(My books are available on Amazon at this link.)
(Before becoming a preacher, a nurse, an amateur artist, or a massage therapist, I was a poet. I still am. Getting my poetry published in more than homemade binders had been a dream for years. Health challenges and the rise of modern book-publishing technology merged to motivate me to make the effort. This and my other books are published through Kindle Direct Publishing in both paperback and Kindle editions.
I wanted to put the introductory essays for each poetry collection on my blog. If you want to know what makes me tick, my poems tell it better than a biography.
This "Introduction" and the concluding poem are from my 1st book of poems. To read the posts from my others, click on these links:
“Introduction” to
Poems
Between Heaven and Hell
I was born half way through
the most noisy, confused, and dangerous century this world has known, yet also
in the century that has seen the greatest advances in science, medicine and
global education. As a Christian, I realize that no century has seen a more
rapid spread of the Christian faith throughout the world, yet I am saddened by
the fact that no century has seen such devastation of human life through
famine, war and willful infanticide. It is appropriate that I call this
collection Poems Between Heaven and Hell, for that is where they were
written. That is where this planet spins. That is where this world struggles to
survive. Each day I am more acutely aware that our world basks in a shower of
Divine Grace keeping it sprinkled with reminders of Heaven. But at the same
time we totter on the hellish brink of damnation and destruction. We are not in
Heaven, nor do we experience the utter doom of an eternal Hell. We are
somewhere in between.
I used to believe that Heaven
and Hell were totally future states, and that people who said, “Hell is right
now!” were just reacting emotionally to
unfortunate circumstances. The older I grow, the closer I believe such
people are to the truth. Aging does something to you. Youth focuses zealously
on the hopeful prospects of the present and an unknown future. Years tend to
thin out the thick tangibility of the present and render the future more
transparent and realistic. At least for me, and for many who are older and
wiser than I, maturity brings greater insight into the spiritual realities of
this life. The material world of humanity once held so much promise, but the
traumas of change, illness, and accident bring in a new understanding of our
mortality. The “ultimate” questions gain new significance. How the spiritual
world touches this world becomes so relevant and meaningful to daily life. The
future is built on the present, and the seeds of Hell and Heaven started
sprouting yesterday.
These are poems from the
earth, where we waver between good and evil in the choices we make day in and
day out. Here the populations of the afterlife are being created in the wills
of individuals. Today's earthly inhabitants are the future citizens of a
divided eternity. Much of my poetry is an appeal to the reader to open up to
the Divine Grace mentioned above. I have an evangelistic intent in some of my
poetry, because I believe the acts of God's love toward humanity are “good news”
for this planet. The responsibility of human freewill is awesome. The
consequences of human choices are ultimately final. But there is still time for
anyone “between Heaven and Hell” to choose differently, to choose more in line
with the Divine Grace that God has caused “to fall upon the just and the
unjust.”
I experienced that Divine
Grace early in my life. These poems form a chronological sketch of my
reflections and musings since age thirteen. My encounter with God has patterned
my view of life in this world. It has focused my meditation on the spiritual
and ultimate realities behind what our world considers common business. It has
sharpened my appreciation of the beauty and value of God's gracious acts toward
humanity. My poems deal with love, human and Divine, with Christ and His work,
with philosophy and philosophers, with worship, with sexuality, with sickness
and healing, with life and death. I wrestle with ideologies old and new. I
touch on the dilemmas and trials of God's people. I confess my own failings and
my aspirations in the Christian life. I comment on the problems of a society
alienated from God and from itself. I do have a lighter side, and you will find
a few poems of humor and satire. But for the most part, poetry has been my
channel of expressing the insights and wisdom gained by trying to seek the mind
of God throughout my own pilgrimage on a planet that hangs between Heaven and
Hell.
I want to thank all the
friends who over the years have encouraged me to publish my poetry. I thank my
precious wife Rosemary for her patience with me. I often neglected other
important duties when inspiration for a poem came and all else was set aside
until it was written. I believe poetry is like any other creative skill, a gift
of God to those who write it. But more often with me, it has been like what the
Old Testament prophets have described as the massa (burden, or word) of
the Lord, which they felt internally when a prophecy was to be proclaimed. That
is what it is like for me when I feel compelled to put down on paper a message
in poetry: a burden. Peace from the burden is found only in its proclamation. I
can say with the prophet Amos, “A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord
GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8, NASB). So, I thank God for
the gift, though it comes as a burden. And finally, thank you for taking the
time to read me. The Lord be with you.
— David L. Hatton
* * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
THE ANSWERING
Is there any meaning, a purpose why we’re here,
A reason for our living and dying day by day?
Could there be a message that comes from the beginning,
Outside our world of striving? Is someone there to say?
If it is all illusion, if we are just machines,
How can we measure value? Are we worth more or less?
If we are merely atoms that clumped by time and chance,
Why deem ourselves so precious upon vague hope and guess!
If only Someone’s out there to speak His love by word,
To tell us who we are; if only Someone came,
Then we’d have an answer. (Religion gave too many—
Science forgot our souls), but He’d have to leave His name.
Science said, “Keep searching.” Religion said, “Try harder.”
Some said, “Do your own thing.” And others said, “Be brave!”
But tell me how to listen. The voice of pain is loud!
The wounded scream around us. We face an open grave. . . .
But One came speaking purpose and wept at pain and death
And healed the brokenhearted. “A lunatic,” said some.
But He said Someone sent Him named Father God and Love.
He claimed to seek the lost ones; that One who came said,
“Come.”
— David L. Hatton, 8/23/1978
Is there any meaning, a purpose why we’re here,
A reason for our living and dying day by day?
Could there be a message that comes from the beginning,
Outside our world of striving? Is someone there to say?
If it is all illusion, if we are just machines,
How can we measure value? Are we worth more or less?
If we are merely atoms that clumped by time and chance,
Why deem ourselves so precious upon vague hope and guess!
If only Someone’s out there to speak His love by word,
To tell us who we are; if only Someone came,
Then we’d have an answer. (Religion gave too many—
Science forgot our souls), but He’d have to leave His name.
Science said, “Keep searching.” Religion said, “Try harder.”
Some said, “Do your own thing.” And others said, “Be brave!”
But tell me how to listen. The voice of pain is loud!
The wounded scream around us. We face an open grave. . . .
But One came speaking purpose and wept at pain and death
And healed the brokenhearted. “A lunatic,” said some.
But He said Someone sent Him named Father God and Love.
He claimed to seek the lost ones; that One who came said,
“Come.”
— David L. Hatton, 8/23/1978
(Poems Between Heaven and Hell, © 1991, 2014)
For more single poems from this volume, visit my website's “Poetry Page.”
