Sourced from Mucky Paws
4th may 2011
Roddy Hamilton
This was originally designed for two readers, so, if you find yourself alone, perhaps you might find another to read it with, give them a call and read it together?
How did we not see??
Why did it take so long to recognise him, the man who sat with the leper?and spoke to him, and touched his wounds, and spoke about healing, a healing that was more than making him better but restored him to family and community, reborn, reborn, reborn…
…reborn, reborn like Jairus’ daughter, lying dead in her room,
her father out searching for a miracle, and finding Jesus,
who, in heaven’s own time,
sat quietly with her,
and called her back into life, into life, into life…
…into a life, into a life that was now lived generously
for Zacchaeus repaid all those he had taken from.
From tree climber to social climber,
outcast to newly cast,
forgiven and accepted
by grace as Jesus ate with him, with him, with him…
…with him, with him, it was always an adventure
that took us to the borders of country, culture and faith,
where we met people on the edge
we weren’t meant to speak to,
but he did, the woman at the well,
who offered to draw water for him,
as he offered living water instead, instead, instead…
…instead, instead of going to the temple for prayer,
he threw the tables,
freed the doves, rolled the coins,
and broke the moneychangers.
This was the kind of prayer we all wanted!
Except, we used words, he used actions, actions, actions…
…actions, actions speak louder than words,
and as he took the bread,
and blessed it and broke it,
sparks flew,
light escaped,
heaven erupted in a thousand shards
as in a holy explosion, we saw him, saw him, saw him…
…saw him, saw him among us
and we wondered about a bread
that could contain such a miracle,
and knew it wasn’t the bread,
(that was just crumbs),
it was in the telling of the story,
for in sharing it
we began to trust these stories once more,
trust the truth they contained,
and in our believing,
we saw him once more, once more, once more…
…once more, once more, he said: share the bread,
it holds the story of Jesus,
and whenever you do this,do this in remembrance
of him.