Sometimes, loving your neighbour
is walking away.
Tuesday, 29 March 2016
Jesus / the Good Samaritan
Jesus is
The Good Samaritan.
He binds up our wounds.
He pays for our needs at the inn of life
and will make up what is owed when he returns.
The Good Samaritan.
He binds up our wounds.
He pays for our needs at the inn of life
and will make up what is owed when he returns.
About God, Jesus and the world
God is. God creates. God gives life.
God gives me the opportunity to receive Jesus.
God asks me to give Jesus to the world.
God gives me the opportunity to receive Jesus.
God asks me to give Jesus to the world.
Sunday, 27 March 2016
To Jesus
Jesus, you are
the breath of my life
and the heartbeat of my love.
Jesus, I am your sister.
How amazing and beautiful is that.
the breath of my life
and the heartbeat of my love.
Jesus, I am your sister.
How amazing and beautiful is that.
About Jesus, creation and us
How amazing that you gave creation
into our hands.
What have we done to it?
How much more amazing
that you gave your Son
into our hands.
What have we done to him?
into our hands.
What have we done to it?
How much more amazing
that you gave your Son
into our hands.
What have we done to him?
About the wedding garment
The wedding garment is sorrow, repentance, recompense;
forgiveness, freedom, faith, hope, love.
forgiveness, freedom, faith, hope, love.
Friday, 25 March 2016
About the wounds of Jesus, our brother, our friend, our Saviour
Fearful friends who fell asleep -
and ran away,
a kiss of betrayal from a chosen follower,
spittle, sleeplessness,
poisonous words,
injustice,
every strand of the scourge,
every prickle of every thorn,
bruises, cuts and grazes from carrying a heavy cross -
and falling;
the grief of his loved ones,
the indifference of bystanders,
the hatred of those who wished him dead.
Nails,
hanging,
every breath a torment,
every drop of blood drawn from his body,
freely shed for us,
to show his forgiveness
for the infliction of those wounds -
and his grief for all of ours.
and ran away,
a kiss of betrayal from a chosen follower,
spittle, sleeplessness,
poisonous words,
injustice,
every strand of the scourge,
every prickle of every thorn,
bruises, cuts and grazes from carrying a heavy cross -
and falling;
the grief of his loved ones,
the indifference of bystanders,
the hatred of those who wished him dead.
Nails,
hanging,
every breath a torment,
every drop of blood drawn from his body,
freely shed for us,
to show his forgiveness
for the infliction of those wounds -
and his grief for all of ours.
Thursday, 24 March 2016
An afterthought about Pilate and us
Perhaps Pilate is 'Everyman' and his guilt represents the guilt of us all as we 'stand on the sidelines', 'sit on the fences', 'keep our heads below the parapets' and 'hide beneath the radar' of life. (Look how many metaphors we have for everything that those phrases represent.)
How many of us can put our hands up and say, "Not I, surely, Lord"; certainly I can't.
It is Jesus who struggles up the hill of hatred, carrying the weight of our guilt and bearing the full punishment for it, and yet, even as he dies, is still able to find the strength to show his unshakeable love for us all and to forgive us and all humanity, then, down through all the ages and for all time.
PS I remember reading, quite some years ago now, a poem by John Dunne, which began "Spit in my face, ye Jews" which might be of interest to some people.
It is Jesus who struggles up the hill of hatred, carrying the weight of our guilt and bearing the full punishment for it, and yet, even as he dies, is still able to find the strength to show his unshakeable love for us all and to forgive us and all humanity, then, down through all the ages and for all time.
PS I remember reading, quite some years ago now, a poem by John Dunne, which began "Spit in my face, ye Jews" which might be of interest to some people.
A postscript to a Holy Week poem
In April 2014, I posted a poem that had come to me some years ago. I re-posted it in March last year. This is the postscript.
A postscript on Pilate
I feel dissatisfied and annoyed with myself for the postscript I added to my last post, and yet I wanted to add something. It did, however, set me thinking again about that scenario. Why was it that Jesus didn't speak to Herod and why did he speak to Pilate?
I'm sure, in the first case, it was because he knew it would have been a complete waste of time. There would have been nothing he could have said to Herod that would have had any effect on his closed mind.
It is, perhaps, more intriguing to consider why he spoke to Pilate and why he answered his questions. It must have been because he saw in him something real - something that could be reached and Jesus would never fail to respond to that in any human being.
We know that it had no outcome on the final fate of Jesus but I wonder how it affected Pilate in his life thereafter. His wife had tried to to warn him against condemning Jesus but he was trapped by his own weakness and all the water in the world could never wash away that guilt from his hands.
Maybe the interplay between them, Jesus, the victim, apparently powerless, yet wholly innocent, strong, dignified, unafraid; Pilate, seemingly powerful and yet powerless to follow his conscience and free Jesus, was enough to eventually produce a redemptive change in his life.
One thing we can say is that , as I once heard someone comment, Pilate is the only other human being, apart from Mary, the mother of Jesus, to be mentioned in the Christian Creed because, by his actions, he became an instrument in the Redemption of all Humanity.
I'm sure, in the first case, it was because he knew it would have been a complete waste of time. There would have been nothing he could have said to Herod that would have had any effect on his closed mind.
It is, perhaps, more intriguing to consider why he spoke to Pilate and why he answered his questions. It must have been because he saw in him something real - something that could be reached and Jesus would never fail to respond to that in any human being.
We know that it had no outcome on the final fate of Jesus but I wonder how it affected Pilate in his life thereafter. His wife had tried to to warn him against condemning Jesus but he was trapped by his own weakness and all the water in the world could never wash away that guilt from his hands.
Maybe the interplay between them, Jesus, the victim, apparently powerless, yet wholly innocent, strong, dignified, unafraid; Pilate, seemingly powerful and yet powerless to follow his conscience and free Jesus, was enough to eventually produce a redemptive change in his life.
One thing we can say is that , as I once heard someone comment, Pilate is the only other human being, apart from Mary, the mother of Jesus, to be mentioned in the Christian Creed because, by his actions, he became an instrument in the Redemption of all Humanity.
My second-ever post, from Thursday 2nd January 2014
I have decided to re-site my 'God' thoughts here, where they all belong together.
This thought is as true for me now as it was then.
I woke early this morning and this thought came, unbidden and fully formed, into my mind.
Belief in God is the peg on which I hang my life.
This thought is as true for me now as it was then.
I woke early this morning and this thought came, unbidden and fully formed, into my mind.
Belief in God is the peg on which I hang my life.
Re-posts
SUNDAY, 26 JANUARY 2014
On the next life.
The only thing which makes sense of this world, for me, is belief in the next.
Otherwise, there is too much unresolved grief and pain.
The next world is where
all truth is told,
all injustice righted,
all love requited.
If it is so, as I believe it is, then
...so be it.
Otherwise, there is too much unresolved grief and pain.
The next world is where
all truth is told,
all injustice righted,
all love requited.
If it is so, as I believe it is, then
...so be it.
Sunday, 13 March 2016
About 'the gates of heaven'
The gates of heaven have never been closed.
God stands by them with open arms
waiting for us to return.
The closed gates are within ourselves.
We have shut them from the inside.
God will never force them open.
Only we can open them
and step outside
to feel
the freedom
of the ever-lasting love of God
which awaits us as we enter through those gates.
God stands by them with open arms
waiting for us to return.
The closed gates are within ourselves.
We have shut them from the inside.
God will never force them open.
Only we can open them
and step outside
to feel
the freedom
of the ever-lasting love of God
which awaits us as we enter through those gates.
Saturday, 12 March 2016
About "earthenware vessels"
We don't need to waste time
worrying about our imperfections,
as long as we remember
that we are all "earthenware vessels".
We have this on the unsurpassable authority of St. Paul. (2 Cor 4:7)
How very consoling and encouraging.
worrying about our imperfections,
as long as we remember
that we are all "earthenware vessels".
We have this on the unsurpassable authority of St. Paul. (2 Cor 4:7)
How very consoling and encouraging.
Thursday, 10 March 2016
About the Trinity - plant - flower - seed
Father, you are the plant of love,
Son, you are the flower of love,
Spirit, you are the seed of love.
May the seed of your love
be planted in our hearts
and blossom into flowers of love,
made manifest in our lives.
Son, you are the flower of love,
Spirit, you are the seed of love.
May the seed of your love
be planted in our hearts
and blossom into flowers of love,
made manifest in our lives.
Tuesday, 8 March 2016
About the Lord, my Shepherd
My errant mind is like the lost sheep,
constantly wandering off in all directions.
Bring me back, Lord,
Shepherd of my soul.
constantly wandering off in all directions.
Bring me back, Lord,
Shepherd of my soul.
Saturday, 5 March 2016
About Jesus, the carpenter
You took wood and planed and sanded and smoothed it into beauty.
Whether driftwood or fresh young cedar, all can be transformed by the Master Craftsman.
Take me, Lord.
Sand away my roughness and my tough outer layers.
Without you, I cannot be shaped into wholeness.
Only you can bring out the uniqueness and beauty
of the inner being you created me to be.
Whether driftwood or fresh young cedar, all can be transformed by the Master Craftsman.
Take me, Lord.
Sand away my roughness and my tough outer layers.
Without you, I cannot be shaped into wholeness.
Only you can bring out the uniqueness and beauty
of the inner being you created me to be.
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