Jesus had told him, hadn't he?
You will betray me—
Before two cockcrows—times three.
And so he did—
He hid,
He lied,
He denied.
He betrayed his friend.
Then he fled, to fend
Alone in shame, unto his end.
But in holy resurrection
Just before ascension
That friend brought relief
To Peter, lost in all-absorbing grief.
"Lovest thou me?" he three times did question,
So Peter could affirm his love and thus make correction
For his errors, and to his Master reconfirm his intention
To thenceforth give his life
To his Master's way of stilling error rife,
And helping others find the way
Through darkness on to Pentecostal Day.
Have not you and I needed also
To find a way from darkness, and to show
Our love for Christ's way as the only way to go?
The lesson indeed is plain—
That if from all their sin and pain
We seek to bring to others peace,
We, too, may gain our own release
From pain or sin or desperation.
Then we as well move onward to a Peter-sort of restoration,
Touched with grace by Christ's Love-blessed correction.
