Sacramentum Verbi

At poor peace I lay these
my gentle burdens down,
take up his yoke and cudgel
‘gainst these blind
and porous bishoprics,
whose poor brokerage of truth
has destroyed the faith of many.

Tunnel they now metaphorically -
in past as historic fact -
‘neath the temple’s walls,
caves of pagan worship there
they’ve carved from ‘living rock’
- now dead -
for casting spells via media,
and surrender to the dark,
these priests of compromise
have sold the living Christ
for coinage of the realm,
ethics situational embraced,
and left the word behind.

Cudgel them I would,
with love and forgiveness,
lest in hate their mythic delusions
I embrace,
and twist the sacred words for
material advantage mine.
But cudgel still I will,
and face them off,
for truth is truth eternally,
neither be erased
nor forced to submit
to correctness merely cultural,
oh so political -
for this read their
commitment to expediency,
love of status,
and too much willingness to please.

The crowds?
The crowds do pleasure them
with praise and gold abundant.
But I reject their honeyed lies,
their appeals to raw emotions,
and the religious lust
of those who wish
only forms of righteousness,
and not the substance lived.

For the substance is
the living and eternal
Word,
who nailed my sin
upon that blooded wood,
for all the world to see.
In the bread and wine,
this simple liturgy
and word proclaimed
I do him meet,
all glory in humility
cloaked,
his hand outstretched,
scars apparent,
in friendship to this creature.
And I proclaim my personhood,
my intrinsic worth,
as with my own hand
I reach out,
take his,
on  this week’s
resurrection day.



James Gagiikwe © 2008