Have you anything here to eat?

 

Luke 24:41-43

While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Have you anything here to eat?

A reasonable request.

Bursting from a tomb

and trawling through hell

is ravenous work.

Have you anything here to eat?

A request that’s easily met

As we sift through the remnants in the fridge

and google ‘leftover recipes’

Have you anything here to eat?

A request that takes our attention

from ourselves

to another

with the gifts of grace and hospitality

Have you anything here to eat?

A request that enables a shift

beyond our anxiety

to the possibility of encounter

and the potential of transformation

Have you anything here to eat?

Did you know?

Who knew?

That today, April ninth

is National Unicorn Day

A day to celebrate 

beauty and mystery

and unlikely possibilities

A day for gathering up

the myths and legends 

and symbols 

along with the the fanciful notions

that hold the potential

for joy and creativity

that, when pondered deeply,

chart an unlikely path through stuck narratives

and signal release

to contemplate 

and to realise

the unimaginable.

The Harrowing

 

He descended into hell…

The longer I stick with faith

the more I need the harrowing of hell

to be true

I need the veracity of the Christ

fresh out of the grave

a bit dazed

scabbed over wounds leaking with the exertion

to stride purposefully into hell

as though he owned it

And go straight to his friend Judas

To take him by the hand,

give him a man hug

and get him the feck out of there

no passing go

no parting with £200

If that ain’t true

then what’s the point of any of it?

(Liz Crumlish Holy Saturday 2024)

Women watching

Sculpture of the Fallen Christ, Iona, by Ronald Rae

 John 19:25

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

Just some more women watching

as their sons are murdered

by the vagaries of empire

Forced to bear the pain

and often the shame

that is heaped on to their loss

A scenario perpetuated

day in, day out

in cities and deserts

all over the world

Their lives offered up

in service of the hubris of imperialism

And, for all the pain and regret

nothing changes

and hope grows weary with longing

And still, the women watch and wait.

Hospitality

 

Mark 14:12-15

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”

When subsequent events

drown out intention

And a quiet meal with friends

becomes a mere backdrop

to a politically charged execution

that eclipses the intimacy

of final teaching and preparation

for a life of discipleship

Something is lost

in the detail

of careful preparation

of hospitality writ large

Hospitality

that went beyond

the jostling festival crowds

to carve our space

for mutual encounter

in which true meeting is possible

Let words speak

Mark 12:12

When they realised that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away.

Words

once shared

take on a life of their own

They are no longer ours

but live in the soul

of the hearer

or the reader

We cease to have control

over how they are (mis) understood

Regardless of how careful we have been

or how clearly we think we’ve communicated

the impact of words

opens up new worlds

Worlds of fantastical adventure

or grounded rest

Worlds of abstract journeys

or concrete pathways

Worlds captured only in the imagination

or rooted in reality.

The same words may signal potential

or carry portents of doom

may fill one with dread

and another with delight

may stop one in their tracks

or set another free

We who share our words

must be content

to let them go

and be.

 

By what authority?

Mark 11:27-28

Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?”

By what authority…

The question of those who fear being confronted

with their own incompetence 

A question that diverts attention

from their mediocre offering

It’s easy to be perceived as a threat

Sadly, often without even trying

We cannot legislate

for another’s insecurity

What we can control, however,

is the attention we pay

to continuing to do the best we can

and refusing to be caught up

in another’s drama

Being awesome

is not a competitive sport

It is a wholesome offering of self.

By whatever authority.