The recording misses off the start of Alex’s poem, however you can read the full poem below.

This talk is from St Nic’s Live, a service which takes place over Zoom. You may notice a few pauses where there was interactivity or breakout rooms. For more information on how to join in, click here.

Speaker: Alex Rainbow

Date: Sunday 5 July 2020

Service: St Nic’s Live // 6.30PM

Bible Passage: 1 Corinthians 4:1-21

A poem by Alex Rainbow:

If you don’t choose who to follow

You'll still end up being led

Part of a cultural conga

With no idea who’s at the head

 

For this lie of autonomy grows quickly

Holds on fiercely

For I am the captain of my ship

With no control over the sea

Bashed and bruised by waves of identity

In the same storm but different boats all around me

 

Isolated and lonely

Competing and comparing with the vessels either side of me

Racing, but with no idea what constitutes victory

Status or achievement or money

 

Some boats look better than others but they’re all pretty thin 

You can’t paint over the cracks within

And Though some deny the water coming in

The only solidarity is in the sinking

 

Jesus says follow me 

Give up the myth of autonomy 

Familiar fishing for people in the open sea 

His ship the size of a kingdom, it steers purposefully

 

Many leave their boats behind

To join the King’s adventure

Some try and drag them aboard 

Some work away at the engines on the inside 

while others lay on the deck and enjoy the ride

But then there are those that spend time with the Captain

Join him daily in the highest room above distraction

They watch him sail after souls

No mayday unheard, no honest SOS unresolved

They join him as he swims out to those in decay 

Wrap blankets round those in dismay

Those that live as friends of the Captain 

They are contented, unrelented

No storm to rough

No just cause undefended.