focused on the Light of the World and know that Love will light the way to your future.  Some people say there is light at the end of the tunnel – I venture to guess there is light every step of each tunnel we walk through, especially if we are walking with the Spirit of Truth, Life, Light and Love.

 

Let us pray,

Lord God, there are mysteries of life in the here and now and the great beyond all around us.  Help us to live into the mystery of your light and love that we may abide in peace all the days of our lives, to the glory of your name.  AMEN