Month: June 2022

“Home is made for coming from, for dreams of going to; which with any luck will never come true…” So it’s said in a song from ‘Paint your Wagon‘.

And so it is for Jesus. In Sunday’s Lectionary, he sets his face towards Jerusalem. He’s on a collision course with his destiny, and nothing can deflect him. “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head…” says Jesus. The rest of Jesus’ earthly life will be away from his home comforts, and leads to his eventual execution by the Roman Empire. And as we see from the next four verses, he expects his followers to be committed too.

May God give us grace to be committed to following Christ, to loving as he loves; uncomfortable though it may be sometimes.

God help me rejoice
in someone else’s sunset,
and be glad for them.

Just a little thing
to cheer up the traveller
passing this village.

It’s hot too soon, we’re
not ready: could we abide
a hotter planet?

Plenty of aeroplanes making lanes in the sky this morning; people on holiday, business travel, people anxiously visiting family, people escaping violence and persecution. And many others.

…please pray for them all.
“But you, O LORD, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid!
Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog!” – Psalm 22:19-20

Glory of morning,
hassle of day, evening calm;
praise the Creator.

Teddies and bunnies –
patterns on an old lampshade
of a child long gone.

From Sunday’s lectionary, Psalm 22;-
“The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD.” May it happen soon! Also, remember the despair with which that Psalm begins … the planet may not be beyond hope after all.

I feel the world is
driven to the wilderness:
God give a right mind!

…Next Sunday’s Lectionary, gospel reading

These old train pictures,
in shades of grey, dark with soot;
power of the past.

The grass doesn’t stop;
it just keeps on growing here,
congestion of green.

Kissed on the face by
wet overhanging leaves: it’s
a sensory walk.

In Sunday’s lectionary, the book of Proverbs personifies wisdom and understanding as a woman. There are segments of our culture that characterise women as emotional and say that that’s a problem. And sure there is plenty of emotion in this reading from Proverbs – “…I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.” Emotion allied with understanding is wonderful, though. But (to generalise too much maybe) men are emotional too – and in some cases without understanding. The emotions of fear and anger are not in themselves bad, but without understanding, they provoke instant and destructive action. From Friday nights in town centres to the smoking cities of Ukraine, the emotions of violent (mostly) men are being played out in acts of mindless destruction.

Kindly, the grey cloud
settles on the hills, nestles
among the wet trees.