In praise of the semicolon

In praise of the semicolonIn Praise of the Semicolon
Never put a period,
or colon or even a comma
where God put a semicolon.Unlike the settled-
before-its-time
periodor the colon’s
invitation to see all
possibilities

or the exclamation point’s
screaming, insistent
finality

or even the lighthearted
comma with its
sabbath pause

the outrageous
semicolon holds
us in the middle

without yielding to one
thing or the other.
It’s so easy to get lost

along the way where
there is so much
pushing and pulling.

God I believe;
Help my unbelief.
Amen; Life.

Terry L. Chapman

Thanks to https://www.facebook.com/EmergentVillage for this quote.

Or as Swedenborgian scholar Rev. Dr. George Dole puts it: “Written revelation is inevitably misunderstood and misused if it is regarded as exclusive or final. “

4 Replies to “In praise of the semicolon”

  1. What I notice is the tension of living in a semicolon life. And, it is where I choose to live. I also notice when a person does not live there, and does not want to live there. And the next step is to accept and love them where and how they are. I’m not there consistently yet!

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