Happy Pentecost Sunday!
After a writing prompt from the Kingdom Story Writers Facebook Group this month on the theme of the Holy Spirit, I wrote the following poem. I hesitate to call it a poem, because it was written in one sitting and only lightly edited… there was not much crafting going on! Nevertheless, it flowed from me as I tried to put voice to the feelings I had years ago after reading Jesus words, “it is better for you that I go away” (John 16:7). At the time I struggled to imagine how anything could be better than having Jesus physically present. It was only as I got to know the Holy Spirit better as ‘another the same’ (the literal meaning of Jn 14:16) – but now dwelling in each of us, that I started to catch a glimpse of what Jesus meant.
So here is my poem, written from the imagined view of one of Jesus’ original disciples from 2000 years ago…
It is Better
Last night I dreamed I was back in Galilee,
sat by the lapping shores of Gennasaret,
listening to the treasures falling from the mouth of Jesus,
scattered like pearls at our feet, for whosoever…
How I longed to be one who had ‘ears to hear’.
I remember His eyes, those endless pools of love
one minute sparkling with pure joy over our company,
the next, flashing with terrible fire at those who would withhold healing from His beloved.
Oh my Lord, I would have followed You anywhere.
But where you are I cannot go – yet.
I am here and you are there, and there is a gulf between.
It feels like loss, except
You said it was better for You to go…
In the days that followed a darkness descended that none of us thought we would survive.
But then you returned, and our relief was complete:
You had conquered death;
You walked among us once more;
Surely nothing now could separate us.
Then you left.
Again.
For good this time.
We gazed into the air after you, both awed and
bereft, knowing we would never hear Your voice again.
This time a victorious leaving, but still – you left.
And again we wondered how we could live without you.
We fumbled and stumbled and did our best to follow Your teachings
While constantly aware of the cavernous hole Your absence had left in our hearts,
Longing to live lives worthy of You, but
now painfully aware that we couldn’t do it without You.
Of course it was better for You, that You should return to Your Father –
You deserved all the rich rewards of Heaven for what You had done here in those few short glorious years.
But it didn’t feel better for us, here.
In my misery all I could do was wait.
And desperately hope to somehow cling to faith by my fingertips until I died.
But then… oh!
Then came that glorious day:
Wind rushing, flames dancing, mysterious words poured out in torrents like uncontainable rivers,
And the joy… oh the joy!
You had returned, but not as before.
Now – oh the mystery – You are within.
Now Your voice resounds from within.
Now Your love burns within.
Now Your power is contained within our feeble frames.
It is too marvellous to bear.
But still it is You – here!
Never to leave again.
With us once more – within.
And not just within, but without…
You are in every one of us.
I look into the eyes of Your children and see You there:
Your sparkling love and flashing fire.
Your pearls of wisdom fall from their lips.
And Your presence flows through us all.
With You we are bold again.
I know I will follow You anywhere.
Last night I dreamed I was back in Galilee
But this morning when I awoke, I knew…
It is better.
Rachel Yarworth, Writer 