Spoken word has a way of turning ugliness into beauty.
It’s like the more I mess up, the better my writing
and I guess I’m trying to be the best poet ever.
I know this muck I’m in resulted from my own decisions,
so why do I feel like I never woulda chose this?
Let me assure you, this was not my plan A.
Standing on stages telling rooms full
of strangers about the billions of ways I’ve failed,
and when it’s over they cheer and say
“you did so well”.
And it's nice to know other people can
relate to my flaws,
but I pray our aim is greater than
commiseration.
Whether it’s my sin or someone else’s,
there’s a difference between being authentic and crass,
courageously truthful and puttin’
people on blast.
When the prophet Nathan rebuked King
David it was not to bring him shame,
but to bring him to his knees in
repentance,
“I have sinned against God and God
alone.”
I swear, my sole motivation for
pointing out the mud on anyone’s face is so they can be clean.
And the only reason I display the
skeletons in my closet
is to show how God makes dry
bones live again.
Blessed is the man whose sins are
forgiven.
If my public disgrace brings freedom to
your secrets so be it,
but don’t call yourself speaking the
truth if all you do is confess,
complain, if your aim is only to get it
all out then you’ll finish feeling empty, not relieved.
If death is the end there is no beauty
in lament,
you’re either dead or you’re dying stop
trying to make it pretty with rhymes.
Truth, with no hope is no better than
hope that isn’t true,
don’t dare you waste my time railing
against everything we already know is wrong.
Neither do I need your optimistic
naivety,
“things are gonna get better, just
believe in yourself.”
Ill-placed faith in my own strength is
what created this hell in the first place.
If we held the cure to our
disease we wouldn’t be sick,
we all need something greater to
believe in.
Greater than
ourselves, greater than our sin,
if we don’t believe in greater then
we're letting death win.
Resurrection, is our only hope.
Not merely souls floating through a
golden city in the sky,
but corpses rising from the
grave,
scattered ashes reconvening into human
beings and breathing again,
hearts beating again, God
speaking again, proclaiming it is good, again, and forever.
Forever now we live resurrected. Yes we
live resurrected even before death,
resurrection begins with faith,
believers see new life manifested every day.
Every day we are healed from sin’s
death. No longer separated,
at peace with God and neighbor and
enemy and nature.
No longer takers we give our
lives.
If we die with Him we will rise with
our Lord, embrace your crucifixion.
Believe, death no longer has dominion
over Christ,
touch his immortal wounds and
see, death no longer has dominion over us.
Death no longer has dominion over
me!
Pain becomes poetry, ugliness is
beautiful.
The Beautiful One beaten beyond
recognition,
the most grotesque injustice ever
committed is now our only source of hope,
The Word of God said “it is finished”,
fell dead silent,
and on the third day, he spoke.
A live album capturing the synergy of Oddisee and his band; features highlights from the rapper’s extensive catalog. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 17, 2017