Today my long service leave ended and I am officially retired. I have been feeling rather raw all week, wanting to pull the blankets over my head, or some such equivalent of going fishing! As I woke up today this poem started to come to me. Breakfast on Shifting Sand Easter 3: John 21:1-19 LikeContinue reading “Breakfast on Shifting Sand”
Author Archives: barbmessneroutlookcom
Saul on the Road to Damascus
Saul on the Road to Damascus Easter 3; Acts 9:1-20 There vision failed him and his old self died. “Why do you persecute me, Saul?” Christ said. His zeal, thrown in the dust, will rise again, devoted to the work of Christ instead. Simply awesome, isn’t it: when one so sure of being right seesContinue reading “Saul on the Road to Damascus”
Encountering the Risen Christ
Encountering the Risen Christ Easter 2; John 20:11-31 Mary’s tears fell in the garden. Someone said, “Whom are you seeking?” Mary thought he was the gardener: deeper truth in that was speaking. When he called her name, she knew him, rose, commissioned at his bidding as apostle to apostles, though her culture was forbidding. JesusContinue reading “Encountering the Risen Christ”
Holy Week on Holiday
Holy Week on Holiday Here in this quiet space, the sea sounds ease: its restless growl now soothes like curled cat’s purr. The surges striking rocks here calm and please with soft repeated strokes like smoothing fur; yet walking on the shore in wind like knives I felt the power in every foaming curl. SprayContinue reading “Holy Week on Holiday”
Good Friday Sonnet
Good Friday Sonnet Suspended on the cross, he lived the death that looms before us all upon a hill. We all must face the halting of our breath, the mortal muscles of our heart will still. Is this the prospect cringing in our breast that makes us all complicit in the kill, resenting limits keepingContinue reading “Good Friday Sonnet”
Palm Sunday 2022
Palm Sunday 2022 Luke 19:28-44 Fickle as then this lusting crowd, equally hot for crown or cross, keen to humiliate the proud, or idolize the gilded dross. Silent you ride as shouts grow loud, chanting acclaim while you face loss. Yet without words the stones cry out, and without hands the branches wave. Deaf toContinue reading “Palm Sunday 2022”
The Sacrament of Anointing Jesus
The Sacrament of Anointing Jesus Lent 5; John 12: 1-8 In every gospel such a one appears: a woman who anoints his feet or head, prophetic, or contrite with heartfelt tears, or grateful for one risen from the dead. So intimate, extravagant and brave, expressing love in that embodied way: compassion that prepared him forContinue reading “The Sacrament of Anointing Jesus”
The Prodigal Son and the Petty One
The Prodigal Son and the Petty One Lent 4; Luke 15:11-32 Jesus still speaks to our time and our weakness: some of us spending what might have sustained us, others resenting remaining in meekness, stuck in the limits of work that restrained us. Some of us leave seeking fields that seem greener, following whims andContinue reading “The Prodigal Son and the Petty One”
Remedial Gardeners Needed
Remedial Gardeners Needed Lent 3; Luke 13:1-9 The axe may still not fall if gardeners speak out, and work to keep the trees, for Earth desires to bear. Those overwhelmed by flood or robbed of all by fire are not the ones who’ve sinned. Priorities must change. Grandkids will bear the brunt of devastation wroughtContinue reading “Remedial Gardeners Needed”
On Retiring as Associate Priest in an Anglican parish
On Retiring as Associate Priest in an Anglican Parish Time now to fold and put away (well within reach on a central shelf) words I’ve been privileged to say, robes that both stirred and covered self. Tears fall in soft autumnal grief; letting them flow releases me. Tightness unwinds and brings relief; eyes look aroundContinue reading “On Retiring as Associate Priest in an Anglican parish”
Barb, poet priest 