I like to think
I wouldn't have missed Jesus on earth.
That I wouldn't have been among the many
who saw a carpenter from Galilee
and dismissed him outright.
Callouses and a country accent,
the smell of labour and friends
that didn't belong anywhere
anyone really wanted to be.
I like to think
I wouldn't be so pompous.
So sure of myself that I,
the educated elite, after all,
wouldn't have said
"But have you heard his accent?
Can anything good
and wise come out of Nazareth?"
But
what if he was an auto mechanic
from Moose Jaw?
What if he was a waiter
from Peggy's Cove?
What if he was a chicken catcher
from Arkansas?
What if it was happening right now?
Would I recognise him?
Or would I only see
my own ideas
of what and how
He ought to be.
Am I recognising Him
at work,
alive
loving,
and being loved
now?
