In This Beloved Community
In this village, conversation is new and can-do;
As Jesus healed, preached, healed, we do what we are called to do.
Beloved, as God loves us, not often so lovable,
We seek new communities, our miracles now doable.
The time is fulfilled, and we know the kingdom of God is near;
We repent and believe good news still, but hold back some, in fear.
As Jesus traveled along his lakes to preach and heal,
We set out–welcoming, forgiving, joyful–genuine, real.
We seek here to be tempered;
An anvil of prayer and fasting, hammered.
Here we nurture others and self in the midst of difference,
But it is clearly in action that we become aware and sense,
Here to be tempered and lasting
On anvil of prayer and fasting!
It is in our community of good news,
Where we, continually connected, removed our shoes,
and welcomed, we accept to have our feet cleaned;
Humbled, we serve and are served, here gleaned.
In this fountain of fast-falling information,
We–vulnerable, open, in mission, trusting–find transformation.
Yeast in the new loaf, we are here–here to rise.
Unlike Herod’s or the yeast of the Pharisees,
We carry new bread, and new wineskins, here,
In action, and with more in mission, open, we hear.
(C) Tom Bolton, March 27, 2012
I wrote this while studying the Gospel of Mark early this morning. I had fresh memories of a meeting with Bishop Lee and a crowd from the Metro District percolating in my mind too. We had discussed a few elements of Peter Block’s 2008 book, Community, The Structure of Belonging, along the way.
Of course, Dr. Martin Luther King had a vivid vision of the beloved community deep in his speeches.
Hopeful 