Large, and without a handle

Discipleship is a many-hued flower

that promises fruitfulness in season.

The blues of silent empathy

in their many dark shades;

the yellows of joy, surprising and soaring;

the gracious whites of hopefulness, a dapple

of light in the midst of shadows.

There, amongst the weeds,

the warm orange of patient service

that causes all to smile,

and the green of persistent life, once wakened,

that refuses to give in.

Then there are the purples, mauves

and heliotropes of defiance and struggle

sitting beside the soft greys of uncertainty.

What of the reds? Ah, the crimson achings

and scarlet bleedings of compassion

proclaim the truth and the love

of honest discipleship.

It has a shape, too; an intersection

heavy and uncomfortable,

ridiculous and unfashionable.

Large, and without a handle,

we shall find a way to take it up

and humbly wear its colours.