The Wildman and the Carpenter

In the beginning there was nothing
In the beginning there was God:
Creator, Word and Spirit
In the beginning God created

And out of all that good creation
came much that was good and pure and beautiful
And into that good creation
came darkness, pain, wickedness and ugliness
God looked at his creation and decided to give it a new beginning
A new start
Another chance
So into that mixture of good and evil
Dark and light
Beauty and ugliness
He sent his Word –
and the Word took on flesh and dwelt with creation to show a new way

The Word dwelt exactly as one of God’s ordinary people;
created, growing, learning,
developing personality, hopes, fears, emotions,
temptations and expectations

The Word was fully human – a boy who grew into a young man,
who developed characteristics and his own idiosyncrasies

The Word was God
The Word was man – everyman;
Son of Man
Sent to teach and to inspire

He waited some 30 years or so, learning about the ways of humanity
Living and loving
And then, he went to the wilderness and met with the man of the wilds
Who baptised him with water

The wild man was the last great prophet
He knew he would herald the beginning of the end,
and the end of the beginning
He was not the Messiah,
but he pointed the way
And the Word was recognised
And the Word fulfilled his destiny