Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

In Which Jesus Gives Us A New Name And A New Character

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 To the one who is victorious, I will also give a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. Revelation 2:17

And so, we heave up our cross,

And follow him,

Oh, not spectacularly at all.

Dropping it,

Meandering off course,

Sometimes forgetting we had resolved

To take up our cross,

And follow him.

 

But each time we remember,

We apologize,

And pick up that old rugged cross,

And follow after Jesus again.

 

And Jesus sees.

 

For that is one of his names,

El Roi, the God who sees.

 

Where others see our failures

Jesus sees also,

How much further we would have slipped

Had we not clung to him

* * *

And somehow through the decades,

We change.

 

We are different.
Though still so acutely aware of,

So sad about our failures.

* * *

And then one day,

We meet him,

And he gently opens our palms

And places in them a stone

With our new names.

 

And I read, tearfully:

The prudent one

The discreet one

The wise one

The self-controlled one

The kind one

The diligent one

The consistent and persevering one

The financially gifted one

 

And I say, “Jesus!

I think you’ve given me someone else’s stone.”

 

And he says,

“Though decades of following me,

Though you did not notice it,

You’ve changed.”

 

“But I always saw what you would become.

Welcome home!”

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  1. Hi Anita ,

    What a simple and straight-to-the-point verse talking about symbolic way of the cross (yes that is what we all are, bearers of the symbolic cross) and the steady or unsteady , if you would, progression towards the coveted destination, where the Saviour rewards us with individual white tablets carrying our new names…

    very promising and motivating. please keep it going . I would appreciate your visiting my blog at ‘graleview.wordpress.com’ and offering your comments on the posts…

    • Thank you for your comment–and correcting reading of the poem! I had a quick read of your blog–very deep!

  2. Such a beautiful picture of that moment when we see Him face to face and He reveals to us what He has always known and seen about us. Thank you so much for sharing this.

  3. A wonderful thought that the Lord will write a new name for us on a white stone. It is my hope that He will find me faithful and obedient to Him. So I hope to see the name of “Faithful and Obedient,” as two of my names. This is my desire. Your poetry is so fluid and brings insight and clarity on you topic of the new name.

    • I am so glad you like my “poetry.” I am aware it doesn’t have the greatest literary merit, compared to poets like Malcolm Guite or Luci Shaw. For one, I share it on the day I write it usually–heresy for “real” poets. However, if it speaks to people more than prose does then I am happy!