The River of Life.

defeating evil with love

2012-02-21T13:16:00.004+11:00

There is no greater victory of evil than the reaction of guilt and despair which it arouses in those who have committed a sin, or of fear, anger and hate in those who have been wronged. Conversely, there is no greater victory over evil than to refuse to give in to these feelings, to refuse to act on them, to harbour them or justify them. We defeat evil - in ourselves, in others or in the world - when we refuse to react to it with more evil, but respond to it with repentance, forgiveness and love.
-Irma Zaleski
The Way of Repentance

The Baptism of Jesus

2012-02-21T13:13:00.000+11:00

Rosalind Hore

The Baptism of the Christ: painting

2012-02-21T13:08:00.000+11:00

Daniel Bonnell

wholly within love

2012-02-21T12:50:00.000+11:00

In the wilderness we areconnected to what God is doing in the world. In the wilderness, when all elseis taken away, we learn the value of things, and the ultimate value of love.Author and poet, Madeline L’Engle puts it this way:

“To learn to love
is to be stripped of all love
until you are wholly without love
because
until you have gone
naked and afraid
into this cold dark place
where all love is taken from you
you will not know
that you are wholly within love.”
(From Lines Scribbled on an Envelope, New York: Ferrar, Straus andGiroux, 1969, p. 49)

What do you want me to do?

2012-02-20T11:21:00.001+11:00

Gospel writer Mark

is a man of few details;

he invites us to employ our imaginations.

He gives us a wilderness Jesus,

no longer under pressure

from demands of family or carpenter’s shop.

Perhaps he left the trade behind,

as well as the family,

when he moved to Capernaum.

Time to think; to weigh his options.

I picture him as a frugal man,

of independent means, at least in the short term,

with a modest sum set aside

for the purpose of taking a bride

and embracing family life;

he had certainly reached the age.

Still single at thirtyish, the mid-life crisis

had been nagging away for some time,

and the recent changes in his life

showed that its course was far from fixed.

Since childhood he had felt a persistent

sense of mystery, of a divine something

that seemed not to disturb others

in quite the same way.

He had often asked questions of this spirit,

and sensed it interrogating him;

his head shouting silently

through the sounds of hammer, saw and plane.

The answers were elusive

and the questions persistent.

Now, driven into the wilderness

after the baptism event with John,

the debate increases in tempo

as the shoutings move outside his head

to echo in the desert night,

“What do you want me to do?”

bright with miracle

2012-02-13T14:56:00.001+11:00

“All was as it had ever been -

the worn familiar book

the oak behind the hawthorn seen,

the misty woodlands look:

The starling perched up on the tree

with his long tress of straw

when suddenly heaven blazed on me,

and suddenly I saw:

saw all as it would ever be,

in bliss too great to tell;

for ever safe, for ever free,

all bright with miracle.”

(Ruth Pitter)

Affirmation

2012-02-13T14:51:00.001+11:00

•Affirmation

Let us affirm ourfaith together:

We believe in a God who is

never confined to our imagining,

is never in bondage to our beliefs,

and never held fast in our dwelling places.

Our God is the mystery of divine

and human bound together,

of power and vulnerability, of crucifixion and resurrection.

Our God is the wonder of truth and compassion,

of liberation and responsibility of

eternal wisdom and costly grace.

We celebrate this God who leaps free of all our boundariesin love

stretching out fromhorizon to horizon,

and in mercy bending deep into fragile human hearts.

by Dorothy McCrae--McMahon from 'Prayers for life's particular moments'.

Beyondness

2012-02-13T14:48:00.004+11:00

“[I believe] there is nothing moreneeded by humanity today …

than the recovery of a sense of“beyond-ness”

in the whole of life to revive thesprings of wonder and adoration.” John. V Taylor

Stepping from shadows

2012-02-13T11:40:00.003+11:00

Stepping from dark shadows

into dazzling sunlight;

transfiguration.

So the glowing Jesus

appeared before a select few,

who came, in time, to appreciate

that light emanates from deep within

the soul/spirit/mind/heart

of the one who shines.

“Listen to him,” speaks one

who is traditionally thought of

as shining from on high.

But his words are difficult;

commanding a lifetime

of exploration and striving to comprehend;

and still the grasping is not complete.

They call us all to glow with him

as his curiously present spirit

cajoles and reshapes

our soul/spirit/mind/hearts,

beckoning us to step

from comfortable shadows

into healing light;

to share his outrage

and to become joined with him

in weeping pain,

suffering love

and unfathomable joy.

Beauty

2012-02-07T22:15:00.000+11:00

The heart outstrips the clumsy senses, and sees … an undistorted and more veritable world. All things are perceived in the light of charity, and hence under the aspect of beauty: for beauty is simply Reality seen with the eyes of love.
- Evelyn Underhill

no outsiders

2012-02-07T22:06:00.000+11:00

In his book What Jesus Meant Garry Wills writes, "no outsiders were cast out far enough in Jesus' world to make him shun them — not Roman collaborators, not lepers, not prostitutes, not the crazed, not the possessed. Are there people now who could possibly be outside his encompassing love?" Instead of defining other people outside the love of God, we're better off imitating the apostle Paul, an apostolic insider, who in the epistle for this week contemplates the real and harrowing possibility of his own banishment to outsider perdition (1 Corinthians 9:24–27).
http://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20120206JJ.shtml

Jesus was not s slave of patterns

2012-02-07T22:02:00.001+11:00

"Why shouldn't Paul use the latest wisdom from the secular world about self management and motivational training? Paul is wonderfully flexible at times. He sees through rules and regulations and through claims of status to what really matters. What really matters for him is making the message and meaning of the gospel known. There may have been patterns for doing so in the past (which probably suited semi rural Galilee), but even if they were established by Jesus (as they were!), that doesn't mean they can't be changed in new situations. Love has the capacity to change, to adapt, to be flexible. Paul's way of doing things made good 'love-sense' in the situations he faced. His priority was the love expressed in the gospel. It was not ensuring other people recognised his official status or even with ensuring a 'Lord Jesus' got things done in exactly the right way. Paul's Lord, Jesus, was not a slave of patterns (or the lord of patterns!) and obsessed with being a lord, but one who emptied himself, poured himself out. That is where Paul is coming from. That is why he can be free. That is also why he can appeal to common sense."
http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/BEpEpiphany6.htm

The prize

2012-02-06T15:24:00.002+11:00

1 Corinthians 9:24 - 27

Got to do the training,

got to make an effort;

don’t want to let my comrades down

so I’ll forward put my best foot.

Got to keep on keeping on,

yeah, got to persevere;

to climb over the obstacles

and overcome the fear.

This race it is for everyone,

no heats to qualify in,

no starter’s gun, so join right in;

and soon you will be flying

A race unique in character,

no contest with each other,

the Spirit joins us in a team

to run this race together.

There’s a goal been set before us,

a wreath that’s in the making,

a kingdom shaped by grace and love,

the prize there for the taking.

Justice, peace, these are the goals,

and loving is the process.

Getting all the loving right

will guarantee our success.

We can all be winners, yeah,

there’s no-one has to lose it;

the race itself is prize enough,

so get on board and choose it.

©Ken Rookes 2012

Like Eagles

2012-02-01T14:40:00.004+11:00

Isaiah 40: 21-31 A Reflection.

It all begins in mystery;

voices in the darkness,

whispers strained after,

questions.

Do you know?

Have you heard?

Can you possibly understand even just a glimmer?

Above the vault of the heavens

and beyond the deep night,

is the point where mystery takes breath

and light begins.

The one whose love is source of all,

looks with tenderness upon everything that has been made,

numbers and names each of earth’s inhabitants

and notes their various locations.

Like grasshoppers they leap about

as they make their way.

Some rise high, use their

wealth and power

to dominate and control

they will be brought to nothing.

Like plants they sprout,

green, proud and strong,

little dreaming that one day a divine breath will come

to blow scorchingly upon them;

they wither, and are reduced to dust.

They will be carried away to nothingness,

along with their memory.

We are left to wonder at mystery,

but she evades our grasp.

Invited to make comparisons,

to identify her equal,

we find none;

we are silent.

A voice speaks to challenge:

Behold: each star in its allotted place,

each one numbered

and recorded, along with its name

in the celestial register;

they are all present, none is missing.

Can there be any mightier

than the one who has appointed them?

You who have become discouraged and fearful,

believing you have been abandoned,

that the one who called you into being is absent

and there is none to hold you to account;

you are mistaken.

You are remembered, you are known.

You were never lost;

even in this place, far from where you want to be,

the tireless mystery knows you, finds you.

Her love for you does not weaken,

His care for you is undiminished.

Those who are about to faint with fear and sorrow

will find strength.

Those who feel that they have no future

will find hope.

Laugh into the darkness,

gesture with defiance towards the night.

The beauty power of youth is a wonderful thing,

it, too will pass.

Even the fittest will grow weary and fail

and the finest athlete will become weak and exhausted.

It is those who know the presence of their maker,

who hold fast to his promises,

who trust in her love;

these will stand.

They will complete the journey that has been set before them,

they will not fall.

They will be like eagles.

©Ken Rookes 2012
This is a reflection on Isaiah 40:21-31. It's a bit of a work in progress, but I think it might be helpful in getting into the spirit of the passage.
It's Friday night and I have made some amendments!

Growing weary

2012-01-30T15:29:00.001+11:00

“ . . . but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength,

they shall mount up with wings like eagles,

they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

Isaiah 40: 31.

Like the alleged behaviour of the ostrich,

the young bury their heads

in the nearest party; the flashing lights

and booming speakers joining to affect

a most efficient bouncer, large and unarguable,

to exclude uninvited realities.

Their parents did much the same,

retreating to their picture-window caves

with the essential light box flickering

in the corner, and tantalising with its

pleasant dancing magazine pictures

and offering only the tidily groomed

dressed-up view of world and nation

approved by the dominant consumerist paradigm.

Insistent reality, sad and unfashionable,

and bearing the accusing scars of

injustice, avarice and fear,

has been officially declared a source of boredom

and ordered to wait at the gate.

It makes us weary;

we would rather it intruded somewhere else.

The demons

2012-01-25T17:29:00.000+11:00

The early paths

of my neo-pentecostal meanderings

passed by way of the demons.

Taking literally the stories

of gospel writer Mark, et al,

like this one set in Capernaum,

we addressed these shadowy

and unclean spirits;

commanding an immediate departure

from their unsuspecting hosts.

I sometimes wondered where they went.

The dark and horned tormenting creatures

of medieval and renaissance paintings

have become mainstream.

Joining their vampire/werewolf/monster

allies on flickering screens,

these demons create easy

and seemingly illicit thrills

for new generations of children

who have become bored with the sameness

of their comfortable lives

and yearn for mystery,

whatever its colour.

I no longer believe in demons;

there is sufficient cruelty and derision

in the brokenness of humankind.

Mystery, however, rainbow-hued and shining,

intrudes persistently into my disbelief;

she brings no cheap shivers.

She will not be grasped, nor commanded,

but may be glimpsed

in the stories of the Nazarene

and those he encountered.

Like this troubled and damaged man, who,

hearing an unexpected and disturbing

word of love,

begins his freedom life.

Jesus who cast out demons

2012-01-24T16:17:00.004+11:00

Franne
On Wednesday we gathered,
ignoring the heat, to remember
and celebrate a flurry
of fabric and colour. Franne,
outspoken, passionate,
lover of people; one
touched recklessly by the Spirit.
We heard how she harangued
the former PM on the Town Hall steps
in the election that he would eventually lose.
Franne struggled and triumphed
but lost her final battle.
For many years she set aside
her own darkness, to contend
defiantly with the evils of the wider world,
bringing all the powers of her creative mind
to her divine calling.
It must have been a black and cruel place
from which she determined
that there could be no other escape.
Jesus, who cast out demons,
however we understand them;
bring your light into our places of darkness
and flood us with your love;
that we might be passionate healers,
defiant confronters,
and creators of hope.

Ken Rookes

The image of Jesus as exorcist?

2012-01-24T13:24:00.003+11:00

The image of Jesus as exorcist is someone who has experienced his own demons (Mark 1:12-13). The temptation stories (of which we will hear in a few weeks as we enter Lent) point to the image of a wounded healer, to an image of one who by his own experience understands vulnerability and internalized oppression. In having recovered their own hearts, healers have some understanding of the suffering of others.

Naming the demons means knowing the demons . . . The Gospels imply that anyone who exorcises cannot be a stranger to demons . . . To have faced our demons is never to forget their power to hurt and never to forget the power to heal that lies in touching broken-heartedness . . . Jesus hears, below the demon noises, an anguished cry for deliverance. Through . . . mutual touching, . . . community is co-created as a continuing, liberating, redemptive reality. – Rita Nakashima Brock, Journeys by Heart: A Christology of Erotic Power (Crossroad Publishing, 1988).

nothing is more practical than finding God

2012-01-18T12:49:00.001+11:00

Nothing is more practical than
finding God, than
falling in Love
in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.
It will decide
what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you do with your evenings,
how you spend your weekends,
what you read, whom you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in Love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.-Attributed to Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ (1907–1991)Finding God in All Things: A Marquette Prayer Book
http://www.edgeofenclosure.org/epiphany3b.html

We are Jonah

2012-01-16T11:20:00.001+11:00

Please read the whole of Jonah this week. It is not that long and it is rich and full of the radical message of God's grace and of our need to live graciously and mercifully. This is not just a story about a whale and a reluctant prophet, or merely about Ninevah. It is about us.

We are Nineveh. We areJonah. We don’t know what it was that Jonah did. Maybe they polluted theenvironment, maybe they oppressed the poor, maybe they worshiped false Gods.The point is that they repented of their actions and then God repented of Gods.

A story, but very real.Grace was there for Nineveh, even though they had done great wrongs. Grace wasthere for Jonah when Jonah was at his lowest. But the real challenge of Jonahis to see the grace and activity of God being present not just for ourselvesbut also for even those we regard as our enemies. This book is about thepresence of God’s grace and the absence of Jonah’s.

The greatest of these is 'faith'???

2012-01-16T10:39:00.001+11:00

Although Paul maintains that while faith, hope and love abide, "the greatest of these is love," I believe that many Protestants have decided that the greatest of these is actually faith—as in "orthodoxy" of one sort or another—and that little else matters, least of all incarnation.

S.T. Kimbrough suggests that evangelism is increasingly difficult not because our pluralism, consumerism or attention span makes us resistant, but because we fail to incarnate the love we preach. We can't persuade others that we are people of peace because there is so much strife and contention among us—and we are often more eager to be right, or to win, than to be loving. We offer forensic invitations to discipleship—come think like us—instead of a mutually transforming hospitality: come be with us; let's learn together.

I think of all this as I reflect on today's lessons, especially Jonah's "second" call to preach in Ninevah. Why does the word have to come to Jonah twice before he obeys? The Ninevites hear only once before they repent.

One answer is the abiding irony that we people of God—even God's representatives—are often reluctant to live into the word we've received. In spite of Paul's counsel, we hold onto the present form of this world. We do not leave our boats as the Zebedees did but instead try to get Jesus to come aboard and make us more successful in our existing work. Though God obviously loves our enemies, we do not—like Jonah, we often resent God's grace. We are left to wonder, as the light of Epiphany grows brighter, why it is that as God's people we are often left in the shadows.
Although Paul maintains that while faith, hope and love abide, "the greatest of these is love," I believe that many Protestants have decided that the greatest of these is actually faith—as in "orthodoxy" of one sort or another—and that little else matters, least of all incarnation.

S.T. Kimbrough suggests that evangelism is increasingly difficult not because our pluralism, consumerism or attention span makes us resistant, but because we fail to incarnate the love we preach. We can't persuade others that we are people of peace because there is so much strife and contention among us—and we are often more eager to be right, or to win, than to be loving. We offer forensic invitations to discipleship—come think like us—instead of a mutually transforming hospitality: come be with us; let's learn together.

I think of all this as I reflect on today's lessons, especially Jonah's "second" call to preach in Ninevah. Why does the word have to come to Jonah twice before he obeys? The Ninevites hear only once before they repent.

One answer is the abiding irony that we people of God—even God's representatives—are often reluctant to live into the word we've received. In spite of Paul's counsel, we hold onto the present form of this world. We do not leave our boats as the Zebedees did but instead try to get Jesus to come aboard and make us more successful in our existing work. Though God obviously loves our enemies, we do not—like Jonah, we often resent God's grace. We are left to wonder, as the light of Epiphany grows brighter, why it is that as God's people we are often left in the shadows.

Annoyance

2012-01-16T09:18:00.000+11:00

Annoyance

Jonah was a prophet,

a clever little man,

who would declare the word ofGod

according to God's plan.

Jonah was a numbers man

who carefully kept score,

of all the nations' rights andwrongs

according to God's law.

Jonah liked his message

of judgment and of gloom;

he liked to see the bad guys

get what was coming to 'em.

When Jonah got to Nineveh,

after perils quite aquatic,

imagine his disgust when God

chose to be acquit-ic.

Jonah said, "I told youso,

It's all a wild goose chase!

I knew you wouldn't punish them

when you sent me to thisplace."

Then God replied, "I'msorry, mate,

but we don't see eye to eye.

I'd rather choose the way ofgrace

than to see these people die.

"But that's the way I am,yeah,

and that's the way it be.

You can choose to nurse youranger

or show pardon just likeme."

Tingling

2012-01-10T21:31:00.001+11:00

The child hears a voice,

assumes it is that of his substitute father,

(who else could it be?)

and rises from his slumber

to attend the aging priest.

On the third occasion

the old man wakes up,

realises it just might be the voice

of the almighty.

Disturbing prospect,

still he tells the boy how to answer.

At the fourth attempt the young acolyte

finally gets the message,

then lies awake for the rest of the night,

ears tingling with worry.

Like we all do when first addressed

by divine mystery;

until we realise that the divine spirit

is part of the deal.

It’ll be all right, frightened boy Samuel;

sure, your worries have multiplied

a thousandfold,

but you’re not alone.

We had no idea

2012-01-10T21:27:00.001+11:00

Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” John 1:46:45

We were not expecting the Messiah

to emerge from Hicksville.

We did not imagine that the unloved Samaritans

would provide the hero for a Jewish rabbi’s story.

We could never guess that sinners,

prostitutes and tax collectors

would be named in the first eleven

ahead of those practising good religion.

We are comforted by the order

and predictability of our world

of black, white, wrong, right;

and we are well practiced in the arts of resisting

that which we are not expecting.

We never anticipated that the almighty God,

maker of law and upholder of all virtue,

would tear up the rulebook and scatter its pages

in the winds of grace

No. He took us by surprise.

Just as we had no idea that the Spirit would come

to roar and burn and sweep us up

into the realm of perpetual wonder,

and that, to this day,

she still unsettles us.

Nazareth

2012-01-09T15:04:00.002+11:00

"Can Anything Good Come Out of Nazareth?" John1:46 Slideshow: Pilgrimthomas’s trip to Nazareth, Galilee, Israel was created by TripAdvisor. See another Nazareth slideshow. Create your own stunning free slideshow from your travel photos.

Can anything good come out of???

2012-01-09T15:02:00.000+11:00

Can anything good come out of Nazareth???

2012-01-09T14:58:00.001+11:00

For Jesus to call someone a “true Israelite” was a tremendous compliment. For him to say that Nathanael was someone “without deceit” is a very positive spin on his cynicism. It’s saying that Nathanael was a no-nonsense kind of guy. What blows Nathanael’s mind is when Jesus explains how he knows that Nathanael is a true Israelite without deceit. Because Jesus saw him under the fig tree when he was talking smack about Jesus’ hometown! In other words, Nathanael knows in that moment that Jesus can see right through him, but that He’s decided to describe what He sees in the most positive terms possible. Because Jesus is the opposite of cynical!

Jesus goes on to tell Nathanael: “You will see greater things than these. You will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” And whether Jesus is talking to Nathanael about the day when He would ascend to heaven after His resurrection or the time when He will come again with the angels from heaven at the end of time, His words also capture something beautiful about the way that our eyes can be opened by God when we are converted from our cynicism into faith in the reality of His kingdom. We too can see heaven open when we look at the world through the eyes of faith. The word for angel in Greek – αγγγελος – can refer to the supernatural creatures that surround the throne of God, but it can also mean just “messenger.” God is sending us messengers all the time! God is always using people in our lives to encourage us, to challenge us, to test our faith, all for the purpose of drawing us into a closer walk of discipleship with Him. Many of you in this room have been angels in my life whether you knew that’s what God was up to or not.

We’re not going to see God’s angels all around us if we’re addicted to cynicism. All that we’ll ever see when we look around are dirty run-down tobacco towns or Pleasantville suburgatories. And all that we’ll say is “What good could happen in a place like this?” But when we come to Jesus, He refuses to leave us that way, because He sees our real beauty, the way that we could be in Him, true Israelites in whom there is no deceit.

http://morganguyton.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/can-anything-good-come-out-of-nazareth/

seriously John

2012-01-09T08:56:00.000+11:00

Baptise me, John.

2012-01-02T09:48:00.001+11:00

Baptise me, John.

I’m tired, need a change,

something to happen,

don’t know what.

Immerse me;

let the Jordan splash over me

and let it wash me deep.

Let the icy plunge

surprise me wakingly and cause me to gasp

as it removes the weary dust

of failure, fear and disappointment.

The water that splashes over my head;

let it clear my mind of narrowness

and open my eyes to the broadest spectrum

of things new and holy.

Drench me, John, that I may be ready

for the soaking of the Divine One

who is surely present in the water

and all around.

Let me be covered

and let me be naked.

Baptise me, John;

mingle my tears with your disturbing water

and turn me around

that I might find the new path,

and the way, beginning here,

among Jordan’s rocks and wetness.

The Plunge

2012-01-02T09:46:00.000+11:00

Jesus, source of living water,

when you went to the Jordan that day

to hear the Baptiser’s cry,

what did you come to see?

Did you go seeking advice

about the lonely life of the prophet?

Were you expecting to be moved

by his message? When you answered

his call to repent and joined him in the waters,

what were you thinking?

How did you decide that his strident

call to sinners needed the tempering

of love’s gracious invitation?

Tell me, Jesus, was there already

an inner growing gnawing realisation

that your carpenter’s skill

with timber, joints and nails

was about to give way to a new vocation

of stories, speakings, sharings

and sacrifice?

Or was it only when the Baptiser

took you into the cool water,

and you emerged, saturated,

and kissed by the Spirit-dove,

that you had any idea

of what the voice might be trying to say,

or of what a beloved son

might be expected to do?

The wise men meet the separation wall

2011-12-29T13:50:00.001+11:00

yeats poem

2011-12-29T13:45:00.003+11:00

The three-fold terror of love: a fallen flare
Through the hollow of an ear;
Wings beating about the room
The terror of all terrors that I bore
The Heavens in my womb.
Had I not found content among the shows
Every common woman knows,
Chimney corner, garden walk,
Or rocky cistern where we tread the clothes
And gather all the talk?
What is this flesh I purchased with my pains,
This fallen star my milk sustains,
This love that makes my heart's blood stop
Or strikes a sudden chill into my bones
And bids my hair stand up?
-W.B. Yeats 1865-1939

Mary Oliver: The ponds

2011-12-29T09:30:00.000+11:00

Mary Oliver:
ThePonds
… Stillwhat I want in my life
is to bewilling
to bedazzled-
to castaside the weight of facts
and maybeeven
to float alittle
above thisdifficult world.
I want tobelieve I am looking
into thewhite fire of a great mystery.
I want tobelieve that the imperfections are nothing-
that thelight is everything-that it is more than
the sum
of eachflawed blossom rising and fading-and I do.
I want tobelieve that the light is everything-
And I do.
Amen.

The light shines in the darkness

2011-12-29T09:27:00.000+11:00

An image painted on the wall enclosing the Palestinians

Now that's an epiphany!

2011-12-29T09:23:00.000+11:00

How Long?

2011-12-27T09:50:00.000+11:00

Advent’s aching cries

are answered liturgically

by Christmas’s declaration

that the Christ is born among us.

It is a momentary reply;

by New Year the complaint has been renewed

as we mark the passing and the weepings

of another twelve months.

The world still waits.

In comfortable lands people are encouraged

to make worthy resolutions

towards a better future,

usually for themselves;

while corporate and national intentions

seem incapable of positive resolve.

The wealthy still cleave to their riches

while the poor are bought and sold;

resources are hoarded;

fearful armies are marshalled and deployed;

and involuntary wanderers search in vain

for a welcoming embrace.

The planet grows warm and sad

while clever fools peddle their fearful doctrines

to ensnare their eager acolytes.

How long?

We cry once more, and again,

as we face a further fifty-two weeks

wherein our tears will swell to a flood

to carry our relaunched supplications

floating before the Almighty.

With this fragile hope we seek

that the God Who Comes will take notice;

and that our yearnings might be echoed

in divine spirit, and find substance

in our breath.

Simeon’s dream

2011-12-27T09:49:00.000+11:00

The Lord God has blessed me with the gift of years;

along with the gift of tears.

Do not presume that we old ones

desire mere comfort and quiet;

while I am permitted to stand upon the earth

I will seek God’s salvation,

the fulfilment of God’s outrageous promises.

I watch the children at their games with the hope

that their joyful dancing will never cease,

that their songs may echo through the hills,

even though civilizations collapse

and great buildings crumble.

I dream of truth,

and of justice blended with grace;

of prisoners restored, rejoicing, to their families.

I yearn for the day when soldiers

will return to their villages,

to take brides, beget children,

and plant olive trees.

I cry for the quiet dignity of the poor

in their hunger and desperation.

I pray for the generosity of spirit

which alone reveals the greatness of a nation.

You told me, God, that I would live to see

your Messiah. Today, in the temple,

there was a couple from the north,

with their new son,

come to make their offering.

The infant’s hand gripped my wrinkled finger;

I laughed, I wept, I shouted a blessing,

and then I gave him my dreams.

One Word

2011-12-24T11:18:00.002+11:00

One divine word;

a whispered murmur on the lips of shepherds,

sung sublimely by a choir of angels,

and written in straw:

come.

The Colours of Christmas

2011-12-24T11:16:00.001+11:00

In the other half of the world

where December grows cold and icy,

the holly bush speaks of defiant life;

green and red

in the midst of winter’s white death.

The colours of Christmas.

Green for life and growth,

red for life and blood,

white for the hope that the darkness will end.

The colours of God’s surprising journey

among us humans, touching hearts

and minds with the generous red,

gracious green,

and merciful white; promises of hope,

intimations of joy,

and the blessings of peace.

Continue, Lord,

your strange journey

through human strife and struggles,

to colour our lives with the reds, the greens

and the white of your coming.

Meanwhile, in this half of the world,

where December grows hot and steamy

and the light is bleaching bright,

the flowering gum in my nature-strip

bursts exultantly into green and red;

the colours of Christmas.

2011-12-20T10:21:00.004+11:00

The Adoration of the Roadworkers

Ken Rookes
Oil Painting 2005

2011-12-20T09:05:00.003+11:00

The Holy Family

Ken Rookes
Linocut, 2008

Part of the Jesus and the Goths series.

Shepherd Dreaming

2011-12-20T09:05:00.000+11:00

Shepherds, shepherds, sheep, sheep;

in the hills, there they sleep.

There they sleep, ready to wake

should the world around them shake.

There they dream, taking flight

upon the stillness of the night;

dreams of hope, and dreams of wonder

dreams of worlds torn asunder;

dreams of places friendly, warm,

of colours bright, of darkening storm;

dreams of tears, songs and laughter

dreams of life and what comes after;

dreams of parties, wine and food,

fearful dreams and dreams of good;

dreams of beauty, dreams of peace,

yearning that the strife should cease;

dreams of moon and stars of night,

of waiting for the dawning light;

dreams of aging, dreams of youth,

dreams of searching, dreams of truth.

So the dreams continue long

into the night, until a song,

soft with beauty, loud with love,

interrupting from above,

calls dreamers back; back to earth

and dust, announcing human birth.

A child is here, amidst the straw,

a humble birth, unnoticed, poor;

here love divine has come to dwell:

come and see, then go and tell!

The stable

2011-12-20T09:02:00.000+11:00

Strangers are smiling,

it must be Christmas.

We wish each other well,

and wonder where the year has gone.

In recent years some houses,

seeking to upstage their neighbours,

have burst into twinkling light

with trees, bearded gentlemen

and flying reindeer; some

even affect a religious interest.

Others remain with blinds drawn,

meditating in the dark stillness.

Perhaps, deep within their recesses,

and inmost crevices, these houses

have heard the story of the child

born to rule over all creation

with humble love. Maybe

they dream of the stable,

the unassuming shed, chosen

ahead of other dwellings.

It has become an exalted place

where poor people, dumb animals,

and the almighty God

find their home.

A war on Christmas

2011-12-17T11:51:00.000+11:00

(this is a US Article so i have transposed 'Nine News' for 'Fox News' you could also substitute the Herald Sun or other newspapers or commercial TV stations)

Each Advent in recent years,, Nine News launches its (allegedly) defensive campaign commonly known as the “War on Christmas.”

Nine News’ “war” is designed to criticize the “secularization” of our culture wrought by atheists, agnostics, liberals, leftists, and progressives. This irreligious coalition force is allegedly waging a strategic offensive on Christmas, trying to banish the sacred symbols of the season, denying our religious heritage, and even undermining the spiritual rubrics upon which our great nation is built.

Nine News positions itself as the defender of the faith and all things sacred. ...
and yet

The real Christmas announces the birth of Jesus to a world of poverty, pain, and sin, and offers the hope of salvation and justice.

The Nine News Christmas heralds the steady promotion of consumerism, the defense of wealth and power, the adulation of money and markets, and the regular belittling or attacking of efforts to overcome poverty.

The real Christmas offers the joyful promise of peace and the hope of reconciliation with God and between humankind.

Nine News Christmas proffers the constant drumbeat of war, the reliance on military solutions to every conflict, the demonizing of our enemies, and the gospel of American dominance.

The real Christmas lifts up the Virgin Mary’s song of praise for her baby boy: “He has brought the mighty down from their thrones, and lifted the lowly, he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich empty away.”

The Nine News Christmas would label Mary’s Magnificat as “class warfare.”

So if there is a war on Christmas it's the one being waged by Nine News.

From http://go.sojo.net/site/R?i=33FKF294E5YsPO9eYCZJAw

2011-12-12T11:02:00.002+11:00

Ken Rookes 2011

Madonna and Child

Handcoloured Drypoint,
tweaked on computer.

The son of the Most High God

2011-12-12T10:51:00.003+11:00

The son of the Most High God

sits upon an elusive throne;

his reign resembles more joke than substance.

The house of Jacob appears to have forgotten him;

if they ever recognised his reign

in the first place.

There are any number of seats of power

upon which he might have been installed

by his eager acolytes:

Washington, Rome, Beijing, Brussels,

Canberra; (sorry, I couldn’t help myself!)

– but he seemed uninterested.

It would have proven a futile effort anyway;

he failed to sell himself, didn’t seem

to grasp the basic requirements

of the job. If you expect to rule

then you need the right power-base,

and the best he could do

was point to an incongruous crew,

the members of which didn’t seem

to have made any real advances

with the passing of two millennia.

He spoke in riddles about his ancestor, David,

and a throne that would endure.

When we pressed for some details

he gave an idiot grin

and muttered something about the weak,

forgotten and desperate ones;

those who sail in fragile wooden boats,

who camp sadly behind barbed wire,

who dwell in shabby boarding houses,

or caravan parks, and who occupy

public squares and plazas.

As if these counted for anything

when it comes to the serious matter

of might and thrones and power;

and kingdoms that are said to have no end.

Annunciation

2011-12-12T10:44:00.004+11:00

Ken Rookes, Linocut 2008
(From the Jesus and the Goths series)

Angel’s message

2011-12-12T10:41:00.001+11:00

You can smell the fear, almost taste it

in the television pictures of riots,

and on talk-back wireless;

the end of civilization as we know it.

If only we could go back

to the cream-picket-fenced,

white Christian Australia

of those pre-coloured

box-camera photographs,

and dwell there, secure and unthreatened.

Interrupting rudely

in this season of Advent,

we hear the promise of new things

unheard of revolutionary promises,

the lifting up of the poor and humble.

Then come the amazing words

from the lips of God’s angel messenger

to a young teenaged girl

who is about to experience

the end of her predictable world

with an unplanned pregnancy;

accompanied by all the shame

and potential violence

of her fiercely legalistic religion.

They echo through the next three decades,

and the two millennia that follow,

calling the faithful to a life of defiance:

“You don’t have to be afraid!”

Nativity

2011-12-10T12:08:00.001+11:00

Franz Rhoden

There was a man sent from God

2011-12-05T15:01:00.003+11:00

Can’t allow too much expectation
or ferment among the people!
Things may get out of hand,
as any number of Arab nation leaders,
living, dead or vanquished, might testify
in this tumultuous year.
Best to keep the lid on it.

It was no different in Palestine
a couple of millennia earlier.
A wild and half-crazy man
set up camp by a watercourse
and began to affect the prophet
with his excited and revolutionary utterances;
“Repent!” he shouted.
Quickened by the traces of hope
they heard in his voice,
crowds flocked to listen.
Perhaps the shadows in their souls,
might become faded, at least a little,
in the words, the water and the sun.

And so, according to the fourth gospel-writer,
priests and Levites are sent from the city
to interrogate the Baptiser.
“Who,” they demand, “do you think you are?”
After replying with an unsatisfying trio of
“I am not-s,” he is pressed
to identify himself as a voice,
a harbinger of turbulent times.
He speaks of another;
through whom the true revolution
will find its inception;
one who, like it or not,
is surely coming.

© 2011 Ken Rookes

Magnificat

2011-12-05T09:27:00.000+11:00

The song could be sung boisterously

and in harmony, were they so inclined,

by Karl Marx, Che Guevara, Ho Chi Minh

and any other revolutionary leader;

telling, as it does, of capital’s masters

getting their come-uppance

and despotic rulers being called to account;

whilst the poor and the humble

are gently elevated to their place of reward.

But hundreds of years before they could ever

form their á capella chorus, the song

is placed by gospel-writer Luke

on the lips of the girl-woman

from Nazareth, as she deals hopefully

with the prospect of impending motherhood.

Was Mary a revolutionary?

Did she have any idea of the unsettling

implications of her unplanned-for pregnancy?

Could she have ever guessed the trembling

that would be induced by these

troublesome words, as, freed from

popular sentimental accretions,

they reverberate through the centuries

to unease those who worship power,

wealth and comfort?

Probably not;

she seemed to leave the politics to her son.

But here it is: a graffiti spray song

of promise to confront respectable walls;

an outrageous cry in the dark

to call forth the glimpsed but ever distant dawn,

for which we are still waiting.

Worst Nativity sets

2011-12-01T16:47:00.001+11:00

If you're in for a bit of a laugh (or horror) here is a site that is collecting pictures of the worst nativity sets.
http://whyismarko.com/2011/27-worst-nativity-sets-the-annual-growing-list/

Che Jesus

2011-11-29T10:57:00.001+11:00

Che Jesus
They told me that you came back to be born every Christmas.
Man, you're crazy!

... with this stubborn gesture of coming back every Christmas
you are trying to tell us something:

That the revolution that all proclaim begins first of all in
each one's heart,
That it doesn't mean only changing structures but changing
selfishness for love,
That we have to stop being wolves and return to being
brothers and sisters,
That we… begin to work seriously for
individual conversion and social change
that will give to all the possibility of having bread,
education, freedom, and dignity.

That you have a message that's called the Gospel,
And a Church, and that's us--
A Church that wants to be servant of all,
A Church that knows that because God became human
one Christmas
there is no other way to love God but to love all people.
If that's the way it is, Jesus, come to my house this Christmas,
Come to my country,
Come to the world of men and women.
And first of all, come to my heart.

Anonymous, Cordoba, Argentina, at Christmas, 1970
From Imaging the Word: An Arts and Lectionary Resource, Volume 3

Dressed for action

2011-11-28T16:22:00.000+11:00

Not until the end of the story,

when he is stripped of his dignity

and fixed violently to his cross,

do Jesus’ garments

momentarily take centre-stage.

In the story of the Baptiser

we are told at the outset

how he appeared before his public:

in camel hair and with a belt of leather.

Hardly the apparel of polite

and fashionable society,

but what we might expect

of such a wild and uncomfortable man

plying his strange calling

with hot and disconcerting words.

I wonder, did camel hair kept his body warm

during cold desert nights

among the rocks and lizards

when his followers had returned home?

The one who came after him

was no ascetic, his clothing was perhaps

less prickly, but only a little less shabby.

His words, too, were never really popular;

they challenged and disturbed,

shining light unexpectedly into long dark corners.

But some listened deeply.

Laying hold of hope,

they cast off their fearful robes

and danced.

The grass withers, the flower fades

2011-11-28T09:58:00.001+11:00

The embalmers are merely the last

of a comprehensive list

of skilled experts and practitioners

who are employed to prompt,

poke, prod, probe, inject, abrade, cut,

suck, enhance, colour, manipulate and lie

in order to refute,

or at least delay, the mortal transience

that we acknowledge, reluctantly,

will one day find us. Such a frantic denial.

Others have resorted to constructing edifices

designed to carry their name into perpetuity;

a memorial, monument, endowment,

perhaps even the façade of a building

bearing that name chiselled in stone

and pretending that stone itself

will not one day be reduced to dust.

Superficially effective,

in truth these merely declare

that a person once lived,

but does so no longer.

Great wealth, achievement, fame

and even notoriety may carry memory

to new generations,

but, for the most, these things, too,

are fleeting and will pass.

The grass withers, the flower fades,

or so the prophet tells us;

leaving one thing that lasts forever.

This eternal word from God,

strange and elusive,

is spoken to confound, contradict, challenge,

and sometimes to annoy.

It neither withers nor fades,

and it will not go away.

The end

2011-11-22T16:26:00.001+11:00

From Reverend fund website

The end is nigh

2011-11-21T17:22:00.001+11:00

Apocalypse 4

2011-11-21T16:15:00.001+11:00

Apocalypse now

2011-11-21T16:13:00.001+11:00

The word apocalypse simply means to reveal, to uncover, and if facing reality brings us despair, we need to ask why. Above all, we must reject the literalist notion that apocalyptic literature is about a future pie in the sky. It is a command to come to full attention in the here and now. And that is hard to do. Last year one advertisement for a beaded handbag costing thousands of dollars featured a model with her eyes closed, looking beautiful but comatose, as the words "Comfort and Joy" blazed across the page. Let’s keep our own eyes open, and as we prepare to sing of comfort and joy this year, let’s look for them where they may be found.
http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3281

Therefore, keep awake

2011-11-21T12:10:00.003+11:00

The sun it will be darkened

the moon won’t give its light,

the stars will fall from heaven,

the days will be as night.

The Son of Man’s descending,

they say he’s coming near.

These verses, strange to comprehend;

perhaps by now he’s here.

The pictures show him in the clouds

a-coming through the skies;

while he looks upon the faces

he sees through the disguise.

They say he’ll soon be present,

they say to read the signs,

the fig tree and the heavens;

we still can’t tell the times.

His words are here for telling;

the truth, it won’t be sold.

There are no buyers out there;

love’s latte has grown cold.

The planet waits its lovers;

the reserve has not been reached.

The walls have been erected large;

one day they will be breached

You say that you’ve been waiting,

your lamp is filled with oil;

the ocean’s growing warmer

while your hands are free of soil.

And the arrows keep on flying,

and the boats still run aground;

and no-one seems to listen,

while lies and wrongs abound.

And still the faithful servants wait;

truth and justice guide them.

They’ll not be silenced, not be still;

while love and anger drive them.

Faith isn’t in the coming,

or in judgement’s promise – threat;

in the doing, loving, waiting:

proof that faith's not finished yet.

The Prophet makes the strangers welcome

2011-11-16T00:00:00.002+11:00

Etching and aquatint 2011.

Part of The Prophet Series of Intaglio prints.
Other images can be viewed at www.kenrookes.com.au

Go to Print Gallery

When did we see you?

2011-11-15T23:56:00.001+11:00

The metaphorical goats

feign innocence:

When did we see you? they ask,

expecting us to believe

that their world exists like some medieval city

behind safe and tall walls;

and that they have never ventured

beyond their comfortable houses,

or had ever gone out to shop or play,

or to attend church, school or work;

not to mention the football, or the theatre.

More than that, they pretend

that the cosmos and its many stories

have never intruded into their secure space;

that there exists neither telephone nor internet,

television, satellite, wireless,

newspaper or magazine.

Dwelling, as they must, in some impossible

pre-Microsoft, pre-Marconi,

pre-Edison, pre-Guttenberg era

their ignorance becomes defensible

only because, presumably,

none homeless or hopeless or hungry,

none abused or oppressed or anguished

ever presented themselves to claim

their attention and their compassion..

This alone would be an acceptable excuse

for failing to see their king,

and failing to do the difficult

but joyous work of love.

Seeking for the lost

2011-11-15T20:37:00.001+11:00

Seeking for the lost

I will seek the lost, and I will bring back

the strayed… Ezekiel 34:16

Seeking for the lost,

the broken and the strayed;

looking for the injured ones,

the worried and afraid.

Searching for the sorry,

the lonely and the weak;

reaching to embrace them all,

the humble and the meek.

Crying for the wretched,

about whom no one cares;

the ones who feel forgotten,

who sit alone and stare.

Feeling all the hurt and pain

of those who stand apart;

the failure, fear, injustice,

and struggles of the heart.

Walking through the hillsides,

the city lanes and streets;

wherever folk are scattered,

wherever life defeats.

There’s none too lost, sheep or goat,

the Shepherd-God can’t find;

God has promised, God is here

to gather, feed and bind.

Parousia is not for whimps

2011-11-09T16:49:00.000+11:00

The church in history lives between the times, and some times are worse than others. Today it is easy to let fear govern our lives. A whole political and social culture is nurtured by fear, and it stalks our church life. Traditionalists fear the gift of the Second Vatican Council and a changing church, and want to keep their treasure intact through a return to dated rituals and arcane theology. Those who welcomed the aggiornamento of Pope John XXIII often want to freeze it in time and are fearful of renewing the renewal. The wise women at the wedding feast, the enterprising servants in today’s Gospel and the good wife of Proverbs were people of foresight, initiative and independence. The church today has been given vast treasures of “talents.” Will these increase or remain hidden and guarded?

http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=2590

Church-a-plex

2011-11-09T16:32:00.003+11:00

The harvest is ripe

2011-11-09T09:05:00.002+11:00

The tragedy is that many people are afraid of losing or endangering God and so seek to protect God from adventures, to resist attempts at radical inclusion that might, they fear, compromise God's purity and holiness. Protecting God is a variant of not trusting God. Matthew wants his hearers to share God's adventure of inclusiveness. God is bigger than our religious industry. Sometimes we find God is pulling in great profits in areas which we had deemed beyond God's interests. It is a fascinating thing to have God compared to the entrepreneurial multimillionaire. "God's mercy never ends" is a way of saying grace has capital, love is rich. We need to encourage people to stop putting God under the mattress. As we begin to trust allowing God to move through us, our lives change as individuals and our communities have a better chance of change. There are rich pickings, so to speak, and the harvest is ripe.

-William Loaderhttp://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/MtPentecost22.htm

Das Kapital

2011-11-08T15:40:00.000+11:00

Jesus told a story

about a man who went on a journey.

The man was a capitalist,

probably living off his inherited wealth

while his lackeys did the work.

Nothing new in that.

The man went off for an indefinite period,

having entrusted three servants

with his fortune, in measures

according to the ability of each;

with the simple instruction, (implied);

make as much as you can.

Two out of the three do so

and become the heroes of the story,

drawing enthusiastic plaudits from their master,

who, by doing nothing, has become even richer.

For fear, the third played safe,

and when called to account, produced nothing

but the original lump of money.

He is thus declared a loser,

a failure, a ne’er-do-well.

In truth he was a true product

of a fearfully greedy economic system;

which was not the point

that Jesus was making,

but which still needs to be considered.

Reckoning

2011-11-07T22:46:00.000+11:00

I shall dig deep the hole

in which I hide my heart.

There it shall lie,

secure, safe,

and unscathed.

On the day that the master returns

I shall retrieve my heart

and present it before him,

intact, entire

and untarnished.

Saving the master

2011-11-07T22:44:00.001+11:00

You can’t have it both ways, Jesus,

creating yarns about foolish rich people

who don’t know what is really important;

telling others to give everything away

if they want to be disciples,

while at the same time making heroes

of rich, mean and crafty people

in other stories.

If I could enter the parable

I’d find the third servant and tell him:

Don’t be scared;

don’t leave the money in the ground.

But don’t trade with it, either.

Create your own radical alternative;

give it away! Yes, all of it;

to the poor. Then we’d see

just what sort of person the master is.

You could always say

that you were only thinking of him;

making the needle’s eye wider.

You never know,

he might even give you

the other fourteen talents.

Party Girl

2011-11-03T22:51:00.002+11:00

They say the bridegroom’s coming,

they say he’ll not be long;

the bride’s inside and waiting,

while the singers chant their song.

The guests have gone into the house,

they’ve started on the wine;

the party pies are getting cold,

but everything is fine.

We know the men will be here soon,

they’re just a little late;

Our lamps will keep us company

while we sit around and wait.

We maidens of the neighbourhood

bring lamps with which we’ll guide,

and dance the bridegroom to the feast;

then we’ll follow him inside.

Our lanterns are our entrée cards,

our dancing is our present;

we help to make the party swing

with movements incandescent

I’m feeling somewhat weary, now,

I might just rest my eyes.

I’m sure we’ll hear the cymbals

and the drums when he arrives.

. . . . . .

What’s that, you say he’s coming?

I thought I heard a shout!

Where did I put that lantern;

Oh damn, it’s nearly out!

Where are my friends with extra jars?

Of course you can spare some!

Go find a shop – you’re joking!

I might just as well go home!

Quite so, I should have brought spare oil;

right foolish I have been.

You think you’re very clever,

I think you’re very mean.

. . . . . .

Knock, knock!

Who’s there?

Merry.

Merry who?

Merry-maker!

Sorry, I don’t think we’ve met.

Ten bridesmaids

2011-11-01T20:50:00.000+11:00

Ten bridesmaids

doing their bridesmaid thing

to make the bridegroom welcome.

Some were smart enough

to know the glitches

that can occur with weddings.

(Big day, so much to go wrong,)

Their spare jars would keep

their torches oiled and bright

to light the path to the banquet.

How to wait

when many have stopped expecting,

how to hope

when others have gone home,

how to keep going

when friends have lost patience,

how to worship

when God seems forgotten,

how to love

when pain must be eschewed,

how to witness

when distractions hold sway,

how to die

when life is ruled by fear.

Somewhere there is abundant oil

for all who would burn bright;

making welcome the Bridegroom

and lighting the path to the banquet.

You're one of those!

2011-10-31T12:25:00.003+11:00

Jim Wallis, one of the founders of the Sojourners community, told a story abouta colleague living in a village in Central America. She worked in a communitythat was marginalized in all kinds of ways. She poured herself into her workfor social justice, laboring with great might to bring change to this village.One day, some of the people of the village came to her, asking her why sheworked so hard, why she didn’t join them in their fiestas or sit with them intheir porches in the evening.
“There’stoo much work to do!” the laboring woman replied. “I don’t have enough time.”
“Oh,”the people of the village said. “You’re one of those.”
“One ofwho?” the woman asked.
“You areone of those,” they responded, “who come to us and work and work and work. Soonyou will grow tired, and you will leave. The ones who stay,” they said, “arethe ones who sit with us on our porches in the evening and who come to ourfiestas.”

Jim Wallis said that his colleague took the story to heart, that she became a party animal, and that she was still there.

The parable of the ten wise vigins

2011-10-31T09:41:00.001+11:00

Back in the days whenonly young men prepared for pastoral ministry, a certain Dr. Eislen, presidentof Garrett Seminary, preached on this parable in chapel. When he reached theclimax of his message, he yelled at his seminarians, "Young men, tell me,would you rather be in the light with the wise virgins, or out in the dark withthe foolish virgins?" Such laughter arose that chapel was dismissed earlythat day!

Mickey Anders

Teachers

2011-10-26T14:21:00.002+11:00

Those who impart knowledge

and engender learning,

should be bearers of truth;

what else is worth telling?

This high calling brings its own reward.

Just as well; teachers today

might console themselves with the story

of Jesus, the itinerant teacher,

who practised what he taught

and depended upon the generosity

of those who heard his stories.

As an educator,

the Nazarene lacked a Dip. Ed,

but his teaching methods

didn’t seem to suffer as a result.

Of course, to become learned back then

one went and sat at the feet

of the best teacher one could find;

listened intently, and did one’s best

to create an intelligent dialogue.

(A rare thing in any age!)

No degrees or diplomas then,

simply the boast that called upon

and extolled the reputation of one’s master.

We don’t know much of Jesus’ schooling,

save one small glimpse, (probably mythical,

but ringing true), at the age of twelve.

Then he was said to be a prodigy,

precocious enough to take on

and astound the heavies in the temple.

Among the truths that Jesus told

were teachings about the humility

that should envelop all

who have been graced

by the deep and loving

wisdom from above.