Heya,
This is a poem I wrote recently as I reflected on the Beatitudes as found in Matthew 4:23-5:12. I hope these words wrap you in encouragement wherever you are.
Miriam Jessie x
it is a strange invitation
divine and dusty
a call to be biggest
most invested
brightest
in the secret space
to pour silently, intentionally
into what will not be seen
when all the world is building followers
promoting best-sellers
building platforms – virtual & physical
a long-ago man sits
on a quiet hillside
no stadium, or microphone, or publishing deal
and tells his friends
the real secret to
blessing
joy
abundance
it sounds like downwardness
empty self
to be filled up – undeserved
it sounds like letting go
when inside and out chorus
“hold tight
no.1
self-promote”
it sounds like surrendering
glamour
gold
desire
embracing imperfect contentment
striving no more
standing open hand & heart
before persecution
& embracing an enemy with a knife in his hand
How can this appeal?
yet, on his lips
this man of dust and divine
I am considering it
excited even
at the prospect
of throwing it all away
the
important, image, ideology
& finding myself
home
fulfilled
content
in the company of the scarred
the overlooked
the locust-eaters
and perfume pourers
the depressed prophets
& righteous afflicted
the children
& the poor
What can they possibly offer someone like me?
I think perhaps
they are the shining stars
whose legacy
becomes my powhiri
“come, we have space for you too”
and a nail-scarred hand,
to match a body that did not grasp
deserved glory
enfolds mine
leads me gently
says to me
“come
here, amidst the mess & pain
& disappointment, & affliction
here is the
very throne room
here
is kingdom come.”
Miriam Jessie 