Better Bread

Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
—Luke 10:38-42

I will measure out the flour,
knead and shape and bake the bread.
Rabbi, come and rest an hour:
Do not leave ‘til you are fed.

Let me set and fill a table
where the hungry come and eat.
I will serve as I am able
and prepare for you a seat.

For you speak of heaven’s kingdom
and I feast on what I’ve heard:
Bread and wine for all who seek them.
Milk and honey are your words.

But no speech can satisfy us
in the needs of flesh and blood,
so you promise to supply us
both with mercy and with food.

At a table filled with plenty
you will serve us bread and wine,
so our hands are never empty
at the feast that fills all time.

Rabbi, come and take your seat here;
at my table you’ll be fed.
When you bring me to your feasting,
you will serve me better bread.

Detail from “Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary” By Johannes Vermeer – Google Arts & Culture — fwE2zem7WDcSlA, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=156434638

You Come to Us

Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me.”
The Lord said to her in reply,
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her.”
Luke 10: 38-42

From Eden, you were promised us;
then why were we surprised
to find you wedded to our dust,
like us, incarnate Christ?

You come to us in every day,
as hungry as the last,
to share the bread we bless and break
'til all our days are past.

It's not the bread alone that heals,
the work to make and serve,
but sitting, list'ning through the meals:
then, too, to you we turn.

So in our work and in our rest,
whatever we may do,
we seek you in the broken bread:
oh, may we look for you!

We seek you in the living word,
no matter who may speak;
then come to us in what we've heard
at every stranger's feet.

And may we always welcome you,
no matter your disguise,
and find the word of grace and truth
in every stranger's eyes.

Christ in the house of Martha and Mary; interior with Christ seated at a table; Mary on the floor in right foreground, as Martha walks in at left; illustration to William of Auvergne, ‘Postilla super Epistolas et Evangelia’, Basel; Michael Furter, 1511. 1511 Woodcut By Print made by: Urs Graf – https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1943-0512-13, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=89887543

You Send Lambs

Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
‘Peace to this household.’
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

You set us barefoot in the world
to walk along its dusty streets,
not hunters sent to slay the wolves,
but lambs sent out to bring them peace.

The sheep are safely in your fold,
but all the ark must yet be filled
so you send lambs and make them bold
to call the beasts of wood and field,

of mountain height and open air,
of darkness under stone and sea.
To all you say, The kingdom's here,
through lambs your word has taught to speak.

To shorn and unshorn all alike
give us the courage, then, to go
that clean and unclean fill the ark
and all the world your mercy know.

We must not go out clothed in gold
or carried high above the dust,
but as you came into the world:
You walked the road as one of us.

To all who walk the dusty earth
or crawl or fly or swim its miles,
O loving shepherd, send us forth,
each one your peaceful kingdom's child.

Icon of the Seventy Apostles By Ikonopisatelj – http://chattablogs.com/aionioszoe/archives/70Apostles.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3536332

Martha’s Bread

Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me.”
The Lord said to her in reply,
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her.”
Luke 10:38-42

No one complains when they're well fed,
or that the dishes wash themselves.
Though there may be a better part,
it is the stomach feeds the heart

and I feed stomachs: Come and stay
and dine before you take your way.
Though you may want me at your feet, 
do you want only words to eat?

I cannot turn mere stones to bread
or two loaves into thousands fed,
but I have hands to knead the dough
and feet to bring it ere you go.

And maybe, when the work is done,
then I can rest with you, for once.
But always, there is bread to knead
and always hungry mouths to feed.

But maybe, when the dough shall rise,
perhaps I could come to your side
and listen for a moment, Lord,
and feast myself upon upon your words.

You have your mission; I have mine
and shall, 'til all at last can dine.
I give you my bread; you give yours,
and somehow you will feed the world.