Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace.
It is not peace that I bring.
Yet for peace we pray without cease.
And his celestial song we sing.

I have come to set a man against his father.
A daughter against her mother.
But still he helps us see further.
And divine the true source of all matter.

Anyone who does not take his cross.
And follow me is not worthy of me.
Our gain is our loss.
But of course this, we cannot see.

Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me.
He tells us ; and we don’t follow it ; is not worthy of me.

……

He does not bring peace
He sets father against son
Yet he does bring peace

…….

See Matthew 10

Take nothing for the journey save a staff.
Do not take a spare tunic.
Do nothing in half.
Listen to the celestial music.

As you walk away .
Shake off the dust from under your feet.
Troubles to lay.
Happiness to greet and meet.

Not everyone will give us a welcome.
But do not worry.
Friendship will come.
If you are prepared to tarry.

How often do we take too much.
And worry too much.

…….

Take only a staff
Not even a spare tunic
For that is enough

…….

See Mark 6: 7-13

Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny.
And yet not one falls to the ground without the father knowing.
We will, if only we wait, have plenty.
Love will come flowing.

Why every hair on your head has been counted.
So there is no need to be afraid.
Worries can be surmounted.
And tension laid.

So there is no need to be afraid.
You are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.
All our doubts will be laid.
We will have all our tomorrows.

Every hair counted.
Every doubt surmounted.

…….

One penny sparrow
Every hair is counted
Our father knows us

…….

See Matthew 20 : 24-33

Have mercy , God in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
We make mistakes, question our fitness.
We worry , feel tense.

But it’s no great thing.
We can move on.
Did many notice.
It’s not such a painful sting.
Nor the ruin of our life’s opus.

And perhaps we were right.
Our critics wrong.
Even if the decision was tight.
We were true to our own song.

But if all else fails.
We can cling to mercy’s tails.

…..

Dear God have mercy
In your kindness to us all
Blot out our offence

…….

Psalm 50

If your plea is for clear perception.
You will understand what the fear of the Lord is.
And thus achieve redemption.
And become his.

We speak out.
We are criticised.
Told we are nought.
Perhaps even despised.

But it is always right to speak your truth.
Without fear or favour.
Your truth is as good as any others’ truth.
Even if you do not do others a favour.

Take courage.
You will manage.

…….

Clear perception
Must lead to fear of the Lord
That is our main task

…….

See Proverbs 2: 1-9

Constantly seek the face of the Lord.
O sing to the Lord, sing his praise.
But should we seek the face of the Lord.
Should we content just to sing his praise.

Perhaps we should follow his back.
And follow him as he walks.
In heaven we will no longer be on life’s rack.
In heaven we will follow the light as he walks.

He will lead us into ever greater mystery.
Something we cannot even comprehend.
In this world we will never understand this mystery.
How can this blinding light, we comprehend.

So we will follow him.
And seek to understand him.

…….

We seek the Lord’s face
But should we follow his back
And towards the light

……..

See Psalm 104

I am going to lead her out into the wilderness.
And speak to her heart.
And we also seek redress.
And a new start.

I am going to give her back her vineyards.
And make the valley of Achor a gateway of hope.
We struggle slowly forward eating up the yards.
Clutching an elusive rope.

Then she shall respond to me.
As she did when young.
I hear , do I listen, can I see.
Do I know the notes that I have sung.

Will I betroth you with integrity.
With love and with honesty.

…….

Led to wilderness
And then speaking to her heart
Is this really me

…..

See Hosea 2

That day I will re-erect the tottering hut of David.
Make good the gaps in it, restore its ruins.
And nothing will he forbid.
All will be verifiable shoeins.

The days are coming.
When harvest will come directly after ploughing.
So we can carry on hoping.
And we can start succeeding.

The treading of grapes will come soon after growing.
When the mountains will run with new wine.
We just have to go on accepting.
And look to the holy sign.

They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.
Out of the land I have given them.

…….

Erect David’s hut
And restore all its ruins
That is our challenge

…….

See Amos 9: 11-15

Listen to this , you who trample on the needy.
And try to suppress the poor people of the country.
And we ask this of ourselves, are we ready.
Can we do our duty, make our right entry.

You , who say when will the new moon be over.
So that we can sell our corn.
We will not all end up in clover.
But we are not forsworn.

I am going to turn your feasts into funerals.
All your singing into lamentation.
We will all find our levels.
But will we resist temptation.

Whatever the stress .
We are really fine, none the less.

………

Trample on needy
And suppress the poor people
Is this what we do

……

See Amos 8: 4-6 and 9-12

Without warning a storm broke over the lake.
So violent that the waves were breaking right over the boat.
And he was ready to act for their sake.
To keep them afloat.

Our future may be in doubt.
This may be a decision day.
But doubts can be set to rout.
If his name we say.

Our life’s boat is tossed.
We even despair.
But we are not crossed.
We need not fear.

There is hope anew.
And life anew.

…….

Storm over the lake
And then our own boat is tossed
But do not despair

…….

See Matthew 9: 1-8

Without warning a storm broke over the lake.
So violent that the waves were breaking right over the boat.
But he will do anything for our sake.
With prayer he will keep us afloat.

They went to him and woke him saying.
Save us Lord, we are going to drown.
Our hopes sometimes are dying.
We are not always up , sometimes we are down.

He said to them , why are you so frightened.
You men of little faith.
But with him our life burden is always lightened.
He is real , not some transparent wraith.

Times yes are trying .
And our boat he is steadying.

……..

Storm over the lake
But our Lord is still asleep
But he will awake

……..

See Matthew 8 : 23-27

Master I will follow you wherever you go.
Jesus replied , the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.
And we complain if we feel a little low.
We so easily lose our thread.

St Oliver Plunket gave everything.
And paid the ultimate price.
And all because he wore a bishop’s ring.
A man unknown to any vice.

We will not be put to this sort of test.
Ours are small irritants and trials.
We seldom have to leave the comfort of our nest.
We can give the world some smiles.

We will not be called upon to be a martyr.
But to our own churning worries we are a martyr.

……..

I will follow him
Wherever he goes for us
Wherever he rests

…….

See Matthew 8 : 18-23

From all my terrors.
The Lord set me free.
He gives us all our favours.
And we now realise this is not all about me.

We wake in the middle of the night.
Depressed , worrying .
Seeing in the bedroom gloom no light.
Fearing the future , the past regretting.

But we need to remember , from all my terrors.
If we let him, the Lord will set me free.
We don’t need to obsess on our errors.
Please God, this is our plea.

St Peter by an angel was released.
And by our guardian angel , we will  be released.

…….

From all my terrors
The Lord has now set me free
If I have some faith

………

See Psalm 33

Everyone who listens to these words of mine.
Will be like the sensible man who built his house on rock.
Here is the only true sign.
And here is the truth we must unlock.

Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew.
And hurled themselves against the house.
It did not fall down , it remained as good as new.
It remained a strong house.

But everyone who does not listen to these words of mine.
Is like a man who builds his house on sand.
He ignored the spiritual sign.

he will search in vain for his true land.

Thus Jesus spoke with authority
He is my authority.

…….

Listen to these words
You will build your house on rock
Whether rain or shine

…….,

See Matthew 7 : 21-29

Beware of false prophets.
That come disguised as sheep.
They may offer extra profits.
But you will in the end sow what you reap.

Underneath they are ravenous wolves.
You will be able to tell them by their fruits.
They may look harmless but underneath they are still wolves.
And you know them by their roots.

Can people pick grapes from thorns.
Or figs  from thistles.
But they come in all forms.
Bearing all types of epistles.

A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit.
Nor a rotten tree bear good fruit.

……

Beware false prophets
They can come desguised as sheep
They’re ravenous wolves

…….

See Matthew 6 : 15-20

The Lord called me before I was born.
From my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.
Thus to eternal life we are sworn.
It doesn’t matter if to obscurity or fame.

He said to me you are my servant.
In whom I shall be glorified.
Questioning or observant.
Undeserving or merited.

While  I was thinking, I have toiled in vain.
I have exhausted myself for nothing.
I hoped for sun and have just endured more rain.
First running and now slowly walking.

And all the while my cause was with the Lord.
I was honoured , I pray, in the eyes of the Lord.

…….

Called before our birth
Our name pronounced from the womb
To eternal life

…….

See Isaiah 49: 1- 6

Do not store up treasures for yourself on earth.
Where moths and woodworms destroy them.
Ultimately all is consumed and in dearth.
Leaving not a single breadcrumb.

But store up treasures for yourself in heaven.
Where neither moths nor woodworms destroy.
Where all is raised up pure by holy leaven.
In a purest alloy.

When things go really badly.
Remember this is all temporary.
Heaven is coming really.
And we can then forget all that’s so scary.

At the end of this tunnel there is light.
Let’s just keep that in sight.

……….

Store treasures on earth
What is the point of all that
All of this will pass

…….

See Matthew 6 : 19-23