Is, was written

After Luke 24:44-49

It is written, just

as it was written,

the entire story,

the entire point

and explanation

and purpose,

mine and yours:

I suffer and die.

Then the gamechanger:

On the third day,

the rising.

What follows:

the proclamation,

the good news

of repentance

for forgiveness

of sins,

a proclamation

to all, all nations,

all peoples,

beginning in the city

of death and the city

of the rising from

the death.

And the clincher:

You are the witnesses,

and you will be sent

on the mission

you’ve already accepted.

Photograph by Daniel Burka via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Open, mind

After Luke 24:44-49

It didn’t begin

with an open mind,

plural; the open minds

weren’t the first impulse

or prime mover.

Instead,

the open mind, plural,

required an act,

a command, as in 

“Open, mind(s),”

a deliberate move,

full of purpose 

and import, a cranking

open of the door, replete

with shrieking creaks,

so that understanding

was possible. The door

was opened to allow

the light to enter,

to enable the dispelling

of confusion,

of darkness.

Photograph by Roan Lavery via Unsplash. Used with permission.

My words

After Luke 24:44-49

A reminder and

an instruction:

you heard this 

before, during

those three years

we walked the land

and talked the land,

the geography of faith,

so what you hear now

is nothing novel,

nothing new, it was

all written before,

in the law,

in the prophets,

in the psalms,

and it must all

be fulfilled. And

you were there,

you saw it,

you lived it:

the word, my words,

the words that

became flesh and

walked the land and

talked the land and

it happened right here,

right now, my words

I spoke to you

while I was

still here.

Photograph by Julia Joppien via Unsplash. Used with permission.