ACTS OF THE APOSTLES CHAPTER 7 - 12

ACTS 7

1 Then the high priest said, “Is this so?”
2 And he said, “Brethren, fathers, lo,
The God of glory appeared to
Our father Abraham on cue
In Mesopotamia there,
Before he lived in Haran’s care,
3 “And said to him, ‘Get out of your
Country and from your family’s store,
And come to a land that I’ll show.’
4 “Then he came out and came not slow
Out of the land of the Chaldeans
And lived in Haran not for eons.
And from there, when his father died,
He moved him to this land aside
In which you now live. 5 “And God gave
Him no inheritance but grave
In it, not even where to set
His foot on or his bayonet.
But even when he had no child,
He promised to give unbeguiled
It to him for possession, and
To his descendants after-hand.
6 “But God spoke in this way: that his
Descendants would live on their biz
And in a foreign land, and that
They would bring them from where they sat
Into bondage and oppress them
For four hundred years and condemn.
7 ‘And the nation to whom they will
Be in bondage I’ll judge,’ said still
God, ‘and after that they shall come
Out and serve me in this place mum.’
8 “Then he gave him the covenant
Of circumcision commandment,
And so he produced Isaac and
Circumcised him as per command
On the eighth day, and Isaac then
Produced Jacob, and Jacob then
The twelve patriarchs among men.

Who’ve taken the day eight of circumcision
As token of dominical elision
To ignore Sabbath and to celebrate
Their Sundays as something of good and great,
Are grasping straws, I say, and grasping fast.
Such arguments are nothing here to last,
But only an excuse to disobey
The word You once pronounced in Sinai’s way.
If eighth day means the Sunday, then I guess
The same church disobeys in the address
Of circumcising none upon that score.
The eighth day’s the same day at the next door
Of week that follows hard upon the birth.
Beloved, I grasp Your word, a thing of worth.

9 “The patriarchs in envy sold
Joseph into Egypt as bold,
But God was with him 10 “and saved him
From all his troubles grave and grim,
And gave him favour and wisdom
Before Pharaoh, the king to hum
In Egypt, and he made him chief
Of Egypt and his house relief.
11 “Now famine and great trouble came
Over all the Egyptian claim
And Canaan, and our ancestors
Found no food left in all their stores.
12 “But when Jacob heard there was grain
In Egypt, he sent out in main
Our fathers first. 13 “The second time
Joseph was made known to his prime
Brothers, and Joseph’s family showed
Themselves to the Pharaoh who glowed.
14 “Then Joseph sent and called his dad
Jacob and all the kin he had,
Seventy-five people, not bad.
15 “So Jacob went down to Egypt,
And he died, and our fathers' crypt.
16 “They were carried back to Shechem
And laid in the tomb Abraham
Bought for a sum of money from
The sons of Hamor, Shechem's dad.

In Stephen's day the homiletic practice
Was telling how the ancient days impact us,
And how the older patriarchs were set
To worship You wherever good men met.
The vivid nursery tale was a thing all,
Even the elders, were glad to recall.
No wonder Stephen was a speaker known
And popular from the court to the throne.
He started with the common fund of faith
Uniting man and woman, child and wraith,
And so disarmed the prejudices till
He had the listeners agreed on the bill.
Beloved, give me too such diplomacy
Before my execution on the tee.

17 “But when the time of promise came
Near which God had sworn in His name
To Abraham, the people grew
And multiplied in Egypt too
18 “Until another king arose
Who did not know Joseph by nose.
19 “This man was vile to our folk and
Oppressed our ancestors in band,
Forcing them to expose their spawn,
Depriving them of life at dawn.
20 “Then Moses was born, and was well
Pleasing to God, and he did dwell
In his father’s house for three months.
21 “But when he was set out, at once
Pharaoh’s daughter took him away
And brought him up as her own son.
22 “And Moses was learned in the ray
Of Egypt's wisdom, and he's done
Great things in words and deeds to stay.
23 “When he was forty years old, it
Came into his heart to do fit
To his brothers, to Israel's folk.
24 “And seeing one suffer the stroke,
He defended and avenged him
Who was oppressed, and struck down grim
Egyptian. 25 “For he thought his own
Would have understood God alone
Would save them by His hand and might,
But they did not see him aright.

The plan of Moses was to save his folk.
The plan of his folk was reject the bloke.
Beloved, I ask if it had been Your way
To save the people then that very day,
If they had had the faith to follow then,
Or was it Your plan to wait years again?
The evil heart, the fearful heart, the proud
Comes welling up to steer the wayward crowd,
And so it's never know what You'd have done
If they had listened to Your chosen son.
It may be that the forty years he spent
In wilderness was futility lent,
Merely turned to the good. Moses downcast
Failed even circumcision in the blast.

26 “And the next day he came on two
Of them as they were fighting too,
And would make peace among the crew,
Saying 'Why do you wrong each one
The other?' 27 “But the one who'd done
The wrong rejected him to say
'Who made you ruler and to sway
Over us in your judgement's pay?
28 “Will you kill me as yesterday
You did the Egyptian?’ 29 “At that
Moses fled to live in the flat
Of Midian's land, with two sons' hat.

Let me take here a lesson in the truth
Of justice I've been loving since my youth.
Never let me speak up for the oppressed
Or give a hand to the lost and the guest.
Let me stick to my own in life and deed
And leave the downtrodden to others' greed.
Let me not boast of justice or of reign
Of hope upon the golden, booted plain.
Only the hand of power can lift the load,
Only the steeped in gold can raise the goad.
The simple soul that's from birth only known
The gold of sunrise here before Your throne
Can never help the helpless. Let alone,
Beloved, the burdened on a burdened road.

30 “And when forty years had passed, then
An Angel of YHWH came again
To him in a flame of fire in
A bush, in the wilderness din
Of Mount Sinai. 31 “When Moses saw,
He was amazed and stood in awe,
And as he came near to gaze, then
The voice of YHWH came once again,
32 “‘I am the God of your ancestors:
The God of Abraham and questers
Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’
And Moses trembled at the rub
And so he did not dare to look.
33 ‘Then the LORD said to him and shook,
“Take sandals off your feet, the place
Where you stand's holy ground and trace.

The taking off of shoes is said to be
Mere act of cultural in its decree,
And when we who are not used to the way
Come, we need not remove our shoes to pray.
If Moses had been just another Slav,
Or German or a Frenchman, would he have
Been still commanded to bare foot and toe?
Or would You have remembered on the go
His culture was a different sort of show?
Or what of those who are too poor to wear
A shoe at all, and must walk with feet bare?
No shoe to take off, can such come before
The holy bush and bow down at its floor
In their attire still secular, adore?

34 “I've surely seen My folk's oppression
Who are in Egypt, heard confession
Of their groaning and have come down
To save them from the wicked town.
So come now, I will send you to
Egypt to save the holy crew.'
35 “This Moses whom they had rejected,
Saying ‘Who made you one selected
To rule and judge?' is the one God
Sent ruler and saviour on sod
By hand of the angel who showed
Himself upon the bush that glowed.

The men who listened to Stephen's good word
Were not too stupid to know what they heard.
They knew that he meant Israel in old time
Rejected Moses in his fame and prime,
And so God gave them instead of the great,
A shepherd bent with age and desert mate.
The failure now to take Christ and his hand
He makes the same as that in Canaan's land,
And criticizes ruler man and priest
For failing to rejoice in the increased.
Beloved, I know the Scriptures are so near
And full that they can be made to appear
Supporting every argument of man.
So what of Stephen's words in Your own plan?

36 “He brought them out, after he'd shown
Wonders and signs before the throne
Of Egypt, and in the Red Sea,
And in the wilderness to be
For forty years. 37 “This is that one
Moses who said to the folk won
Of Israel, ‘The LORD your God
Will raise up for you with a prod
A Prophet like me from your kin.
Him you shall hear and you will win.’

Here Stephen tries to show that Jesus is
The one Moses predicted in his fizz,
A prophet like him, bold and brazen too,
To lead the folk of Israel, the whole crew.
But when I read the story writ of old,
Methinks the one of whom Moses had told
Was answer to his prayer for leadership,
And Joshua's that answer, and was hip
To bring the folk into Palestine's shore
And show them where to live and to adore.
Beloved, though prophecy is called around
To double service on the fainting ground,
That doubling and manipulating sound
Raises more doubt in me than any found.

38 “This is he who with desert folk
And with the angel there who spoke
To him on Mount Sinai, and with
Our own ancestors, who received
The living oracles unsleeved
To give to us, 39 “whom our ancestors
Would not obey, but left as pesters.
And in their hearts they turned around
To go back to Egyptian ground,
40 “Saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods
To go before us, as with rods
For this Moses who brought us out
Of the land of Egyptian flout,
We do not know where he has gone.’
41 “And they made a calf like a pawn
In those days, offered sacrifice
To the image, and thought them nice,
The works of their own hands and drawn.

When Stephen stated that the golden calf
Was work of human hand, I have to laugh.
When Aaron, who was there, came to explain,
He said it just stepped out upon the plain
From the fire and the melting pot to show
The people there the fine Egyptian glow.
Work of the hand of Aaron, doubtless it
Required a pretty job to make it fit.
And yet in modesty Aaron replied
That the gold itself had given a ride.
Gold is the flesh of gods in every place,
And human hands love to touch it and trace
Eternal wealth and life beneath the row
Of handled grace upon the guilding side.

42 “God turned and gave them up to serve
The host of heaven and to swerve,
As it is written in the book
Of prophets, 'Did you ever look
To offer to Me slaughtered beast
And sacrifice during the feast
Of forty years in wilderness,
O house of Israel, confess?
43 “You also took up in your right
The tent of Moloch in My sight,
And the star of your god Remphan,
Images which you made in plan
To worship, so I'll carry you
Away beyond Babylon's view.’

The host of heaven are the gods of late
Who manage from old times the things of state
In every empire of the ages free,
And they return to rule eternally.
The host of heaven, the sundisc of the right
In the Egyptian modes of bovine fright,
And Moloch whose firm arms with heart allow
The burning of the sacrificial how,
Call still the fractured farms society
To war and peace beside the money tree.
Beloved, deliver not my soul to rest
Within the treasured temples of the best,
But rather in the desert burnt and still
To come before Your throne upon Your hill.

44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle
Of testimony in debacle
Of wilderness, as He appointed,
Instructing Moses as anointed
To make it according to plan
And pattern that he came to scan,
45 “Which our ancestors, in their turn,
Inherited and brought to learn
With Joshua into the land
Possessed by the Gentiles that stand,
Whom God drove out before the face
Of our ancestors in the race
Until the days of David's grace
Before God, and asked then to find
A dwelling place for Jacob's God.
47 “But Solomon built Him aligned
A house. 48 “However, on the sod
The Most High does not live in such
Temples made with hands and to touch,
As the prophet says: 49 ‘Heaven's My throne,
And earth's My footstool. What house stone
Will you build for me? says the LORD,
Or what's place of My rest restored?
50 Has My hand not made all these stored?’

The earthly tent may seem too small for You,
The universe itself, if I be true,
Cannot contain the fullness of You where
You pause upon the universal stair.
The sanctuary writ upon the sky,
The tattered cloth of temenos to try,
None of these things suffice to hold Your throne,
While You rise greater than all things of stone.
Beloved, the only temple where You dwell
With room for all Your attributes in spell
Is that heart human You created well
To bear the I-ness that spoke Israfel,
The consciousness of being God apart
From all the plasters of the falser start.

51 “You stiffnecked and uncircumcised
In heart and ears! You always prised
Resistance to the Holy Ghost,
As did your fathers, so you boast.
52 “Which of the prophets did your dads
Not persecute? And on their pads
They killed those who foretold the coming
Of the Just One, of whom you're humming
As those who betrayed him and killed,
53 “Who have received the law fulfilled
By the hand of angels and not
Observed it on the hallowed spot.”

Be not surprised that humans come to kill
The very ones who speak in Your voice still.
You placed within the human breast the beat
Of I-awareness on the scattered street.
It's only natural each heart with that sound
Finds blasphemous the other on the round.
For You are one and there's no other god,
And yet that fact is known upon the sod
By all the millions who participate
In that great godhead of the heathen state.
The secret knowledge is that You alone
Exist to sit upon the divine throne,
And we who fight are just reflections here
Of the divinity beyond the ear.

54 When they heard these things they were cut
To the heart, and they gnashed in strut
Against him with their teeth in glut.
55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit,
Gazed into heaven and saw there near it
The glory of God, and Jesus
Standing at the right glorious
Hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! I see
The heavens opened and degree
Of Son of Man standing beside
God's right hand, though these folk deride!”

It may be blasphemy in priestly ear
To hear that I stand as a man appear
At the right hand of Your throne to relate
The human sort of knowing of the state.
It may be blasphemy for Jesus Christ
To split the atom and raise the dead triced,
But still the vision has an hour and day
And floats upon the mellowed beacon's ray.
Beloved, the heaven's have been open since
Fair Stephen felt the blows begin to wince,
And glory has been pouring on the ground
While many wander without hearing sound
But only take the daily task and grind
Without the brightness of the gloried mind.

57 Then they cried out with a loud voice,
And stopped their ears, and took the choice
To run to his attack together,
58 And they threw him out of town whether
They would stone him to death at last.
And witnesses laid down and cast
Their clothes at the feet of a young
Man named Saul who had a glib tongue.
59 And they stoned Stephen as he called
Out saying “Lord Jesus installed,
Receive my spirit from the walled.”
60 Then he knelt down, cried with a loud
Voice, “Lord, do not leave them endowed
With this sin.” And so saying he
Fell sleeping in eternity.

Lord Jesus takes my spirit day to day
And hides it with his loving sort of way
Behind the spirits seven that infest
The altars in the sky that lie the rest.
Lord Jesus has gone up into the sky
To watch the centuries in flight pass by,
But when he is not bored with what he sees,
He bends down to remark upon the breeze.
I lay my clothes at the feet of the man
Who stands collecting shoes under the scan
Of the mosque door, and enter in by plan
To bow down nude before the minbar sore,
And find the outraged worshippers take me
And throw me from the carpet turbidly.

ACTS 8

1 And Saul consented to his death.
At that time there arose the breath
Of a great persecution of
The group of called out ones in love
Which was at Jerusalem, and
They were all scattered in the land
Of Judea and Samaria,
Except for the apostles' stand.
2 And devout men carried Stephen
Away making lament again.
3 As for Saul, he made havoc of
The group of called out ones to shove
In every house, and dragging off
Both men and women by the scroff
To prison where to share their love.

The Roman Catholic Church did not invent
The Inquisition, though they may have meant.
It was an institution known in time,
Which Saint Paul himself worked in shameful crime.
If Saul turned from his evil way to make
His restitution for the Saviour's sake,
His heart seems not to have been in the wake,
To judge by those who followed him to bake.
Beloved, let me turn every coward out
Of my heart that lusts for the knot and clout,
Until my temple is laid bare to You,
And nothing of such power comes to view.
Beloved, let me once cleansed not take the rope
And banish other men from light and hope.

4 So those scattered went everywhere
To preach the word. 5 Then Philip's share
Was to Samarian town where
He preach Christ to them and with care.
6 The multitudes with one accord
Regarded what Philip in horde
Spoke, and heard and saw all the great
Signs and wonders he did in state.
7 For unclean spirits, crying loud,
Came out of many they had cowed,
And many who were paralysed
And lame were healed in holy guise.
8 And there was great joy in that town.
9 There was a certain man's renown
Called Simon, who before had done
His sorcery in the town's stun
And amazed the Samarian folk,
Claiming that he was a great bloke,
10 To whom they all gave heed, from least
To the greatest, saying unceased,
“This man is the great power of God.”
11 They listened to him and his prod
Because he had amazed them long
With his sorceries which were strong.
12 But when they believed Philip's word
As he preached the things that they heard
Of the kingdom of God and name
Of Jesus Christ, both men that came
And women were baptised in herd.
13 Then Simon himself too believed,
And when he was baptised achieved
To stay with Philip, he was filled
With his amazement to be billed
To see the miracles and signs
That were done by Philip's designs.

If things that Philip did by Your permission
And power gained such a local recognition,
I'd think that after such a great ignition
Today all things would have turned bright and new,
All illness would be hardly minded, few
Would suffer, and the world would be a great
And wondered kingdom of the good in rate.
If things happened then to predict the state.
But everywhere I turn, the ones who heal
By faith turn out to be hypocrite's peel,
And charlatans alone are filled to seal
The Holy Ghost and touch the leper's pate.
Beloved, I'd love to see the cunning mate
Who can deliver on the promised reel.

14 Now when apostles who were at
Jerusalem heard that the fat
Samaria'd received the word
Of God, they sent Peter and stirred
John to them, 15 who, when they had come
Prayed for them to receive the hum
Of Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet
It had fallen upon none set.
They had only been baptized in
The name of the Lord Jesus win.
17 Then they laid hands on them, and they
Received the Holy Spirit's sway.
18 And when Simon saw that the laying
On of apostles’ hands was paying
The Holy Spirit, he too offered
Them money, 19 saying “Give me proffered
This power also, so the one
On whom I lay hands will have won
The Holy Spirit.” 20 Peter said
“Your money perish with your head,
Because you thought the gift of God
Could be bought with money in pod!
21 “You've neither part nor portion here,
For your heart is not right in fear
Of God. 22 “Repent therefore of this
Your wickedness, pray God remiss
If maybe the thought of your heart
May be forgiven for your part.
23 “For I see that you're poisoned by
Bitterness and iniquity.”
24 Then Simon answered and said, “Pray
To YHWH for me, that what you say
May not come on me any day.”
25 So when they'd testified and preached
The word of YHWH, they came and reached
Jerusalem, preaching the plans
In towns of the Samaritans.

For centuries the blame lies on the man
Simon for trying to buy up the ban,
For hoping he might have the power to heal
Instead of merely fooling prince appeal.
But Simon's a man after my own heart.
I'd give my fortune to just have a part
That played the good physician from the start.
I'd touch the sick and quietly retreat,
Leaving behind me health and wealth to eat.
I give each man and daughter by my touch
The blessings that I read about so much.
But I know that if I should find that spring
Of healing and spread quietly the thing,
Like Simon, I'd meet hatred on the wing.

26 An angel of YHWH spoke to Philip,
Saying, “Get up and go the hill up
Toward the south along the road
Down from Jerusalem to goad
Gaza.” This is a desert load.
27 So he got up and went his way.
See a man of Ethiopia,
A eunuch of authority
Under Candace the queen to be
Of the Ethiopians fee,
Who had charge of her treasury,
And had come to Jerusalem
To worship there by stratagem,
28 And was returning. As he sat
In his chariot on his mat,
He read Isaiah's prophecy.
29 The Spirit said to Philip, “See,
Go near and overtake this car.”
30 So Philip ran to him afar,
And heard him read the prophet star
Isaiah, and said, “Do you know
And understand the reading's show?”
31 And he said “How can I, unless
Someone guides me, except to guess?”
And he asked Philip to come up
And sit with him and share his cup.

I read Your word revealed, Beloved, and know
That it is clear to me because I go
To heaven-sent, appointed guides instead
Of priest or mullah to find out Your will.
The Ethiopian officer that read
The prophet’s script and wondered reading still
Could not know what its meaning was until
He found a guide by whom he might be led.
How can I know Your meaning then as I
Peruse the sacred text with whirl and cry?
The forties turn and sevens show the way,
The Master of the Age must have his say.
What spirit then will whirl him into view
To show that You are One and what to do?

32 The place in Scripture which he read
Was this: “He was as a sheep led
To slaughter, as a lamb before
Its shearer is silent in store,
So he did not open his lips.
33 In his humiliation's sips
His justice was taken away,
And who'll declare his family's day?
His life is taken from the earth.”
34 The eunuch said for Philip's worth,
“I ask you, of whom does this man
The prophet say this, of himself
Or of some other man or elf?”
35 Then Philip opened up his mouth,
And starting at this Scripture south,
Preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they
Went down the road, they came to stay
Near to some water. Eunuch said,
“See, here is water. As I'm led
What hinders me being baptised?”
37 Then Philip said “If you're apprised
Of faith with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said that day,
“I do believe that Jesus Christ
Is Son of God [Messiah priced].”
38 So he commanded the car stopped.
And both Philip and eunuch mopped
Down in the water, he baptised
Him. 39 Now when they came up revised
Out of the water, YHWH's Spirit
Caught Philip away from the kit,
So the eunuch saw him no more,
But went on his way as before,
Rejoicing. 40 But Philip was found
At Azotus. And passing round,
He preached in all the cities till
He came to Caesarean hill.

Whether it was a word added to share
Or not, the beauty of the right to bear
The burden to the flood, to dip into
The cleansing water, is no thing to rue.
The Ethiopian can change no skin,
But You, Beloved, deliver from all sin
Those who require the word be read aright
To lead them in the good and ample light.
Beloved, baptise me now once more and make
My life a cleaner place in waters' wake,
And I shall rise up from the flood and see
No man remaining to comfort, cheer me
Except invisibly You on Your throne,
Who are my light and love, and You alone.

ACTS 9

1 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder
Against the Lord's disciples further,
Went to the high priest 2 and asked letters
From him to the synagogues' fetters
Of Damascus, so that if he
Found any who were of the wee
Way, whether men or women, he
Might bring them to Jerusalem.
3 As he journeyed in stratagem
He came near to Damascus, and
Suddenly a light shone round grand
From the sky. 4 He fell to the ground,
And heard a voice relaying round,
“Saul, Saul, why persecute you me?”
5 And he said “Who are you, sir, see?”
Then the lord said, “I'm Jesus, whom
You persecute. It's hard in room
For you to kick against the goads.”
6 So he, trembling, amazed for loads,
Said, “Sir, what would you have me do?”
Then the lord said to him in view,
“Get up and go into the town,
And you will be told without frown
The very thing that you must do.”

Is vision personal really a thing
Worth following in face of every fling
The public opinion may raise and flail?
I doubt the vision personal is hale.
Be true to self's truism without fail,
And yet the very tongue that fosters it,
When faced with the lone wolf, will throw a fit.
It's leadership instead that wins the day
And praise on and off the Damascus way.
The selfish pride of leadership is sold
To public opinion, leaves in the cold
Ingenious insights, to order the troop
Of ovine followers who cough and poop,
And prance about the ring, jump through the hoop.

7 And the men who journeyed with him
Stood speechless, hearing a sound dim
But seeing no one in their vim.
8 Then Saul got up from off the ground,
And when his eyes were opened round
He saw no one. But they led him
By the hand and also brought him
Into Damascus safe and trim.
9 And he was three days without sight,
And neither ate nor drank a bite.

The one who sees a vision on the road,
An insight of reality unstowed,
Must rise up blind to all that others see.
That is a rule of insight's minstrelsy.
Beloved, give me no visions where men ride
Across the dusty plain here at my side.
Let me not see the angels that surround
The havens of both wall and tree and ground.
Let me not know the glories that remain
Upon my head where laurels have not lain.
Let me stay with the mediocre crowd
In comfort, where no still small voice aloud
Can turn me from the pottage to the meat
Of the celestial nectar for a treat.

10 Now there was a certain disciple
At Damascus named Ananias,
And to him the lord said in griple
And in a vision, “Ananias.”
And he said “Here I am, Lord by us.”
11 So the lord said to him, “Arise
And go to the street called Straight prize,
And ask at the house of Judas
For a man called Saul of Tarsus,
For indeed, he is praying thus.
12 “And in a vision he has seen
A man named Ananias deem
To come in and put his hand on
Him, so he might receive sight's dawn.”
13 Then Ananias answered, “Lord,
I've heard from many and deplored
About this man, how much harm he
Has done to your saints in degree
There in Jerusalem. 14 “And here
He has authority to steer
From the chief priests to bind all who
Call on your name, sit in your pew.”
15 But the lord said to him, “Go, for
He is a chosen vessel store
Of mine to bear my name before
Gentiles, kings, and Israel's folk more.
16 “For I'll show him how many things
He must suffer for my name’s stings.”

This Ananias is a man replete
With the same kind of heart that is my seat.
When You give him a word, he answers back
As though the King of Universe in stack
Could be informed by one small man in lack.
He braves the infinite in power and stall,
And questions Your commands before the ball.
No reverence makes his pious pate appear
Before You quivering with sight and fear.
Beloved, treat me like this my brother met
In far Damascus, when I have bone set
To doubt Your words as human sayings yet.
Be patient with me as You were with him,
Maybe like him I shall obey with vim.

17 And Ananias went his way
And entered the house, where he'd lay
His hands on him, he said “Dear Saul,
Brother, the Lord Jesus did call
To you on the road as you came,
Though only you could see the flame,
And sent me so you may receive
Your sight and be filled with reprieve
Of Holy Spirit.” 18 Straight away
There fell from his eyes like scales stay,
And he received his sight at once,
Got up and was baptised for stunts.
19 So when he had received food, he
Was strengthened. Then Saul spent freely
Some days with the disciples at
Damascus. 20 Straight away at that
He preached Christ in the synagogues,
That he's the Son of God [Messiah].
21 Then all who heard were amazed frogs,
And said “Is this not the pariah
Who destroyed those who called on this
Name in Jerusalem to kiss,
And has come here for that purpose,
So that he might bring them bound to
The chief priests in hullabaloo?”
22 But Saul increased the more in strength,
And confounded the Jews at length
Who lived in Damascus, and proved
That this was the Christ he behoved.

The meaning of baptism in the book
Of Acts is more than taking just a look
At life eternal that's sold in the nook
Of Jesus having been raised from the grave.
It means to recant from being a slave
To the establishment of priestly rave,
And from the paid job of the temple court,
And from the safe and human sort of port.
The meaning of baptism here is set
Established as for Jesus, when he met
The dove of Your own power and spirit yet
Descending on the head of small and true,
By-passing all the golden temple crew.
Baptism is a spirit thing in view.

23 Now after many days were past,
The Jews plotted to kill at last.
24 But their plot became known to Saul.
And they watched the gates to appal
Both day and night, to kill and maul.
25 Then the disciples took him out
By night and let him down throughout
The wall in a large basket stout.
26 When Saul came to Jerusalem,
He tried to join disciples' hem,
But they were all afraid of him,
And did not believe he was trim.
27 But Barnabas took him and brought
Him to the apostles he sought.

Of all apostles Barnabas was most
Fearless and honourable, the perfect host.
He took Saul when rejected by the others
And held him dear and close as would be brothers.
Musahiblik was thus confirmed by him
Who shared with Saul both food and life and limb,
And took David’s and Jonathan’s example,
And gave a partner’s witness true and ample.
Let me too set aside, relinquish all
The prejudice of label and the pall
Of crass traditions that enslave the soul.
Let me look past the garment and the bowl
To see in each the one and only me
That is foundation of the Deity.

And he declared to them how he
Had seen the Lord on the road free,
And that he had spoken to him,
And how he had preached bold and trim
At Damascus and in the name
Of Jesus. 28 So he came to claim
With them at Jerusalem, and
To come and go out in the land.
29 And he spoke boldly in the name
Of the Lord Jesus just the same
Disputing with the Hellenists,
But they tried to kill him with fists.
30 When the brothers found out, they brought
Him down to Caesarea sought
And sent him out to Tarsus wrought.
31 Then the groups of called out ones through
All Judea, Galilee too,
And Samaria had peace and
Were edified upon the land.
And walking in the fear of YHWH
And in the comfort that's in view
Of Holy Spirit, so they grew.

If only ranging killers now who roam
Jerusalem in name of sacred home
Could once be pacified like good St. Paul,
Who used to satisfy the urge and call
To slaughter with a bill signed legally
To execute the lovely and lowly,
Then there could be a comfort yet around
The Palestinian towns on the ground.
It's not political or military
Solutions needed for the broom and cherry,
But rather men with vision of the wary,
The vision of the peace that can be found
When all or many have respect around
Your holy name, the holy self abound.

32 It happened now as Peter went
Through all the land, that he was sent
Down to the saints who did present
In Lydda. 33 There he found a man
Named Aeneas, who had in span
Of eight years been bedridden and
Was paralysed. 34 And Peter said
To him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ
Heals you. Get up and make your bed.”
Then he got up and in a triced.
35 So all who lived at Lydda and
Sharon saw and turned to YHWH's hand.

Beloved, I've read translating Your word from
The first pages of Genesis in sum,
And always was familiar with the plot
Of what I read until this very spot.
How is it that in fifty years of reading,
I had missed this small story of good breeding?
My mind was wandering at the moment when
I read it earlier, or then forgot.
Beloved, I make my way here among men
Who go unnoticed, perhaps because I
Am caught up in the glories of the sky.
We go unhealed, both he and I and all
Who miss the meeting and familiar call
To low unknowingly within the stall.

36 At Joppa lived a certain lady
Who was a disciple not shady,
Named Tabitha, which is translated
Dorcas. This woman was elated
To do good works of charity.
37 But it occurred in those days that
She fell ill and died on her mat.
When they'd washed her, they laid her out
In a second-floor room about.
38 And since Lydda was near Joppa,
And the disciples heard with awe
That Peter was there, they sent two
Men to him, imploring not to
Delay in coming in their view.
39 Peter got up and went with them.
When he had come, they brought in hem
Of the second-floor room in crew.
And all the widows stood by him
And wept, and showed the tunics trim
And garments which Dorcas had made
While she was with them where they stayed.
40 But Peter put them all out, and
Knelt down and prayed upon the sand.
And turning to the body said
“Tabitha, get up from your bed.”
And she opened her eyes, and when
She saw Peter, sat up again.
41 Then he gave her his hand and lifted
Her up, and when he had been gifted
To call the saints and widows, he
Presented her alive and free.
42 And it became known through the town
Of Joppa, and many a clown
Believed on the lord without frown.
43 So it was that he stayed some days
In Joppa with Simon, in praise
For being a tanner in ways.

How many ladies I have known who share
The mind of Dorcas in the way they care
For those around them! I've seen many make
The garments for the poor, I've seen them shake
The mills so greedily gathered to take
The chill from hovels where the orphans lie
And cough before the fire, and yet not die.
The good in this world's done by simple folk
Who in their humble ways, stroke after stroke,
Beat on the granite mountain heart of man,
And fail to change the world. But in their plan,
They change the life of this poor child or that,
And leave the rule of earth to great and fat.
Beloved, I wonder where justice is at.

ACTS 10

1 There was a certain man who lived
In Caesarea called and sieved
Cornelius, centurion
Of the Italian Regiment,
As it was called and it was drawn
In every city, every tent,
2 A devout man, one who feared God
With all his household on the sod,
Who gave alms freely to the folk,
And prayed to God always and spoke.

Fasting and pilgrimage are all that's left
To make Cornelius one not bereft
Of the five virtues the first century
Called in to play, avoiding heresy.
Devout he was, and that may truly mean
He fasted twice a week as all had seen.
He may have been to visit in the court
Or Gentiles in the temple for his sport.
Beloved, if fearing You and giving alms
Unites with prayer and without any qualms
Being a man devout, let me join him,
Though he was just uncircumcised and dim.
There's always time for bustle and for trim,
And for a rest beneath the rough-leaved palms.

3 About the ninth hour of the day
He saw clearly in vision's sway
An angel of God coming in
And saying to him in a din,
“Cornelius!” 4 And when he saw
Him he was filled with fear and awe,
And said “What is it, sir?” So he
Said to him, “Your prayers and your alms
Have come up for a memory's palms
Before God. 5 “Now send men to Joppa,
And send for Simon Peter hopper,
As he is called. 6 “He's lodging there
With Simon, a tanner, whose share
Is by the sea. he'll tell you what
You must do.” 7 When the angel shut
Who spoke to him had gone away,
Cornelius called two servants' pay
And a devout soldier from those
Who waited on him there as chose.
8 So when he had explained all things
To them, he sent to Joppa's springs.

I wonder how Cornelius may have known
It was an angel came to him alone.
Perhaps it was the Pharisaic wings
That fluttered all around celestial springs
That made him know the messenger had come
From heights above the human sort of sum.
Perhaps it was the shining of the skin
That covered face and made him think him kin
To aery and light beings silken thin.
If I am ever taught beyond the leaf
To see a speaking angel to my grief,
Let it be one who has a faithful word
To bring to me to make my heart one stirred.
Then I shall shape the angel from the herd.

9 The next day, as they went their way
And came near to the city's stay,
Peter went to housetop to pray,
About the sixth hour of the day.
10 And he was hungry, he would eat,
But while they were cooking the treat,
He fell into a trance 11 and saw
The heavens opened and a thing
Like a great sheet tied up with string
At the four corners, coming down
To him toward the earth in frown.
12 In it there were all kinds of beasts,
Four-footed animals for feasts
Upon the earth, wild ones and those
That creep and birds of air in rows.
13 And a voice came to him, “Get up,
Peter, slaughter and eat like tup.”
14 But Peter said “Not so, sir! I
Have never eaten on the sly
Anything common or unclean.”
15 And a voice spoke to him again
The second time, “What God has cleaned
You must not call common unscreened.”
16 This was done three times. And the thing
Was taken up to the sky's ring.

The Christian sort of dummy makes this text
Excuse for eating trash and unperplexed.
It's sure the import of the vision sweet
Was not the kind or not the kind of meat
That Peter and all later had to eat.
It had to do with verdicts that relay
That some men are too defiled in their way
To join in conversation at a meal.
There are still Muslim groupies who still feel
That contact with a pagan sort of man
Defiles believers in the divine plan.
Beloved, let me take from the lesson taught
The right of human cleansing in the plot,
And leave dead dogs uneaten where they rot.

17 While Peter wondered to himself
What this vision should mean on shelf,
The men sent from Cornelius came
To ask for Simon's house of fame,
And stood before the gate as tame.
18 And they called and asked whether Simon,
Whose surname was Peter, if why, man,
He had been staying there in frame.
19 While Peter thought about the sight,
The Spirit said to him in light,
“Indeed, three men are seeking you.
20 “Get up therefore, go down in view
And go with them, and doubting nought,
For I have sent them in their lot.”

This only goes to show in mystic vein
How vision as exterior and plain
Is for the mere beginner in the weal.
The true adept needs no sight at the heel,
But can remember what the Spirit speaks
In intellectual sights' hide and seeks.
Interior in vision in degree
Is also available in the spree.
Beloved, I need no angel vision nor
The Spirit teaching me beside the door.
I rather hunger for the closer kiss
Of the divine I breathe and fail to miss.
Let sight and wonder sleep beneath the load,
But let me linger on the finer road.

21 Then Peter went down to the men
Who had been sent to him again
From Cornelius, and said, “Yes, I
Am he whom you seek. Now then why
Have you come?” 22 And they said, “The man
Cornelius the centurion,
A just man, one who fears God and
Has good report among the brand
Of the Jews, was given the planned
Divine by a holy angel
To call you to his house a spell,
And to hear words from you as well.”

If anybody comes to me to say
An angel sent him on the holy way
To hear the message that I might relay,
I'll be sure not to open up my door.
I've got enough to deal with on the shore
Of frozen lake and lamplight I ignore.
If anybody comes to tell me that
An angel sent him, I'll send him out flat.
Beloved, the angels that peck on the glass
Of winter windows ice-flowered in the pass
Are sprightly, it is true, but none require
The sending to another house afire.
The raven and the sparrow are in class
Beyond the pigeons in their dovely mire.

23 Then he invited them inside
And asked them there and to abide.
On the next day Peter went off
With them, and some brothers to doff
From Joppa went with him to ride.
24 And the next day they entered in
Caesarea. Now Cornelius
Was waiting for them, and with fuss
Had called together all his kin
As well as friends to hear the din.
25 As Peter came in, Cornelius
Met him and fell down at his feet
And bowed before him in retreat.
26 But Peter lifted him up, saying,
“Stand up, I'm also a man swaying.”

Though fervent and ready to join the church,
These Gentiles have an attitude to smirch.
The first thing they would do is worship men,
And have to be corrected once again.
That posture has not ended, no, not in
The flight of centuries of Gentile sin
Caught and taught from the pulpit and the din
Of Christian worship's own hymnodic kin.
Beloved, let me bow if I must to You,
But not to any other in the pew,
Not even Jesus Christ, one thought as God
To bring the brow of faithful to the sod.
Beloved, let me bow in the dust and view
Of You alone among the peas in pod.

27 And as he talked with him, he went
In and found many come as sent.
28 Then he said to them, “You know how
Unlawful it is for the brow
Of Jewish man to keep in crowd
Or go around with those allowed
From other nations. But God's shown
Me that I should not call, condone
Any man common or unclean.
29 “Therefore I came as you have seen
As soon as I was sent to lean.
I ask then why you sent for me.”
30 Cornelius said “Four days ago
When I was fasting at this hour,
And at the ninth hour in my bower
I prayed in my house, and indeed,
A man stood before me in weed
Of shining clothing, 31 “and he said,
‘Cornelius, your prayer has been led,
And your alms are remembered in
The sight of God. 32 ‘So send to win
From Joppa Simon, whose surname
Is Peter. He's lodging in same
House of Simon, a tanner, by
The sea. When he comes, he'll reply.'
33 “So I sent to you straight away,
And you've done well to come to stay.
So now we're all here before God,
To hear all by command of rod.”

A light's about to come on in the mind
Of Peter to see Gentiles good and kind
Are just as ready to be taken in
By You as Jews who have given up their sin.
The concept of the ummah is a thing
Perennial among the human sting,
And thinking that a man is unclean for
The country that he comes from is a lore
That is reborn in every sort of state
Where pride awakens fast not to be late.
Beloved, the whole humanity's unclean
For thought and deed, though words cannot be seen.
Beloved, the whole humanity is here
In pristine show of witness to the clear.

34 Then Peter opened mouth and said
“In truth I see that God instead
Does not show partiality.
35 “But of each nationality
Any who fears Him and does right,
He is accepted in His sight.
36 “The word He sent to Israel's folk,
Preaching peace through Jesus Christ's stroke,
Who is the lord of every bloke,
37 “That word you know, which was proclaimed
Throughout all Judaea and famed,
And began from Galilee when
John had preached baptism again,
38 “How God anointed Jesus then
Of Nazareth with Holy Spirit
And with power, who went round or near it
To do good and to heal all who
Were oppressed by what devils do,
For God was with him in his pew.

No doubt good Peter would have told the truth
About the Lord Jesus Christ from his youth,
That he is God Almighty and with ruth,
But he feared that the pagan sort of wit
Would just acknowledge him to stand or sit
With the whole pantheon of kin and kit.
No, I'm just cynical. This verse is true
To show that Jesus Christ is just not You.
He was anointed by You, he was sent
To heal and do good things that You had meant.
And last it says that You were with the guy,
Which means You're two distinct bodies to fly.
No doubt good Peter told the truth that he
Was not the same person as Yours truly.

39 “And we are witnesses of all
Things which he did both in the thrall
Of the Jews and Jerusalem,
Whom they killed by hanging on hem
Of a tree. 40 “Him God raised up on
The third day, and showed him to dawn,
41 “Not to all the folk, but to some
Witnesses chosen by God's hum,
Even to us who ate and drank
With him after he rose from dank
Tomb of the dead. 42 “And he commanded
Us to preach to the people landed,
And to bear witness that it's he
Who was ordained by God to be
Judge of the living and the dead.
43 “To him all the prophets have said
That through his name, those who believe
In him will forgiveness receive.”

The scandal of the cross is not so much
The fact they killed an innocent to touch,
Nor that it was a painful death and charged
With lies compounded falsely and enlarged.
The scandal was not so much that the way
Was a betrayal of both land and day,
And even of one of the twelve for pay.
The scandal of the cross was more to find
In the fact that those who looked on were blind
To the love that the dying man looked on,
Finding in every face around, both pawn
And soldier and haughty centurion on,
Reflection of Your face. Each human face
Looked with Your eyes, and yet the fatal trace.

44 While Peter was still speaking these,
The Holy Spirit fell with ease
Upon all those who heard the word.
45 And those of the circumcised herd
Who believed were amazed and stirred,
All those who came in Peter's crew,
Because of the gift come in view
Of the Holy Spirit poured out
On the Gentiles also to flout.
46 For they heard them speak with tongues and
Magnify God upon the land.
Then Peter answered, 47 “Can a man
Forbid water, that these in span
Should not be baptized who have got
The Holy Spirit like our plot?”
48 And he commanded them to be
Baptized in the Lord's name in fee.
Then they asked him to stay freely
A few days in their home and lot.

Baptism seems to have been in the thought
Of some and sundry privilege when sought
By Jew and circumcised. The wonder got
An upper hand when spirit graced the band
And spoke with every tongue found in the land.
I speak in tongues as many as the rank
And guile around me, in both mart and bank,
And yet baptisms fail on sunny days,
And I find myself trucked in humble praise,
The smaller speech of wind and bumble bee,
The twitter of the fowl and crickety
About the dooryard. Let no god hear me
And half-grant half-request and let me fall
Into my own well with roof but not wall.

ACTS 11

1 Now the apostles and the brothers
Who were in Judaea like others
Heard that the Gentiles had also
Received the word of God in show.
2 When Peter sought Jerusalem,
The circumcised crew, all of them,
Contended with him, 3 as they said
“You went with uncircumcised bred
And even ate with them instead!”

I do confess this gross sin on my part
Of eating bread with uncircumcised heart.
Uncircumcision is the local bill,
And hardly any others come to fill
Their baskets at my table, nor do I
Find circumcised at table though I try.
The last laugh is that knives today are not
So sharp as old flint ones of ancient plot,
And so I ask if any stone unspurned
Is better than the steel blades I have learned.
The letter of the paw falls back upon
The piercing and the slicing of the dawn,
And when all's done and said, the race is drawn
For what some have not bled and others earned.

4 But Peter explained it to them
As it had happened from the start,
Saying 5 “I was in town apart
In Joppa praying, and in trance
I saw a vision and a dance
Of something coming like a sheet
Down from the sky, corners in pleat,
And it arrived beside my seat.
6 “I looked at it and thought about it,
I saw four-footed beasts to rout it,
Wild things, and creeping things and birds
Of the air. 7 “And I heard like herds
A voice that said to me, ‘Get up,
Peter, and slaughter, fill your cup.'
8 “But I said, ‘Not so, Lord! For naught
Of common or unclean in time
Has entered in my mouth for crime.'
9 “But the voice answered me again
From heaven, ‘What God has now then
Cleansed you must not call common men.’
10 “Now this was done three times, and all
Were drawn up once more in heaven's hall.
11 “At that very moment, three men
Stood before the house of my den,
Being sent from Caesarea
To me. 12 “The Spirit then of awe
Told me to go with them, nor doubt.
Moreover these six brothers stout
Went with me and we came into
The man's house, I and all the crew.
13 “And he told us how he had seen
An angel standing in between
His house, who said to him, ‘Send men
To Joppa, and call for Simon
Whose surname's Peter, 14 ‘who will tell
You words by which you and all then
Of your household will be saved well.’
15 “As I began to speak, the Holy
Spirit fell upon them, as rolly
As on us at the start, by golly.
16 “Then I remembered the Lord's word,
How he said ‘John indeed was stirred
To baptize with water, but you
Shall be baptized with sacred dew
Of Holy Spirit.’ 17 “If therefore
God gave them the same gift in store
As to us when we believed in
The Lord Christ Jesus, who could win
Against God, for it would be sin?”
18 When they heard these things they shut up,
And then they glorified the cup
Of God, and said “Then God's also
Granted to the Gentiles in row
Repentance to life in the show.”

The vision of the divine in each man,
No matter where the cut of face may scan,
That is the sign of gratitude I find,
And is the mark that was on Peter's mind.
Baptism of the Holy Spirit's not
The foreign speech that's uttered by untaught,
But rather that in the beholder's eye
It is not human pool alone to spy,
But the eternal vision of divine,
Your face instead to be seen in what's mine
And what's the face of every man and child
That looks toward the woman reconciled.
I see You, my Beloved, where I may turn,
And yet my heart with longing learns to burn.

19 Now those who were scattered about
After the persecution rout
That came up with Stephen in doubt
Travelled as far as Phoenicia,
Cyprus, and Antioch in awe
To preach the word to no one but
The Jews only. 20 But some unshut
Were men from Cyprus and Cyrene,
Who, when they had come to the scene
Of Antioch, told Hellenists,
Preaching the Lord Jesus in lists.
21 And the hand of YHWH was with them,
And a great number believed them
And turned to the Lord and His fear.
22 Then news of these things came to ear
Of the group of called out ones near
And in Jerusalem, and they
Sent out Barnabas in the way
To go as far as Antioch,
To be a light, rampart and rock.

When persecution drove believers far
To every Roman port and Greek bazaar,
Some Cypriots came up to Antioch
And stood upon the Roman bridge of rock
That some years past still spanned the golden stream,
And preached the word of God as if in dream,
Which woke the men in Quds to what took place.
So they sent Barnabas to see them face
To face, since he had known them all since youth
And could better than any judge the truth
Of number and of rumor. So Your hand
Was with the earnest Cypriotic band.
Beloved, give me that Antiochan power,
Reciting Your name at the present hour.

23 When he came and had seen the grace
Of God, he was glad, and to trace
Encouragement that they should stand
Firm in their purpose to stay manned
With the Lord in all that they planned.
24 For he was a good man, filled by
The holy Spirit and not shy
Of faith. And a great crowd of folk
Were added to the Lord who spoke.
25 Then Barnabas departed for
Tarsus to seek Saul at the door.
26 And when he found him he brought him
Back to Antioch neat and trim.
So it was that for a whole year
They gathered with the group and gear
Of called out ones and taught a crowd.
And the disciples were allowed
To be called Christians the first time
In Antioch and in that clime.

Full of faith and the holy spirit, he
Was a good man, though Christians now don’t see
That any man is good, but destitute
Without blood and a Christian’s good repute.
Would that all so-called Christians had remained
Like Barnabas and those that he maintained.
But Barnabas would not enjoy the fruit
Of faith and labour on his own, made suit
To find his partner as a loyal friend
And brought him to the city for that end.
This good man, full of faith and full of spirit
Brought all in whirling up to heaven or near it
And did not stop till partner and by-stander
Made You, Beloved, both Loved One and commander.

27 And in these days prophets came from
Jerusalem down to beat drum
In Antioch. 28 Then one of them,
Named Agabus, stood up with hem
And showed by the Spirit that there
Would be a famine and make bare
The whole world, and that happened too
In Claudius Caesar’s review.
29 Then the disciples, each according
To his ability rewarding,
Determined to send help to those
Brothers living in famine’s throes
In Judaea. 30 And so they did,
And sent it by the elders bid
At hand of Barnabas and Saul
To help their brothers in the stall.

When anyone lacked meat the one to turn
To was Barnabas, one who did not spurn
The poor and graceless, and who always gave
Of what he had to feed both free and slave.
There was no one to trust in all the land
Like Barnabas for charity in hand.
And so he took the alms of everyone
In hand with Saul until the dearth was done.
Beloved, make me trustworthy too as he
And keep my hand and eye on charity.
The gauge of truth is not the faithful sum
Of philosophic views and their expression
In theological symposium,
But charity, Beloved, in Your confession.

ACTS 12

1 About that time Herod the king
Stretched out his hand to harm the ring
Of called out ones. 2 Then he killed James
The brother of John with sword's claims.
3 And because he saw that it pleased
The Jews, he went further and seized
Peter also. This was in days
Of the unleavened bread to raise.
4 So when he had arrested him,
He put him in a prison grim,
And turned him over to four squads
Of soldiers to keep him with prods,
Intending to bring him before
The people after Passover.

Beloved, why did Your angel not come sing
For James to keep him safe under Your wing?
Perennial belief and doubt must fling
About the human heart for such a thing.
The pain of righteousness is not just show.
It's no reply that rice Christians would go
About the world in riot, if it made
A visible distinction on parade
To follow You, Beloved. Because You know
The hearts in any case. The worldly glow
Suffices for the eyes of universe.
We do not need in evidence the curse
Of innocents in agony or worse.
Save here and now, and I'll believe the purse.

5 Peter was therefore kept in gaol,
But constant prayer and in avail
Was offered up to God for him
By the group of called out ones grim.
6 When Herod was about to bring
Him out, that night Peter in sling
Was sleeping, bound with two chains to
Two soldiers, and the guards in view
Before the door kept watch in crew.
7 Now see, an angel of YHWH stood
Nearby, and a light filled with good
The prison, and he struck the man
Peter on the side, raised in span,
Saying “Get up fast as you can!”
And his chains fell from his wrists then.
8 The angel said to him, “Again
Put on your belt and tie your shoes,”
And so he did, not to refuse.
And he said to him, “Put coat on
And follow me before the dawn.”
9 So he went out and followed him,
And did not know that what was trim
Done by the angel was no dream,
But thought he saw a vision's gleam.
10 When they had passed the first and next
Guard posts, they came out unperplexed
To the iron gate that leads to town.
Which opened by itself to them,
And they went out and they went down
One street, and straight away the gem
Of angel left him. 11 And when Peter
Had come to himself, he said fleeter,
“Now I know for sure YHWH has sent
His angel, and saved me and rent
Me from the hand of Herod's power
And from the Jewish hopes that glower.”

That's what I said, Beloved. A hand of power
Stretched out to the imprisoned for an hour
Is proof enough. And yet You give no tongue
To tell the death of James, a man still young.
The angel strikes the side and raises one,
And leaves the other sleeping on his bun.
Methinks that Calvin's thought was right when done,
Or at least Beza out to hit and stun.
I sleep within the prison house of fate,
The numb mind all entempled by the great
White education fostered by the state.
Wake me or not, Beloved, I'm in Your hand,
If You've a hand to lend upon the sand
Where for a moment I rise up and stand.

12 So, when he had considered this,
He came to Mary's house, no miss,
The mother of John whose surname
Was Mark, where many others came
To pray. 13 And as Peter knocked at
The door of the gate, tit for tat,
A girl named Rhoda came to see.
14 When she recognized Peter’s wee
Voice, because of joy she did not
Open the gate, but ran and sought
To tell them that Peter outside
Was standing at the gate and cried.
15 But they said “You're out of your mind!”
Still she kept saying “I'm not blind!”
So they said “It's his angel kind.”
16 And Peter kept on knocking there,
And when they opened, saw his share,
They were astonished. 17 Lifting hand
To keep them silent, he declared
To them how YHWH by angel planned
Had brought him out of prison band.
And he said then, “Go, tell these shared
Things to James and the brothers bared.”
He left and hid somewhere near.
18 As soon as the day would appear,
There was no small stir nor small fear
Among the soldiers for what came
Of Peter. 19 But in Herod's name
When search was done and him not found,
Herod examined the guards' ground
And ordered them to death uncrowned.
Then he went from Judaea to
Caesarea, and stayed there too.

The king it was gave orders to his men
To keep good Peter locked up in a pen.
If they had disobeyed, they would have paid
With life. And yet the angel hand was stayed
From helping them escape the wrath of king.
Some soldiers were mere children suffering
In contract to the Roman state: no choice,
But stolen from their mothers without voice.
Beloved, why did You not give them the chance
Of knowing and of loving divine dance
Before Your throne? Commanded on the floor,
Their start and end was meting out the gore.
Beloved, kidnap me from the human fate
Of loving You before I learn to hate.

20 Now Herod had been in great wrath
Against the folk of Tyre and path
Of Sidon, but they came to him
Together, and made Blastus grim,
The king's aide their friend, they appealed
For peace, because their country's yield
Of food was supplied by the king.
21 On a set day Herod, dressing
In royal garb, sat on his throne
And gave a speech to them in tone.
22 The people kept shouting, “The voice
Of a god and not of man's choice!”
23 Then straightway an angel of YHWH
Struck him, because he gave no due
Glory to God. And he was eaten
By worms and died, king at last beaten.
24 But the word of Ælohim grew
And multiplied, for it was true.
25 And Barnabas and Saul returned
From Jerusalem when they’d earned
Reward of their service, and they
Also took with them without pay
John whose surname was Mark discerned.

I see the coming of dissent and faction
When John Mark comes upon the field of action.
The partnership of Barnabas and Saul
Is stressed by righteous Barnabas’s gall
In taking in another. So he did
Once with rejected Saul, the invalid.
No one could match, not even Saul, his humble
And quiet generosity. Saul’s grumble
Will soon be heard. Take warning, Saul, from fate
Of Herod, and before it is too late
Give God all glory. You, Beloved, strike down
All in mankind that would place mace and crown
Before the humble glory of Creator.
Let me, like Barnabas, be abdicator.

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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