The "A" word

After I Peter 2:13-17

The “A” word,

the word and idea

we chafe against,

the word around

which our world

revolves: authority.

As much as we

resist it and resent

and disparage it,

it is the system

to establish order

and well-being.

And the “S” word:

submit. With

authority comes 

submission, another

word and idea we

resist and resent,

that every fiber

in our being fights

against. But

submission does not

mean obedience;

it means to arrange

your life to respect

the authority placed

over you.

 

Photograph by Artem Balashevsky via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

“Courtesy,” poem by Hillaire Belloc – Malcolm Guite.

 

Lonely in a Crowd – Madelyn Moses at Reformation 21.

 

“Hymn Before Sunrise,” poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge – Malcolm Guite.

 

Reading the Bible to Meet God – Barnabas Piper.