Ceasefire
Pentecost 3; Luke 9:51-62
He had no truck with hatred’s tit-for-tat.
His face was set towards Jerusalem:
Samaritans rejected him for that.
The brothers wanted fire called down on them.
They’d answer coldness with destructive heat,
but he rebuked them, simply went elsewhere,
no honour lost, no shame for humble feet.
Forget reprisals, his main goal was care.
If only human history had learned,
but fire so often fell from vengeful skies,
and treasures of the ages then lay burned,
and escalating fire to fire replies.
He showed the way to peace the world must seek:
he loved his enemies and turned his cheek.
Barbara Messner 21/06/2022
Barb, poet priest 
This is just exquisite! And true. And so meant to be in a book that others read!
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Thanks Maren, I’m glad it made some sort of sense, as my brain is a bit fuddled with my first dose of covid. I’ve had 4 vaccinations so it’s fairly mild so far.Thanks for all the encouragement about the book. 6 months of the lectionary to go, and then I will have covered the cycle. Now that I have visited family in Qld, (with the covid consequence), I feel almost ready to start work on what I think is next – the book and a performance – Spirit willing.
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