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King of Uncommon Love

“Let earth receive her King.”

King of Uncommon Love

Where are the humble kings?
Those who do nothing
     but what their father tells them to do?
Where are those who set aside power
who leave glory
who serve
who wash the feet
     of friend and foe
who wear sandals
who cook fish on the shore
who feed multitudes
     with a few fish and rolls
who change water to wine
    for wedding guests
who walk with, feed, and touch
    those deemed unclean
who spend time
    with those others shun
who come not to judge,
     but to save
who give their lives for their people.
Where is a King of uncommon love?
Look to a manger.
Look to a cross.
Then come.
Come,
     let us adore Him.

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April 17, 2022

HOLY WEEK

The week leading up
to the most sacred of our
Christian holidays

looks back on events
saturated with the love
of our Lord Jesus,

impregnated with
prophesies being fulfilled
in His light and life:

Some, miraculous.
Some, endearing. Some, baffling.
Others, horrific.

A dizzying week.
A hill of execution.
A crucifixion.

But …

I believe that the
road to Golgotha began
in a feeding trough

where a virgin girl
gave birth to a baby boy
who already knew

the way.

He is risen, indeed!

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April 2, 2021

AND I (ode to John the Beloved)

The last twenty four hours –
bearer of agonizing anguish
and hideous horror.
Had I known what was to come,
I would have stayed away –
far away
from you.

And I
would have safeguarded myself
from this enslaving loss.
I would have listened
to your compelling lessons –
your world-altering truths.
But I would have kept my distance

… and I,
I would have sat not at your feet,
but the foot of the hill.
I’d have sought your perfect rest,
but not at your breast.

And I can’t think of Judas
and how you knew. You knew.
And how Peter did just as you said –
denied you.
Three times denied you,
and I …
I wouldn’t have believed it.

The others you called,
scattered.
Frightened.
Confused.
Afraid for their lives, perhaps.
And I, myself, afraid.

But the women … oh,
the women …
how they were there for you today
along Golgotha’s way!
They wiped your wounded face
listened to your howls of pain
watched your mother’s horror
wailed
until your life left
and your silence spilled.

But the women remained
(chained to image and sound
that will never be loosed)
– produced a ceaseless cry.

The women,

and I.

© Marie Elena Good, 2021

In response to Robert Lee Brewer’s 2021 April Poem-a-Day Challenge at Poetic Asides (Day 2: Write a What does the future hold poem).

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April 1, 2021

NO STRANGER, THIS

He asked for water.
We’d never seen each other,
and we were alone:

He (a Jewish man)
and Samaritan-woman-
me, knowing my place.

Finding it a bit
amusing, I asked Him why
He asked this of me.

He spoke in riddle,
“If you knew who was asking,
you’d have asked of Him,

and He’d have given
the gift of living water.”
Then He spoke again

and everything
there is to know about me,
He already knew.

I wasn’t disturbed.
There was nothing unsettling
in His countenance.

There was not a doubt
the gift He offered me was
His for the giving.

I drew His water.
But He? He quenched a thirst I
never knew I had.

© Marie Elena Good, 2021

In response to Robert Lee Brewer’s 2021 April Poem-a-Day Challenge at Poetic Asides (Day 1: Write an introduction poem).

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March 28, 2021

PALM SUNDAY

She carried her King –
Prince of Peace, and Lord of all,
while suckling her foal.

“Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” ~ Matthew 21:1-5

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April 10, 2020

THE WOMEN WHO WAILED

I wish I knew who to attribute this to.

Who were these women,
walking the path with Jesus,
this innocent man?

This One who showed them
they were not to be trampled –
thought as second class.

This One who showed them
they could learn and understand
scripture, and His words.

Who were these women
who did not turn away as
He was crucified?

Exhibiting strength
in their engulfing anguish –
strength I cannot know.

Facing the horror,
these women were not silent.
They howled in their grief,

but also in their
denunciation of this
slaughter of virtue.

Inconsolable,
but not without perception,
and not without hope.

As they witnessed His
final words, were they surprised?
This man that they loved

wasn’t just a man.
Even the centurion
who observed His death

exclaimed, “Certainly
this man was the Son of God.”
My Lord, and My God.

Through their mourning eyes,
did they sense that this dear man
was their Messiah?

Forgive me, my Lord.
I would not have had the strength
to attend to You.

Lamentably, I’d
have worried, crying to You
from my peaceful home,

averse to falling
apart with the sufferer.
(Forgive me, my friends).

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March 30, 2020

HOPE, FULFILLED

Image by jplenio, courtesy of Pixabay

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” From the hymn The Heavenly Vision, by Helen Howarth Lemmel

HOPE, FULFILLED (may be sung)

Dear writer, your hymn born of life’s woes
through blindness and heartache, composed,
gives name to our risen Messiah,
His purpose on earth to disclose.

Turn our eyes to You, Jesus –
Redeemer, Messiah, and Friend.
Give us ears to hear; give us sight to see
that through You, we’re no longer condemned.

Redemption is ours in Christ Jesus,
His death restored life to our soul.
This Sinless One bore our transgressions,
And these “not in part, but the whole.”

Turn our eyes to You, Jesus –
Redeemer, Messiah, and Friend.
Give us ears to hear; give us sight to see
that through You, we’re no longer condemned.

No need to be summoning hope now.
No need to have courage instilled.
No need for our guilt to oppress us,
for Christ is our promise, fulfilled.

Turn our eyes to You, Jesus –
Redeemer, Messiah, and Friend.
Give us ears to hear; give us sight to see
that through You, we’re no longer condemned.

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May 4, 2019

SHE CALLS HERSELF AN ADDICT

butterfly-1127666_1280

I suppose when cravings for poison
introduced in past moments of pain
threaten to pull you to ocean’s floor
and you remember the relief of
oxygen to your lungs,
you might find it irresistible, this temptation to
breathe –

even if it is one breath.
Even if it threatens
to fill your lungs with death.

But she –
she would rather not breathe

than return to the venom her body craves.
She would rather hold her breath,
while waiting for her Redeemer
to meet her in the depths.
To lift her face.
To breathe life to her very soul.

She calls herself an addict.

I call her a child of the God who Saves.
I call her brave.
I call her inspiring.

I call her friend.

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January 27, 2019

MY STRENGTH AND MY SONG

hands-2715976_640

“The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise him — my father’s God, and I will exalt him!” (Exodus 15:2)

My Strength and My Song

When weakness takes me to my knees,
My Father’s arms will lift me.
When terror causes me to freeze,
His truths set all my fears free.

My Father’s Son became my Lord
When I was just a child.
To Trinity’s melodious chord,
My soul was reconciled.

I feel His might. I hear His voice –
Astounding grace extended
From One whose love compelled His choice:
From Heav’n above, descended.

He is my strength. He is my song.
I hear His vict’ry ringing!
He’s held my heart my whole life long –
How can I keep from singing?

Cadence and final line are both from the Christian hymn “My Life Flows On,” often attributed to Robert Lowry (1826-1899)

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Tag: Christ

January 29, 2023

HOW TO RECOGNIZE YOURSELF

December 25, 2022

King of Uncommon Love

April 17, 2022

HOLY WEEK

April 2, 2021

AND I (ode to John the Beloved)

April 1, 2021

NO STRANGER, THIS

March 28, 2021

PALM SUNDAY

April 10, 2020

THE WOMEN WHO WAILED

March 30, 2020

HOPE, FULFILLED

May 4, 2019

SHE CALLS HERSELF AN ADDICT

January 27, 2019

MY STRENGTH AND MY SONG