Zacchaeus

 

Zacchaeus

 

“Zacchaeus, hurry and come down;

 for I must stay at your house today.”

                -Luke 19:5b

 

 

 

From that dusty

sycamore He

called me down

to lift me up.

 

He cast out

my timid silence,

my hidden

hoarded shame.

 

He named my fear

of being seen for

what I am: a little man

of little meaning.

 

Perched precariously

on a breaking branch,

I took his hand,

came safely home.

 

Now I Zacchaeus

urge you to hasten:

be in your house His

host and guest today.                                         

 

In Him our meanest

wealth’s transformed;

His love fills every tree

with unexpected harvest.

“Zacchaeus”

by Nancy Corson Carter from A GREEN BOUGH: POEMS FOR RENEWAL

                (Eugene, OR: RESOURCE Publications, 2019), p. 7.