I have recently found a long lost poem written by my friend and former fellow Bible student. He wrote it after a year of intensive book-by-book study, so some of it is biographical. I now post it for your enjoyment.
Genesis should have been paradise but instead it turned to shame,
Exodus began in slavery but redemption saved the day.
Leviticus sanctified and made us holy for the task,
Numbers was my preparation but my inheritance I failed to grasp.
Deuteronomy the great covenant, the foundation of what was to come,
In Joshua I fought for my inheritance and the battle was victoriously won.
But Judges was my downfall, I did whatever I wanted,
And yet Ruth shone like a burning star reminding me that soon,
A King would come in Samuel, who would be the greatest King of all,
But first we had the failure of the people’s favourite Saul.
Kings and Chronicles said it all and I listened to the Kings,
Make excuses for the evil ways and many other things.
At some stage I went all negative and didn’t think I’d cope,
So I sat around complaining with some other guy called Job.
Everything seemed meaningless like there was nothing new under the sun,
Until Ecclesiastes came with its reminder to fear The One.
The Song of Songs reminded me, ‘My gosh, I have a wife!’
So I sought the wisdom of Proverbs to try and save my life.
The Psalms called me to worship, to pray, to lament and sing,
But as I read I kept on asking, ‘Is this synthetic parallelism?’
The exile sure did take a while with the ranting of the prophets,
Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, who I never thought would stop it.
But they kept on coming in their droves, calling us to repent,
‘Judgment’s coming’ is what they cried, ‘But there’s always hope at the end.’
At last the exile came to an end, the babble of Babylon silence,
And God’s faithfulness could be seen in the person of King Cyrus.
Ezra renewed the covenant and Nehemiah rebuilt the walls,
And somewhere in the midst of this Esther had a ball.
‘Elijah’s coming soon,’ cried the prophet Malachi,
But hundreds of years later, I thought he must have lied.
Then in the Gospels I discovered the One about whom all this had been written,
The King, The Servant, The Perfect Human Being.
In Acts I was commissioned, which followed spiritual birth,
And was told to go through Jerusalem, Samaria, even to the ends of the earth.
In Romans I met theology and saw the detail of God’s salvation,
And wondered if Paul himself had heard of the doctrine of pre-destination.
Corinthians reminded me that not everything’s black and white,
Idols, headships, tongues and money, not to mention the internal church fights.
But at least Galatians brought me freedom,
And Epesians gave me strength.
Philippians taught me the source of joy and in everything to be content.
Colossians led me to Jesus and the supremacy of Christ,
Whilst Thessalonians reminded me that He’ll come like a thief in the night.
Then, I lost my way in Timothy, as I struggled with my beliefs,
What is the point of having these books if they cause me so much grief?
But time moved on and so did the books as I continued to re-think ideas,
The race was hard but Hebrews came and encouraged me to persevere.
So my faith grew strong but James came along and pointed out my deeds,
My hypocrisy will be the death of me and James brought me to my knees.
Then Peter came to encourage me but also give a waring,
That I must be aware of the enemy as I wait for the Second Coming.
Speaking of which –
The writings of John moved me on and reassured me of my faith,
Until we reached Revelation and theology came up to my waist.
The visions, the seals, the trumpets and bowls, such confusion led me to groan,
So I focused on Christ, the source of my life and discovered that the Lamb’s still on the Throne.
Revelation was full of mystery much like some of God’s Word,
But I’ve learned that even in mystery God’s Voice can still be heard.
I’ve learned that in Christ we are loved, unique, chosen by grace,
We may see through a glass darkly, but in time we’ll see face to face.
Gralefrit Theology 
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