Anothen¹

 

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Another¹, a’ not her, not on her own,

but letting him take charge, experience.. 

United in a way that’s only shown

because their diff’rences combine; thus/ hence

they both must trust their maker, and be known.

God help me to do diligence that’s due

from my own side, as partner with your love;

creatively, let nature that’s of you²

have clear expression here, though from above¹.

‘Coz here’s the place where principles made plain,

are manifested, shown, creatively!

Expressed in dust and energy, again¹;

no, this is more unique, contextu'lly.

It’s not just “once again”, it's “from above”, 

The emphasis, not repetition but

relating with dimensions of the love

that plays with likenesses. It does not strut.

But does display on Earth, what’s really true,

what still exists ahead of time, and will

exist when time is gone. It’s there in you.

In heaven where your life is never still.

But moving in and out, like cogs in wheels,

Where purpose is not movement by itself,

but in relationship, another feels

more lovely, that’s the reason one has health.

To birth, to show, to bring about on stage,

on Earth, the place for acting out “below”,

where simplified, expressed, spoken from page

the story must get out to where we go.

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Footnotes

¹ ἄνωθεν (transliterated into English letters as anothen: Greek word meaning either “another instance/ again”, or “from above”), used by Jesus (as recorded in John’s account of the gospel - chapter 3 verse 7) μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὅτι εἶπόν σοι Δεῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν. See the footnotes of many English translations of John 3:7, and verse 3, where the ambiguity has been introduced by Jesus, but misunderstood by Nicodemus. In case the reader does not understand that Nicodemus missed the point, John does three things: 

1) The writer helps the reader see the point: John records Jesus’s words explaining verse 3 to Nicodemus (i.e. verses 4-6) about being born of both wind and water (bringing into mind in readers steeped in the scriptures the first few words of the bible regarding the birth of life on Earth where it speaks of the wind (=spirit, in both Hebrew & Greek) of God hovering over/above the waters of the Earth, and then the wind (= breath/spirit) of God being breathed into humanity to bring a higher (human, ruling over - but not as the king's of this earth rule over, but as God rules over: invisibly and out of love, servingly) life to the world.

2) John records Jesus’s (incredulous?) words to Nicodemus, where he says basically: “You are Israel’s top teacher, and you don't get this!” (John 3:10)

3) The writer helps the reader see the point themselves again: at the end of the same chapter, John the writer records John the Baptist’s words to the people of Jerusalem: where John the Baptist uses the same Greek word (anothen), speaking about Jesus’ identity as “the first-born”, to clearly mean “from above”, not “again”, as Nicodemus had mistakenly interpreted Jesus’ words in verses 3 & 7 (John 3:31-34 see the Greek in the left column and follow it in 4 English translations to the right of it).

² James says that every good gift [reminiscent of Jesus’s words (see Luke11:9-13, esp. Verse 13): will not your father in heaven give the spirit to those who ask for his (most necessary) gifts] comes down to us anothen. (James 1:16-18, especially verse 17; see the Greek in the left column and follow it in 4 English translations to the right of it).

And Peter goes on to say at the end of his life (possibly after a stroke) that with all these precious gifts from God in mind (not least of which will be his spirit), we may know that we have everything necessary for life and godliness.. through now (in Christ) becoming participants in the very divine nature (2Peter 1:3-4)

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