The foolish ones brought no oil.
Whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil aswell as their lamps.
We make mistakes despite our toil.
And we receive precious little thanks.

Those who were  ready.
Went to the wedding hall.
Are we alert and steady.
Can we walk tall.

We can work hard all our lives.
And then make one foolish mistake.
And then nothing worthwhile survives.
We seem submerged in a deep dark lake.

But out of despair.
Can come lessons and repair.

…….

Have we brought some oil
Or did perhaps not buy some
Thus will hang our fate

…….

See Matthew 25: 1-13

But you, he said.
Who do you say I am.
Are all our doubts really laid.
Can I honestly say I know him as I know what I am.

This is the abiding question.
Nothing else really matters.
Is his Godliness just a suggestion.
Our all our doubts and fears in grateful tatters.

Peter spoke up, you are the Christ.
The son of the living God.
In our hearts do we really believe he is the Christ.
The only son of a living God.

This in our lives is the most vital question.
Is it fact or mere speculation.

…….

He asks who am I
Who do you say that I am
And we answer what

.. …..

See Matthew 16 : 13-23

They have found pardon in the wilderness.
Those who have survived the sword.
We are given so much , we should ask for less.
Always seeking truth through a spiritual sword.

I have loved you with an everlasting love.
So I am constant in my affection for you.
Seeking peace like the dove.
Not just for me but you.

I build you once more.
You shall be rebuilt.
Seeking and learning from holy lore.
Working through doubt’s cloying silt.

You will go out dancing.
For the planters have done their planting.

……..

Pardon, wilderness
If we have survived the sword
Everlasting love

…….

See Jeremiah 31 : 1-7

There in their presence he was transfigured.
His clothes became dazzlingly bright.
At last he was fully measured.
We see him in his true light.

When they looked round.
They saw no one but Jesus.
When we think or look around us,
Normally we think of anything but Jesus.

Jesus became for a moment as he is.
And as one day we may see him in reality.
He cannot be described as, he just is.
We can never in this life understand his true reality.

Perhaps we should spend less time looking around us.
And more time looking at a man standing before us, Jesus.

……

He was transfigured
His clothes were dazzlingly bright
But can we see them

….

See Mark 9: 2-10

I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry.
Even though doubt is rife.
All the other promises seem empty.

He who believes in me will never thirst.
We will win though.
Because we know he comes first.
In every high and every low.

Do not work for food that cannot last.
But work for food that endures for eternal life.
May we at last join the holy cast.
For a new life.

It is my father who gives you the bread.
From heaven, the true bread.

……..
He’s the bread of life.
With it we’re never hungry
But we must believe

…….

See John 6: 24-25

Rescue me from sinking in the mud.
Save me from my foes.
Save me from the coming flood.
Dress me in spiritual clothes.

Save me from the waters of the deep.
Lest the waves overwhelm me.
I know I sow what I reap.
But be merciful to me.

As for me in my poverty and pain.
Let your help O God lift me up.
Save me from pointless strain.
In my weakness give me a hand to help me up.

Do not let the deep engulf me.
Nor death close its mouth on me.

…….

From sinking in mud
Save me from the coming flood
From the deep’s waters

……

See Psalm 9

Tears flood my eyes night and day.
Unceasingly , a crushing blow falls.
What more can I say.
Only that the voice still calls.

I go into the city.
I see people sick with hunger.
I call upon all my pity.
Can I show compassion for longer.

If you pass poverty by.
Should you just walk on the other side.
Shouldn’t you take action, not just sigh.
We are here to help, not just here for the ride.

Are we rejected altogether.
Or can we act all together.

…….

If tears flood our eyes
Passing on the other side
But is that enough

…….

See Jeremiah 14 : 17-22

If you had been here.
My  brother would not have died.
He releases us from fear.
And our hope being derided.

But I know that, even now.
What you ask of God, he will grant you.
We hope we are rewarded, when we sow.
Even if, in faith , we are the few.

I am the resurrection.
And the life.
Only he cuts us from tension.
The goodly knife.

Even though we will die.
If we believe we will not die.

…….

Is he here now
Will he save us from our death
We must have faith

……

See John 11 : 19-27

If you do not exploit the stranger.
The orphan, the widow.
In the land I gave  to your father.
I will stay with you , you I will follow.

Passing in my air conditioned car.
I saw the woman and toddler living on the Delhi street.
I looked upon her from afar.
Just as the rich man and Lazarus would not meet.

In face  of this poverty.
All my efforts seemed futile.
What is our life truly worth next to this misery.
Why in helping, can we not go the extra mile.

When I die will I be confronted.
Or will I be comforted.

…..

Pass the stranger by
Then left behind by the car
Punished from afar

……..

See Jeremiah 7 : 1-11

The one who received it on patches of rock.
Is the one who hears the word and welcomes it.
But he has no root in him because of the rock.
He does not last , let some trial come and he falls away from it.

The one who received the word .
In thorns is the man who heard the word, but the love of riches.
Chokes the word.
And he produces nothing by way of riches.

And the man who received the word in rich soil.
Is the man who hears the word and understands it.
He is the one who yields the harvest from this soil.
A hundredfold from it.

And where does our seed fall.
Will we rise or will we fall.

……..

Received on the rock
Or does our seed land in thorns
Or on some rich soil

…….

See Matthew 13 : 18-23

We are in difficulties on all sides.
But never cornered.
Buffeted by ingoing  and outgoing tides.
But in his loving grasp, never betrayed.

We see no answer to our problems.
But never despair.
We know our guiding emblems.
We need not fear.

We have been persecuted.
But never deserted.
Not often feted.
But never , we hope, feared.

We carry within us the body of Jesus.
So that in our body may be seen the life of Jesus.

……..

In difficulties
But we are never cornered
Held in loving grasp

……..

See 2 Corinthians 4 : 7-15

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.
I have appointed you as prophet to the nations.
Before you came to birth I consecrated you.
Known if not  revered by all nations.

I do not know how to speak, I am a child.
Go now to those to whom I send you.
But the Lord said , do not say I am a child.
And say whatever I command you.

Do not be afraid of them.
For I am with you to protect you.
It is the Lord who speaks to them.
Look today , I am setting over the nations, you.

You will build and plant.
Everything to you I grant.

………

Before I formed you
I did know  you in the womb
You are a prophet

……..

See Jeremiah 1 : 1 , 4- 10

He will not break the crushed reed.
Nor put out the smouldering wick.
He is the new holy seed.
In the celestial wall , the final brick.

He has led the truth to victory.
In his name the nations will put their hope.
A truth beyond all mystery.
Yet putting our faith in him, we can cope.

He will not brawl or shout.
Nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
Putting to rest all doubt.
The holder of all final receipts.

I will endow him with my spirit.
Faith I will inherit.

…….

He will not break reeds
Nor put out the burning wick
For he is our Lord

…….

See Matthew 12 : 14-21

Come to me all you who labour and are  over burdened
And I will give you rest.
We are pardoned.
And blessed.

We make mistakes.
We are criticised.
We are given bad breaks.
We may even be despised.

But we did our best.
We tried as hard as we could.
We deserve our rest.
And it is all to the good.

We fail and fall.
We get up and walk tall.

……..

Come to me all you
Who labour overburdened
We deserve our rest

…….

See Matthew 11: 28-30