The tribes go up

A song after Psalm 122 

The tribes go up

to Jerusalem’s gates,

the tribes go up

to stand within.

The tribes go up

to Jerusalem’s gates,

to give thanks 

to the name

of the Lord.

 

And as we sing,

we offer our thanks,

we pray for peace,

we pray to be safe,

safe within the gates

of Jerusalem.

 

Pray for the peace

of Jerusalem;

pray for the peace

within our hearts.

Pray for the peace

of Jerusalem,

we pray for the house

of the Lord.

 

Photograph by Robert Bye via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

An Unexpected Specter – poem by Josh Bishop at Rabbit Room Poetry.

 

The Windhover by Gerard Manley Hopkins – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern. 

 

‘Sunshine’ and ‘A Kiss Across Time’ – poems by Martin Rizley at Society of Classical Poets.

 

A Bird in the Hand: Fifty Holy Wells, #18 – Paul Kingsnorth at The Abbey of Misrule.

 

Things Worth Remembering: Breaking Bread with the Dead – Douglas Murray on Seamus Heaney.

 

Grace and peace

After Galatians 1:1-5 

His authority set

and stated, he

pronounces grace

and peace to those

reading and listening.

It’s something he 

usually does,

this pronouncement,

but this time he

includes a reminder

of the source of grace

and peace, what was 

done to provide

grace and peace, and

thanksgiving for both

the act and the result.

 

Photograph by Kirill Pershin via Unsplash. Used with permission.

The peace within

After Psalm 122 

The peace of Jerusalem

is a thing to be sought,

a thing to be prayed for,

a thing offering safety

to those who love

the city, this city set

apart. It is not the walls,

or the towers, or the houses,

or the streets that define

the city, this city; it is

the people, the people 

whose loves secures

the city, the people

whose peace creates

the city’s defense. And

this peace is corporate,

this peace is individual,

for what is held in common

is held within each heart,

cherished within each person.

To seek good for this city

is to seek good for each person

within it.

 

Photograph by Gerald Schoombs via Unsplash. Used with permission.

The peace of the city

After Jeremiah 29:7-13

There is a city on a hill

and there is a city at the bottom

of the hill, a city in the plain:

a city of peace, a city without

a city of wealth, a city without

a city of live and kindness

a city without

a city safe and secure

a city of violence

a city that’s home

a city that’s exile.

Seek the peace of the city of exile.

Seek the safety of the city of exile.

Seek this city of exile.

Seek it.

Seek its streets.

Walk its lanes

Visit its homes.

Seek it.

Photograph by Dan Gold via Unsplash. Used with permission.

News of peace

He heard the war

was over; voices

flashed the news

along the lines,

over the radio

he laid down

his gun and began

to walk

through desolation

devastation

destruction

for a time until

fields turned

green once again

he passed both

pessimism and optimism

and, not stopping,

left them behind

the coffins stacked

like false promises

he walked toward

the sun not

looking back

Photograph: View of Ypres, Belgium, in 1919.