The Theologian Part I-II

THEOLOGIAN
After Chapter 15 – “Theologian” Part I

For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; ¹⁶ to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? — 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 (NRSVA)

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Not by mastery,
nor by the ease of speech,
nor by a tongue
that names the Spirit
as if it were its own—

but by the ache of unknowing,
by the tremble that follows
one honest question:
Who are You, O God,
and who are we
that You are mindful of us?

To speak of You
is not to explain—
but to burn.
We did not choose this path.
It found us—
in the place where answers die
and silence becomes a sanctuary.

Even there—
especially there—
a whisper rose:

Not cursed is He,
but Christ.
Not foolishness,
but foundation.

We do not always believe.
But we cannot leave the question.
It follows us
into every word,
every breath,
every act of naming.

We do not know if we are wise.
But we know this longing.
And in that longing,
we are not alone.

If the word of wisdom is given,
it is not ours—
but gift.
If truth appears,
it arrives through tears.

We believe, Lord.
Help our unbelief.

So call us theologians,
not for what we claim,
but for what we 
cannot forsake—
the trembling,
the witness.
The sacred hunger
to speak where the 
Incarnate Word,
the Logos—
has spoken our name first.

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AS THOUGH WEAK
After Chapter 15 – “Theologian” Part II

“To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. ²² To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I might by any means save some.” — 1 Corinthians 9:21-22 (NRSVA)

Not to stand above,
but beside.
Not to proclaim from strength,
but to listen through the ache.

To the idealist, we bore the shape of dreams,
though we knew their breaking.
To the realist, we wore the dust of earth,
while we carried the Pentecostal flame.

We became what they were —
not to flatter,
not to persuade by pretense,
but to stand where they stood,
so we could speak from within
what truth had already begun.

We did not possess it.
The truth possessed us.
And even then,
we trembled.

The theologian is not the one 
who is right —
but the one
who, being wrong a thousand times,
still cannot stop asking.

To the weak, we became weak.
Not to rescue,
but to know.
Not to instruct,
but to suffer-with.

Strength?
It is not mine.
Only the courage to name
our unknowing.

Only the grace
to sit in silence
until the Word
speaks again.

We do not build arguments.
We build bridges
with trembling hands,
so love may cross
from one heart to another
unannounced.

And when we speak,
before we speak,
may we pause in peace
to remember.

To be as those
who came before us,
who listened first
to the weeping of the world
and the whisper of the Spirit.

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Poems & Reflections on Substack

The Two Servants — Poem & Essay from You Are Accepted

The Other Order — Poem & Essay from You Are Accepted

Doing the Truth — Poem & Essay from You Are Accepted

You Are Accepted — Poem & Essay from You Are Accepted

Forgetting and Being Forgotten — Poem & Essay from You Are Accepted

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Published by
SAINT JULIAN PRESS, Inc.
www.saintjulianpress.org

Copyright © 2025
Two Thousand and Twenty-Five
©Ron Starbuck
Release Date: September 15, 2025

Print ISBN-13: 978-1-955194-47-1
eBook ISBN-13: 978-1-955194-48-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2025940201

Cover Image: Chiesa di San Francesco a Pienza II
Photo by Ron Starbuck from Pienza, Italy

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—Ron Starbuck, Publisher
Saint Julian Press, Inc.
Houston, Texas

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