Exegete –– Guest post by Carol Hallman

What can I say? I read Carol Hallman’s poem, “Exegete,” some work from a recent writing retreat, and I found myself … all the way back to that first exegesis paper in George Landes’ class at Union Seminary reflecting on Exodus 33 and being put in the cleft of the rock to watch the backside of God go by, and some moment in every week since that time.

I have always loved to exegete.

Even when I didn’t know what it meant
When I’d fall into a story
And dig my way out
Carrying in my heart and mind
The fragrance of the world created
By the author

I have always loved to exegete
To read scripture
And learn of the bliss and blessing
The blunders and the heartbeat
Of the characters
Stories of Adam and Eve
The grit of Joseph
The chutzpah of Esther
Of David the great king…except when he
Wasn’t —

The good, bad, and all so very human

I have always loved to exegete
To wonder and explore
Old worlds and new
Old words and new

To be challenged by what I read
Encouraged when I needed
Emboldened when I was afraid
Energized by the pathos inside

I have always loved to exegete

Because somewhere
Down among the stories
In the middle of the words
You might just find
A nugget of the wisest wisdom
and feel the breath
of the Holy Other
In that moment transformed
You might just find
Yourself face to face
With the Sacred