AT HIS FEET

 In the Campsie Fells

Luke 7

At His feet
- Which had borne Him from home comfort -
His myrrh-and-tear anointer
Learned forgiveness of sins.

Luke 8

At His feet
- Which carried Him to where need was -
The man whom mankind could not tame
Sat, clothed and sensible.

Luke 10

At His feet
- Which trod as the Father directed -
Mary chose the good part,
Listener.

Luke 17

At His feet
- Which were bearing Him on to the cross -
The cleansed, leprous, Samaritan, grateful man
Fell on his face.

"THE OTHER MARY"

Glen Orchy and Southern Highland Hills

I have been reading "The Three Marys" by Edward Dennett, online at The Three Marys, which is very good.  He comments that they, Mary, the mother of the Lord, Mary of Bethany, and Mary Magdalene, are not the only Marys.  So I started thinking about one who is noted as "the other Mary" in Matthew 27: 61 and 28: 1.  My father used to quote: "It takes more grace than I can tell to play the second fiddle well"; it takes more grace to be "the other ...".  Here are some thoughts (in a sonnet and a half):

One Mary was the mother of our Lord,

Whose subject spirit made her apposite

To bear and care for Him; and thus a sword

Entered her soul; God saw one who was fit.

One Mary sat before the Master's feet

Steeped in His word; and bowed in high regard

At Jesus' feet; and, last, as one replete

With grace, anointed Jesus' feet with nard.

One Mary knew the Saviour's grace expel

Demons; she followed Him to minister

To Him. Through grief and joy she would be well

With Him.  So she became His messenger.

There was "the other Mary"; she was where

He was in Galilee; and there to stand

Beside the cross; there sitting to observe

The place where He was laid; and there at hand

Beside the tomb; when He hailed she was there;

And there to go as sent by Him to serve.

So, conscious of a love that does not vary,

Although the path is smooth or rough or scary,

Be there for Jesus like "the other Mary".

   

LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED

 

In Glen Orchy (this summer)

"Let not your heart be troubled", Jesus told

The eleven as He girt them for their grief:
Knowing their faith in God He could unfold
That He would be their Object of belief.
He told them, "In the Father's house there are
Many abodes"; He would prepare a place
Distinctly ours, above the highest star,
Where we shall be before the Father's face.

"I go", He told them, and the going meant
The cross, the tomb, the garden, and the throne;
He came alone; but through the way He went
The Christ our Lord did not remain alone.

For, taken from the scene where we have grieved,
It is unto Himself we are received.