“Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you, heals your sick self. Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility: For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen, And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.”
—-Kahlil Gibran
We are freed by the blood of Christ. A drop of His Blood saves us from sin and death. We can never spend enough time considering the mysteries of Jesus’ Love for us. In the Blood of Christ we rise above our pain and limitations. He washes us in His Mercy.
Here’s a poem I wrote three years ago contemplating the Cup of Passion – Taza Passion. Where the word Taza in Spanish connotes a humble cup of simple or even diminutive stature.
TAZA DE PASIÓN
A sanctified drop suspended
arched in reverence
waiting to be consumed
For some a passing thought
others an impossibility
multitudes smitten yet stricken to sidelines
Terrified of a Warden on the beat
entangled in their
mangled mortifications
shackling strictures
dastardly dodging
a Blood hound fetching its Master prey
fallen death
One Heart broken and blessed
Mended in bitter tears for songs unsung
dances un-danced
LOVE unloved
Eternally wounded drops
Recounting a story
Letter by letter
word by word
syndicated episodes
channeling universal appeal
Poured into expectant bowls
crafted from porous clay
earthen vessels
lacquered with pillaged pride
A meal
no
A feast
Masquerading nothingness
veiled in simplicity
hidden from scrupulous hearts
blinding Light with thick curtains
drawn by faithless scorn
One Blessed Morsel
separated from the Whole
dipped in the Passover dish
denied consecration
sopping up Goodness
offered as baited friendship
rescuing Prophetic Promises
with silver lined tempestuous clouds
handed over
betraying nourishment
sealed by a devilish kiss
exposing
infertile institutional impotent inequity
prescribed by
subscribed to
noxious perpetuating loops
lording power; fearing Power
Doors of Mercy
Burst open
one for many
Abandoned
Derided
Rejected
Our Sanctified Lamb
A Cup of Blessing refusing emptiness
so the Great I AM
Springs into action
fixing His gaze
setting Son’s face like flint
body hardened by supple pliant pleas
obedient
tried – tested – taunted
streaking scourges shrieking
challenging salacious mockery
holding court with
judicious jeering jesters
feeding beasts of control
maintaining menageries of feigned order
reigned by terror
wounded – nailed – pierced
Crowned folly
Holy-ed hands
Feet fixed to a tree
Glory constrained
Barred from its moment
dueling dark vast chaos
falling deeper and deeper into a godless chasm
the Lamb bleats
I THIRST
drinking to prolong suffering
swimming in viscous fallen treachery
brushed in lamentations
FORSAKEN
saga of drops pooled in tormented redemption
the feverish feeding fracas finishes
Expectant vindication is PIERCED
a final drop of blood
married to life giving water
A cup reaches up from the Earth
Catching…Calling…Crying
Here are some scriptures passages that inspired me while writing the poem:
Isaiah 51:21
This is what your Sovereign Lord says,
your God, who defends his people:
“See, I have taken out of your hand
the cup that made you stagger;
from that cup, the goblet of my wrath,
you will never drink again.
Psalm 23:5-6
5You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
Jeremiah 25: 15-17
For thus the LORD, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.
Jeremiah 49:12
For thus says the LORD, “Behold, those who were not sentenced to drink the cup will certainly drink it, and are you the one who will be completely acquitted? You will not be acquitted, but you will certainly drink it.
Jeremiah 51:7
Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the LORD, Intoxicating all the earth The nations have drunk of her wine; Therefore the nations are going mad.
Psalm 75:8
For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, and the wine foams; It is well mixed, and He pours out of this; Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs.
Zechariah 12:2-3
“Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.
Revelation 14:10
he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
Revelation 16:19
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.
Revelation 18:6
“Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.
Matthew 26
27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the[b]covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Luke 22:42
42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
1 Corinthians 10:18-22
16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.
18 Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? 19Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 22Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
Job 21:20-21
20Let their own eyes see their destruction;
let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what do they care about the families they leave behind
when their allotted months come to an end?
Psalm 16:5
Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
Psalms 116:13
I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.
Matthew 20:23
23 Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”
Matthew 23: 25-26
25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
Mark 9: 41
41 Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.
John 18:11
11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”
Lord have mercy.
Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
Christ hear us.
Christ graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.
Blood of Christ, only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father, save us.
Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God, save us.
Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament, save us.
Blood of Christ, falling upon the earth in the Agony, save us.
Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging, save us.
Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with Thorns, save us.
Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross, save us.
Blood of Christ, price of our salvation, save us.
Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness, save us.
Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and refreshment of souls, save us.
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy, save us.
Blood of Christ, victor over demons, save us.
Blood of Christ, courage of Martyrs, save us.
Blood of Christ, strength of Confessors, save us.
Blood of Christ, bringing forth Virgins, save us.
Blood of Christ, help of those in peril, save us.
Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened, save us.
Blood of Christ, solace in sorrow, save us.
Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent, save us.
Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying, save us.
Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts, save us.
Blood of Christ, pledge of eternal life, save us.
Blood of Christ, freeing souls from purgatory, save us.
Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor, save us.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Thou hast redeemed us with Thy Blood, O Lord.
And made of us a kingdom for our God.
