Welcome-home party

An errant & disrespectful son,
(been there, done that);
dissolute living – code
for wine, women and song;
a robe, a ring and a fatted calf;
music and dancing
and a pissed-off older brother:
Jesus knew how to put a yarn together

The older brother was deserving
in the way that the younger one wasn’t.
Worked hard, did what was expected,
never questioned his father’s judgement;
until the outrageous welcome-home party.
The old man couldn’t even wait for the sun to set;
didn’t think to send out to the field
with instructions to knock-off early.

Like the father in the story, who pines
for his lost son, God, they say,
is forgiving and generous to a fault.
Which may be true, but it misses the point.
It’s the older brother, and the rest of us,
unable to rejoice at grace shown to someone
who might be less deserving than us;
we are the point.

Jesus never wasted a parable.

© Ken Rookes 2013

Let's Party

I have often reflected
upon the arrogance of youth,
having been one, once.
We thought we’d live forever,
that old people didn’t understand,
that the comfort we took for granted
would be delivered,
cargo-cult like,
by a world that recognised our cleverness
and rewarded us accordingly.
We thought the party would never end.
I can empathise with the son in the story;
blessed with a wealthy but frugal father,
he probably wondered when the party would begin.
His seriously self-righteous older brother
had been no help in that department.
With audacious and heart-breaking boldness
the younger son acts to claim his share,
and heads abroad where the party can proceed
with none to call him to account.
The party, sadly, does not prove perpetual.
The calf continues to fatten
while the boy’s father waits;
his own celebration held in abeyance.
His brother might still be waiting.

© Ken Rookes

Cana

Gospel writer John springs a miracle

to get things going. It’s a strange one,

a classic conundrum: water into wine.

Fortunately the miracle was never replicated

by Jesus, or any of his followers since.

In every age there have been those

who reached out to grasp

the dubious gift of drunken oblivion,

but they all managed to do so

by more conventional means.

Let’s quietly pack the miracle away,

let it age and gather dust in the cellar;

it proves nothing, never did.

The coming together of two people,

pledging their love and devotion

and becoming one flesh,

is made the occasion for this story

of joyous and abundant celebration.

Jesus, Word made flesh,

is both purpose and provider

for the party.

Buckets of water into buckets of wine;

dance until you drop!

Glorious excess;

there are no limits to joy.

Human existence has been unexpectedly infused

with something far more wondrous

than any mere miracle.

Jesus from the divine parent’s heart;

bearer of grace and truth,

and shining his light into the darkness,

lives among us.

Pour some wine: we have to celebrate!

© Ken Rookes 2013