{"id":1304,"date":"2014-01-24T19:28:54","date_gmt":"2014-01-25T00:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1304"},"modified":"2014-01-24T19:31:14","modified_gmt":"2014-01-25T00:31:14","slug":"poem-if-i-were-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/24\/poem-if-i-were-king\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: If I Were King"},"content":{"rendered":"

If I were king of the world<\/span>
\nMy first official act<\/span>
\nWould be to resign as king<\/span><\/p>\n

It is a common fantasy to be a powerful ruler so that you could enact your will over others.\u00a0 This short poem is a simple, straightforward, and absolute condemnation of such “Lording over” others.\u00a0 This is a variant on the theme of absolute power corrupting absolutely. The temptation to use such great power is strong, even if for just a little while, to get a few very important things done.\u00a0 The essential problem is that any monarchical will over others cannot escape the larger reality that a mass veto of the masses’ will is inherently anti-democratic, even if done with perfect motives.\u00a0 Surely a beneficent king is better than a cruel and selfish king.\u00a0 Nonetheless, monarchical power is inherently illegitimate; that is if you ascribe to democracy and power of the people.\u00a0 The point is not to have monarchical rule!<\/p>\n

I suspect that I will never have to deal directly with the temptation of being king.\u00a0 Still, the sin of “Lording over” others exists at both large and small scales, and we all confront such temptations.\u00a0 For Christians, even the “Lord” Jesus didn’t “Lord over” others.\u00a0 Instead, Jesus was a servant leader, leading by example as a servant.\u00a0 Though this seems to be a lesson oft forgotten by many Christians.<\/p>\n

Jesus incarnated God’s nature as a host ever-inviting others into fuller and more mature relationships, which are dynamic and respectful (reverent).\u00a0 God’s edicts, as contained in the rules of creation, are a framework within which to experience these relationships, and these rules are “subjects” to God’s will and character.\u00a0 Legalisms, which make easy prey of any ideological system, are not the end of “good governance.”\u00a0 Whether mistaking the sum total of reality as the laws of nature discernible through science, or the legalisms of political or religious elites, we should not make the mistake of worshiping the created over the creator.\u00a0 Reducing God to a set of rules is deeply pathetic, imprisoning the Creator in a box and pinning ourselves to design specs falling far short of our full capabilities.\u00a0 God is more, and so are we.\u00a0 May you experience the “moreness” of God and yourself, in an ever-deeper and maturing way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If I were king of the world My first official act Would be to resign as king It is a common fantasy to be a powerful ruler so that you could enact your will over others.\u00a0 This short poem is … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,15],"tags":[435,25,574,272,108,428,65,24,157,475,379,658,94,17,110,601,423,31,502,524,600,390,517,53,492,383],"class_list":["post-1304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-character","tag-christian","tag-creation","tag-democracy","tag-elite","tag-experience","tag-god","tag-jesus","tag-law","tag-logic","tag-nature","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-political","tag-power","tag-reality","tag-relationships","tag-religious","tag-respect","tag-reverence","tag-rules","tag-science","tag-selfish","tag-short-poems","tag-temptation","tag-worship"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: If I Were King | Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! 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