No longer strangers

After Ephesians 2:11-22

We are no longer strangers,

no longer aliens, foreign

to each other and ourselves.

We are now brethren,

citizens of the same nation,

members of the same house,

a household of solid foundation,

the only one that lasts,

enfolded and protected 

by the one cornerstone,

what holds us together,

what holds it all together,

a household under construction

for transformation as a temple,

indwelled.

Photograph by Tyler Nix via Unsplash. Used with permission

Two men, before

After Ephesians 2:11-22

We were two men, before,

each living in our own ways,

our own worlds, and if we gave 

thought to each other, it was

a thought about strangeness,

about oddity, about suspicion,

mutually. Separated by laws, 

culture, and inclination, 

our mutual tolerance was

a bare one.

Be he came preaching peace,

he came creating unity,

a man with a voice

whose presence wove

between us and among us,

not showing what was

happening, a coming together, 

a weaving of what was once

separated.

Photograph by Jack Castles via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Once a stranger

Ephesians 2:11-22

You were once a stranger, 

a stranger in a strange land,

cut off from the living,

wandering in the desert,

in the wilderness, and you

barely knew it.

Then a stranger found you,

gave you rest, bathed

your wounds, a metaphorical

good Samaritan, and you

were the man injured

by the roadside.

He brought oneness,

making you whole

and wholly a part.

Photograph by Perry C via Unsplash. Used with permissio