Behold the Wood

Behold the wood on which was hung
the thief who comes at night.
Behold the thieves he dwelt among:
My Lord and God! we cry.

The throne whereon the wounded king
inaugurates his reign,
that every inch of punctured skin
now winces at his pain:

We all have held or dragged those limbs
since Eden spat us out 
to build this throne express for him,
to weave his wondrous crown,

and we have knelt there at his feet
and wiped them with our hair
in pity for the wounded thief
who came our grief to bear,

for, oh!, our shoulders know the weight
of what cannot be borne,
as every bent knee rises straight
to bear it up once more.

But even this he has redeemed,
this endless weight of wood.
The fallen seed lifts up the tree,
and he shall bear us, too,

L-Kreuz Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=402182

Duped

Then Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay all according to his conduct.”
Matthew 16:21-27

Take up your cross, the savior says.
Beneath his own, he stooped,
and we who follow in his steps
must let ourselves be duped.

For it is madness, is it not,
to be so crucified?
A folly and a stumbling block,
yet we'll be lifted high.

We fight the weight that comes to us
and kick against the trace,
but soon or late we'll each be crushed,
and we will call it grace.

For there in sorrow and in grief
Christ lays his wounded head
on purpose to receive the thief
and walk among the dead.

The cross that is our pain and death
he came intent to share,
accepting from his first-drawn breath
the weight he was to bear.

His madness joins us on the cross;
his folly shares our fate,
so he could hold us in his arms
through all we can't escape.

Jeremiah By Ephraim Moses Lilien – E. M. Lilien, eine künstlerische Entwickelung um die Jahrhundertwende, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49628661

If You Will Not Take Up Your Cross

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way,
anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.”
Luke 14:25-33

If you will not take up your cross,
you cannot my disciple be,
says he who fell down under his
'til helped by  Simon of Cyrene.

If you don't hate your kith and kin,
you cannot follow after me,
says he who loved his Father still 
and sought his will in everything.

O kings and princes, build your tow'rs,
but count your bricks before you start:
The splendor of your earthly pow'rs
cares nothing for a longing heart.

Arrange your armies in the field,
if you would best a stronger foe—
or else you must to conquest yield
and sue for mercy evermore.

I am no king or mighty prince—
O Christ, can I your foll'wer be?
I cannot bear the weight of this
unless your mercy carries me!

I cannot wrestle with you here
and win the right to love my own,
but let your mercy draw us near
as one to worship at your throne!

Carrying the Cross, from the Gelati Gospels MSS By Anonymous – Center of MSS (Tbilisi, Georgia), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4297073

“Get Behind Me”

Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,
“God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”
He turned and said to Peter,
“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Matthew 16:22-23

The road began at Nazareth
to end at Calvary.
In every moment, every breath,
you chose, oh Christ, to be:
embracing flesh, embracing death,
not bound by fate, but free.
And as I follow in your steps,
oh, clear the way for me!

You, Christ, accepted passion's call
to suffer, die, and rise,
while I cry, God forbid it all!
and say the cross is lies.
Forgive me, Lord: My steps are small;
my heart your love denies.
I follow after Adam's fall
while you go to the skies.

I'm far behind you, saving Lord,
but help me journey still:
To draw my ready, eager sword
and bend it to your will;
my empty net cast overboard
and trust in you to fill;
then follow you through death's dark door
and all my hopes fulfill.

By Annibale Carracci – http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/annibale-carracci-christ-appearing-to-saint-peter-on-the-appian-way National Gallery, London, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=326162

Take Up Your Cross

Then Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me. “
Matthew 16:24

To the tune ERHALT UNS, HERR:

Take up your cross, I hear you say
when I would lay my burden down:
The weight of grace cannot delay;
take up your cross and journey on.

Take up the crosses others bear,
for none can carry on alone,
and let their sorrow, grief, and care
press on your shoulders as a stone.

Take up the body, mortal,
frail,and bear it gently to the grave.
Bear others up when bodies fail,
as Christ bore his, your own to save.

Take up the hunger and the need
for bread and justice, drink and grace.
Take up and serve; take up and feed
God's image in the human race.

Take up the Sabbath, silence, rest,
the stillness hanging from the cross.
Lay down your striving for the best;
lay down the gain that is but loss.

Take up the cross each new today
and find beneath your burden joys,
for Christ walks with you on the way.
Walk ever with him and rejoice.

Jesus Christ bearing the Cross, Lorch in the Rhine Valley, ca. 1425, Bodemuseum Berlin, Photo By Anagoria – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29121459

Dare I Go On?

Based on today’s Gospel reading from Matthew, in which Christ says that anyone who loves their parents more than they love Christ is not worthy of him, and based on the similar passage in Luke 14:25-33, in which he says we must hate our parents. Difficult sayings, and my attempt to wrestle with them may be terrible poetry. Nevertheless, my having a blog means my unleashing terrible poetry on the world at large. To the tune ITALIAN HYMN (“Come Now, Almighty King“).

I take my cross today;
Lord, help me bear its weight
dawn unto dawn.
Troubled, I hear you say
my loves must turn to hate.
Doubting, I hesitate:
Dare I go on?

Set my hand to the plow;
let me not turn mid-row.
Walk with me, Lord,
that when I tumble down
still I may wear the crown.
Your love must bear me now
e'er kingdomward!

And if I fall behind,
still is your mercy kind:
You show your heart.
Here in its warmth I find
all of my loves entwined
into your love divine,
ne'er cut apart.

No one can worthy be
of what you've given me,
mercy divine!
Come, Lord, and walk with me
onward to Calvary
through death t'eternity,
love still to find!