We have left everything

Haiku of the journey

He had kept the law,

this man who wanted to live

the life eternal.

Jesus looks with love.

One thing you lack. Sell the lot,

give it to the poor.

For your poverty,

treasure in heaven. The cost

proves to be too great.

How hard for the rich

to enter God’s realm. Camels

squeezing through needles!

Relax, he wasn’t

talking to us. Just this man!

We can keep our stuff.

We who have comfort,

warm, with three meals; perhaps we

are among the rich.

Who, then, can be saved?

For mortals, not possible,

but God can do it.

What you leave behind

to follow, you will receive

back a hundredfold.

In the age to come

all will be reversed. The first

are last; the last, first.

© Ken Rookes 2021

 

One thing is lacking

Running to Jesus

he knelt: For life eternal,

tell me what to do?

Jesus answered him;

You should know what God commands;

do these things and live.

Teacher, since my youth

I have kept the laws of God.

Jesus looked with love.

One thing is lacking:

Go, sell what you own, and give

it all to the poor.

Then come, follow me,

your wealth will be in heaven;

you will know true life.

The man was dismayed;

his possessions were many,

he could not let go.

How hard it will be

for the wealthy to enter

the kingdom of God..

Camels will pass through

a needle’s eye easier.

The rich will struggle.

Who then can be saved?

Mortals cannot achieve it,

God makes it happen.

You who have left home

to tread the kingdom’s pathways

will be rewarded.

© Ken Rookes 2018