The Coming
by R. S. Thomas
And God held in his hand
A small globe. Look, he said.
The son looked.
Far off,
As through water, he saw
A scorched land of fierce
Colour. The light burned
There; crusted buildings
Cast their shadows; a bright
Serpent, a river
Uncoiled itself, radiant
With slime.
On a bare
Hill a bare tree saddened
The sky. Many people
Held out their thin arms
To it, as though waiting
For a vanished April
To return to its crossed
Boughs. The son watched
Them. Let me go there, he said.
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I came in this morning to actually finally respond to your prior blog and here is a new one. I so enjoyed your message yesterday. Lori and I were able to listen to you on your 5th sermon for the weekend. Wow, your voice, your energy, your passion, what an answer to prayer. And no cane too!
Just so you know I was actually listening, I brought your three points from your message yesterday to work with me. Monday's are not my favorite day, but your words yesterday are helping me change my attitude.
1. Make your daily acts acts of worship! Even on Monday, I want my acts to be acts of worship and thankfulness.
2. Live every day in light of THE day!
3. Settle for nothing less than intimacy with Him!
What great reminders for this week and beyond. Thank you for the message and definitely praying that it will not be your "last palm sunday" message ever.
Randall
This sorrowful picture makes me weep. I keep reading and rereading it. It is a hopeless picture, a dangerously unsafe world. "Let me go there" he said, without asking questions. Jesus, my Savior, there is no one like you. Enlarge my gratefulness into a life not wasted.
I just responded to the earlier post with thoughts of joining Jesus on that route toward Jerusalem.
This post of yours today seems to broaden my perspective of the "route".
Jesus didn't just go on in to Jerusalem having decided to as He looked upon it from the hillside. No . . . Jesus sat in Heaven, perhaps on a throne, being praised and worshiped by the angels. And it was from that "beginning" that His route began. His route that he rode for me.
This leads me to the stable. His humble beginnings, right? No . . . His "route" didn't begin there, either.
No, His route originated from Heaven. From perfection. From a place where all was right, He entered my world where all or at least much is wrong. From Heaven. From a place where a day had never been known without Him, to my world, where I often forget Him. From Heaven, a place where He was equal with God to my world where I sometimes think I am greater than He. From Heaven He came. For me. For us.
Ugggghhhhh! Worm that I am.
He left perfection to come to my world. So that one day I will leave imperfection to come to His world!
Hallalujah! What a Savior!!!!!!!!
Susan G.
As I read that, I thought, "Wow, that place doesn't sound like much and yet, I like it here, I often get so involved in things here that I am absorbed in it." And Jesus, who had it so great, so perfect, said, "Sure, I'll go there." Wow! No really, wow... what a sacrifice, what a gift. Not worthy, that's for sure, just speaking for me, but wow, not worthy.
The other end of that... there are so many times that I look at all the beauty God has created for us here. I just returned from some very beautiful places on this earth. Even all the majestic places that God put here, nothing compares to what awaits us. That's quite a thought to ponder. And we get to go there because His son suffered and died for us. Wow.
Thanks for making me think, that's always a good exercise
Dudster
It's been awhile since I've had time to sit down and check your blog, so I had a lot of catching up to do. John, the March 25 blog about your illness and how it affects your feeling of isolation struck a chord with me. With my husband's illness, his personality changed fifteen years ago, and he is not the same man now. He is quiet. Extremely so. He doesn't do well in company, either. He's uncomfortable, and that makes others feel uncomfortable with him. While he's comfortable with isolation, I am not. I feel very isolated.
I hate going to weddings and wedding showers! But I go to support the new couples. There I see other couples whose marriages are lively and full. I see men who talk to their wives and others in the room. I hear stories about how wonderful couples feel about their marriage as their children have left home and now it's just the two of them. I cry as I write this. I love my husband. But he is changed. He is silent.
I think many, many others go through this isolation feeling, sometimes for many years, even a lifetime. Yes, isolation crowds us toward Jesus. But the day-to-day experience can be exhausting. Kind of like water torture.
Over time, the relationship with Jesus grows us into stronger people, and we learn to endure more patiently. We learn to understand others better. Our compassion grows. We understand Jesus, the Man of Sorrows, a little better. And "we know our present sufferings cannot be compared to the glory which is to come." But the here-and-now can be a real challenge. Whenever I really think about this present isolation, I get down. But keeping my eyes on Jesus and not on the isolation helps me get through this. The joy of the Lord has been my strength. I could not smile or laugh if it weren't for Him!
Thank you for your honesty, John. It helps.
Sheri
Sheri, thank you for sharing a deeply personal (with pain) situation that you live day in and day out. You have ministered to me and I am grateful. I truly feel less alone. My thoughts and prayers will be with you and your husband.
I so appreciate John's blog for a magnitude of reasons, but I am also believing that those of us who comment must remember to respond to one another; especially with vulnerable, real and suffering entries. Even when Dawna (#6 above) responded to #5 Susan in agreement; that builds community. I realize that a blog isn't a chat room or a twitter place, but there is a way to be sure that those who comment don't feel more isolated with yet another lack of knowledgement. I don't mean to sound preachy-teachy so thank you for hearing my heart's intention.
Sheri
Thank you so much for your continued encouragement in your journey of genuine faith. I've been following your readings and thank you for your transparency. Jim shared with the congregation a piece of the video that you and Joanne made and is posted on the Salem Alliance website. I just can't help but think how God continues to use you during this time. I am thankful for you my friend. May you and Joanna and family have a blessed Easter and remember that your SPCC continues to pray for you.
Laurie Bisset