James

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Written August 2011

Called together but always mentioned first,
The older of the sons of Zebedee, the fishing boat owner,
Wanting to be top dog and seated as the right-hand man
But seemingly destined for the second fiddle role.
 
Labelled thunderous, and rumbling with inner turmoil
That explodes in anger when emotions erupt and boil over,
Spoiling all with a mother’s genes and dreams.
 
Called to the inner sanctum with Peter and John,
Witness to the raising to life of a deceased daughter
And then of what’s beyond for the transfigured Christ.
 
Beckoned to a garden to share the anguish of choice,
Expected at Golgotha yet disappearing into nobody,
But now tramping across a continent confident, teaching
Contentment when the first is last even when the end comes first.
  
August 2011
 
On The Way of St James, Estaing, Aveyron, France.
 
Photograph - with St James in Conques, Aveyron, France

Click here for further photos On the Way of St James, France (Camino de Santiago de Compostela)

_{The calling of James and John    Matthew 4: 18 -22; The Sons of Thunder    Mark 3:17; A dispute about who is the greatest   Luke 22: 13-30         A mother asks Jesus to grant a special status to her sons   Matthew 20:20-28; At the raising of the daughter of Jairus   Mark 5: 22-43;       The transfiguration of Christ     Mark 9: 1-10; In the garden of Gethsemane   Mark 14: 32-42; James, on social standing:     James 2: 1-9; James, the first of the disciples of Jesus to be killed   Acts12: 1-2}

Intercession

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Written May 2011

To intercede for another
Is to enter their world with imagination,
Shared sadness, hopes and fears
If only in that moment.
It's to ask the best for them,
Not knowing what it is
That's needed in that moment.
 
To intercede for another
Is to come back time and again;
Incessant repetition
Moment after moment.
   It's to be saturated deep with concern,
Willing to prepare for action
That's bound to flow from that moment.
 
To intercede for another
Is to feel their plight ourselves,
Asking to be relieved of its burden
If only in that moment.
It's to acknowledge our own weakness,
Entrusting the other to the Creator
For times beyond these moments.
 
May 2011

'First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.'     (2 Tim 2:1)
 

Ironing with Isaiah

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Written June 2011

An altar cloth covers the ironing board
As the priestess of perfection sets to work
Getting rid of creases, to and fro
In seemingly monotonous repetition
Of motion over and over, back and forth
Making rugged places plain
Including our own.  

But not yet to satisfaction
As the sizzler whistles, blowing off steam
Chugging ahead of its cord
Dragging a train of voltage behind
Feeding power along the track
Making crooked places straight
In a night time gown.
 
Still not enough, so up and down
With a baptismal sprinkling over the fabric
Turning up the heat with the rheostat,
Mountains made low and valleys exalted
A highway for our God constructed
Neither stiff nor starchy
And with the no entry sign taken down.
 
Yesterday’s wash becomes today’s ironing
And there’ll be more tomorrow
For the metal machine to ply its way
Over the linen in what seems sheer humdrum
Hardly needed in these days of drip-dry,
But the Glory of the Lord appears
Out of creases, wrinkle and frown.
 
June 2011

Thoughts on Isaiah 40 while watching Margaret doing the ironing.

Faith Without Words

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Written May 2011

Struggling to find a voice
to explain the mystery of faith
in elusive eloquence;
hand-writing illegible,
poetry incomprehensible,
argument unpersuasive,
preaching unconvincing,
so we resort to simple acts of kindness
and Christ is personified
as each finds the other
in the wordlessness of action.
 
A blanket rolls out,
bread is broken,
a cup of water poured,
and the only words exchanged
are those of permission
and thanks.
 
May 2011