-------------------------------/Peter Staring Into The Pool of Bethesda; Peter’s Riposte to Paul
When the Lord calls you Satan
it has this unsettling way of haunting your dreams….
I was just a boy when Theudas was killed
yet I remember keenly the thunderous clomping of horse hooves
as brooding Roman soldiers chased him to his death
(with gemstones in their helmets refracting the sun’s twilight glow)
and the guys (at least Bartholomew and Phillip) fondly recall the time
I walked on water
but I resolutely remind them I sunk too
and I saw Jesus transfigured before me
gleaming white light, gorgeous radiant white robes
resplendent glory
but I also saw him sweating blood like tactile angst
and the culmination of all these things contradicts
who I now am with the fisherman of my past
Im supposed to be the Rock – this fisher of men
but when I look at my reflection in the pool
I see a common man incapable of doing wondrous things
I could never be Caesar's armor bearer, or woo a thousand women
like stout gladiators lionized from foreign lands
and now the Jews are descending upon us
(and I dont know what to do)
Im just a nothing, who came from nothing and might die so
and everyone is looking waiting, watching for my lead
while I wonder in the back of my mind
if Lazarus will end up dying again anyway
I want the strength that Jesus had, and his confidence
anything to supplement my lack
because Im afraid of the unknown –
so no, Im not like you at all
(so bullish)
---------------------------
2 Peter 3:15-16a
and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand.....
No comments:
Post a Comment