RECOGNITION

John 21

Gerald Stanwell

Coincidence, you said?
Not the immediate working
of the Lord, that sudden "turn of fate"?

Seven men were fishing. It was late
but no one seemed to care. There were cries
of anguish all unspoken as they toiled
without the zest that follows opened eyes,
since tragedy had smitten.

None had foiled
the plot of Judas. Now they were lost—"at sea"
in fact, bemused in misery, and then
that startling question "Have ye any meat?"
"No"! Who asked? They were only men.

The challenge comes to all in sacred tryst,
in any place, at home or in the street;
an answer is demanded of the Christ.
If we say No, then other probings come:
"What have we gained from uninspired routine
or having worked so long—why not rejoice?"
Did a friend, some written word, a voice
come clear and strong across our ebbing tide?
"Cast the net"! Of course! We might have been
much sooner on Truth's ever-winning side,
obedient, alert to new direction,
as it came to them—their resurrection.

As for us, we had so much to meet—
unemployment, lack, perhaps frustration.
Suddenly a gleam of demonstration,
not "turn of fate" at all but "right side
of the ship." Our efforts were inspired;
we worked with rising hope and were not tired.
Recall the added sign?—No broken net,
no giddy exaltation or regret,
but sheer relief and joys that overwhelm. With Love's own gentle hand upon the helm of all our wonder—recognition came. "It is the Lord."

(John said it for his friends.)
Self-sufficiency—all boasting bends
before this quiet acknowledgment, complete.
The resurrected Christ was there to meet
our human needs; we saw him on the shore
of time—divine coincidence and more.
Our pain of grief already growing dim,
unquestioning, we turned and dined with him.

Gerald Stanwell

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Children Belong to God

November 15, 1969

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