GOSPEL OF MARK CHAPTER 6 - 9

GOSPEL OF MARK 6

1 And he went out from there and came
To his own country without fame,
And his disciples followed him.
2 And when the Sabbath day in trim
Arrived, he began to teach in
The synagogue, and in the din
Many who heard him were astonished
Saying “How does he unadmonished
Have these things and what wisdom is
Given into this hand of his
To do such mighty works as these
Wrought by his hands and as he please?
3 “Is this not the builder, the son
Of Mary, brother of James won
And Joses, and of Judah and
Of Simon, and here in our land
Are not his sisters?” And they were
Offended at him like a cur.
4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet
Is not without honour to scoff at
Except in his own country and
Among his own kin in the land,
And in his own house. 5 And he could
Not do the mighty work he should,
Except that he laid his hands on
A few sick folk, healed them and gone.

A few sick folk healed is no slight thing done.
If even one had been healed on the run,
It was a wonder and a great thing then.
Jesus was not a failure among men.
I should not be discouraged by the way
The neighbours and the kin failed to give pay
To the great talents I’ve received from You.
The Master himself lived through that and grew.
Beloved, I’ve never in my native land
Nor in another performed works at hand,
The miracles of hope and growth and life.
I’ve been a looker on in this world’s strife.
But I appreciate the works he did,
Your sent one in the hometown on the skid.

6 He marvelled at their unbelief,
And went around for their relief
About the villages in brief
And teaching. 7 And he called to him
The twelve, began to send out trim
By two and two; and gave them power
Over unclean spirits an hour.
8 He commanded them that they should
Take nothing for their journey good,
Except a staff, no script, no bread,
No money in their purse, 9 instead
Have sandals on, and not two coats.

The missionaries that go out today
As heirs of the colonials for pay
Take more than staff and purse and sandal shoes,
And one coat unless tropics are in views.
But who am I to judge the inner part,
The motive and the song of each one’s heart?
It may be that the ones who left in crowd
That day that Jesus ordered them aloud
Were merely hypocrites, while those now bent
On titles and positions where they’re sent
Have eyes to serve You only as You meant.
I might have laid a sacrifice myself
Upon the mission altar, but an elf
Like me’s unworthy of either kind spree.

10 And he said to them for their notes
“In any place you come into
A house, stay there until you’re due
To leave that place. 11 “And anyone
Who does not accept you when done
Nor hear you, when you leave that place,
Shake off the dust under the space
Of your feet for a witness that
Is set against them where they sat.
Truly I say to you it shall
Be for Sodom more practical
And tolerable for Gomorrah
On the day of judgement and awe
Than for that city.” 12 They went out
And preached that men should turn about.

The few You have, Beloved, who bear Your name
And sacred law before the awful flame
Of human hearts and minds, are more to grief
Of humankind than they are to relief.
The greater part of men look on the sweet
Divine as nothing to do as a treat,
And so the coming of Your own is met
With sentencing to hell of all in set.
Beloved, keep me within Your law and yet
Out of the pale of humankind whose woe
Is only confirmed by the way they go
And by the way they oppose any show
Of my obedience to You You get.
Let me not send any into Hell’s glow.

13 They cast out many devils, and
Anointed with oil every hand
Those that were sick healed by command.

Remarkable’s the power of olive oil
Upon the head of those who groan and toil
In sickness on the early web and coil.
Those who follow the footsteps of the one
You sent into the world and on the run
For the redemption of those suffering here
Feel cooling oil instead of flowing tear.
Beloved, I take the olive oil at last
And put it on my salad, an outcast
From the meat-eaters feast as well as fast.
If nothing else, the taste is good enough,
And makes me know my living is not rough,
Despite desires to think I have it tough.
Let me not fly my colours at half-mast.

14 And King Herod heard of his name
That was spread abroad to his fame,
And said John the Baptist was risen
From the dead and gone out from prison,
And so the mighty works were shown
In him as they had once been known.

The solar myth that informs every piece
Of legend and of history’s release
From centuries ago, would put this man
Herod to take the Baptist John by plan
Of constellation of Aquarius,
And have his head cut off six months in fuss
After the baptism of Jesus then.
Of course the cycle would begin again.
So Herod states he’s risen from the grave.
The solar myth does not make me a slave,
And fact is, if Jesus and John are not
Mentioned in any history I’ve got,
Herod is written large enough to plot
Without a constellation to his lot.

15 Others said that it is Elias,
While others said and without bias,
It is a prophet or as one
Of the earlier prophets done.

The people of an early day were out
To find the ascended Elias stout
And living to appear among most men
And work the worlds of olden times again.
The people of an early day were ready
To find the resurrection of some steady
Prophet of old come once again to speak
The tomes of prophecy instead of peek.
Today, Beloved, instead all women near
Are certain they are reborn with the gear
Of due and famous of the century
Before and even further down the tree.
Hardly a man is willing to take me
Or any other at value simply.

16 But when Herod heard of that, he
Said “It is John whom I was free
To behead, he has risen from
The dead, and back to me has come.”
17 For Herod himself had sent out
And laid hold on John, bound him stout
In prison for Herodias’ sake,
His brother Philip’s wife, to make
Her his own wife. 18 For John had said
To Herod “It’s not right to bed
Your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias
Held that against him at the pass,
And would have killed him, if she could.
But she could not, 20 since Herod feared
John knowing that he had appeared
A just man, and a holy, and
Observed him, and when by command
He heard him, he did many things
And heard him gladly from heart springs.

The fate of men today as in the way
Of centuries past stands upon the string
Of some obscure interpretation’s ring,
A marriage law, a point of regulation,
A tithe of mint, a sprig of anis’ ration.
So John was ready to give up his life
To force a verdict obscure on the wife
Of Herod, knowing that some rabbis found
Another explanation on the ground.
Beloved, keep me from falling in the trap
Of complication outside of the rap
Of Decalogue, but let me brave the other
When he is certain he is a right brother.
May You judge in the details of the map.

21 When a convenient day had come
That Herod for his birthday rum
Made a supper to his high lords,
High captains and chief of his wards
In Galilee, 22 and when the said
Herodias’ daughter was led
In to dance and pleased Herod and
Those who sat with him at his hand,
The king said to the girl “Ask me
For what you want, I’ll give it free.”

My fine friends who bear Your name on the sleeve
Take two birthday parties and both to grieve
To mean no birthdays should be held in weight,
No children set delighted at the gate.
And right they may be in their verdict’s state.
Yet I wonder that this and Pharaoh’s day
Suffice to make them stop the birthday play,
And yet the scores of texts confirming draw
Of Sabbath at the centre of Your law
Have no effect on mind or heart in awe.
That only shows that reason and good sense
Cannot convince any man in his tents.
It takes a pound of strong obedience
To make the reason light enough to stay.

23 And he swore to her “What you ask
I’ll give to you until the task
Of half the kingdom.” 24 And she went
And asked her mother “What shall I
Demand?” And she said with a cry
“The head of John the Baptist buy.”
25 And she went right back to the king
In haste and asked as she was sent
And said “I want right now a thing:
A platter, and upon the plate
The head of John the Baptist’s fate.”

Beheading of the Baptist seems in rate
To be a mimicry of the stars’ fate
By the Aquarius, which poor John’s pate
Is represented by the constellation
That’s caught upon horizon for a station.
Despite the similarity to tales
Of heathen gods, the Gospel word prevails
In many hearts and homes. I think the ruse
Of those who see a solar myth in fuse
Are simply too squeamish to bear the gore.
The sweet Christian’s accustomed to the door
Of blood on forehead, hand and foot and more.
A contemplation of a severed head
Adds little to the consumed wine and bread.

26 The king was very sorry, yet
For his oath’s sake and for those set
With him, he’d not refuse her bet.
27 And right away king Herod sent
One axe man who commanded bent
To bring his head, and so he went
To prison and cut off his head,
28 And brought his head upon a dish
And gave it to the girl as said
According to her mother’s wish.

A dancing girl can simply not be trusted,
Whether she be one that large or small busted,
Especially if she’s got a mother near
To tell her savoury things whispered in ear.
A king upon the throne may offer much,
But kings are susceptible to the touch
Of public thought and what the courtiers wish,
Just as a senator thinks of the dish
Of lobbyists if he is one still free
Of blackmail and of fraud by the turnkey.
Beloved, the gore upon the plate is spread
Consisting of one John the Baptist’s head.
It’s only one. Most Baptists stick around
To profit by the king who stands his ground.

29 And when his disciples heard it,
They came and took up his corpse fit
And put it in a tomb to sit.
30 The ones sent out returned again
To Jesus, and told everything,
Both what they’d done and taught the men.
31 And he said to them on the wing
“Come now apart to desert place
And rest a while and breathe a space,”
For many came and went apace,
And they’d no time even to eat
A crumb of bread salty or sweet.
32 And so they went away into
A desert place by ship in crew.
33 The people saw them go away,
And many knew him by the way,
And ran on foot from every town
And passed them by when they came down
To gather where he was to stay.
34 And Jesus, when he came that way
Saw many people and was moved
With great compassion unreproved
Because they were like sheep without
A shepherd, and he started out
To teach them many things in route.

Astral projectors claim the stars alone
Are focus of the story to the bone.
It may be that the missing parts of each
Tale in the Gospel are fleshed out to preach
By common formula that age could reach.
But the tale’s not left in the limbo score.
Dear Jesus goes apart to find a shore
In quiet where to mourn the parting of
His cousin, whether starry thing above
Or man of flesh and bone and blood and love.
The crowd out to be blessed and healed and taught
Prevents him from achieving grieving spot.
But the intention’s there, Beloved, and I
See Jesus' heart was bleeding at the sigh.

35 And when the day was then far spent
His disciples came to his tent
And said “This is a desert place,
And now the minutes with wings race;
36 “Send them away that they may go
Into the country round the show,
Into the villages to buy
Bread, they’ve nothing to eat or die.”
37 He answered and said to them, “Give
Them something to eat so they’ll live,”
And they said to him, “Shall we go
And buy two hundred pennies’ woe
Of bread and give them all to eat?”

Your sent one here belies the solar tale
That would make sun the bringer in of rail.
Instead of You, or sun or his own hand,
He tells his followers and with command
To give the crowd to eat out of thin air.
That should keep souls from needing any share
Of the sun’s cycle to provoke the ware.
Beloved, each story that incorporates
Some aspects of the heathen mythic states
Comes out at last to show that it is lost
In human fancy, in a storm that’s tossed
From human breast out to the centuries.
The blood of sun is just a humble cost
Before the conjuring of Jesus’ breeze,
Before disciples fallen on their knees.

38 He asked them “How many complete
Loaves have you? Go and see the meat.”
And when they found out they could say
“Five loaves and then two fishes lay.”

I guess this story comes after Aquarius
As John the Baptist who refused to marry us
Because Pisces are two fish in the way,
A basket in the bread of stars to sway
My mind with myths encompassing the bay.
I’ve done Weber proud with the way I see
All things in starry-eyed menagerie.
Beloved, all tales of men and all reports
Follow a mythic element of sorts.
When truth is filtered by the human brain,
It is arranged in ways that we think sane,
But which distort for flesh and blood to seal.
We can have two fish for an added meal,
But that does not mean stars are how we feel.

39 And he commanded them to make
Everyone sit down by the stake
In companies on the green grass.
40 And they sat down there all in mass,
By hundreds’ and by fifties’ count,
In all making a great amount.
41 And when he’d taken the five loaves,
And the two fishes in the groves,
He looked up to the sky and blessed
And broke the loaves and gave the rest
To his disciples so they’d serve
Them, and the two fish they deserve
He divided among them all.
42 And they all ate filled to the wall.
43 And they took up twelve baskets full
Of pieces and fishes to pull.
44 The number of the men who ate
Rose to about five thousand great.

The Zodiac would have predicted fine
Twelve baskets in a single row and line.
The number twelve has been the way to go
Since stars were set in heaven and on show,
But first met in the number of the sons
And princes come from Ishmael’s fertile buns.
That number was not feeble or too slow
To make Jacob’s sons also come in tonnes
Of twelve despite the fact that thirteen names
Appear when all the lists rise with their claims.
Beloved, with a wry smile I follow all
Twelves and all sevens through the wake and stall
Until at last I find one and alone,
Not two fishes, but You upon Your throne.

45 He made his disciples get in
The ship right away for a spin,
To travel to the other shore
To Bethsaida, while he’d implore
The people to go home. 46 When he
Had sent them all away, then he
Went into a mountain to pray.
47 When evening settled on the bay
The ship was in midst of the sea
And he alone upon the land.
48 And he saw them toiling in hand
Rowing against contrary wind.
About fourth watch of the ensigned
In the night he came walking by
A-striding on the sea and nigh.
43 But when they saw him turn about
And so were troubled. But he said
To them right off “Don’t be afraid,
It’s only me.” 51 And so he went
Up to them in the ship, and spent
Was the wind, while they were amazed
And wondered greatly nearly crazed.
52 For they considered not at all
The miracle of the loaves’ call,
Because of hardening of their hearts.

Ability to provide bread and fish
For thousands is really another dish
To quelling storms. So the hard heart may still
Wonder at miracles after the fill.
Ability to walk upon the waves
Is just as solar myth about me raves.
A legend and a campfire tale perhaps,
But still it’s strenuous to take two laps
About the sea of Galilee on foot.
By the time one has found the boat to put
One’s head upon the rolling of the oar,
It’s time to turn about and beat for shore.
Beloved, You are the Master of both stars
As well as fishermen and other gars.

53 And when they’d passed over those parts
They came to Gennesaret’s land
And drew up to the shore at hand.
54 And when they’d come out of the ship
Right off they knew him from the tip,
55 And ran through that whole region round
To carry in beds those unsound
To where they heard he could be found.
56 And wherever he came into
Villages, cities, countryside,
They laid the sick in the streets’ dew,
And begged him that they might confide
To touch the fringes of his cloak,
And all who touched were well on stroke.

The figure of Apollo also stands
As healer to the pulsing Gentile bands
Who give example to the fisherfolk
Of Galilee and others at a stroke.
And yet the cry that Jesus has come near
Remains a thrilling one for folk to hear.
Beloved, I take the sage without a tear,
And listen to his teaching by the weir,
And find my comfort in the way he brings
Your law at last back to its early springs,
And lays the obligation and the joy
On all to follow Your law in employ.
Let others prance pretending freedom now,
Your throne alone is where I come to bow.

MARK 7

1 Then came to him the Pharisees
And certain of the scribes to please,
Down from Jerusalem with ease.
2 And when they saw some of his men
Eat with defiled hands or again
With hands unwashed in blessing, then
They found fault. 3 For the Pharisees
And all the Jews, except they please
To wash their hands often with blessing
Will eat no meat nor even dressing,
But hold fast to elders’ tradition.

Jesus is Torah-true in every way,
And that is why he refuses the day
Of washing and of blessing of the hands
Before the meal: it’s not found in the stands
Of Torah, but is just elders’ tradition.
So he appears one out to make sedition.
The apprehension of the Jews is right:
He would destroy the oral law in sight.
But when the Christians come upon the scene
They lose sight of the question on the bean,
The question of ablutions and of prayer.
Instead they grasp at straws to justify
Their pagan mice and succulent pork pie.
Slay them for lack of reason and law’s cry.

4 When they come from market addition
Unless they wash, they do not eat.
And many another conceit
They have received holding complete,
As washing cups, and pots, and brass
Vessels and tables as they pass.
5 Pharisees and scribes came to ask
“Why don’t they do the elders’ task?
But your disciples eat their bread
And meat with unwashed hands instead.
6 He answered and said to them, “Well
Did Isaiah prophesy hell
Of your hypocrisy by saying
‘This people honours me with praying,
But their heart is far from me staying.
7 “In vain they worship Me while teaching
Commandments of men in their preaching,'
8 “As they lay off commands of God
And hold to men’s traditions’ prod,
As washing pots and cups and such
And do many like things as much.’”
9 And he said to them “You reject
God’s commands that you may respect
Your own traditions. 10 Moses said
‘Honour father, mother, instead.
The one who curses father or
Mother, let him die for the score.'
11 “But you say 'If a man shall say
To father or mother one day,
“It is Corban, that is, a gift
In offering to God I lift,
Whatever aid I might have given
In clothing, food or place to live in,
For help or comfort to your life,”
He’s free from helping and from strife.
12 “And you don’t let him any more
Do for father or mother’s score.
13 “You make God’s word of no effect
Through the traditions you respect
And have delivered. Many such
Things you do and teach at a touch.'”
14 And when he summoned all the folk
He said “Listen to what I spoke
And understand me every bloke.
15 “There’s nothing from without a man
That entering into him can
Defile him; but the thing which come
Out of him, they defile in sum.
16 “If anybody has an ear
To hear, then let such a one hear.”

The Persian face for keeping all things clean
First penetrated and spoiled Jewish scene
With rinsing plates and cups to purify
All the defiled between the earth and sky.
The silent towers engulf the human race
And through Islam their shadows run apace.
The Christian throng is satisfied to dip
A finger in the holy water’s blip.
Beloved, keep me from all exaggeration
Found in the church, mosque, synagogue and nation.
Let not disgust yet for hypocrisy
Reduce my soul too in impurity
With washings from the fathers: let my hands
Be muddy, yet always keep Your commands.

17 And when he came into the house
Away from the people and grouse,
Disciples asked him of the story.
18 And he answered them in his glory,
“Are you also without good sense?
Do you not notice what goes in
Cannot defile a man with sin?
19 “Since it does not go in his heart
But rather in the stomach part
And comes out in refuse and fart.”
20 He said “What goes out of a man,
That’s all that defiles and that can.
21 “For from within, out of the heart
Is what defiles man from the start,
Evil thoughts, and adulteries,
Fornications, murders at ease,
22 “Thefts, covetousness, wickedness,
Deceit, and lasciviousness,
An evil eye, and blasphemy,
And pride, and acting foolishly.
23 “All these evil things rise within
And they defile a man with sin.”

The divine law, when rightly understood,
Illuminates more purity than could
Another allegory in the wood.
The rites of purity pertain alone
To symbols of the spirit on the bone.
So not what goes in mouth or nose or out
Must be purified, not the hand about
To grasp the bread or cup. From what’s within
Arise impurity along with sin.
So what comes out the lower belt expresses
Impurities the evil heart addresses.
Therefore I wash no anus for my part,
But when I fart, I wash head for my heart,
Hands for my doing, and my feet for cart.

24 And from that place he rose and went
To Tyre and Sidon’s borders bent,
And went into a house and would
Have no man know it, but he could
Not be hidden. 25 A certain dame
Whose young daughter had to her shame
An unclean spirit, when she heard
Of him, came prostrate undeterred.
26 The woman was a Greek, by nation
Syro-phoenician in her station,
And she begged him that he would cast
The devil from the girl at last.
27 But Jesus told her “Let the child
Be fed first, for it is too wild
To take the children’s food and throw
It to the dogs and let it go.”
28 And she answered and said to him
“Yes, Lord, I accept your word grim,
Yet even dogs beneath the table
Eat of the children’s crumbs when able.”
29 And he said to her “For this word,
Go on your way and undeterred,
The devil has gone from your bird.”
30 And when she came to her own house,
She found the devil gone with louse,
Her daughter lying on the bed,
Safe and sound ready to be fed.

Politically correct are scandalized
Jesus is racist more than realized,
And wonder he could call a woman dog
Because she was a heathen who ate hog.
Such words of his detract from wealth and fame,
And had he said them now to smirch his name,
The populace would force him to retract
His earthy power and messianic claim,
Or at the least to clean up priestly act.
What scandalizes me, Beloved, is not
The racial or religious slur he taught,
But that he granted her wish on the spot
For her wit in reply. Justice appalled
Cries out to gift the dumb, silent installed.

31 Again he left the borders of
Tyre and Sidon and went above
The sea of Galilee and through
Decapolis and its lands too.
32 And they brought to him a deaf man,
With speech impediment in bran,
And they begged him to put his hand
On him. 33 And he took him by hand
Aside, away from the crowd’s leers,
And put his fingers in his ears,
And spit and touched his tongue thereby.
34 And looking up into the sky,
He sighed, and then he spoke to him
“Ephatha” which translated trim
Means “Be opened.” 35 And right away
His ears were opened and the stay
Of his tongue was loosed to plain say.
36 And he ordered them not to tell
A single soul. The more he’d dwell
On it, the more they’d spread the spell,
37 And were astonished past belief,
Saying “He’s done all things in brief:
He makes the deaf to hear and peek,
The dumb also he makes to speak.”

In point of fact, Beloved, it is no loss
If a few men in society’s gloss
Cannot say anything to wife or boss.
It is a talent lodged, as Milton states,
A way to avoid quarrels’ reprobates.
If I had never said a word on earth
I suspect many would think me more worth
The salt and alary I have consumed.
The tongue is the thing that has come and doomed
All men to shame and cross, not to say word
Of women talking also in the herd.
Beloved, no one should thank you or Your son
As it were for the miracle he’s done
But granting one man speeches for his fun.

MARK 8

1 In those days the crowd being great
Indeed, with nothing on their plate,
Jesus called his disciples to him
And said to every one who knew him,
2 “I’m feeling sorry for the crowd,
Because their time with me allowed
Is now three days without a crumb,
3 “And if I let them fasting come
To their own houses, they will faint,
Since many of them, no complaint,
Have come a long way.” 4 And they said,
Did his disciples, answer pled,
“Where can a man get enough bread
To satisfy these people led
Here in the wilderness?” 5 He asked
Them, “How many loaves have you got?”
And they replied, “Seven unmasked.”

The local dish were I live is of fish
And rye bread baked together with a wish.
Sometimes it seems that Jesus takes the plot
And gives the people the same food we’ve got.
At other times he does without the fins
And scales as well as white meat without sins.
Plain bread or Finnish fishcock, it’s no matter,
As long as there's no lard in it for fatter.
It’s strange, Beloved, disciples did not mind
The treat Your sent one gave when they had dined
On fish and bread. You’d think they’d get the habit
Of dining on things pulled out like a rabbit
From hat or air. But they were like all men,
Forgetful of their blessings come again.

6 He told the folk to take a shot
At sitting on the ground, and he
Took the seven loaves thankfully
And broke them and handed them out
To his disciples round about
Who served the people in their turn.
7 And they had a few fish to burn,
Small ones which he blessed and gave word
To set before the folk unstirred.
8 So they ate and were satisfied,
And gathered up what food remained
In seven bushels left untied.

Symbolic numbers here again abound
Despite the fact the fishes are not found
By twos or twelves or sevens on the ground.
The three times four of twelve gives way at last
To three plus four or seven loaves to cast
And seven baskets full. The second round
Is not the twelve so visible and sound,
But the wave of the seven, the heartfelt beat,
The secret of appearances on seat
Of hidden imams waiting for the time
When twelve shall appear for the final rhyme.
Beloved, when Jesus multiplied the bread,
Did it increase in his hands or instead
In the hands of disciples at the spread?

9 The number of eaters unfeigned
Was around four thousand. He sent
Them packing. 10 And straightway he went
With his disciples in a boat
To Dalmanutha on the float.
11 The Pharisees came out to beg
A heavenly sign and pull his leg.
12 And sighing deeply in his heart,
“Why does this generation start”
He said “to seek after a sign?
I truly tell you that no sign
Shall grace this generation’s vine.”

It’s true enough that feeding thousands on
The remnants of a few loaves broken drawn
With some small fish ought to be sign enough.
But Pharisees, notoriously gruff,
Perhaps thought that a sign from Scriptures or
A wave of rod upon a windy shore
Would be the more appropriate in store
Than merely tavern work of serving guests.
Beloved, Your sent one here comes and infests
The cogitations of my wondered heart.
He gives the peasants food, but does not start
An argument with scholars or the ones
Who take responsibility on buns
For purity of faith by Roman guns.

13 And so he left them and he came
Into the boat again to aim
To go across the other side.
14 Now the disciples, though they tried,
Forgot to take bread in the ship,
Had only one loaf for the trip.
15 And he told them “Beware, take heed
Of yeast the Pharisees will feed
And Herod’s yeast.” 16 And they agreed
Among themselves and said the reason
Is we have no bread, salt or season.
17 When Jesus found out, he told them,
“Why do you figure, haw and hem,
That you have no bread? Don’t you see,
Or understand, heart hardenedly?
18 “With eyes don’t you see? And with ears
Don’t you hear and recall with tears?
19 “When I broke the five loaves among
Five thousand, how many pails strung
Did you take up of what was left?”
They told him “Twelve.” 20 And he said deft,
“And when the seven among the four
Thousand, how many bushels more
Remained for you to put in store?”
And they said “Seven.” 21 So he said,
“How is it you don’t understand?”

I’m not sure what Your sent one meant to show
By counting up the sevens and twelves in row.
It may be he was mentioning the bread
So they would understand half a loaf fed
Thirteen with ease. That would have been my spread.
So I don’t see the need of counting out
Exactly in symbolic digits’ flout.
He begs the hearer understand his words,
But hardly tells the secret before herds
Of lowing, deaf disciples. So I turn
To You, Beloved, to tell me what I’ve learned.
I haven’t learned to row a boat worth beans.
I cannot multiply bread on Your scenes.
And counting baskets is beyond my means.

22 And he came to Bethsaida’s land.
They brought a blind man to him led,
And begged him to touch him instead.
23 He took the blind man by the hand
And led him outside of the city,
And spat on his eyes in his pity,
And put his hands on him and asked
If he saw anything unmasked.
24 And he looked up and said “I see
Men walking about like a tree.”
25 And so he put his hands again
On his eyes and made him with yen
Look up. And he was healed and saw
Everything clearly and with awe.
26 He sent him to his house by saying
“Do not go in the village swaying,
Or tell anyone in the town.

The shaman of Tibet may often use
The same cure for the eyes that still accuse
In this day of such wonder drugs that heal
One thing while causing chaos in the reel.
While spitting in the eyes is hardly done
By Semites to their daughters and for fun
According to the plague of Miriam run,
Your sent one is not of that sort and steel.
The international and Hellenized
Was more at large in those days and was prized,
So it’s no wonder Jesus learned a cure
From Asian shamans acting for the sure.
Some claim that Jesus lived and died away
In that part of the world, and came to stay.

27 And Jesus with his friends’ renown
Went out into the countryside
Of Caesarea Philip’s pride.
And on the way he asked his friends,
Saying to them, “What for amends
Do men say that I am to bide?”
28 And they answered, “The Baptist John,
And others say Elijah’s pawn,
But others some one of the prophets.”
29 And He said to them, “And you sofits,
Who do you say I am?” And Peter
Said “You are the Messiah sweeter.”
30 And He warned them that they should tell
Nobody around of his spell.

I promise I shall tell no single soul
That Jesus is Messiah on the dole,
You sent one to the world to demonstrate
How Your law converts humankind from state
Of dire rebellion and by grace makes clean
The life of everyone, both fat and lean.
I promise not to mention that sweet name
Of Jesus or of Joshua in blame,
But only set my sights on You to make
My whirling in this slaughterhouse at stake.
Beloved, if everyone refused to share
The knowledge of messiahship to bear
A witness to Your oneness in this place,
Then people might be one of every race.

31 And He began to teach them it
Was necessary for son fit
Of man to suffer many things
And be rejected in the rings
Of elders and chief priests and scribes,
And to be killed because of bribes,
And after three days rise again.
32 And he spoke the word in the glen
And openly. Then Peter took
Him to one side, his finger shook,
And rebuked him like any rook.
33 But he turned around and he saw
His own disciples hand in craw,
And he rebuked Peter and said
”Get behind me, tempter and bred,
Because you do not care to think
The things of God, instead you drink
The things of humankind in link.”

This Peter was a great man who desired
That no pagan-like aspect be hotwired
To Your sent one, nothing one might mistake
For Dionysiac Mithraic rake.
That’s why he did not want three days to sit
Upon the resurrection of the fit.
The man was right. See how the Christian church
Is paganized and leaves all in the lurch
Through their acceptance of the Easter birch.
Die if he will, save humankind the more,
But You should have kept him from seed and spore
Reminding sinful worshippers of Baal
Of what the high places always entail.
So now we gyrate to rock bands in gale.

34 He summoned up both crowd and friends,
He said to them without amends,
“Whoever wants to follow me,
Let him deny himself, take tree,
And then let him come follow me.
35 “For whosoever wants to save
His life will enter in the grave.
And whosoever loses life
For my sake and the gospel’s strife,
That one shall save it faithfully.
36 “For what shall it profit a man
If he gain the whole world in scan,
And yet lose his own soul by plan?
37 “What shall a man give in exchange
For his own soul and to arrange?
38 “For whosoever is ashamed
Of me and my words in this famed
Age of sinners adulterous,
The Son of Man will also fuss
For shame of him when he appear
In glory from his Father dear
Along with holy angels near.”

I’m selling of my soul, Beloved, to see
If what I gain of this world’s company
Is worth the loss of Your eternity.
Because Your prayer is still so sweet to me,
Does that mean that wealth, stealth and sensual lea
Are not a benefit beneath the veil?
I’m selling of my soul, Beloved, grow pale
To hear the harping words that I regale.
I’m not ashamed of You, nor of Your son,
But I am quite put out by everyone.
Unless You take me in, Beloved, I’ll sell
My soul to the first church who’ll treat me well.
Beloved, there are no takers, by default
I am Your own, unlovely where I halt.

The only I is You, Beloved, and so
The one who would preserve the I in show,
The empty and illusive figure drawn
Upon the screen of néant in the dawn
Of universe, that one shall lose the All.
But the one who sinks that illusion’s pall
In the great Self that You are at the cheek,
Shall gain anew the true soul week by week
As Sabbath draws near with the Sabbath queen
Illuminating all the dark world’s scene.
Beloved, the self I bring in sacrifice
Before the flame of truth, while it is nice,
Is empty and a husk. I bear no load
Before Your throne, before Your ample goad.

MARK 9

1 And He said to them, “Truly I
Tell you, there are some who stand by
Here who in no way shall taste death
Until they see come in the breath
Of power the kingdom of God nigh.”
2 And after six days Jesus took
Along Peter and James in nook
With John, and led them to a high
Mountain apart, alone to vie.
He was transfigured where they spy.
3 His garments became shining, white
Like snow, the like of which no fuller
On earth can bleach by any puller.
4 Elijah with Moses was seen
By them, and they were speaking keen
With Jesus. 5 And Peter replied
And said to Jesus at his side,
“Rabbi, it’s good for us right here,
Let’s make three tabernacles’ gear,
One for you and one each for Moses
And for Elijah who discloses.”
6 For he did not know what to say,
For they were all in terror’s sway.

St. Peter cannot keep his fool mouth shut,
Which is why I wonder that You rebut
Him always with such tenderness and song.
The man is often wickedly in wrong.
But I must admit in this case that I
Too would be overwhelmed if I could spy
Both Moses and Elijah on the sly.
It seems that Moses was raised from the dead
Or he could not arrive with Christ instead.
So many that accept Christ still reject
Good Moses. Here he’s one of Your elect.
Your Christ met with just two and made three fly
As a minyan instead of ten’s respect.
Elijah only meets me for the pie.

7 A cloud then overshadowed them,
And a voice from the cloud in hem
Said “This is My son, the beloved,
Hear him among the pushed and shoved.”

This is the third time in Your life You came
To speak in public in direct acclaim.
The first time was reciting of the law
At Sinai to the millions there in awe.
The second was the baptism of Christ
When You called him Your Beloved one sufficed.
And now You speak again with the same clue
That Jesus is Your son beloved and due.
That is a claim beyond my wit to rate,
Since You have neither wife nor tool in state
Of male components, unless in the crude
You are among the circumcised in brood.
I’ll hear him, Your son, servant, sent one now
When he tells me to keep Your law and how.

8 And suddenly, they looked around
And saw no one there on the ground,
But only Jesus with them found.
9 And as they were coming down from
The mountain, he commanded them
Not to tell anyone what they
Had seen, except upon the day
The son of man rose from the dead.
10 And they held the word to themselves,
Debating what could mean for elves
The rising up from the grave’s bed.

They ought to know full well what it must mean
To rise up from the dead and then be seen.
Elijah and Elisha both revived
Sons from the dead, and so when he arrived
To be a son of God, no doubt it came
About because of rising like a flame
From the grave to live ever and acclaim
His own before the throne of glory’s name.
But if they did not know, then why not ask?
It would not have been then too great a task.
But now when Jesus is not here to see,
Wrapped up in glory and eternity,
My asking just re-echos on the faint
Reverberation of my mind’s complaint.

11 And they asked him, saying “The scribes
Say Elijah comes first for bribes.”
12 And he replied and said to them,
“Truly Elijah comes in hem
Restoring all things. What a gem
Has been written of son of man,
That he should suffer in the plan
And be despised in earthly span!
13 “But I tell you, Elijah too
Has come and they did to him rue
According to their wishes, as
It has been written of his jazz.”

Where in the books of prophecy, I ask,
Was it writ that Elijah took to task
The wives of Herods to die from the mask?
I’ve read the books through and find no place there
That says they would do to Elijah what
They wanted in the prison where they shut
Him for outspokenness before the glut
Of Herod’s throne in verdicts of a mutt.
It is not there. Jesus must have a book
Of prophecy in which I cannot look.
Beloved, I rue the day that John was sealed
With martyrdom in gaol instead of field.
When my time comes I hope they take my life
In open fields where I can see Your strife.

Ah, now I know the answer! Jesus kept
The same arguments that Muslims have swept
On him as well. Since fair Elijah rose
Into the skies in chariot that glows,
And did not die, it must mean he would come
Back to the earth and visibly in sum
To meet his death. That’s what the argument
Says about the Jesus that You have sent.
Beloved, the truth that all men die might fail
Among the great occulted in the veil,
And Enoch and Elijah might be born
Exceptions to the rule of the forlorn.
All men must die indeed, the self cast out
And Self alone reign in the heart’s redoubt.

I do prefer to think the Baptist John
Was not Elijah risen on the dawn,
Because the man is dead without a head,
Unless it was a star that died instead.
I’d rather think Elijah’s on the hill,
And waiting for my coming up there still
To see the sun reflected on the lake,
The islands spread before me in the wake
Of silver and of grey beneath the sky.
I’d rather think Elijah is nearby,
And living through the ages of the earth,
And riding in a chariot in berth
Of flames and clouds in righteousness of worth.
I’d rather find Elijah on the sly.

Jesus can still maintain that John fulfilled
The prophecy of Elijah unbilled,
Even though the man himself had just come
In glory in transfiguration’s sum.
Jesus delights in making mock and mime
Of truth simple enough in rote and rhyme.
He makes the simple word a complex rate.
That is a wicked thing to do, I state.
We’ve just seen the fire prophet coming down
In glory, and with name emblazoned gown,
And still Jesus reiterates the fact
That John the Baptist is the one we lacked.
The crooked ways of faith I do not take,
But merely obey You and eat Your cake.

14 He came to his disciples and
Saw a great crowd around on land,
And scribes to argue and withstand.
15 At once the folk all saw him and
Were flabbergasted and they ran
Up and greeted him to a man.
16 He questioned the scribes, “What are you
Arguing about with them too?”
17 And one answered out of the crowd,
Saying, “Rabbi, I was allowed
To bring my son to you, because
He has a dumb spirit in jaws.
18 “And wherever it seizes him
It throws him round bottom to brim,
And he foams and gnashes his teeth.
He wastes away without bequeath.
I told your disciples so they
Might cast it out and cast away.
But they could not perform for pay.”
19 He answered them and said ”O you
Unfaithful generation’s crew!
How long will I be here with you?
How long shall I stand for your rue?
Bring him to me and see what do.”

I’m one of the unfaithful here I know,
For every time I pray for those below
Who lie ill and weak on a bed, they go
But faster into death. I should not so
Pray for my friends at all, and hope You might
Take pity on their illness and their plight.
Too bad Your Jesus does not live here now,
But is caught up into the sky from row
Of humankind to bask in friendship met
With Moses and Elijah and the set
Of others so occulted, Enoch and
Muhammad Al-Mahdi, that faithful band.
But still I know some people that could use
Some healing, why not help and why refuse?

20 And so they brought him to him there.
And when the spirit saw his share,
He threw him violently down.
He fell on the ground by the town
And writhed in torment, foaming there.
21 He asked his father, “How long since
This happened to make the boy wince?”
And he said “From childhood of prince.
22 “It often threw him in the fire
And in the water and the mire
To try to kill him. But if you
Can do anything, help us true
And have some pity on us too.”

The unclean spirit takes the portals each
Of the right way as though he came to preach.
The gate of fire, of water, and of earth,
Each one arises object of his mirth.
Only the gate of air is missing here,
As though he could not touch Your law for fear.
So all faiths come in all four elements
To push their wares and take in pay their pence,
But all such faiths are demon-driven carts
In competition for our human hearts.
The faith of Jesus is the right alone,
The recognition of One on the throne,
One God, one law, one grace here to atone,
And one humanity with heart of stone.

23 And Jesus said to him, “If you
Are able to believe, all things
Are possible to faithful rings.”
24 And straight away the father of
The child cried out in his great love
And said with tears, “Sir, I believe!
Help my unbelief to receive!”

Beloved, I’m Thomas doubter, it is true,
And I doubt everything that’s come in view,
To say no word of what is still unseen,
Despite the Qur’an’s blessing on the bean.
Beloved, I’m Thomas doubter, but You’ll not
Find unbelief in me, just doubting’s plot.
I doubt and then I climb into Your trust,
Not so much because You give from the dust
A reason for my faith, but more because
I see success is built into Your laws.
But were it not so, still I’d come to You
Simply because there is no other crew
That would take me aboard, though with tears I
Should come and beg them under Your broad sky.

25 Jesus saw that a crowd was gathered,
So he rebuked the unclean weathered
Spirit, saying to it, “Deaf, dumb
Spirit, I order you to come
Out of him and you may no more
Go into him through his closed door.”
26 And crying out, and throwing him
Around a lot, it came out grim.
And he because as if one dead,
So many thought he died instead.
27 But Jesus took hold of his hand
And raised him up and made him stand.
28 And when he went into the house,
His disciples questioned to grouse,
“Why couldn’t we then cast it auss?”
29 And He said to them, “This kind can
Go out by nothing except plan
Of prayer and fasting.” 30 And they went
From there and passed through Galilee.
And he wanted no one to see.

I’m like Your sent one, My Beloved, who did
Not want anyone to see where he hid.
All other preachers raise a cry and bid,
An advertisement on the coffee lid.
I pray that none will come on Sabbath day
Disturbing me and mine gathered to pray.
I’ve prayed a bit, though not at all as due,
I’ve fasted in the Ramadhan, it’s true,
But still I do not cast the devils out
Who rule the town and harbour and the spout
Of church and market and the fell redoubt.
Beloved, where I have failed to cast the lot
Out of this earthly temple’s barren plot,
Come to renew what Your sent one has taught.

31 For He taught His disciples, and
Said to them, “Son of man will stand
Betrayed into the hands of men,
And they will kill him, but then when
He has been killed, he’ll rise again
The third day.” 32 But to understand
The message was beyond their ken,
And they feared to question him then.

Here is the reason why Jesus’ friends did
Not ask him what he meant by being rid
Of life and laid in the dark grave with lid.
They were afraid to ask. It cannot be
They were afraid of Jesus on a spree,
Who might use his divine powers to evoke
The lightning to come kill them at a stroke.
They were afraid to ask by the same token
That men today are silent when awoken:
They are afraid that other men will laugh
To hear their ignorance displayed in gaff.
Beloved, I have no pride like that. I come
Displaying all my ignorance in sum
Of sonnets in the thousands like a bum.

33 And they came to Capernaum.
And when they came into the room,
He asked them, “What were you in gloom
Disputing to yourselves about
As we were walking on the route?”
34 And they were silent then, for they
Had been disputing on the way
As to who was the greater man.
35 He sat down and he called in span
The twelve and said to them, “If any
Wants to be the first shiny penny,
He must be the last of them all
And servant in the servants’ hall.”

The dispute on who is the greater man
Is the result of Your creating plan,
By which You place in humankind the I,
Awareness of Your own divinity.
Each one of us knows that Creator God
Resides within awareness of the rod.
There is no I but the divine in pod.
With such self-consciousness all men must cry
They are the greatest in the world to spy,
Until awareness breaks through veils to show
That each is equally in divine row.
Thanks to You it does not take too much sense:
A man is not known for intelligence.
All know what being dwells within our tents.

36 And so he took a child and set
It among them and hugged the pet,
And said to them, 37 “The one who takes
Such children for my name and sakes
Receives me. And the one who gets
Me does not get me for his bets,
But the One who has set my stakes.”

The thing most relevant here is not that
Jesus makes certain that children down pat
Are baptised by the sprinkling from the vat
Soon after birth with godfers lean and fat.
What’s relevant is that Jesus remained
To hug the child he set among the pained.
To hug a child is greater in the way
Of faith and practice than the preacher’s pay,
The theologian’s spices and nosegay.
To hug a child is proof more than the rest
That Jesus was Messiah and the best.
All other aspirations might well fail,
But let me hug a child instead of wail
My creeds and liturgies in tie and vest.

38 And John answered him and he said
“Teacher, we saw someone instead
Casting out demons in your name,
Who does not follow us in claim.
And we told him he ought to stop,
Because he does not keep our prop.”
39 But Jesus said “Do not forbid.
For there is no one under lid
Who shall do a work by the power
Of my name and yet stand an hour
To speak ill of me and my tower.

The fact is every church I know forbids
Me to speak in the name of Christ on skids.
There’s hardly any person in this world
Who would not be welcomed in some church curled,
But me. I’m just about the only one
Who is not worthy to enter the run
Of faith and virtue set out in the pew.
Beloved, I am bereft of all but You.
And still I silently, unseen by cue,
Bow praying in the synagogue and aisle
Of the mosque and the church, and all the while
You feed me the unseen bread from Your pile.
The temple of my heart cannot be breached
By any who have promised and have preached.

40 “For one who’s not against us comes
To help us get through all our sums.
41 “For whoever gives you a cup
Of cold water to drink or sup
In my name, because you’re of Christ,
Truly I tell you, hot or iced,
He’ll not lose his reward in hums.

Clean water is so rare today that it
Is far more precious than gold in the kit,
And so no wonder that the simple act
Of giving it away is gratefully
Remembered in the days that have been packed
With negligence in earth’s polluting spree.
When I was a child two fountains were free:
Water for Whites Only and alongside
Water of Colored People for the ride.
Now neither one is regaled with such pride,
But both must pay more for clear water than
For what they put in tank of car and van.
Though oil still causes war, it costs us less
Than sparkling water, polluted I guess.

42 “And whoever causes one of
These little ones that come in love
Of my faith to offend in glove,
It would be better for him if
A millstone were laid on neck stiff,
And he be thrown into the sea.
43 “And if your hand offend degree,
Then cut it off. For it is better
For you to enter without fetter
Into life maimed, than with two hands
Be thrown in Hell and in the bands
Of fire unquenchable on sands,
44 “Where their worm does not die, and where
The fire is not put out of flare.
45 “And if your foot make you offend,
Cut it off, it’s better to end
In life lame than with two feet be
Thrown into Hell and in degree
Of fire unquenchable to see,
46 “Where their worm does not die, and where
The fire is not put out of flare.
47 “And if your eye offend you there,
Pull it out. For it’s better you
Enter into God’s kingdom’s pew
With one eye than with having two
Be thrown into the Hell fire’s crew,
48 “Where their worm does not die, and where
The fire is not put out of flare.
49 “For everyone’s salted with fire,
And every sacrifice on pyre
Will be salted with salt entire.
50 “Salt is good, but if salt has lost
The taste of salt, then what’s the cost?
Have salt among yourselves and be
At peace with each other’s degree.

Despite the grace and gospel, Your sent one
Still thinks to keep Your law is better done
Than anything a man or woman won.
It’s better to lose eye or hand or foot
Than commit a sin against Your law put.
Those who believe all sins were set free at
The death of Your sent one on the cross hat
Fail to consider that even with that,
It’s better to lose eye than to look at
Transgression of Your law, better to cut
Off hand and foot than keep the rock and rut
Neglecting Sabbath rest, going to kill
The criminal and foreigner on hill,
Stealing the neighbour’s property and bill.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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