Beyond Make-Believe
- Details
- Written October 2014
Created nothing out of something,
But arranged in a child's world of make-believe
To become something out of nothing.
The tin soldiers march out of their cardboard box
Into a war that might make a no-one into someone,
But lead-shot shrapnel peppers the brain
Making another someone into an unknown no-one.
Or up the Faraway Tree into the Land of Play
Where once again nothing becomes something,
And we float along, daydreaming to ourselves
Then breaking something like precious toys into nothing,
Until the fantasies of an adult world
Make the ideal no-one into the longed-for someone.
Our elusive idol, dreamt of in secret, fades
And another someone becomes another no-one,
Leaving us with the lonesome feeling
That no-one understands our search for someone,
Until we open the book set in Judea and Galilee
To discover the perfect someone who helps us find no-one -
But ourselves.
October 2014
My Hands and My Head
- Details
- Written September 2014
Not just dusty feet with basin and towel
But up and down the body, here and there,
Every nook and cranny, cleft, appendage,
Unblocking sweat glands, rubbing off sebum,
Human pheromones with pungent odours,
Flaked skin that might have become dust,
Leftovers of epidermal regeneration
Removed sacramentally with a dash of soap,
Cleansed, refreshed, for a day that begins with hope.
Gone in gentleness, curling down the drain,
Mingling with the effluent of a thousand neighbours
Who unthinkingly pull the plug and chain,
While here reverently discarded, as though holy water.
September 2014
John 13:9
Soul Mate
- Details
- Written July 2014
In self-giving disclosures,
Though never fully known
Before the image fades
Into lingering communion.
Longing for more
Of what was, or yet may be;
The irresistible attraction
Captivated by chemistry
As a golden rose opens.
Searching for the divine;
But finding you in flesh
Until even that disappears
To become ether and air,
But still with us.
Richard Rohr points out that our relationship with God is a reflection of our relationship with each other.
July 2014
Consequences
- Details
- Written July 2014
Until you told me and I realised the damage.
Your sins hurt me and you did not know
Until I told you and you realised the damage.
Bound by what happened, some of it long ago,
Both of us suffering the consequences;
Bad blood and wishing the separation of death,
Not knowing you'd probably feel the same about me.
I didn't know what to do with my hurt
And you didn't know what to do with yours.
I should have hung my head in shame
And could have hung yours with blame.
Until I realised God suffered sin's hurts among us.
Sinless, he shared sin's damage; crowned with thorns,
Hands and feet nailed, a side pierced,
Blood flowing in undeserved and comprehensive death.
He absorbed the hurts of sin - dead and buried,
Not just for three days in the tomb
Waiting to be brought out again, but forever,
With a new beginning and way of life together.
His blood flowed instead of yours,
He died instead of me,
He suffered sin's consequences
His rising brings the gift of new life.
I can't change what you did to me
But I can remember him, and try to understand.
My hurt is gone, the damage I caused is forgiven.
And how I think of you is changed.
So even if you do not share my faith,
I can tell you what happened because of him:
My guilt is gone, my peace restored.
Difficult for Him, simple for me - and for you.
July 2014
Return
- Details
- Written May 2014
Launched into the deep and out of our depth
Plunged into unfathomed waters uncharted,
With a built-in compass but no maps to guide,
A sat-nav silent: destination unknown,
And all we hear is 'turn around when possible'.
But the winds drive on relentless, untamed,
Through the roaring forties; trailed by an albatross,
Lost herself, she needs to hang on,
Until we're ready to descend onto the sea-bed,
Entering the nirvana of perpetual calm,
Automatically transformed in peace and tranquillity.
Lost, without direction and purpose,
But in deepest mystery at the extremes of life,
Truth dawns with divine revelation,
Born of the Spirit, guide of the soul,
So the compass turns and we head for home
For another journey, and another line.
May 2014.