Soon it'll be time to think about the holidays,
and when that time comes...
consider giving my book of poetry
about the Birth, Death & Resurrection of Jesus.
And now, a poem from my book,
Behold the Lamb...poetically!
AT CHORAZIN
Israel
Pilgrimage—1986
We’re
at Chorazin, trying
to
make ourselves comfortable
amid
the ancient ruins
of
the cursed city
I
look for a patch
of
dry grass to sit upon;
others
sit on some rocks
Wayne[1] props himself
against
an acacia tree
We’re
wearing head coverings
to
shield us from the sun—
It’s
hot!
Beside
us are box lunches
and
water bottles
that
we’ve brought
from
the hotel
We
open our Bibles
to
Luke 10:13
Woe to you Chorazin;
woe to you Bethsaida…
Wayne
begins teaching—
I
think of Jesus—
imagine
Him propped
against
a tree
like
Wayne
imagine
myself at His feet—
like
Mary of Bethany
like
an apostle
imagine
us opening
our
lunch sacks—
barley
loaves; some fish
fresh
from the depths
of
the Galilee nearby
imagine
listening to every word
as
the Master pronounces woes
on the unrepentant cities
That
was nearly
two
millennia ago—
This
is 1986
It
is Wayne who is explaining
the
Scriptures to us
not Jesus
We
offer praise to God
and
sing Hallels from the Psalms
A
few birds are chirping
The
sun-scorched clumps
of
grass are lumpy beneath me
I
smell the dry earth
and
swat at a few pesky gnats
Perspiration
beads up on my brow
I
wipe it away
It
is, I suppose, much the same
as
it was way back then
and
as it was then for them
I
want the Word
to
take root inside of me—
be
it woes and chastisements
be
it beatitudes and blessings—
take
root
as
it did in Mary
as
it did in the apostles
for I, too, am a
disciple
of the Lord
Maude
Carolan Pych
[1]
Rev. Wayne Monbleau is the founder of Loving Grace Ministries and host of the Christian
radio call-in counseling program, “Let’s Talk About Jesus.” He led this 1986
pilgrimage to Israel.
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