Christian Unity

CHRISTIAN UNITY

"And when he was departed thence he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him and he saluted him and said to him, Is thine heart right as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be give me thy hand: and he took him into the Chariot" — 2 Kings 10, 15

Heart to heart
is soul to soul
Your opinion is thine own
my own -- mine own
I drink the wine and eat the bread,
You have a silent still communion
I may baptise my children,
You when they become adult
My worship may be odourless,
Your air filled with incense
These are secondary things
for if heart is to heart
soul is to soul
If you truly hold your opinions
then be true to them
and I will be true to mine
If your heart is with my heart
then love me,
not as you love your neighbour,
not as you love a stranger,
not as you love your enemies,
not with latitudinarianism
as Wesley put it,
but love me as a brother in Christ
heart to heart
soul to soul

© Gerald England

Composed: Ackworth, 1st March 1969

Publications

1976 MEETINGS AT THE MOOR'S EDGE (West Kirkby, Headland)
1990 Outreach (UK)
2000 The Poetry Church (UK)

There are Others

THERE ARE OTHERS

There are others
others too Lord
Other people
other places
I have not seen
If I have not seen them
how can I understand them ?
I can't see everything
There isn't time
to see
EVERYTHING

To see
that I cannot see
is to understand
that I cannot understand

© Gerald England

Composed: Ackworth 6th June 1968

Publications

1969 Tait's Quarterly (UK)
2000 Poetry Church (UK)

His

HIS

Once

I was dead
dead and dead
and dead indeed

But now I live
I have been raised
from the realm of the dead
to the land of the living
I have emptied myself
of the dead matter
which lay within me
blocking the passage of truth
I have filled this empty shell
with Christ
He dwells inside me
I am his
and his alone

© Gerald England

Composed: Glasgow, 1st November 1966

Publications

1966 POETIC SEQUENCE FOR FIVE VOICES (Glasgow, St John's)
2000 THE POETRY CHURCH COLLECTION FOR LENT AND EASTER 2000 (Shrewsbury, Feather Books)