Need

Even the Son of God needs help. 

The crowds press in, and he withdraws 

to a boat, to a mountain, to silence

if it can be found. 

The crowds in need (and who does not

need something?) press on, desperate

to draw from this apparently 

bottomless well of hope. 

The Son of Man needs friends to help 

procure a boat, to preach and heal,

and help him rest, but most of all 

to stand with him. 

Mad, bad or Son of God

Cf Mark 3:20-35

The man and his followers entered a house,

but before they could even feed or rest

a jostling crowd began to form,

like storm clouds gathering from the west;

a hungry crowd, starved of truth,

eager, clamouring to be fed. 

His mother and brothers were told of this:

‘He’s out of his mind,’ they said. 

The teachers from the City came

to spy on the irksome one who stood

in the midst of the gathering storm –

they would burn him if they could. 

‘Wherever he goes, chaos follows –

mobs, and Sabbath laws denied –

when demons rave he speaks to them:

he’s demon-possessed,’ they cried. 

From the eye of the storm the Son of Woman

spoke. ‘If none speak truth to power,

then power corrupts and demons thrive. 

I cast them out. This is my hour. 

My mind’s my own, my will is God’s, and those

who cede their will to God I here acclaim

as mine, as my true sister, brother, mother,

belovèd, treasured, living in my name. 

The death of John the Baptist

Even from prison, John,

your fierce spirit outfaces Herod. 

Irked, but intrigued, 

he hears the words which vex,

unwelcome guests which lodge

in his unquiet mind. 

Even in death, John,

at his garish party,

from a gory platter,

you outface him again,

disrupt the squalid schemes

of the bitter wife,

the naive dancing girl. 

And still you are not done. 

The Greater One

whose path you heralded,

takes your fierce call

and makes it more,

and Herod, hearing, fears

that you’ve returned 

to plague him once again. 

We hear your words, John,

urgent, clear and stark. 

You faced our treacherous world

and said, ‘Enough.

Turn round. Dare to dissent.’

When we are tempted by

the broader path,

to dally in deceit and compromise,

you stand unmoved and call us back

to make our desert pilgrimage.