The Beatitudes of Resistance

The Beatitudes of Resistance

 

Blessed are those who refuse the lie that one life is worth more than another, for the future of humanity is theirs.

Blessed are those who have stared long into the abyss, for they carry an honesty deeper than grief.

Blessed are those who resist retaliation, for force can never win the earth.

Blessed are those who would rather die for truth than live with compromise, for truth outlasts every lie.

Blessed are those who forgive the unforgivable, for they have glimpsed the darkness of their own souls.

Blessed are those who know themselves truly, for they are seen as the holy one sees them.

Blessed are those who are provocatively nonviolent, for they walk the way of Christ.

Blessed are those who receive violence but refuse to return it, for the future is born from such courage.

Blessed are you when you stand for truth, and hell itself rises to break you. You are not the first, and you will not be the last.

Learn to see differently.

Choose to live the alternative.

Only then will the world be made new.

The Apocalypso Carol

See him coming with the clouds above:

A rampant lion and a startled dove,

Eyes ablaze with twinkly sparkly love:

The prince of glory when he comes.

Oh now carry me away to heaven,

Where I can shed all my transgression,

All I need is divine intercession

And I can fly into the sky.

Scary angels sweep across the skies,

Scaring people with a pack of lies,

Tell how everybody sinful dies:

The prince of glory when he comes.

Earthly riches come from Babylon:

Wealth acquired from the pantheon.

Keep us pure for glory later on!

The prince of glory when he comes.

Live in terror of the Son of Man,

Ruthless vengeance from a slaughtered Lamb,

Bringing terror just because he can:

The prince of glory when he comes.

Easter Day communion: words of institution

We are the body of Christ.

And we come today to break bread and to pour out wine in memory of him.

The body of Christ is broken for us,

We are broken.

I am broken,

You are broken.

We have broken the body of Christ

The blood of Christ is poured out for our transgressions.

We are full of sin.

I am sinful,

You are sinful.

And it is only by his wounds that we are healed.

The body of Christ is raised for our forgiveness.

We are broken and sinful.

And yet we are healed.

I am forgiven.

You are forgiven.

The body of Christ eternally bears the marks of crucifixion.

And we return to this table to repeat the story of brokenness and healing, of sin and forgiveness.

Because we still sin, and we are still broken.

Christ is risen.

He is risen indeed.

So let us eat bread, drink wine,

and take deep within ourselves the reality of the cross,

that on this day of new life, we might find healing, forgiveness, and resurrection.

We: a poem for Liz's 45th birthday

A lifetime sentence,
never spoken 
to completion.
A poem 
unfinished;
free in form,
but stable 
in structure.

We are 
joined, 
you and I, 
by an invisible thread;
together
whatever,
wherever 
we tread.

'I do'
did it up,
and what has been joined
shall not be undone.
We were bound to be together;
the knot was tied tight.
We are held fast.

If we are parted for a time,
thread stretched
by wandering feet,
which may become yards, 
miles, continents even;
we shall be distanced 
but never distant,
parted but not apart.

A poem for March 1 2017

February fades and

spring marches in;

random rows 

of snowdrops and daffodils,

all lent an air of precision by 

roses, prim- and proper-

budding hope of new life.

A poem for 21 December

Long night ahead?

Nah, just a short day.

It's not the hours of darkness

that bother me,

but the passing of the day:

'Life's little day',

ebbing swiftly to its close.

Too soon, too soon.

The light of new life

flickers

in a baby's eyes.

Then years flicker past,

and light dims to dark.

But the baby, ah, the baby.

The eternal baby.

Every year crucified,

every year reborn.

New life in the cycle of life,

death undone

and robbed.

Longest night.

shortest day.

And from today, 

light returns.

The leaves are for the healing of the nations

The Spirit gave up with a gentle whimper,

grown hoarse from too much whispering.

The wilderness was a big place for a lone voice,

and it took effort to keep calm and small and still.

So the Spirit stopped trying.

'Let them be deaf, and I shall be dumb', she said.

And do you know, the people didn't notice.

Not straight away.

Not today, or tomorrow.

But in time, in time and in due course,

the world grew colder,

less connected,

less alive.

And the voice no-one had heard was missed,

and the earthquake came,

and the loud winds blew,

and the fires raged.

And the Spirit was nowhere to be found.

Until one morning,

not long before the end,

a gentle wind stirred the leaves of the tree,

and fluttered the leaves of the book,

and everyone stopped.

And everyone noticed.

And the wind in the leaves was for the healing of the nations.

A quest for meaning

Meaning hides in the gaps between words,

while letters shape the space into which they fall.

We know nothing, which is probably where knowledge begins.

So run from certainty,

and flee definition.

Seek God where he cannot be found;

and do not, under any circumstances, do what you are told.

This world

This world is a trick of my mind's eye.

This body a form of endless deception.

Equality is a myth,

and exploitation abounds.

Life is emptiness personified;

and we are all slaves,

every last human one of us.

We are lost, and are not found;

obedient in our humble servitude,

to the day we die.

 

Exaltation is an unattainable dream,

and names are but whispers of being

like wind in reeds that bend and break.

Heaven calls us

and Earth calls us back.

Our tongues speak our hope of glory,

and the void hears. 

The breath of Christ

May the peace of Christ be with you.

May the mind of Christ give shape to your thoughts.

May the emptiness of Christ release you.

May the equality of Christ diminish you.

May the likeness of Christ ennoble you.

May the death of Christ be your death.

May the exaltation of Christ revive you.

May the name of Christ cause you to draw breath.

TOILET

Totalitarian religion

Occasional grace

Irresistible certainty

Limited understanding

Extreme prejudice

Total condemnation

Assisi see

Saint Francis of Assisi si

Went to see what he could see, see, see.

But all Assisi saw, saw, saw,

Was the saviour in the faces of the poor, poor, poor.

Everlasting to everlasting

Everlasting to everlasting;

eternity to eternity;

moment by moment.

Life is a mystery of being,

a constant quest for meaning.

Tired old bones struggle onwards

while the spirit leaps to new heights.

Faith grows stronger even as it dies,

and hope will not quiet down.

And in all this, love persists,

hunting each second

and bringing home it's quarry.

The Step of Faith

"Mind how you go",

said the old woman.

And she knew the importance

of this advice.

 

Each step is a gift,

each stride to be measured and treasured.

Each stumble and slip a peril.

 

So, be careful:

Be full of care,

and be mindful of how you go.

 

Notice the now.

Look at the path

as well as the view.

Walk well on the earth

for as long as the path lasts.

And at the end

Take heart, and do not be afraid.

Go well with God.

 

As the old woman said,

"Always mind how you go."

Still Now

It's still now.

Present perfected.

Past action repeated.

Captured moments.

Keeping time.

Here again.

Nothing lost.

Still now.

Sheeps and Goats

'Stop the world,' said the king, 'I'm getting confused.

            Let's take five, simmer down, and think...

'I'm trying to decide, and it just isn't clear,

            on the difference between goats and sheep.'

'I know,' cried a voice, 'I think it's to do

            with the people you meet and the things that you do.

If you're kind to the poor,

            and give food from your table, and care where you're able,

            I'm pretty sure you are a sheep.'

'Hark at him bleating on,' came a second response,

            'he's full of his own self importance.

            I'm afraid it's more complex than that.

It's not what you do to the poor that decides,

            it's the attitude with which you do it.

A sheep must be holy and humble and so,

            if you're anything else you're a goat.'

'That's just woolly thinking,' the first voice replied,

            'if anyone's goat-ish it's you.

It's all very well being holy and such,

            but that doesn't get anyone fed.'

Said the goat to the sheep,

            'I think we've resolved it,

            the sheep looks like me and the goat looks like you.'

'I see it the same,' came the answer right back,

            'a ewe looks like me not like you.'

'Hang on,' said the king, 'I'm still no more clear.

            Are you both sure and certain you're sheep?'

'Why yes,' cried two voices, both speaking as one,

            'we know that we're sheep, and we're sure it must be,

            for we know that they all must be goats.' 

'So let me be clear,' said the king with a sigh,

            'you each want the other condemned?

Well it's never so clear. And I'm never so sure.

            And there's something that still gets my goat.

You've heard of the herd, the tribe, and the nation;

            the people who act just like you?

Well, the herd is a fable we're able to tell,

            just to justify me and my own.

If you think you're all sheep, and that others are goats,

            you divide up the world very wrong.'

Then the king turned away, and went on his way,

            and restarted the world once again.

But after a minute he paused in his stride,

            and looked over his shoulder, to see who was following on.

x

The Sign of the Time

'The Sign of the Time'
- a poem for Advent

Divine Time is not a line,
from Earth to Heaven,
from Hell to redemption.
from here to there,
Divine Time is a circle;
a spiral of turning.
As the seasons turn the year,
the hands of Divine Time
proscribe their journey
from start to start,
and from end to end.
Now is the start,
and now is the end.
'Eternity in each present moment.'

This poem was inspired by tonight's excellent Advent Sermon by Lindsay Meader at St James' Piccadilly.

I do believe

God help me, I do not believe...

I do not believe in God the Father.

I do not believe in a virgin birth.

I do not believe in three wise men, choirs of angels, or singing shepherds.

I do not believe in a reanimated corpse.

I do not believe that praying changes God, or his mind.

I do not believe in eternal damnation, or in hell as the eternal destiny of the faithless.

I do not believe in Heaven as the eternal destination of the faithful.

I do not believe that Jesus will come again.

I do not believe people are called to do anything.

I do not believe in a God of war, violence, hatred or division.

I do not believe in a God who is angry, vicious, vengeful, or wrathful.

I do not believe eternal life is the spiritual equivalent of a final salary pension scheme; a person's state of grace at the point of death is not the ultimate determination of their eternal soul.

I do not believe that on the cross Jesus died to pay the price for my sins.

I do not believe that speaking in tongues is the indicator of the Spirit's presence.

I do not believe you have to be 'born again' to be saved.

I do not believe in original sin.

I do not believe the Bible is the word of God. If you want God's words in written form, read the Koran.

I do not believe that marriage must be between one man and one woman.

I do not believe in 'creation', with or without an 'ism'.

I do not believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.

But I do still believe, God help me...

I believe that God is the mother and father of us all, the ground of our being, and the source of all that makes us human.

I believe that God is love, and that in God there is no darkness at all.

I believe in resurrection through Christ Jesus, and that death does not get the final word on life.

I believe that those who are in Christ are daily born again from above.

I believe in hell as a present reality; as, I suspect, do the countless multitudes who find themselves trapped there.

I believe that idolatry is the root cause of all sin, and that wherever God is displaced from the centre of the cosmos, the path to hell opens before us.

I believe that through Christ's body people are redeemed from hell and released from satan's power.

I believe that the eternal value of a person's life does not depend on their appreciation of their own eternal worth.

I believe that God is most fully and uniquely revealed in the person of Christ, and that those who know Christ, know God.

I believe that the Spirit of Christ is with all those who follow him, revealing him in and through those who bear faithful witness to him.

I believe that Christ died to save humanity from the twin powers of sin and death.

I believe that prayer changes everything, starting with me.

I believe that people are called to be, and then to live out that calling.

I believe that the kingdom of heaven is an in-breaking reality of transformation.

I believe that Jesus comes again, and again, and again.

I believe in the possibility of peace, and that peace is a blessing to the world.

I believe that the cross is God's nonviolent embrace of humanity, and that all human violence finds its end at the cross of Christ.

I believe that speaking in tongues is a gift of the Spirit; freeing our minds from the trammels of rational thought to commune with God's Spirit in ways too deep for words.

I believe the Bible offers a revelation of God's truth, and that it does so through a series of thought experiments concerning the existence of humanity before God. 

I believe in marriage as an expression of loving, faithful, equal, covenant commitment, between two people, for the blessing of all.

I believe that the earth is a gift, and that we have a responsibility before God to tend it care-fully.

I believe that wherever the new humanity in Christ are present, the old humanity under death is challenged, and people are offered transformation to life in all its fullness.

In heaven's name, and for goodness' sake, so help me God, I do believe.