A calling, a life

After Acts 6:1-7

I am Greek, not Aramaic. 

I am not one of the originals

but came later, pulled by the news,

the Spirit, the miracles, tongues

of fire. The people choose me

one of the seven, and I do 

the only thing I knew to do:

distribute food, distribute alms,

care for needs, pray, share,

encourage. When the scattering

comes, I go, quickly, to Samaria,

still the city of half-faiths,

the city of magicians and fakers.

A smaller flock to serve, I do

what I’m called to do, what I can:

preach, speak, share, encourage.

Service there becomes conflict

and confrontation, confounding

the sorcerer who seeks to buy

what he thinks is magic. Sent 

to the desert road, I speak with

the Ethiopian seated in a chariot. 

And then I baptize. I’m learning,

being taught, growing, it’s on

to the Philistines and then

Caesarea, the city of Herod

and the Romans. There I live,

with my four daughters,

prophetesses. I preach, I speak,

I serve, I encourage, I pray. 

Photograph by Felicia Buitenwerf via Unsplash. Used with permission.