If you refuse to love, you must remain dead.
To hate your brother is to be a murderer.
Harder done than said.
We can’t always recognise who is our brother.

He gave up his life for us.
We too ought to give up our lives for our brothers.
But I hope you won’t think of me any the less.
If I say I haven’t given up my life for others.

The injunctions so obviously true.
So worthy of praise .
So hard to do .
In this moral maze .

But what harm in reading it .
Even if you can’t do it.

…….

I read the bible
I nod wisely at these words
And then do not much

…….

See 1 John 3: 11-21

No one who has been begotten by God sins.
Because God’s seed remains inside him.
Who believes wins.
This is no wishful whim .

Where do you live.
Come and see.
How do we thrive .
Faith is the key .

One of those who became followers was Andrew.
Andrew said we have found the Messiah.
Out of the well of truth he drew.
He had found the true via.

If we hear the call do we follow
Or in indecision wallow .

……

If we hear the call
Do we follow straightaway
Or do we just wait

……..

See 1 John 3: 7-10 and John 1 35-42

Let us be God’s children.
For that is what we are .
The love we have for grandchildren.
Is the love he bears our star.

I was looking at the plastic penguin in the bath,
Calm , bobbing gently , floating.
Oblivious to all life’s stress .
Never changing, forever smiling .
Perhaps I should be more like it , not less .

And the light playing on the tapestry.
Fitful , yellow, illuminating the story .
Jesus is at the door, holding the lamp by the church vestry .
Again all is calm but leading to glory.

It is in little moments.
That the heart consents.

……..

Meditation
Can come in little moments
It comes and then goes

……..

See 1 John 2

 
A light that shines in the dark.
A light that darkness could not overpower.
We are saved if we want by our own ark.
We have no need ever to cower .

For overpower , read it’s first meaning.
In the old translation ,comprehend.
Light will always end up winning .
But comprehension is not always the end.

We cannot comprehend The God of the Universe who is a child.
We cannot comprehend a God who is entirely self giving .
Meek, mild then reviled.
Never taking always loving .

If I truly believed , if I was held in union.
Then what joy then there would be in communion.

……..

I dreamt I believed
Then communion was joy
There were then no doubts

………

See John: 1-18

The Shepherds hurried away to Bethlehem.
And found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.
It is not always about us but about them.
There is in reality no stranger.

Luke’s story can seem naive,
Mere legend , a fairy tale.
But there are many strands in this weave .
Buried deep is the holy grail.

Poverty is here from first to last.
And so too is  utter Rejection
The Shepherds are outcast.
The virgin birth, a unique annunciation.

We should not read the Gospel.
We should live in its spell.

…….

Selfless attention
Is how you read the Gospel
Look for the meaning

……..

See Luke 2: 16-21