Pictures

Pictures

Isaiah 11:1-12

Prophetic pictures of justice,
peace and harmony
in an advent abundance;
tree stumps and shoots,
lambs and wolves,
calves and lions.
There are a few places
where such images occur:
upon artist’s canvases,
in poet’s verses,
within the songs of the innocent,
and in the ever-churning recesses
of the divine mind.
God, though, is no wide-eyed optimist,
having experienced first-hand
the depths of human fear,
vengeance and cruelty.
Still the Almighty has not stopped hoping.
In God’s mind, apparently,
is an idea;
bold and audacious,
waiting fulfilment from the beginning of time.
It is plan of deep wonder,
of sad beauty,
painful love,
and the unexpected leading
of a little child.

© Ken Rookes

Waiting

"Although waiting is not having, it is also having. The fact that we wait for something shows that in some way we already possess it. Waiting, anticipates that which is not yet real. That is, if we wait in hope and patience, the power of that for which we wait is already effective within us. Those who wait, in an ultimate sense are not that far from that for which they wait."
Paul Tillich

Advent candle lighting prayer

Candle lighting

In this birth

you will discover

all blessing.

But neglect this birth

and you neglect

all blessing.

Tend only to this birth in you

and you will find there

all goodness and all consolation,

all delight,

all being and all truth. (Meister Eckhart)

(The candle is lit).

If the owner of the house had known

If the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming

The vigilant householder;
an illustration of security,
or, rather, insecurity,
to convince the believer
to be awake and alert.
A warning to be ready
for that uncertain moment
when the Son of Man comes.
No need to stay awake today;
the gates, deadlocks,
screens, alarms, cameras,
and, if required, armed personnel,
will do the job for us
while we sleep on, oblivious.
This image inhabits a changed context,
and is not longer at home;
always a limitation
when we take the stories literally.
No. Not wakefulness;
faithfulness.
Living with truth,
courage, generosity and love;
this is the house
into which no robber can break,
the life that no thief can steal.

© Ken Rookes 2013

Be ready, therefore.

 

There is only one way for a person to be ready,
only one thing that person should be doing
when Jesus comes. One thing
that he, who called himself the Son of Man,
expects of his followers at any time.
He set it forth in plain Aramaic
on more than one occasion, that is,
if the gospels are to be believed
and not merely taken literally.
One thing.
It is the singular mark of discipleship,
the sign that a person has listened,
truly heard, and been shaped by the words,
the actions, and the friendship of the coming one
It is he same thing that directed the course
of the Son of Man’s surprising life;
he who continues to come to his own.
This always-present one
defiantly embraces the costly consequences of his choice.
This one thing makes a person ready
for abundance in living, and fulfilment in dying.
The fumbling and grace-dependent followers
of He who comes,
know that they, too,
must become caught up into the generous
and sometimes painful work of love;
this one thing that declares our readiness
to receive him.

© 2010 Ken Rookes

A different sort of King

Here in Colossians is a crucified man wearing a crown of thorns.

King Jesus. The wounded healer. The bloodied reconciler. The one who lays down his life for others. This is Jesus our king, the one who turns all other ideas of kingship inside out.

Here is the humble son of Mary.

The apprentice of his earthly father, Joseph the carpenter.

A village man who become an itinerant preacher and healer.

The fellow who listened to women with an unusual respect in what was a man’s world

Here is a young physician actually touching untouchable lepers.

A blesser of street kids (not the same thing as kissing babies before an election!!)

A dinner guest among the equivalent of bikies and beach bums.

The saviour trusted by prostitutes and tax collectors.

Friend of foreigners and fishermen.

A servant washing the feet of guests.

The wanted man slipping through city streets by night.

A soul in agony, praying  in an Olive grove.

The young rabbi betrayed by a disciple.

Prisoner in kangaroo court, abused by the police guards.

Condemned man, mocked, flogged and spat upon.

A victim carrying his own cross to the Place of the Skull.

The crucified man, speaking forgiveness on his foes.

A corpse hastily buried in a borrowed tomb,

The stranger walking with men on the road to Emmaus.

A host with wounded hands, cooking a fish breakfast for his friends on the shores of Galilee

The everliving One, The Alpha and Omega, separated by a cloud from his disciples, so that he might incognito be with them always.

 http://www.bruceprewer.com/DocC/C64king.htm

Christ the King coloring

Just a little bit scary really

The Christian King

"There are perhaps three essential attributes to the Hebrew and Christian concept of Kingship. The first is captured in the name Emmanuel that is used of Jesus, meaning God with us. The true King is one who journeys with his people. He does not sit in a palace and decree the direction of the journey, he journeys with the people. If there is a wilderness to be passed through, he leads the way. If there is a battle to be fought, he is there in the front line. If there is an execution to be faced, he is hanging there among the executed. According to what we heard from the gospel of Luke, it was hanging on a cross among criminals with thorns stuck on his head, journeying all the way in solidarity with the guilty and condemned, that another dying man recognized Jesus for who he was and begged acceptance into his kingdom.

Secondly, the scriptures call Christ King because he is creator. The King is one who brings forth beauty and who gives life to what he has shaped. One who acts to ensure that the world is worth living in, that we means to life and fullness of life are available to all.

Which leads us to the third attribute of true Kingship. The King is the one who brings about justice. The psalms and the prophets repeatedly call for earthly Kings to emulate God's example and be justice makers. Even before Israel chose their first King, God warned them through the prophet Samuel that a King would lord it over them, tax them harshly, and promote inequality and injustice. And that's exactly what most of their Kings did, and what most kings, emperors, presidents and premiers have done to this day. But when we say Christ is King, we offer our allegiance to the one who will not rest until every cup is overflowing, until the pathway to fullness of life is open to every man, woman and child of every race, class and culture."
http://www.laughingbird.net/SermonTexts/0227.html

the hollow crown

"For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings;
How some have been deposed; some slain in war,
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed;
Some poison'd by their wives: some sleeping kill'd;
All murder'd: for within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of a king
Keeps Death his court and there the antic sits,
Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp,
Allowing him a breath, a little scene,
To monarchize, be fear'd and kill with looks,
Infusing him with self and vain conceit,
As if this flesh which walls about our life,
Were brass impregnable, and humour'd thus
Comes at the last and with a little pin
Bores through his castle wall, and farewell king!
Cover your heads and mock not flesh and blood
With solemn reverence: throw away respect,
Tradition, form and ceremonious duty,
For you have but mistook me all this while:
I live with bread like you, feel want,
Taste grief, need friends: subjected thus,
How can you say to me, I am a king?"

Richard II Shakespeare.

He saved others

 

He saved others;
touched them, blessed them,
warned them, loved them,
heard them, healed them.
He reached out to embrace them,
waited for them,
gave them permission,
wept with them.
He told them stories that lead to life,
laughed at their foibles,
forgave them,
offered them freedom.
He placed among them, children;
invited them to learn,
asked them to listen,
sat with them in silence.
He came into their houses,
entered their lives,
ate bread with them,
shared their wine.
He argued the point with them,
got angry,
taught defiance,
played, prayed,
and walked with them
on the road to the kingdom.
He whispered where God might be found;
pointed towards hope,
made peace,
established love,
and showed them the way.
He saved others;
and felt no need to save himself.

© Ken Rookes 2013

In Paradise

In Paradise

I could never get much excited
by the notion of Paradise / heaven / the hereafter.
It sometimes seems to be a construct of the church,
attached to the teachings of Jesus
and distracting us from his command
to get on with the work of love.
At best, it is a bit-player,
thrust on to the centre-stage, to claim the spotlight.
There it assumes the role
of an all-controlling Master of Ceremonies
through whom ecclesiastical authorities,
popes, priests and everybody in-between,
direct the thinking and the behaviour of the masses.
If you want to get there, as opposed to the other place,
remember; we hold the keys!
It suited, too, the civil authorities
with its message of divinely ordered patience.
No need for revolution,
in Paradise you will receive your reward / recompense
for all the indignities, pains and brutalities
suffered during your earthly sojourn!
In Luke’s story of the passion
the word is placed upon the lips of the cross-suspended Jesus,
as he responds to the justice and compassion of a fellow criminal.
Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.
To die with Jesus;
perhaps this is the proper meaning of Paradise.

© Ken Rookes.