Responding to Acts 16: 16-34
Haiku of freedom
The fortune-telling
slave girl made heaps of money
for those who owned her.
The slave girl followed
Paul and Co. These men, she cried,
tell God's salvation.
Annoyed, Paul ordered
the spirit to leave the girl.
It left her at once.
The slave-girl's owners,
were not happy at the loss
of their enterprise.
Paul, Silas, were seized,
dragged before the magistrate;
They disrupt our life!
Attacked by the crowd,
stripped, beaten, thrown into jail;
poor Paul and Silas!
Praying and singing
as the earthquake struck; the doors
opened, chains fell off.
The jailer panicked.
Paul cried out: Don't harm yourself,
we are all still here!
Sirs, what must I do
to be saved! Trust in Jesus,
you and your household.
The guard took them home,
made them welcome, dressed their wounds
and offered them food.
The gathered household
hears the word of love and grace
and all are baptised.
© Ken Rookes 2025
