Saturday, July 11, 2009

Behind bars again

I'm in prison tomorrow. I think I'm in there more than some prisoners. I wasn't supposed to be in tomorrow but ... I am. And we're doing a presentation. There was a slight panic as, up till Friday, we didn't have a musician but wonderful Maureen, the Roman Catholic chaplain, found us an organist. Ande is doing the talky bit and I'll tie it all together.

Ande has said he's going to be talking on the verse in - um, can't remember - where the question is asked: who is this Jesus? I don't know what he's planning on saying but when I was walking in the woods I thought about the same question. I read my reflection in Zac's, and, apart from a couple of minor changes to make it flow more easily, I was happy with it, so I'll read this before doing the prayers in prison tomorrow.

Who is this Jesus?
He is mother, brother, friend, lover. He opens wide his arms and says, ‘Come, I call you by name.’
He is forgiver. He says, ‘Come, don’t be afraid. I may hate what you’ve done but I won’t stop loving you.’
He is healer. He says, ‘Come, with your broken body and your broken heart. Let me kiss you better.’
He is the beginning, the end and the middle. He says, ‘Come, I will be there for you. I have always been there for you. I am here for you right now.’
He is the assurance - no, he is my assurance that even a no-good like me is good enough.
He is my hope, my only hope.
He is my all.

xx

5 comments:

Leslie: said...

I like this.

I used to tell my kids when they were small and would do something wrong - "I love you but I don't like what you just did."

Puss-in-Boots said...

That small piece of writing neatly encapsulates what it takes to "love thy neighbour", so to speak. If we all lived by that tenet, what a wonderful place this world would be...sigh.

Good for you, doing that work, Liz. I hope you make a difference, even to just one person, it would make it worthwhile, wouldn't it?

NitWit1 said...

Beautifully written. I love it.

James Higham said...

You naughty girl, you.

Liz Hinds said...

Thank you, leslie, puss and nitwit.

Who, me, James?!