Impersonally Yours

When ever I read The Gospels
everyone Jesus meets is changed,
though how they changed runs off the page
as newer characters push in
to be next to play second fiddle
to Jesus being their conductor.

The message remains clear,
'being born again' is like repentance.
In both a change of direction
provokes people to kinder words
and refresh the generosity in deeds.

In church the rites and prayers
are why we are there.
They echo the call to change
without being refreshed, in themselves.

Everything said inside the church
but outside of rite seems kind enough
but it has all been said before,
by different people in different times
-all of them unaware of each other.

Only when the church lets the world in
can both sides be surprised by the exchange.

The Ultimate Unequal Relationship

At some levels prayer is quite easy to describe,
the preparations, the rituals, and the outer form
-where there is much of anthopological interest
with which the agnostic may be engaged.

I prefer mine to be of a practical nature,
according to the sense of urgency at hand.

But stripped of all externals,
prayer remains the impermanent
addressing the omniscient,
whilst denying it wants to hide
when the omnipresent answers back.