Saturday 26 March 2016

Under the surface

Luke 23:50-54
The Burial of Jesus
Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning.

And so the earth lies silent
The last nail has been hammered
The last jeer has been shouted
The wood that hoisted him high
has been splintered
accompanied by the tearing
of the temple curtain.
The heavy tombstone
has been rolled into place.
Silence reigns.
But that silence conceals
something so incendiary
just waiting to burst into life.
The tomb becomes a womb
from which life will explode
when the time is right.
In the desolation
and in the darkness
God wrestles new life into being.
But for now,
The silence of the rock-hewn tomb.

Thursday 24 March 2016

One step at a time


This year, walking the Labyrinth has taken on a new meaning and I'm finding metaphors for the rawness of change that has affected my sense of identity and place in ministry.

Putting one foot in front of the other
Keeping to the path laid out.
Finding stations along the way
in which to rest
and reflect.
Gathering strength to go on
with renewed insight.
Wrestling with twists and turns.
Carrying burdens from the past.
Remembering those who also journey
companions new and old
Pilgrims together 
Meeting in the centre
At the cross
that speaks of love
and grace
and forgiveness
and affirmation.
The cross
that testifies
to a God
who can transform
human depravity
snatching life
from the jaws of death.
The cross 
in which God proclaimed
that evil does not have
the last word
but that grace transforms
even death
and that God continues to offer
a way back
to fullness of life.

Monday 21 March 2016

Get real

Luke 19:45-46
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there;
and he said, “It is written,
‘My house shall be a house of prayer’;
but you have made it a den of robbers.”

As we see Jesus angry,
Overturning tables
Shooing out those
who desecrated the house of prayer.
We get it.
We who try to turn from
Easter bunnies and bonnet parades
and chocolate extravaganzas
to the somber melancholy
of Holy Week.
Out of sorts with the rest of the world
We get it
when Jesus calls folk back
to meaning and purpose
and to love.
We get it.

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