You received without charge .
Give without charge.
Let our viewpoint be large.
As we wait for our discharge.

All of Christianity is in those seven words .
Everything came to us free .
Containing all known worlds
We can give without a fee.

We never asked to be here
But here we are .
Completely free to be fair.
So we should not care .

So as we were asked for no charge
We need not ask anyone for any charge.

…….

Just these seven words
You received without charge
Give without charge

…….

See Matthew 10: 7-15

Towards her I send flowing peace like a river.
And like a stream in spate.
I pray I may be less of a taker, more of a giver.
And resigned cheerfully to my fate.

I am sitting here looking across twenty miles .
Nearby meadow and trees , distant blue.
Ready to walk over nearby styles.
Slowly taking in the  verdant view.

I do not feel like the 72 labourers.
Sent out to pray , travel light and preach.
But in peace pass the  shortening years.
A greater perspective given to each.

We do not yet know our way .
Or how it best to lay.

……..

The harvest is rich
We baulk being labourers .
We are the many

…….

See Isaiah 66: 10-14

The harvest will follow directly after harvesting.
The treading of grapes soon after sowing.
Mountains with new wine running.
The hills with it flowing.

I am at Adrian Alyward’s memorial.
A great charismatic headmaster.
Master of every tutorial.
Not just a teacher but pastor.

He gave up a brilliant career in the city.
To devote himself to helping others.
Charming , a one off and witty.
His whole teaching enlightens not smothers.

What a life to portray.
His memory will stay.

……

Will they remember
We live by the good we do
Not by position

…….

See Amos9:11-15

All peoples clap your hands.
Cry to God with shouts of joy.
His name rings out over many lands.
A man of purest alloy.

This alloy of faith and bravery .
Of friendliness and innocence.
Rejecting a conscience held in slavery.
Excelling in calm diligence.

Falsely accused
Put on trial
Pardon refused.
He entered death’s defile.

But the defile opened into glory.
A truly inspiring story.

……

He just ministered
Not involved in politics
He paid with his life

…..

See Entrance Antiphon of today’s Mass.

What is easier to say , your sins are forgiven.
Or get up and walk.
And where is our own vision.
Do we act or are we just talk.

We dislike going to confession.
We wonder whether are sins are worth it.
What will we say in all this confusion.
We don’t want to commit.

But you feel better .
If you open up .
We have cut a fetter.
After a spiritual check up.

And if we have striven.
We are always forgiven.

……

We may not be cured
We are always forgiven
Is that not enough

…….

See Matthew 9: 1-8

Do two men take the road together.
If they have not planned to do so.
Rarely do we all pull  together.
We just go with our own flow .

I was with someone of my age.
He’s full of  lighthearted energy .
He’s not giving up and continuing to engage.
Full of cheeky fun and no lethargy.

Never despair for one instant.
Keep on going as if you were young.
Just ignore all the irritating ageist cant.
Stride out through life as if stung.

We may eventually end up fired.
But hopefully not soon retired.

……

Just keep on working
It’s good for you and for them
And after all why not

…….

See Amos 3

 
Jesus said, follow me.
And let the dead bury their dead.
So we might follow, but we try to flee.
Constantly we attempt to remake the thread.

I was standing in front of the Saint in his case of glass.
Lying there in his red vestments, trimmed with gold.
The same as the priest saying mass.
His presence with us put on hold.

Awed by his courage .
Determined  he was to not prevaricate.
Nothing was he discouraged.
constant to pass the narrow gate.

We will never match him.
We will just sing the hymn.

……..

We so lack courage
Unlike the great worshiped saints
But we can just try

…..

See Matthew 8:18-22

Foxes have holes and the birds have nests.
But the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.
In this world we are only guests.
Wearily on our path we tread.

I crashed my head on the cottage beam.
So hard I was flung to the floor.
I walked as in a dream.
Shocked to the core .

The bang on the head did some good.
I felt really positive in everything next morning.
Not exactly martyrdom or sainthood.
But an end of senseless mourning.

Perhaps a bit of shock
Unpicks the lock.

…….,

Be comfortable
But the perhaps not too much
You have to move on

……

See Luke 9: 51-62

My eyes wasted away with weeping.
My entrails shuddered.
I am mired in endless seeking.
Hope so often is shuttered.

During the long night’s vigil.
I ponder the parable of the lost sheep.
I find my elusive Sybil.
And at last taste calm sleep.

Thus we can take refuge in daily reading.
With every new dawn , new hope.
And positive thinking.
Climbing a celestial rope.

And then  there’s another long night.
And we toss and turn till first light.

……

We cannot find sleep
Then we ponder on scripture
And at last it comes

…..

See Lamentations 2:2

 
Enter by the narrow gate.

They all ate as much as they wanted.
The scraps remaining filled baskets twelve.
With faith and hope everything is slowly sorted.
We, into this basket of belief, need to to delve.

Sometimes we are in a lonely place.
Everything seems beyond our control.
We feel we cannot complete the race.
Despite all our ceaseless toil.

And then a miracle happens unaccountably.
Somehow we are spiritually fed.
It changes everything fundamentally.
We rediscover life’s thread.

This is the secret of Corpus Christi.
All is contained in this mystery.

……

We taste bread and wine
And thereby know his body
This is mystery

…….

See Luke 9: 11-17

Do not worry about tomorrow.
Each day has enough troubles of its own.
We feel so often ever so low.
Everything seems to be in a grey tone.

But tomorrow will look after itself.
Set your hearts on his kingdom first.
Try not to dwell on the self.
He is all that will slake your thirst.

So do not worry ,do not say.
What are we to eat.
Perhaps things will or will not or may.
It’s enough each day to greet.

Leave the worries, concentrate on the breath.
For the great leveller will come in its time,  death.

…….

The grass grows so green.
Flowers rise up and they bloom.
Then in furnace thrown.

……

See Matthew 6: 24-34

 
If your eye is sound.

The mountains melt like wax.
The skies proclaim his justice.
Maybe we’re all a bit too lax
Too prone to injustice.

We all feel we fall short.
None of us have have impeccable standards.
We muddle through, clearly fraught.
Short of the heights by many yards.

Let those who serve worthless gods be ashamed.
Thus the Psalmist admonishes us.
But we all have worthless Gods untamed.
It has and always will be thus.

I’m not always happy with myself.
But perhaps you’re not happy with yourself.

……

We all have to do
Things we would rather not do
But we muddle through

……

See Psalm 96

When you fast put oil on your head.
And wash your face.
Free us from all dread.
And give us grace.
No one will know you are fasting .

Except your father.
Very little is lasting.
And  we will be as we were.

So we try to look cheerful.
While knowing all is a fast.
There is no need to be fearful.
Nothing is going to last.

Show a smile .
We’ll be here awhile.

…….

We do need to fast
But do we need to show it
Perhaps not this time

…..

See Matthew 6: 1-6 and 16-18