Immediately

Immediately

Mark 1:18

And immediately he called them

And immediately they answered.

And immediately they left their nets

And immediately they followed.

And immediately—

And immediately—

And immediately—

And immediately—

Why does my own faith come so fleetingly?

Why does my soul seem so exceedingly

Wrapped in these nets

Stuck in this boat

While the waves lap the sides so tediously?

I’m close enough to hear him

Call for me so pleadingly

I want to go

But my arms only row

These oars the other way disobediently.

When Peter heard his voice

Immediately

He jumped into the sea excitedly

Then swam to him who delightedly

Received him so forgivingly.

And here I sit so stubbornly

Like a rock

And yet so differently

Than the rock who walked

Across the waves

Then clung to him so desperately.

And I know the leper was healed

Immediately

And the woman who suffered from bleeding, she

Reached for him

And touched his hem

And the hemorrhage stopped immediately.

I don’t know if it’s that I’m afraid

Of the deep water

Or of his face

Of his eyes that stare so piercingly

Or of the change that necessarily

Must come from going obediently

To the shore where he is patiently

Waiting for me so lovingly.

As the current pulls undulatingly

I’m silently and longingly

Staring at the shore and praying he

Will strike me, break me,

Smooth and shape me

Before I drift too far to sea

And the waves swell higher

And topple me.

I’m tangled up in my own nets

With my own hands

I bound my chest.

I’ll try to work my body free

So the next time I hear him

Call and plea

I can jump into this rocky sea

And swim to him—

Immediately.

7/27/25