“porque el obrero merece sustenlo (For the worker merits/earns his subsistence) ” (Matt.10:  )[Spanish Jerusalem Bible Series - Matt.10 sub-series] [Sun Tsu First Half Re-Write – #2-8A]

When we were young, the thing to do.
Was “Work your way” twixt terms of school
(When one returned from Europe trips),
Hitchhiking was a part of it.

You couldn’t carry much with you;
Two saddle-bags for us would do
Two months (bought bikes and tent en route),
But we had cash, unlike this group.

Some friends of ours would work for food
And lodging – it was understood
They would move on, in hostels stay
Until they’d pack, be on their way.

Some lived that life for years on end,
But that would drive me ’round the bend;
We both had jobs once we came home
So spent our cash – wrapped up in Rome –

Or Paris – some such place, indeed,
It was a break, where thirst and need
Were sated for a view of roots
We’d studied ’bout since tender shoots.

Lord, as I read this part for “Twelve”,
I hear this style, but as I delve
Into the Spanish text, I hear
Another aspect more than clear –

I had been focused on one word,
But other meanings, I’d not heard –
I’d heard of “Merit” and “Deserve”
Not “Earns” – a thought once quite absurd.

I wish I’d been informed back then
To “Get a trade” before they sent
Me out to work in Church for pay
(Like Jesuits are to this day).

For even after ten short years,
My need for “Trade” was far from clear –
I still held notion, “I’ll go back,
Resume my role” – but got attacked –

And then I had no fall-back stance
To meet a changing circumstance;
My “Trade”, self-learned, had problems; then –
To “Management”, I could not bend.

“Professions change you deeply, man.”
Said one guru, “more deeply than
You’ll be aware; until you change –
You’ll find your mind won’t re-arrange.

Nobody told us that wee fact,
But I found out; no matter, that
Was, in my case, Okay – ’cept this
Wee line of text addresses it –

For when one gets the boot – what then?
You told Your guys they could depend
On it, and how they should react –
“Dust off your feet” when you’re attacked –

“Or folks won’t listen to your spiel;
Move on, move on, the Kingdom’s real,
And many long to hear good news
Of this new chance which all can choose.”

The other aspect You made clear,
Was “Pax” (that’s peace) – they weren’t to fear –
It would return to them at end
Of troubled times, so soul would mend.

I like that, Lord, for us as well –
Peace does return after some spell
Of nastiness here in our work;
Thanks for Your care when we’ve been jerks.

So Lord, as we move on from here,
Our future pathway less than clear,
I thank You for sustaining us
Through decades here, when things got tough.

Not sure just what now lies in store,
But peace returns indeed; and more
Lies up the road for one and all
As we move on, with world grown small.

Thanks Lord for this.

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