Resources ~ Arts and creative writing

A reflection on the journey to 2010
by Bernard Thorogood

8. Mission and Unity

We know the texts so well -

One Lord, one faith, one baptism
The ministry of reconciliation
One that the world may believe
and yet the reality strains us,
divisions between us resist, change
and threaten uneasy unities.

How do we offer the gospel of Christ?

Through him God chose to reconcile
the whole universe to himself,
making peace through the shedding
of his blood on the cross,
to reconcile all things, whether on earth or in heaven
through him alone.

But through a broken fellowship?
through barriers at the holy table?
through unforgiven histories?
through opposing visions of the Kingdom of God?

The wonder is that our witness
is not entirely wasted though we are
such inadequate servants of the Word.

How much more could the Spirit
touch our fractured human life
if the church were one company
in mutual acceptance and joy?

Perhaps it is only the cry of the bereaved
which will energise our hierarchies,
our theologians and all of us
who claim the name of Christ
to see how small are our claims on truth
before the reality of loneliness and loss.

And that's the cross.

To read the poem on study theme 9 click here.