Blessed Are the Patient (Brian Zahnd) - Unseen Existences: Day 20

A five-minute Christian meditation and lectio divina practice on Isaiah 30:15, with Brian Zahnd's poem "Blessed Are the Patient". Day 20 of the Unseen Existences series.

Scripture Isaiah 30:15 (NRSVUE) For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.

Poem Brian Zahnd, Blessed Are the Patient A woman in the kitchen baking bread A farmer in the field sowing seed Both know they must trust to Tiny miracles of fermentation and germination Jesus says— This is how the kingdom of heaven comes Quiet and slow, almost unobserved Nothing like tramping armies on the march Or the inane noise of political campaigns Violence is swift and lies are loud So the kingdom of heaven is slow and quiet Blessed are the patient For theirs is the way of heaven Blessed are the patient For they'll be proved wise Blessed are the patient For time is on their side Instead of fighting, striving, conniving They can wait for the bread to rise They can wait for the wheat to ripen Causes, crusades, and campaigns cannot wait And for this reason they cannot be wise "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread" Those in a hurry to change the world Just make the world more of what it is— Loud and proud and bound To the powers that be So Jesus alludes to something other A woman in her kitchen sipping tea A farmer on the porch with his pipe She's waiting for the bread to rise He's waiting for the rains to come And Jesus whispers— This is the way to be Blessed are the patient For they do it right Blessed are the patient For they keep their peace Blessed are the patient For they change the world (Without even knowing it) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.