And this is eternal life

Life with an eternal quality,

not in some imagined heaven,

but here, among earth’s dust and grit;

permeated with deep truthings

that cut through all the bullshit*

of a connivingly ignorant world.

Let it roll, Jesus;

let your surprising friendship sweep over all

and catch us up in your swelling tide.

Let your presence become a crashing wave

to carry us sublimely

to a divine place of abundance;

where the authenticity is sharp

and captures one’s breath,

where joy sparkles with intensity,

and where life-restricting greed

and preoccupation with the self

encounter their equals in defiant actions

of liberation, justice and compassion.

Let it be a place where long-heralded

generosity is, at last, allowed to rule

and to sculpt a new reality.

Take us to this eternal-life place, Jesus;

where the faithful live with tears and laughter,

defying the fears of the wealthy,

confronting the powerful,

and silencing the rampant demagogues;

and where the reckless and the courageous ones

lovingly enact your outrageous vision

of hope and freedom.

*substitute the less-offensive bull dust if you prefer.

© 2011 Ken Rookes