The Name

Jesus.
The name grates.
Like a stone in your shoe. Or a speck in your eye.
Its presence can’t be ignored.

Jesus.
The name pulses with electricity.
Like the name of your first love. Or your bitterest enemy.
It pulls. It repels.
And you react.

Jesus.
The name is everywhere.
In every birth, every sunset, every cyclone –
it is the heartbeat of the earth.
It will not, cannot go away.

Jesus.
The name probes.
A laser into your thoughts,
it disturbs your comfort, shatters your independence.
It intrudes.

Jesus.
The name of love,
with love’s passion, pain and promise.
It draws you. It pursues you. It calls you --
to a choice.

© Leslie McLeod, 1999