Tag: least

Want

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

I want to serve you, Lord my God,
to do what you command,
to rule the world with staff and rod,
to sit at your right hand.
But you ask me to be the least
while others' needs are filled,
to serve your children at your feast,
when I am hungry still.

I want to follow you, O Lord,
forever chase your light 
to trace your steps down every road
and with you climb the heights.
But you go towards Jerusalem;
you know that way is death.
How can I take the road again
beyond my final breath?

I want to love you, O my Christ,
and love without regret,
to look at last into your eyes
and find myself in them.
My downward road lift up on high;
my crooked ways make straight,
that when your death becomes my life,
my life becomes your praise.

Christ blessing the Children by Lucas Cranach the Younger – http://www.botschaftderwoche.de/pics/bild061008.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22737097

Farthings

Jesus sat down opposite the treasury

and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. 

Many rich people put in large sums. 

A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.

Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,

“Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more

than all the other contributors to the treasury.

For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,

but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,

her whole livelihood.”

Mark 12:41-44
Though your field lay fallow
'neath the sun and rain,
neither plow nor harrow
turned your ground to gain,
worked by none but sparrows
seeking fallen grain,
still Christ makes it hallowed
through the days of pain.

Bring him, then, your harvest,
yet more tares than wheat;
bring your merest farthing;
give him your defeat.
Your despair and darkness:
Lay them at his feet.
What the world has parted
he will make complete.

Come into his temple,
all you lost and least:
wounded, bruised, and tender,
tattered, torn, and creased.
You are still Christ's members,
prophets, kings, and priests.
Come into his shelter;
welcome to the feast!
A bronze mite, also known as a Lepton (meaning small), minted by Alexander Jannaeus, King of Judaea, 103 – 76 B.C.. and still in circulation at the time of Jesus[1] Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2917434