A preacher, some called teacher spoke to a crowd about abundance
and a special kin-dom very near.
With ears accustomed to broken promises, and suspicious of the words from another ecstatic prophet, the crowd hoped to hear more.
Starved for a message to fulfill tradition,
Ready for ancient hopes to be confirmed,
Hands fingered empty pockets in anticipation,
He spoke of a kingdom found within, available for the asking.
But his call to love enemies and turn the other cheek or walk an extra mile made them grumble.
A strange place to begin a faith journey thought many burdened by debts.
Angry with their long suffering situation, they hungered for victory over known foes.
Full of desperation, they looked for a mighty king, to bring the kingdom to fruition.
To win power in a final apocalypse, and be rid of woe. This was the message of abundance listened for.
The crowd pressed hard against the man, forced him to climb into a boat. And there he spoke loud and clear over the water so every ear could hear.
He proclaimed all are blessed, including the meek and even the weak. He assured them everything will be revealed and all will be satisfied in God’s Kin-dom.
But the crowd wanted blood on the ground. His peace looked puny. And in spite of the man’s reputation for making good wine they left confused and thwarted.
Crowds are never pleased if expectations go unmet. No crowd sees truth until the innocent lay dead and the earth splits open.
But the enemy to be feared is not the one expected. The crowd wanted to conquer their oppressor, not uncover internal demons.
If this story rings in your ears it may remind, when fear wins elections year after year, when habits rule without reflection and abusive practices go unchallenged, when cynical campaigns of lies and fake news blind eyes to facts, then hate takes precedence and escalates by degrees of humiliation to physical retaliation.
Then all we have done is repeat the sad case of the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Rivalries rule our hearts until we face the envy within and humbly seek to be forgiven.
As the crowd wandered off, the man looked ahead and strolled the shore to sit with friends he met before. Fishermen repairing nets after a long night’s work, bone tired and wanting rest.
The man invited them back to their boat. They knew with the Master work never ends. So they rowed into the deep and let the nets down where he said; and the catch was more than the men could haul in. The boat nearly sank by the weight of fish.
Amazed by the gift of abundance, they knew the meaning of God With Us.
And one named Peter, exhilarated by this miracle was transformed; and before his friend fell to his knees and called him Lord.
For this huge catch would feed his family and the village for a week, so Peter believed the kingdom had come.
And the man said to him, are you impressed by catching fish? Come let’s be fishers of men.
And so the message spread a wide net, and to this day we seek this kin-dom of abundance and hope it will soon come.
But our hearts ruled by desire for control and sundry comforts, fears there is never enough.
When the man said to share with your neighbor so no one will be lost, few followed considering the cost.
And still we ask who is my neighbor?
Must I treat this other like kin?
And quick we are to remove the speck from the other guy’s eye and ignore the prejudice hidden under our skin.
Blind to abundance we covet more and more.
THH
02/06/25
Thoughts Have Hands 