Baking Bread

I have heard the earth is burning;
I can hear the tocsin ring,
but the planet still is turning—
I will see what morning brings.
For the hearth still needs its tending;
mouths are crying to be fed.
Yes, I know the world is ending,
so I stand here baking bread.

I have heard the fear that whispers,
heard the whispers turn to shouts.
I have offered no resistance
to the wisdom of my doubts.
But some other voice is calling
in the watches of the night,
saying, “Yes, the Temple's falling:
Will you offer me your mite?”

Should I so, O Christ my savior?
What I have is not enough,
but the little I can make here,
I will give the world in love.
For like Martha in her kitchen
and like Mary at your feet,
though my quiet work is hidden,
it is needed: Come and eat.

Johannes Vermeer Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, 1655 By Johannes Vermeer – fwE2zem7WDcSlA — Google Arts & Culture, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21865869

Martha, Mary, and Lazarus

For their feast:

Like Martha in her kitchen, I am strong,
and like her sister Mary, I seek peace,
but when the endless work goes on and on,
how can I stop and sit there at your feet?

But Lazarus, he knows what I will learn:
that every working hour must have its end,
and rest will come unbidden and unearned
and wrapped in silence like a linen band.

When you sit at my table, you will eat,
but give me grace to let myself receive
the peace that comes from sitting at your feet
and letting time run outward from my sieve.

When I have strength to work, then let me work;
when I have need of rest, then give me rest;
and when they lay my body in the dirt,
then come, O Lord, and raise me from the dead.

*Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary* by Tintoretto, 16th century – 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=3137050

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.