Mulberry tree messiness

Haiku of insecure faith

Lord, increase our faith.

Why do you make this request?

You have all you need.

A mustard seed faith

would see you directing trees

and they would obey!

What a metaphor

for faith that is sufficient;

the uprooted tree!

Hail mulberry tree!

Generous red stickiness

and messy fingers.

You have faith enough

to tread discipleship's path;

put it to good use.

Being uprooted,

with red mulberry tree faith

and sticky fingers.

© Ken Rookes 2016

They have Moses and the prophets

Haiku for closed eyes.

Poor man Lazarus,

by the gate, covered with sores;

we walk right past him.

The unnamed rich man,

dressed in purple, fine linen,

feasting ev'ry day.

Discarded food scraps

do not reach the rich man's gate

or the beggar there.

Empathy fails us.

Please don't disturb our comfort.

Make the beggars leave.

Death comes to us all.

Rich or poor, it matters not;

was your life worthwhile?

Where are your riches;

From where will your comfort come

when your life has passed?

Send me Lazarus,

or let him warn my brothers

that they might be saved.

That's not how it works.

Let them listen to Moses,

and the prophets too.

We'd rather not know.

Even when it's God who speaks,

we do not listen.

© Ken Rookes 2016

Not strong enough to dig, too proud to beg.

Enthusiastically embracing capitalist principles

of wealth, greed, and maximum personal benefit,

together with the dodgy ethics that serve them;

the manager in the story was a little less than honest,

using his master's money to fund his exorbitant lifestyle.

He heard that the day of accounting was due,

and realised that the caper was up.

He proved as cunning as he was corrupt,

dishing out favours at his master's expense,

so that he might call them in later

when he no longer had a job.

Not strong enough to dig,

too proud to beg;

and very clever.

The master,

forced to acknowledge the shrewdness of the scheme,

was presumably rich enough to see the funny side.

With grudging admiration

he allows his shady steward to get away with it.

We also manage to get away with it,

whispering with relief beneath our breath:

That was close!

© Ken Rookes 2016

When the lost are found

Haiku of welcome and celebration

He welcomes sinners,

this fellow, and eats with them.

He must be a fraud.

As was Jesus' wont,

he told them all a story;

driving home his point.

Of his hundred sheep

the shepherd finds one missing,

goes to search for it.

A second story:

a woman loses a coin,

searches high and low.

When the lost are found

there is a great rejoicing;

also in heaven.

The small and the lost,

these, too, are valued by God;

and much loved also.

© Ken Rookes 2016