Our Little Submissions

Cameron Semmens is an Australian poet and performance artist. His work is both reflective and whimsical; his live gigs are both poignant and hilarious. I always enjoyed having him on Open House. His performance at our 2009 Christmas show in Melbourne had the crowd in stitches.

Cameron has just released a new book with a quirky edge. Called The Zoo in You: Faith Lessons on the Wildness Within, the book combines Cameron’s poems about animals (of all things) with some lovely illustration by Melbourne artist Hamish McWilliam and reflections from ‘leading Christian voices’ like Tim Costello, Brian McLaren, Roma Waterman, Naomi Reed, Michael Frost, Mark Sayers, Matt Jacoby (from Sons of Korah), Jarrod McKenna, and yours truly. The result is delightful.

Cameron approached each of us with a specific theme in mind. He asked me to write on submission. As it turned out, the topic was timely for me. He chose to base the chapter’s accompanying poem on a donkey. In a moment you’ll find out why.

Cameron has allowed me to post the Submission chapter in full.

Enjoy.