Hebrews in Haiku
Jesus is greater
Than anything religious
you can imagine
Hebrews in Haiku 2
Neglect salvation
And wonder where you started
The turning away
rewritten from the version at https://stevenhpape.blog/2015/03/03/hebrews-in-haiku-3/
Hebrews in Haiku 3
The law, it is good
But Jesus Christ alone is
Greater than the law
Psalm 2, a sonnet
The nations rage and peoples vainly plot,
And kings of earth will take all of the day,
They talk against God and his Son. They say:
Let’s burst or chains and escape from this lot.
The Lord who sits in in heaven laughs at will,
He holds them in derision. We shall see.
Him terrify them, saying, “As for me
I’ve set my king on Zion’s holy hill.”
He said to me, “You are my son today,
I have begotten you, now ask me lad.
To break, to dash, the world for your possessing.”
Kings of the earth be warned, do not dismay,
With fear now serve the Lord, go and be glad,
Take refuge in him and you will have blessing.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews often quoted from the poetic parts of the Old Testament, but did not write poetry himself.
If he had Chapters 8 to 10 could have been summarized like this:
Copies and the real deal
The law is not the real deal
It’s just a copy
A shadow of the real thing.
Temple sacrifices are not the real deal
They’re just a copy
A shadow of the real thing.
The temple is not the real deal
It is just a copy
A shadow of the real thing.
The law has been fulfilled by the real deal.
The ultimate sacrifice has been made by the real deal.
The real temple is lived in by the real deal.
Jesus.
Two poems, one very old, from the Bible, and my response in verse:
-o0o-
For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
then I could hide from him.
But it is you, a man, my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend.
We used to take sweet counsel together;
within God’s house we walked in the throng. (Psalm 55:12-14)
-o0o-
Betrayed
Betrayed by a kiss,
Yet he does not condemn.
Betrayed and taken away into the night.
The sad thing about Judas is he did not live to hear the words
“Father, forgive.”
Denied, denied and denied again
Yet he does condemn.
In that look, that glance
Is love.
And another chance, another chance and another chance.
Betrayal and denial are part of life,
When we are betrayed, stabbed in the back,
When we are denied, or taken for granted
By a friend, someone we trusted
We condemn because it hurts.
We condemn our Judases.
We condemn our Peters.
We bear grudges
Until those grudges are too much to bear.
Unlike Jesus, who did not condemn,
Who did not condemn.
Who reached out in love,
Who reached out in love.
Instead of bearing grudges he bore the sins of the whole world.
LORD JESUS, MAKE ME MORE LIKE YOU.
A reflection for Holy Saturday in the form of a multi-verse haiku.
Despair
They saw you hanging.
Taken down, taken away.
Laid on a cold slab.
They had hoped you’d win.
Return God’s land to his own:
Remove the Roman.
And you did nothing.
In giving them no reply
You let them kill you.
The hope of the world,
Their hope, the only hope for
Israel is gone.
Two thousand years on
I think on their great despair,
Comprehending not.
The smell of baking
Aromas from the kitchen
Celebration due.
You did not stay dead.
When you died you destroyed death,
And God raised you up.
For I know the end –
When you arose from the grave
You showed that love wins.
So I am asking
When is my resurrection?
When will I be healed?
I know you can heal.
What is your purpose in this?
Take away this pain.
You are risen, Lord,
But I still feel my despair.
I still feel my pain.
You are risen Lord,
But my resurrection waits.
Raise me, Lord, free me.
*SLAP*
*SLAP*
Strange gasses enter your lungs
The pain builds
Bright lights dazzle your eyes
add you cry
you scream with all your might.
Being born is not easy.
you enter this world in pain
It sets you up for life
Life full of pain,
that is how the world is
We spend our live avoiding pain
we seek the warm and comfortable
yet in avoiding pain we avoid life
pain tells us we are alive.
My son has sent me a home made card. No picture, just this hand written message. Background information is that he is dyslexic and 6 weeks ago I was diagnosed as diabetic. Here’s what he wrote:
Christmas Card
Matt Papes guide for Christmas
A Sugar Free*
Christmas
*Because dyslexic people can’t spell diagrams
diagnosis
diazepam
diabolical
diameters
diabetic
Disclaimer
Seek medical advice before following this diet plan
I recommend a nurse that you’re related to
Step 1 : Breakfast
Ideas : FRY EVERYTHING
Ingedients
Bacon : low in sugar
Sausage : low in sugar
Egg : low in sugar
Verdict ; Amazing meal
Step 2 ; Dinner
Sausages wrapped in bacon : see Step 1
Turkey : Low in sugar
but can be dry,
wrap it in bacon**
Sprouts : Low in sugar
taste = disgusting
wrap it in bacon**
** other stuff not listed can also be wrapped in BACON
Step 3 : Pudding
Puddings are usually high in sugar. Other guides may suggest reduced sugar, but not here.
Throw the pudding in the bin
EAT MORE BACON
BACON
bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon
bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon
Making an ass of myself 