Sent On Ahead

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades.
“Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” Luke 10:1-17 

Sent On Ahead -Feast Day of Joan of Arc

Waking before the dawn I set out
God has sent me on ahead to lead
I shake with the terror that grips me
and walk each step as a prayer.

There are very few who understand me
I see clearly that God has called me
yet in such times as these they laugh
a woman can do nothing for God or country.

I am willing to carry all their shaming
for I carry also the love of my Creator
who made me like all other women
and set me apart for wondrous and terrible things.

We do not know where we will be sent
yet I will carry the cross and banner with joy
love bubbles up even as the skies darken
I carry hope and promise for those who are lost.

You can deride me and abuse my body
yet within my spirit new hope is being birthed
life that is not a shadowed poverty of darkness
but a life of tears turned to river of promise.