There is a purpose

After Ephesians 4:7-16 

There is a purpose

in what is done here,

a purpose two-fold,

explain why you are

surrounded by helps,

guides, teachers, people

with all kinds of gifts.

 

First, we are to grow,

mature, learn, know,

meld what we learn

to our inmost beings,

so that we are no longer

tossed on the winds and

waves of culture, error,

evil, cunning, all of which

we call the world.

 

Second, we become one,

one body, speaking the truth

in love, growing in love,

love for the body and

love for the head. That love

translates into the command

and the action: to serve

in the Name, to serve

in the Power.

 

Photograph by Jeremy Bishop via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

O Gracious Shepherd – poem by Henry Constable at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin).

 

To See the Face of God is to See Mercy – Andrew Arndt at Mere Orthodoxy.

 

Following Whitsun – poem by Connor Wood at Rabbit Room Poetry.

 

Mary Magdalene – sonnet by Malcolm Guite.

 

The Crooked Apple Tree – Seth Lewis.

What do we do?

After Matthew 25:14-30

What do we do

with what is

entrusted to us,

the gift or gifts

given into

our hands,

a skill, a talent,

a mind, an ability,

money, a voice,

love, grace, all

that is poured

down upon us?

What do we do

with our hands

and feet, our desire

to serve, our ability

to carry and lift?

What do we do

with what we know,

with what we learn,

with what we take

to heart and understand,

with what we believe,

with what we affirm?

We find the places

to put it to work,

to invest, to grow,

to become ten, five,

two times more, or

even add a bit 

of interest.

We become farmers

who plant the seeds.

Photograph by Tom Parsons via Unsplash, Used with permission.