When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

 

Where might faith be found?
Perhaps he would start at the Vatican,
moving on to the Holy Land,
grand cathedrals, mosques, stupas, synagogues
or country churches.
Or would he look for it in kitchens, parks or factories?

And among whom might he look for it?
The rich and the prosperous,
the powerful and the comfortable,
or among the poor, the weeping, and the desperate?

Among the convinced,
or the questioning?
Confident creed reciters,
or honest doubters?
Reckless lovers,
or staunch defenders?

And what will faith look like?
Traditionalist suggest it will be cross-shaped,
polished timber and silver,
designed by a sculptor.
Or it could be an intersection thing,
a vertical timber, rough hewn,
supporting a horizontal;
red stained with rust marked holes?

More likely it will be less obvious,
like tear-streaked faces
and dirty hands, reaching.

© Ken Rookes 2013

Ungraspable

Grasping after the ungraspable

mysterious God,
who allows God’s-self to be glimpsed
touched, known and argued with
in the very human Son of Man,
as he walks dustily and hungrily
along lonely paths;
stepping among anxious people
who press insistently and demand answers.
Reaching after elusive meaning
in a world that weeps, mourns,
confounds and hides;
in which the surprising Spirit
of a strangely gracious God
emerges from human shadows
to disturb and shake.
She affirms the doubting,
lifts the faltering
and breathes stillness into the fear.
Always this servant Spirit comes
to brush tender tingling life,
hinting at the mystery
of the three-personed God
in whom all things have their beginning;
and their end.
 

© Ken Rookes