Exiles and sojourners

After I Peter 2:9-12

We are called out 

from the mire that

is the world, called

to know we are

sojourners in this land

of exile. This is our land,

the land we came from,

and this is not our land;

this land is not our home.

Yet we are called to love

here as priests and witnesses,

our conduct in exile above

reproach, sojourners whose

very existence encourages,

illustrates, threatens,

glorifies, challenges, angers,

beautifies, attracts, exemplifies.

Ours is a life of contradictions.

So be it.

 

Photograph by Joakim Nadell via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Noah: Saint and Sinner – Mark Daniels.

 

The New Year’s Prayer Challenge – Robb Brunansky at The Cripplegate.

 

“The Bird in the Tree,” poem by Ruth Pitter – Malcolm Guite.

 

Before – poem by Aubrey Brady at Rabbit Room Poetry.