“When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” – Luke 9:51

“Jesus, that was rude.”

“No kidding. Not an open door in sight.”

“And just because we’re headed for Jerusalem.”

“These Samaritans are jerks.”

“Yeah. They’re jerks.”

“Hey, Jesus! Remember when Elijah called for fire from heaven?”

“Or when God rained destruction down on Sodom and Gomorrah?”

“They failed to welcome angels there, you know, just like this village failed to welcome us.”

“Yeah! Jesus! Let’s call fire down from heaven! That’ll teach them!”

“What’s that he said?”

“He said, ‘No.'”

“I heard that part. What did he mutter after that?”

“A prayer, I think?”

“I heard, ‘How long, O Lord?’ before his mutter got too soft to hear.”

“Oh, look! Here comes someone to join our merry band.”

“Jesus will make him feel at home, I’m sure.”

“Oh. No. He didn’t, did he?”

“What did he say this time?”

“Something about foxes having better beds than he does.”

“Well. That’s true, I’ve got to say. My pillows have been awfully hard of late.”

“Truth in advertising doesn’t sell, now, does it?”

“Well, here is someone else. Jesus told him, ‘Follow me.” That’s better, isn’t it?”

“Oh, wait. He wants to bury his father first.”

“Now what did Jesus say?”

“‘Let the dead bury their own dead.'”

“Ooo. Harsh, Jesus, harsh.”

“I don’t think he’s coming back do you?”

“And here’s one more. He wants to tell his family goodbye.”

“Oh, no. What did Jesus say this time?”

“‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back will do.'”

“Well, that’s true. You get really crazy furrows if you plow while looking back.”

“But this is crazy! We’re supposed to be inspiring a movement! We’re supposed to be gathering a coalition! We’re supposed to be organizing a community!”

“Are we? Or does Jesus have another thing in mind?”

“I’ll ask him. Jesus! Where are we supposed to be going?”

“Did you hear him?”

“Not that well. What did he say?”

“‘This way.'”

A conversational poem/prayer based on Luke 9:51-62, the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel Reading for Year C, Proper 8 (13).

The image is Il allait par les villages en route pour Jérusalem (He Went Through the Villages on the Way to Jerusalem) by James Tissot (btwn 1886 and 1894) – Online Collection of Brooklyn Museum; Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2006, 00.159.157_PS1.jpg, Public Domain, found on Wikipedia Commons.