A few years ago, I was sitting at dinner with friends at a writers’ conference (Write Canada!). They began to discuss the poetry contest which was to be judged later that night. I had forgotten to submit anything, but when it was announced that submissions would still be accepted until the end of dinner, I quickly grabbed a pen from my purse and began to scribble. The topic we had been given was, “Compare an Orange to a Sheep.” Can you imagine? What a crazy challenge!
I prayed that God would give me something and here is what developed in the space of about 10 minutes:
THE ORANGE AND THE SHEEP
“Baa,” said the little sheep,
Have you any soul?”
“No sir, no sir,
But God gave me a goal.”
“I,” said the juicy orange
Am not lowly as you think,
For in my triune being,
I am a God-man link!”
“My skin, my juice, my seed
Are three and yet I’m one,
A reminder in man’s need
Of Father, Spirit and the Son.”
“Baa,” said the little sheep,
“You think you are so rare;
Look at me – God chose me
To symbolize His care.”
From up above a voice broke through!
The orange and sheep stopped speaking.
“Stop arguing, you witless two
And hear what I am saying.”
“Though one is hard and one is soft,
Not unlike every man,
Each in your special, unique way
Reflects Creation’s plan!”
That night, there was a poetry challenge awards ceremony. When I say I won first prize, it’s not to blow my own horn. I was probably more shocked than anyone. It was just a silly little poetry contest. My point in brushing the dust off of it tonight is just to share another example of God’s activity in our lives. I sincerely believe He gave me a gift of sudden inspiration that night – a little miracle for fun – by design!