The crowd goes crazy (silently)

After Mark 2:1-12

Through the roof he comes

on ropes, almost a theatrical

scene; that’s bad enough

(no sense of decorum

In honor of those present).

But then the healer says

the man’s sins are forgiven,

and theater becomes

melodrama.

His sins are forgiven?

Who does he think he is,

God? The impertinence!

the outrage! That’s 

an offense meriting stoning!

(But he did heal that leper

so it might be best to huff

and puff in silence.)

 

The healer looks around,

and he has the knack

of looking not only at

but also through the heart,

and he knows exactly

what we’re thinking.

To hammer home his point,

he doubles down, and after

pronouncing forgiveness

he tells the man to rise,

take his bed, and go home.

And the man does.

Sometimes it best to huff

and puff in silence.

 

Photograph by Sushil Nash via Unsplash. Used with permission.