Eat

The fruit was good, and sweet, and ripe
It pleased the eye, the mouth, the hand
As juices flowed that warmed my throat
I ate, and flesh gave way to flesh
As what grew treasure now was food
I tasted, and declared it good

And now I truly know the sweet,
For sweet it was, and ripe, and good,
And sweet the sharing that we had
This first we could call ours alone
So all fruit else at last we know
Is less, is loss, is least, is low

Now all our labour shows itself
Misguided, for our hands have worked
To plant the seed of bitter herbs
To train the branch for sour fruit
And all because we have believed
The one in whom we were deceived

No lie will stand against the truth
No one is just, not even one
All power, seen rightly, is abuse
At last, at last our eyes see clear.
Footsteps betray him that draws nigh:
Our faithless master come to spy

Term ends - part one

Well, that was quick. The University term has finished, though for us ordinands there is still another week to go. Some courses, some time for reflection and some time together.

So what profound thoughts and reflections do I have?

Hmmm...

It's strange, though in some ways strangely comforting, to be mildly infantilised again. There are relatively few choices to make; there is in the main a kind of assumption that we all need to go back to the beginning - justified, I suppose, even if occasionally frustrating.

But something is lost, too. We arrive, fully connected to the world around us. And one by one, the ties are cut. And the danger is, of course, that we become churchy people, not Jesusy people.

So that's the challenge, I suppose. To remember - and act on the knowledge - that Jesus mixed with all the wrong people, held all the wrong opinions, said all the wrong things. Yet, "anyone who has seen me has seen the Father."