They shall be like snow

In times beyond remembering,

when stories were told and not written,

the gods were believed to hold in their collective hands

the keys to the future: the rains, fertility,

harvest and so forth.

And so, in order to keep the gods happy

and pleasantly disposed towards humankind,

holy places were marked out with stones,

altars were erected, idols sculpted, festivals declared,

solemn assemblies called, animals sacrificed,

dances cavorted, entreaties wailed and offerings made.

No evidence can be found as to the effectiveness

of all this religious activity,

but the practitioners were no doubt convinced,

that, had their pious processes remained undone,

life would have been more of a struggle than it was.

The Yahweh-God of the Hebrews, however,

wryly observing that religious devotion

could be a convenient cloak for less than pious attitudes; 

radically declared that she/he

was not much interested in such adorations.

This strange God preferred to be pleasantly surprised

by a people’s concerns for justice,

goodness, generosity and compassion.

“When this happens,” this straight-talking God declares,

“White shining divine grace shall abound in human affairs,

to overcome all the sins and the fear,

and, in the midst of the darkness,

bringing hope.”

• © Ken Rookes 

The Gospel

"It seems to me that it is a minority that ever gets the true and full Gospel. We just keep worshiping Jesus and arguing over the exact right way to do it. The amazing thing is that Jesus never once says, “worship me!”, but he often says, “follow me” (e.g., Matthew 4:19). Christianity is a lifestyle—a way of being in the world that is simple, non-violent, shared, inclusive, and loving. We made it, however, into a formal established religion, in order to avoid the demanding lifestyle itself. One could then be warlike, greedy, racist, selfish, and vain at the highest levels of the church, and still easily believe that Jesus is “my personal Lord and Savior.” The world has no time for such silliness anymore. The suffering on Earth is too great." http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Daily-Meditation--Compassionate-Action----September-8--2012.html?soid=1103098668616&aid=0dakmIEvssw