Blessed the fruit of your womb

The story begins with a girl,

fecund, mid-teens,

belly beginning to swell.

It will get much larger,

as, within her womb,

the miracle of life claims its space.

An unlikely sign, vulnerable,

yet outrageously defiant;

a sign to engender hope,

to confront earth's bondage

and futility.

A peasant girl,

pregnant with purpose and possibility;

the lowly are to be elevated to positions of significance

while kings, emperors, princesses

and other persons of power and plenty

will be asked to descend from their lofty seats

to begin their acquaintance with earth's dust.

The girl could be anyone;

any place on the planet,

any point in its history.

She is caught up in this common human tale;

the wonder,

the waiting,

the struggle,

the pain

and the joy.

A sign for eternity.

© Ken Rookes 2015

Is God with us or not???????

We are all in the desert of Sin with that question on our lips: is YHWH near us or not?

We Christians simply cannot stop asking this question, nor should we. Yet, our demands for some sort of sign of God's presence—a tortilla chip with the face of Jesus, an ancient cloth with a blood-stained portrait magically projected on it, a whirling sun in the former Yugoslavia, a crutched-filled grotto in rural France, a huge cathedral in Mexico on the site of an appearance of the Virgin Mary to a lucky peasant, and on and on—seem somehow pathetic. In our scientific age, where only conclusive proof will do, such experiences give in to the times. Books about proofs of heaven hit bestseller lists, but are little better than modern Lourdes, places that offer certainties that finally cannot be obtained. The answer to the question, "Is YHWH near us or not" is not yes or no. The answer is the question itself that I must continue to ask because I want to conform my living to the ancient truth that God is there, and that God still calls people to follow the narrow way. Any proof finally is in the pudding; when I see people offering themselves for others, when I witness acts of courage beyond anything I could ever perform, when I am able on those rare occasions to transcend what I would rather do for myself, then the question arises again: "Is YHWH near us or not?" Others may say, well, those acts of courage arise from a deep well of human longing, a rich humanity and need no divine explanation. I choose otherwise. For me, YHWH indeed is still near us, but I do not need some external signs of that presence to convince me.

http://www.patheos.com/Progressive-Christian/Continual-Need-John-Holbert-03-14-2014?offset=1&max=1

A question of identity

It is a question of identity.
If you are . . .
Is this not . . ?
Who is this . . ?
Who do you say . . ?
So, at the end, when he is paraded
for judgement, before the governor,
the tetrarch, and then the governor once more;
the questions continue.
Who are you, carpenter;
are you a king?
Will you perform for us a sign,
a something that will set our minds at rest;
or speak for us a word that will seize us,
a truth that will change our living?
No answer is given;
only silence.
The words have long been spoken,
scattered alongside the road, in villages,
kitchens and lake shores.
Some were heeded,
some discarded;
there will be no more.
One final message remains to be uttered.
It is not new, but a repetition
of the oft-spoken word
by which the man has shaped his living
and wrought his identity.
It will not be voiced by lips and tongue,
but by his body, suspended
and reaching out.

© Ken Rookes 2013

dry bones?