“the calling of the disciples” by Lucille Clifton

Posted on January 30, 2022February 3, 2022 by Victoria Emily Jones

Garawun, George_Calling the Disciples — George Garawun (Djinang [Aboriginal Australian], 1945–1993), *Calling the Disciples*, natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark, Maningrida Church, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. Source: *The Bible Through Asian Eyes*, p. 93.

some Jesus
has come on me

i throw down my nets
into the water he walks

i loose the fish
he feeds to cities

and everyone calls me
an old name

as i follow out
laughing like God’s fool
behind this Jesus

This poem was originally published in Good News About the Earth (Random House, 1972), and it appears in The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965–2010 (BOA Editions, 2012). Used with permission.

One thought on ““the calling of the disciples” by Lucille Clifton”

TJ January 30, 20227:22 pm Reply

Such appropriate and meaningful materials and symbols. We are made of dust, yet made in the image of God. We must leave behind our nets. We can do nothing on our own. I relate to the fear the disciples must have felt. Being a fool for Jesus and following in His way, which paradoxically leads to life, but through death.

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