The why

After Galatians 4:4-7 

We complicate this

unnecessarily and

expend huge energies 

upon asking why. And

it’s simple, really,

which we with

our human hearts and 

minds believe is

insufficient, too simple,

not enough, and

lacking. We don’t like

the idea of a simple

answer to the question

of why:

why did he come?

Answer: to bear

our burdens, redeem

the condemned, and

make us heirs.

He paid the price.

 

Photograph by Evan Dennis via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Treasure in Heaven – poem by Warren Bonham at Society of Classical Poets.

 

Seeds – Jared Pilllips at Front Porch Republic.

 

Revelation 19: His Eyes Are Like a Fiery Flame – artwork by Jack Baumgartner at The School for the Transfer of Energy.

 

Turning from God does not lead to a better society – Simon van Bruchem at Written for Our Instruction.

Manacles, chafed

After Galatians 4:4-7

The manacles, chafed

and chafing, dirtied and

stained his wrists, flakes

of metal coloring his skin

like rings, tightening. 

The manacles, reminding

him of his status, his bounds,

his binding, his place

without future. The manacles,

too, bind his ankles, the metal

tattooing its presence,

a sign that he was a prisoner,

a slave, born without prospect

of redemption.

Someone, a voice, called him

a son, the voice heard first

in his ears before his heart;

he was called son. Manacles

snapped open, the stains

washed off. And then he heard,

first in his ears before his heart,

the voice calling him

with a new name:

heir.

Photograph by Stephen Hickman via Unsplash. Used with permission.