NEWS

Dirty Love (a poem for Holy Thursday)

Expecting triumph at last…
Tired were their spirits
Talk of sacrifice and
even death
drained their zeal
of former days and
empty nets traded
for promises of a
new Kingdom

Entering the room he
spoke not
No words, just a walk
to a towel and
an empty basin
“Fill not that emptiness,
fill ours”
were their thoughts

But there was no utterance,
no sermon, no story
Shedding a garment
he knelt
removing the first sandal…
their collective hearts
stopped both in
surprise and despair
Not this!

Still no words,
he washed feet
One by one without
explanation
Until a final resistance,
“Never”
Then he spoke a word
of rebuke
and warning,
“To follow me requires
dirty love”
spoken from a
kneeling slave
of a man

So to you now who
are called to remember
“Do likewise”
He left us with
dirty love