Fear, Faith & Love – Day 12
Every year I read from Ann Weems, From Advent’s Alleluia to Easter’s Morning Light. (Submitted by Tamara Miller)
We All Have Our Courtyards
We all have our courtyards,
those times and places we face like Peter
when we must decide
to stand up and say
whether we know him or not.
Those crossroads in our lives,
when we go along with things as they are,
or we say, as Luther did,
Here I stand, I can do no other.
We all have our courtyards….
Lent is time to prepare
for our courtyards,
the time to listen to who He says he is.
And he did, you know,
He did tell us who he is.
He is that one who brings good news to the poor,
freedom to the oppressed,
sight to the blind…
that Holy One who said,
Follow me.
Feed my sheep. ( from page 95)
Jesus, God’s Beloved Son
Jesus went to Galilee preaching the gospel,
saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;
repent, and believe in the good news.”
But the good news was not always received as such…not then, not now.
The trouble was the good news proved,
too scandalous, too radical, too good to be true,
and they turned their backs on Jesus…
the people, the religious authorities, the government,
and even the disciples,
and Jesus suffered unto death…alone.
As the spiritual says, “We didn’t know who you [were].”
My prayer is that this Lent we will know who he is,
and we will “give up” our hearts to a world
who screams for a word of hope from the Church of Jesus Christ.
I pray we will have the ears to hear the good news
and the courage to preach it,
the eyes to see who Jesus is and the love to follow:
Feeding his sheep,
living in peace with one another, all the one anothers,
standing up and taking risks for his word,
and believing that God’s arms are open to us
in mercy
and forgiveness
and unfailing Love
in this powerful gift
of covenant faithfulness. (Pages 98-99)