Outside the gate

After Hebrews 13:1-19 

As the bodies of the animals

were bound outside the camp,

so, too, was his body sacrificed

outside the gate. So, we go 

outside the gate, go to him,

and we bear the reproach

he bore, the reproach 

he endured. We are with him,

outside the gate;

we are with him,

outside the city.

No city lasts except

the eternal city.

All will pass

into dust, except

the eternal city.

 

Photograph by Nikola Knezevic via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Thank God for ‘Doubting’ Thomas – poem by Malcolm Guite.

 

‘Discipleship’ is Life – T.M. Suffield at Nuakh. 

 

Rest – poem by David Whyte.

 

Snow – poem by Louis MacNeice at Rabbit Room Poetry.

The pleasing sacrifice

After Hebrews 13:1-19 

You want to make 

a sacrifice that’s pleasing?

Well, then, love your brother. 

Be hospitable to strangers.

Remember the prisoner

and the mistreated.

Honor marriage. Avoid

the love of money. Remember

those who lead you. And

obey them. Stick to the true.

Do good. Share what you

have. And pray, always.

That’s all you need to do.

No problem, right?

 

Photograph by Eliott Reyna via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Daffodils – poem by George Mackay Brown at Kingsdom Poets (D.S. Martin). 

 

Letter #88: Why So Secular – Spencer Klavan at The New Jerusalem.

 

“Vanitas, Vanitatum,” poem by William Makepeace Thackery – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Pruning – poem by Seth Lewis.