Tag: kingdom

At Your Right Hand

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him,

“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 

He replied, “What do you wish me to do for you?” 

They answered him, “Grant that in your glory

we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” 

Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. 

Can you drink the cup that I drink

or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 

Mark 10:35-45
I cannot drink the cup you drink
or in your river be baptized
where in its current I would sink,
and how then could I ever rise?

I cannot sit at your right hand
or rule in glory at your side.
My seat must ever empty stand
while in the shadows still I hide.

But for the ones who dwell in shade
you came to bring the light of dawn;
into the kingdom you have made
you call me yet to journey on

where you hold possibilities
beyond the limits of my grasp.
All my impossibilities
are nothing in your mercy's clasp,

and all my weakness is as naught
where camels pass through needles' eyes:
The cup you pour shall drown my drought,
and from your river I shall rise.

Then draw me on into your light
to stand beside your royal throne
or take my seat, not by my might,
but only by your strength alone.
Mosaic in the Baptistry of San Giovanni of Florence, ca. 1300, by the Florentine Master By Florentinischer Meister um 1300 – The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=150949

Here & There

Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,

“If anyone wishes to be first,

he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” 

Taking a child, he placed it in their midst,

and putting his arms around it, he said to them,

“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;

and whoever receives me,

receives not me but the One who sent me.”

Mark 9:30-37

To the tune ODE TO JOY:

Here within the world of sorrow,
where we struggle for acclaim,
here we sacrifice tomorrow
for the glory of our name.
Though we strive to rule each other,
heaven's love has yet come down:
Hear the voice of Christ our brother,
offering a different crown.

Come, he says, lay down your burden;
take the gentle yoke of light.
Come away somewhere deserted;
come and rest within my sight.
If we follow as he leads us,
all our ways will be transformed.
What new mercies then will greet us
when his kingdom fills the world!

There the least shall be the greatest;
there the silenced rise and sing.
There the child is sheltered, sacred,
where we live for Christ our king.
Come, O Lord, in our believing:
Help us welcome all you send,
in your name each one receiving
where the kingdom has no end.
Christ with children By Carl Bloch – The Athenaeum: Home – info – pic, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25991809