Thursday 4 March 2010

Turning the tables

A reading for Monday of Holy Week:

Can you believe it?

He parades into town

to a band playing.

Anyone else would have settled for that.

But not him.

People eating out of his hand

simply won’t do it for him.

He has to mount a campaign

right in the temple precints

He doesn’t care who he upsets,

or whose side they are on

Sometimes I wonder whether he wants

to alienate us all

Some of the things he does and says

are much too near the bone.

And no one it seems escapes his censure

no matter their pedigree or connection

And so he takes on the traders

and kicks into touch a whole system

of corruption and exploitation

that we’ve all put up with for so long

because we simply couldn’t see any other way.

I mean you can’t blame the merchants

making a fairly good living

on the back of our holy obligations.

That’s just the way it is.

There’ll always be someone ready to make a fast buck

It’s called enterprise.

But he called it something else.

A travesty.

Turning a place of prayer for all nations

into a pigeon seller’s circus.

We’ll never understand him.

Crowd puller one minute

Whip wielding fiend the next.

I dread to think what else he’s got up his sleeve.

Liz Crumlish March 2010


2 comments:

Silent said...

I am absolutely loving your readings/poems! Would I be correct that you are posting for each day of Holy Week? And if so, might it be possible to use all of these for my Palm/Passion Sunday worship--with credit of course? I can hear two voices--one reading the words from scripture and then another reading your words. I think it would make a very meaningful message.

liz crumlish said...

Silent, I'm delighted that they have the chance of a wider "airing". You're welcome to use them. I'll get the rest of Holy Week posted soon - hope they fit the bill.
blessings