A Poem a Sunday

Lent II – B

February 25, 2018

St. Mark 8:27-38 - NRSV

Peter’s Declaration about Jesus

27 Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29 He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.”[a] 30 And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel,[b] will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words[c] in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Footnotes:

1. Mark 8:29 Or the Christ
2. Mark 8:35 Other ancient authorities read lose their life for the sake of the gospel
3. Mark 8:38 Other ancient authorities read and of mine

A Poem a Sunday

Lent II – B

Cosmic Cross

“To bear and not to own;

to act and not lay claim;

to do the work and let it go:

for just letting it go is what makes it stay.”
                             ― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

A chord is struck

and the universe begins

as we live on vibrations.

What is our frequency?

What is our song?

The mystics, the poet

keep telling us all along.

The mystery hidden deep

in all that is matter:

losing is finding

amidst static chatter.

Yes, energy, indeed,

takes the form of the cross

new life in the seed,

beginnings in loss.

Holding on to self

will only bring strife.

Letting go in abandonment

gives birth to new life.

Confucius, the Tao,

Mohammed and Jesus

all agree in the truth

of this universal thesis:

The closed hand,

the tight fist

is a dead end

ignoring this:

Losing is a portal

and in sync with creation,

taking up the cross

is the way to liberation.

It is in the DNA

of the universe

E=mc2

is constantly rehearsed.

May be reprinted with the following attribution:

Copyright 2018 @ A Poem a Sunday by Kenneth Storck

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