What is required

 

The day is coming

Haiku of righteousness

The day is coming

to fulfil the promise to

Israel, Judah.

At that time, says God,

I'll make a righteous branch spring

up for King David.

Justice, righteousness;

these are what a nation needs.

All else is detail.

Justice, righteousness;

these are the gifts of the one

that God is sending.

Judah will be saved,

Jerusalem will be safe

when justice prevails.

The day is coming,

God says. On that day justice

brings life to the land.

© Ken Rookes 2024

Haiku for our times

We come together

in a common search for truth;

we won’t be silent.

Symbolic gestures

are useless, we need real deeds;

the Voice is a start.

Let’s do the right thing;

respect First Nations people

and give them a voice.

Prove you’re not racist;

acknowledge your privilege,

and accord respect.

Our history’s black

with violence, red with blood;

we must own our shame.

Voice, treaty and truth;

partnering to build justice,

inching us forward.

Compassion, common

sense, understanding and truth;

let these things prevail.

White privilege, blind

and ungenerous, never

conceding an inch.

I’ll be voting ‘No,’

he adamantly declares;

doesn’t give reasons.

They have been frightened

by exaggerated claims.

But things have to change.

Deep prejudices,

unknown and unadmitted,

threaten our future.

Older white people

grew up without the stories,

remain in darkness.

Now we know. Murder,

massacre, dispossession;

our national shame.

Many the children

taken from their families;

the traumas abound.

We must not retreat

from the racists; their hateful

bones tremble with fear.

The darkness thickens.

Even more reason to tend

the flickering flame.

So much selfishness,

failure to see our neighbours;

we must learn to care.

Let love be your guide.

Plant seeds of justice and hope.

Tend them ‘til they bloom.

© Ken Rookes 2023

God's good fast

Haiku for our times

They are pretending,

like we do, to be righteous

while ignoring God.

They humble themselves,

(so they say!) They are fasting;

why won’t God see them?

Concerned for themselves

while exploiting their workers;

quarrels and fighting.

Your pious displays,

your fasting, sackcloth, ashes:

God isn’t impressed.

God’s good fast is this:

confront injustice and free

those who are oppressed.

You have bread; share it.

Bring the homeless to your house;

cover the naked.

You will shine with light.

You will be restored; and God

will answer your call.

Give the hungry food,

do justice; your light shall rise

and God will guide you.

You’ll be like gardens

watered by unfailing springs;

God will raise you up.

© Ken Rookes 2023

What God wants

Haiku

The list of blessings.

is long, matched only by that

of Israel’s failings.

God calls the mountains

to hear the case that is made

against the people.

Tell: what have I done,

asks God, that you should weary

of my loving care?

Always I acted

to save and deliver you;

and this is your thanks?

Forget burnt off’rings,

calves and rams by the thousand;

these won’t make it right.

Sacrifice won’t work,

even giving your firstborn

can’t take sin away

You know what God wants.

Justice, kindness; that’s it! And

walk humbly with God.

© Ken Rookes 2023

God's chosen servant

Haiku for a new age

God’s chosen servant,

he on whom God’s spirit rests,

will bring forth justice.

He will quietly

go about God’s work, helping

the weak and broken.

He will persevere,

he will establish justice;

as purposed by God

God who gives us life

calls us, leads us, blesses us

to be light for all.

Called to open eyes,

to set the prisoners free,

from darkness to light.

Former things are gone.

The time is coming for God

to do something new!

Do something new, God!

Stir your people to rise up,

to work for justice!

© Ken Rookes 2023 

From David's Line

Haiku for a shepherd

The shepherds have failed,

the sheep are destroyed, scattered

and driven away.

Leaders stand accused,

they are evil, not taking

care of God’s people.

God will shepherd them,

gathering the remnant flock

from among the lands.

God’s sheep will return

to the safety of their fold;

no longer fearful.

The days are coming.

From David’s line shall be raised

a righteous ruler.

He shall reign as king

with wisdom, justice and truth.

And we shall be blessed.

Judah will be saved

Israel will live in safety;

Righteousness will reign.

We yearn for the day

when justice, hope, and peace reign;

Come, Lord Jesus, come!

© Ken Rookes 2022

New Creation Hope

Haiku for an ideal world

New creation hope;

a new heaven, a new earth.

We could do with that.

The old earth has failed;

its people weren’t up to it.

Not enough justice.

Renew your people,

God. We can do with having

our lives upended.

In Jerusalem

God rejoices, takes delight

in all God’s people.

All weeping will end

the cries of distress will pass

when God makes us new.

Death is in retreat

as longevity commands

the lives of us all.

Those who plant vineyards

will enjoy the fruit; labour

will not be in vain.

Peace and harmony,

abundant blessings will rest

upon God’s people.

The wolf and the lamb

feed together; imaging

God’s new reign of peace.

The day is coming

when power meets its limits

and justice prevails.

© Ken Rookes 2022

How long must I cry?

 

Haiku for the impatient

How long must I cry?

The prophet complains that God

isn't listening.

There is much trouble

and God seems not to notice.

Take some action, God!

Justice is failing

with the wicked prevailing

over the righteous!

The prophet watches

and waits. What will the Lord say;

how will he answer?

Here is the vision,

says God. It will come to pass;

wrong will be made right.

Write in large letters

so that ev'ryone will know

the day is coming.

Look at the proud ones;

God's spirit is not in them.

The just live by faith.

© Ken Rookes 2022

Fruits of iniquity

Haiku of shame

Amos; more judgement.

The fruits of iniquity

reveal rottenness.

Contemporary.

The rich trample the needy,

the poor are ruined.

Fundamentalists

who say they love the scriptures

ignore these verses.

Wait ‘til Sunday’s past

to get back to the business

of cheating the poor.

Buying the needy

for the price of sandals, and

the poor for silver.

Justify your greed;

decry the poor as lazy,

unblessed, unworthy.

Convince the needy

that you know what’s best for them;

they might vote for you!

The sky will be dark;

your songs will become laments

of bitter sorrow

A famine descends,

not of bread or of water,

but of hearing God.

It is upon us,

this famine of God’s good word.

Just a few will hear.

© Ken Rookes 2022

Revolutionary Tract

Haiku to cause offence

The magnificat:

revolutionary tract

proclaimed by Mary

A new era comes

where the humble will be blessed,

the wealthy brought low

The powerful ones

are brought down from lofty thrones,

the lowly lifted.

The proud are confused

in their thoughts, the strong justice

of God is revealed.

This is the era

of justice and hopefulness

that God has promised.

Capitalism

is eclipsed in Mary’s song;

the rich sent away.

Let’s stop pretending

that the bible is neutral,

politically.

© Ken Rookes 2020

Soft and cloying

 

2000 years

transmuting

into a religion of comfortable raised hands

and reassurance that I,

out of all humanity,

(you too, of course);

have a reserved place

in some imagined paradise.

Soft and cloying.

He spoke of sacrifice and love.

Painful, bleeding;

counter-cultural.

Counter-economical,

giving stuff away.

Of taking the rejection

and persecution.

And of dying.

Love for neighbour,

enemies, too.

With a ratbag foreigner

made the hero

of a story about love.

Baptism into death,

and the cup of suffering.

Families divided.

Not much that can be recognised

in this baptised into prosperity

fearful of strangers

it’s all about me

Sunday religion of happiness and satisfaction;

while the planet grows hotter,

the innocent are brutalised,

and the wealthy grow even fatter

and more obscene.

© Ken Rookes 2020