Iona Poetry

Today my blog features the Iona Community in Scotland.
Below is a poem to enjoy from a former Iona member.
Click on the live feed at right to see a new site I am featuring.
Enjoy.

BE SICK OF THE CHURCH

...or ‘Health Tips For Nauseous Ecclesiastics’
... or again, a wee reflection from the aforementioned NEIL
GLOVER.

Be sick of the Church when the cross road between
Word and world is abandoned.

When attacks are launched from safety
and the flesh wound is far away.

When divine words are embezzled
to bless gut prejudice;
when opponents are denied the journey
that got them there.

Be sick when we say
“This is the only issue.”
Be sick when we say
“If this doesn’t go our way, then we leave.”

Be sick of the place
of the acting
of the weightless words.

Be sick
when meaning is twisted
and context is censored
and soundbite stands for the whole.

Be sick when one Shibbolleth* decides the tribe.

Be sick when silence is confused for peace,
when indignation is craved and savoured,
when the bile is disappointment with ourselves.

Be sick and sick again,
but discover the soreness is not long gone...
no other way but this.

*The password used by the men of Gilead to identify Ephraimites who tried to flee across the Jordan. It means “ear of grain” or “flowing stream.” Escaping Ephraimites, during their conflict with Jephthah, gave themselves away to the Gileadite sentries at the fords of the Jordan by mispronouncing the initial “sh” sound of this password. They would say “Sibboleth.” (Jg 12:4-6) Thus, it is evident that some variation of pronunciation existed among the tribes, even as in later times the Galileans had a manner of speech distinct from the Judeans.—Compare Mt 26:73; Lu 22:59.