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I wish I could write a poem
as beautiful as a mountain.
Like that mountain,
that morning in North Carolina,
where I was shaking with my usual fear
and filled with my usual dread.
A stream percolated from the rocks
and ran past my feet
as I stumbled through the trees
on the footpath.
I was stumbling away from my
regularly scheduled panic
and fleeing into the
green and brown embrace
the mountain promised.
I sought the voice of God.
I heard leaves swishing
and water running
and realized His voice
was not as loud
as I remembered.
Here's a little "get-to-know-Sarah" video I made. I'd like to think that this is what you might show someone if you wanted to convince them to have me come perform poetry somewhere. In reality, about 2 or 3 people will watch it (my mom will watch it several times, I can almost guarantee) and that will be that. Cest la vie.
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Luke 23:39-43
For as long as I can remember, I have been captivated by this short passage of scripture. It comes in the middle of the crucifixion, seemingly in between other, more major plot points. But this unnamed man, referred to as "the thief" or "the criminal" gets to play a glorious part in the greatest story ever told.
We don't know this man's story, except for what he tells us. The only information he lets us in on is that he is being "punished justly." He is on his cross for his own sins, and he is well aware of that fact. But he is hanging next to Jesus. If I could trade a moment of vision with anyone from history, it would be this man. What did he see when he saw Jesus? How did he...know?
"Remember me when you come into your kingdom," he pleads.
Is this not our lives? Sinners. Thieves. Murderers. Betrayers. Is this not us? Unable to do anything good on our own. Sentenced to death for our own sins. Pleading with the Lord of the universe to remember us in his kingdom.
Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
And so we have salvation. Our sins are laid upon another's cross and we are free to enter paradise.
Glory, glory, hallelujah. We are saved.
