Holy anger

Jeremiah 31:6

For there shall be a day when sentinels will call

in the hill country of Ephraim:

“Come, let us go up to Zion,

to the Lord our God.”

“The job of a sentinel is to scan the horizon. To look. To discern. To see what is coming. To interpret. To guide. To announce. To warn.”  Stephen Cottrell, On Priesthood 

“They are to be messengers, sentinels and stewards of the Lord”

(Common Worship, Ordination Services)

Sentinels everywhere

Scanning the horizon

Interpreting the signs

Warning

Announcing 

Guiding

Sentinels everywhere

Were they always there?

And our busyness

prevented us from noticing?

Or has pandemic 

flushed them out?

Sentinels everywhere.

What are they discerning?

What are they announcing?

Of what are they warning?

And is anyone paying attention?

Sentinels everywhere

Not all of whom can be trusted

Not all of whom should be followed

Yet it is still worth 

listening carefully

for that one voice

that pierces deeply

through all our defences

signalling for us

a way forward

Not built on whim

or voyeurism

or fancy

but on a solid foundation

of grace that inhabits

and love that transforms

Pay attention 

to the Sentinel

that gets beyond your defences

not to confirm your complacency

but to shake up your heart

and stir up turmoil

in the core of your being

For then you will know yourself

propelled

on the path you must follow

to a place

that is not yet known

and in the journey

will you discover

the gift of holy anger

that sustains and equips you

for the new work

to which you are called.